[Peace] Ed Forum WG report

[C. G. Estabrook]

>From an AWARE Internal discussion, What should US policy in Iraq be?
2005-02-13:

Thirteen AWARE members participated in a general discussion of this topic
before the 2/13 meeting. The goal is (a) to write a statement from AWARE
on our view on the war (perhaps two statements -- What should US policy in
Iraq be? and What should US policy on terrorism be?) and (b) to prepare
for a public meeting in which that position is presented, perhaps in
debate with defenders of the USG position.

The following is an incomplete and impressionistic summary of points made
in the discussion.  AWAREists are invited to comment, criticize and add
points not mentioned, in aid of the preparation of those statements.

   [1] "Staying the course," "Iraqification," and "out now" are the
short-hand descriptions for, respectively, the administration's policy, a
more limited US role, and withdrawal.
   [2] "Iraqification" is represented by the concurrent resolution
proposed by 28 Congressmembers, urging Bush to end Iraq "misadventure."
   [3] The administration's current story requires an answer: it is that,
having removed an evil dictator, the US is continuing the war to establish
freedom and democracy in Iraq as a compelling example for other states in
the Greater Middle East (a "reverse domino theory" ).
   [4] It certainly seems desirable for the UN to take up a peace-keeping
role in Iraq -- but Kofi Annan today has explicitly ruled that out.
   [5] The US, having launched two preemptive wars in this administration,
must renounce that policy (as polls show a large majority of Americans
desire).
   [6] The US must pay for the reconstruction of Iraq -- under
international control;  reparations are required.
   [7] We're hampered in that we are in an information vacuum in regard to
Iraq: reporters are not leaving the Green Zone and we know little about
what's happening in the country at large.
   [8] How should the armed opposition to the US in Iraq accurately be
described?  terrorism? insurgency? a war of national liberation? a civil
war?
   [9] We should demand of the administration that the US get out of Iraq
now -- the US military, US corporations, and US bases -- and pay
reparations.
   [10] The "Bremer constitution" -- the governmental structure
established for Iraq by the US -- must go.
   [11] Iraq is only part of world-wide scheme of military bases, as
described by Chalmers Johnson's Sorrows of Empire.
   [12] US statements on freedom and democracy in SW Asia are
hypocritical.
   [13] The administration is making remarkably belligerent threats
against Iran and Syria.
   [14] Polls in Iraq show that Iraqis want the US to leave.
   [15] Can we support the armed opposition to the US in Iraq, given its
violent actions?
   [16] One can support the Iraqi resistance as one supports the
Palestinian resistance, holding that suicide bombing, for example, is an
unethical (and counter-productive) tactic.

	--C. G. Estabrook, for the Educational Forum Working Group