Ex-Maine lawmaker to lobby for return of troops

PORTLAND – Tom Andrews, the Maine congressman-turned-anti-war activist who heads a national coalition that opposed the invasion of Iraq, says the group plans to step up efforts to get the new Democratic Congress to bring the troops home.

Asserting that last month’s election was a mandate for change, Andrews said he doubts that President Bush will heed the advice of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group by opening discussions with other countries in the region, including Iran and Syria, and starting to pull troops out by 2008.

Andrews, the national director of the Win Without War coalition, said the group plans to lobby members of Congress, hold special events, organize via the Internet and place advertisements to help mobilize public opinion.

“The disaster in Iraq is the result of the lethal combination of arrogance, ignorance and incompetence of the administration,” said Andrews, who served two terms in Congress from the 1st District during the early 1990s. “It is dangerous and short-sighted to keep our troops in the crossfire.”

Andrews is focusing his efforts on outspoken war critic Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., an ex-Marine who will head the Appropriations subcommittee that handles defense spending and will consider the Bush administration’s request for additional funding to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The way to solve this extraordinary problem and get out of this quagmire is through Congress,” Andrews said. “It’s the only way out.”

Many of the 40 or so groups in the Win Without War coalition plan a march on Washington on Jan. 27, under the banner United for Peace and Justice.

“Depending on the amount of resources we are able to generate, it will be a robust campaign,” he said.