[Peace-discuss] IVAW's open letter to Obama

Sat Nov 8 16:56:54 CST 2008

Yes, it is a great letter... and yes, if only. For sure the reparations from (or even infrasturctural repairs by) the US won't happen (even tho' the US is responsible for all that death and destruction -- Obama/Biden are on record as saying (paraphrasing), "Why should the US pay for these things when Iraq has many billions of $$ in surplus and can cover this themselves??" Unbelievable.
 --Jenifer   

--- On Sat, 11/8/08, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> wrote:

From: E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag>
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] IVAW's open letter to Obama
To: kmedina at illinois.edu
Cc: Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2008, 8:54 AM

I really like IVAW.

Karen Medina wrote: 
[Iraq Veterans Against the War wrote the following open letter to President-elect 
Obama - kem ]

Dear President-elect Obama,
Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War congratulate you on your victory, and 
we admire and respect both Senator John McCain and you for your strong, 
patriotic dedication and desire to fix the deep problems our country now faces.
We appreciate your inspiring words spoken at Grant Park in Chicago on Tuesday 
night - words which should give all Americans hope for our future. But we also 
remember the hope your words gave to many Americans in an August 2007 
speech - especially those serving in our military: "Ending this war will be my 
first priority when I take office. There is no military solution in Iraq. Only Iraq's 
leaders can settle the grievances at the heart of Iraq's civil war."

Much has changed in our country since that speech, and the prevailing 
sentiment among Americans is that our faltering economy must now be your 
first priority. We understand and share their concern, but we believe that our 
faltering economy cannot be corrected if we continue the costly occupation of 
Iraq – an immense financial cost which is simply unsustainable. The American 
people are giving billions of dollars every week to continue an occupation that is 
draining our wallets, our respect, our security, and the lives of thousands of U.S. 
and Iraqi men, women, and children.

We fervently ask you to use all possible political and diplomatic pressure to 
quickly and completely end the occupation of Iraq. Though none of us know 
what the future will bring, we do know this: our service members are tired of an 
occupation seemingly without end, and they want to return home to their 
families.

And when our brave men and women return home, they need to be given full 
benefits, and adequate healthcare (including mental health) to repair their 
physical and emotional wounds. They deserve no less, and we as a country owe 
that care to them.

We also call on you not to ignore the humanitarian crises of enormous 
proportion that the Iraqi people continue to endure. Over four million Iraqis 
have been displaced or become refugees since the U.S. invasion of their country. 
Iraqi deaths are most accurately estimated at over 600,000 people, with many 
hundreds of thousands more having suffered physical and emotional injuries. 
The Iraqi people will be coping with the aftermath of our unjustifiable invasion 
and occupation of their country for generations to come. IVAW believes that it is 
the duty of our country to pay reparations to the Iraqi people for the damage we 
have caused to their lives, infrastructure, and culture.

We acknowledge the shift in focus from the war in Iraq to the war in 
Afghanistan. At the same time, Afghan President Karzai is calling for a change 
in strategy and Afghan families are mourning the deaths of their loved ones 
who have been killed in U.S. air strikes. We encourage you to listen to the 
Afghan people and U.S. veterans of that conflict before making any decision to 
escalate military force there.

We call on you to end the occupation of Iraq and repair our economy, and by 
doing so you will demonstrate that a "new dawn of American leadership" has 
arrived, a "defining moment of change" that will benefit and give hope to all 
Americans - young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, 
white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not 
disabled.

You once said that “change won’t come from the top. Change will come from a 
mobilized grass roots.” We agree, which is why Iraq Veterans Against the War 
will continue organizing for an end to the occupation of Iraq, health care and 
benefits for returning veterans, and reparations for the Iraqi people. We hope 
that these are areas we can work together with you to address.

Respectfully,
Iraq Veterans Against the War

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