[Peace-discuss] Flyer for Sat. 9/15 demo

[C. G. Estabrook]

IRAQ: WHAT WE HAVE DONE 

    SENATOR WARNER: Are you able to say at this time [that]
    you are making America safer?
    GENERAL PETRAEUS: Sir, I don't know actually.

General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. military forces occupying Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker were in Washington -- and in the media -- this week, ostensibly delivering a report to Congress on the progress of the U.S. war in Iraq.  Their report was to be based on a set of benchmarks determined by Congress, evaluating how far U.S.-occupied Iraq has come in achieving "stability," "democracy," "equity between groups," and more.

But their report clearly did NOT provide a true glimpse of what the lives of the twenty-five million Iraqis look like today.  

It did NOT mention the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians dead as a result of the U.S. war and occupation.  (A study by Johns Hopkins University in the British medical journal Lancet reported 650,000 dead as of two years ago, the number has obviously grown.)  

It did NOT say much about the two million Iraqis who have fled the war to seek hard-to-find refuge in neighboring countries, nor the additional two million Iraqis forced by war-fueled violence to flee their homes and who remain displaced and homeless inside Iraq. 

It did NOT mention that most Iraqis have electricity for only about five hours a day, that clean water remains scarce for most and unobtainable for many, and that Iraq's oil production remains a fraction of what it was before war. 

It did NOT highlight the fact that -- although the Pentagon has already spent at least $456 billion of our tax dollars -- occupation, war and violence have so devastated the Iraqi economy that unemployment has reached up to 40% and higher, with underemployment at least an additional 10% or more. 

The report has anything close to a true assessment, it would acknowledge that the lives of people in 2007 Iraq are worse than ever.  

It will NOT admit to another set of truths as well. The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq was illegal, and in violation of the United Nations Charter. It was based on lies, and those lies have NOT become truths just because the U.S. occupation has now continued for 4 and 1/2 years.  

   • The war was NOT launched because Iraq had weapons of mass destruction; it didn't; 

   • The U.S. did NOT invade Iraq because Saddam Hussein was tied to al-Qaeda; he wasn't; 

   • The U.S. did NOT invade to bring democracy to the people of Iraq; it hasn't. 

The occupation of Iraq and the "Global War on Terror" has also meant a serious assault on our weakened democratic structures at home.  We have paid a high price for the administration's murderous adventure -- in the deaths and shattered minds and bodies of our soldiers; in the threats to an economy ravaged by billion-dollar bills to pay for an illegal war; in the destruction of so much of our infrastructure, security and social fabric because of human and financial resources diverted to Iraq; and in the shredding of our Constitution and civil rights as fear becomes a weapon in the hands of the Bush administration -- aimed at Congress, the courts and the people of this country.  

Leaving Iraq  

Only a full withdrawal of U.S. troops will allow Iraqis to begin the long and difficult task of overcoming the sectarian violence set off by the U.S. invasion and occupation.  The Iraqis must be allowed to rebuild their own country.  We in this country must recognize that the U.S. does not have the right to determine Iraq's future.  The following six steps summarize what the U.S. government must do to carry out a responsible redeployment:

First. Announce a timetable for the immediate, rapid and complete withdrawal of U.S. and coalition troops and mercenaries, and simultaneously end U.S. offensive operations.  Such a halt will give substance to U.S. claims that it does not intend to occupy Iraq indefinitely, and that it does intend to bring all the troops home.  It will remove a key justification for the anti-U.S. resistance, and it will make possible the beginnings of negotiations with resistance forces, leading to a full ceasefire.  Congress should not approve any additional funding, except to provide for the safe return of the troops.  

Second. Announce that all U.S. military bases in Iraq will be closed as soon as U.S. troops, coalition troops, and mercenaries are out of the country.  

Third. Immediately stop all efforts to force Iraq's parliament to pass an oil law that privileges U.S. and other international oil companies.  The U.S. should announce that control of Iraq's oil belongs solely to the people of Iraq, and that Iraq's own decisions regarding its oil production will have no bearing on U.S. obligations for reconstruction and reparations.  

Fourth. Provide economic and political support for reconstruction and for maintaining national unity in Iraq.  Reconstruction funds should be turned over to the Iraqi government to enable them to hire local contractors, local suppliers, and local workers, while remaining contracts with U.S. based corporations should be canceled or otherwise settled, so as to free funds currently committed to U.S. contractors to be made available directly to Iraqis.  We should make clear that additional reconstruction and reparation funds will be forthcoming after the end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.  

Fifth. Stop trying to train Iraqi military and police forces and instead turn over remaining training funds to the United Nations for use after the end of the U.S. occupation.  The U.S. should not attempt to create Iraq's military in its own image and for its own interests.  

Sixth. Support a regional conference under Arab League or United Nations auspices to guarantee the security of all states in the region.  Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are all important to Iraq's ability to control its own future, and all have strong interests in supporting Iraq's unity and stability.  The success of such a conference will depend on the conviction that the U.S. no longer intends to dominate and control Iraq's politics or its resources.  The U.S. should make clear that it agrees that international law, not U.S. military power, should guide the international community.  

[This leaflet is produced and distributed in Champaign-Urbana by members of AWARE, the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort.  It is based on "IRAQ: THE PEOPLE'S REPORT," by UFPJ, United for Peace and Justice, the nation's largest grassroots anti-war coalition, with 1,400 national organizations and local groups participating in coordinated efforts to end the war and the occupation of Iraq, and to redirect our nation's priorities. For sources and more information about UFPJ, see their web site at <www.unitedforpeace.org>.  AWARE meets every Sunday evening from 5:00 to 6:30pm in the basement of the old post office in Urbana.  Visitors and new members are welcome.  AWARE's website is <www.anti-war.net>.]

     ###