Guest Columnist
Staying the course, Congressman Kuhl stays stubborn
By CYRIL MYCHALEJKO

I had the privilege this summer to live in Corning and work with hundreds of wonderful people from all over the Southern Tier as an organizer with Americans Against Escalation in Iraq. AAEI is a nonpartisan organization committed to mobilizing grassroots campaigns intent on ending this reckless war and safely bringing our troops home. All summer, constituents of the 29th District have been trying to have a conversation with Rep. John R. "Randy Kuhl, but the only responses we've been able to elicit have been locked doors and "the congressman is too busy to meet with you" (despite what his staffers have said publicly).

I wanted to share with everyone why I gave up my summer to work to end the war. I opposed this war before it started because the reasoning for declaring it was flawed. Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with Sept. 11, there was plenty of evidence to suggest that Iraq's government did not possess weapons of mass destruction (even though this was suppressed and attacked by the White House), and Iraq was not a threat to our country or any of the surrounding countries in the Middle East. But that is in the past, so now we need to learn from this experience and move on to deal with the present.

Presently, Iraq is a wreck. The 2007 Failed State Index released in June by Foreign Policy magazine ranks Iraq the second most unstable country in the world, behind only the war torn nation of Sudan where genocide is being carried out in the Darfur region. In addition, the international relief agency OXFAM released a report in July unmasking the growing humanitarian crisis in Iraq. The report, "Rising to the Humanitarian Challenge in Iraq " found that "43 percent of Iraqis suffer from 'absolute poverty'… Child malnutrition rates have risen from 19 percent before the US-led invasion in 2003 to 28 percent now…[and] 70 percent [of Iraqi's] are without adequate water supplies." I could go on--the report is 40 pages long.

While the misery suffered by Iraqis is very obvious and should be considered, we must of course not forget our brave soldiers who are fighting this reckless and seemingly endless war. It's been reported that close to 3,800 soldiers have been killed thus far, while over 27,000 casualties have been suffered. Now soldiers are being asked to referee a civil war while assisting to rebuild an entire country. Tragically our soldiers are not trained or equipped to handle this.

Now despite this mountain of evidence that violence is escalating out of control, political reconciliation among Iraqis is a long way off and that a military solution involving our soldiers is not the answer, "Rubberstamp Randy" is prepared to stay the course.

Rep. Kuhl has consistently deferred to the White House on foreign policy decisions. His latest excuse for not making up his own mind is that he is waiting for General David H. Petraeus's report in September. But on Aug. 15 The LA Times reported that "Despite Bush's repeated statements that the [forthcoming progress] report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government."

So any chance that this report might offer objective and independent analysis is thrown out the window. Instead we will receive a report from the same folks who said we would be greeted with flowers and candy as "liberators", "mission accomplished", and "the insurgency is in its last throes." It's disheartening that Rep. Kuhl hasn't even expressed any reservations or concerns about these recent developments.

Unfortunately I never had the chance to meet Rep. Kuhl. Although we may have different political views and ideas about the war, I believe a conversation would have been enlightening for both of us and would have forced us to challenge and really reexamine our beliefs. But sadly he has barricaded himself inside of his office and he has refused a number of invitations from his constituents to meet individually, and he refused to join us for our Aug. 28 town hall meeting where over 100 of his constituents attended.

If I could offer one piece of advice for Congressman Kuhl it would be this: You need to recognize that you don't just represent your corporate donors and hard-core supporters--you also represent the people that disagree with you from time-to-time. So unlock your doors, open your office back up and have a conversation with your constituents.

Remember, you are a public servant. It's probably about time you started acting like one.

Cyril Mychalejko is a graduate student in Public Policy and International Affairs at William Paterson University. He hopes to return some day soon to the Southern Tier.