Thursday, August 25, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Committee, starlene@greens.org, cell phone
916-995-3805
Rebecca Rotzler, Peace Action Committee Co-chair, 845-255-3122, rebelrot@yahoo.com
GREENS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ
Greens announce an online petition against the war, criticize
Democratic Party support for Bush's Iraq policy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders sharply
criticized plans announced by the Pentagon to increase the number of
U.S. troops in Iraq, and reiterated the party's call to begin
withdrawing occupational forces from Iraq immediately.
"We agree with Cindy Sheehan -- the only
legitimate way to support our troops is to get them out of Iraq right
now," said Andrea Garland, Louisiana Green who joined Ms. Sheehan
at her Camp Casey protest vigil in Crawford, Texas. "This will be
the demand of Greens participating in the September 24 rallies in
Washington, D.C. against the occupation."
The Green Party's Peace Action Committee (GPAX)
announced an online petition urging the White House to end the
occupation and supporting the Camp Casey vigil, at <http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/Greens/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=103>.
GPAX recently issued a statement in support of
Camp Casey <http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_08_10.shtml>,
which national Green Party co-chair Rebecca Rotzler presented to Ms.
Sheehan.
Greens especially condemned statements from
Democratic leaders supporting increased deployment, including Senators
Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Joe Biden (Del.) and John Kerry (Mass.).
Greens also rejected the position of Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.),
MoveOn.org, and others who favor a delayed withdrawal, including Sen.
Feingold's call for removal of U.S. troops by December, 2006.
"Greens do not demand that President Bush
announce a plan to withdraw troops. We demand that the President issue
an order to begin withdrawal now," said Sarah "echo"
Steiner, sister of an Iraq War Veteran, co-chair of the Green Party of
Florida, and GPAX member. "Another year of occupation will
mean hundreds, perhaps thousands more U.S. troops dead and maimed; and
tens of thousands more dead Iraqi civilians."
Green Party leaders have called the Iraq invasion
and occupation a catastrophe, noting that:
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Between 25,000 and 100,000 Iraqi civilians
have been killed in the war; the number of U.S. troops killed is
approaching 2,000.
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The Bush Administration now admits that
secular democracy is unlikely in Iraq; possible civil war, further
breakdown of vital infrastructure, and establishment a repressive,
misogynistic Islamic theocracy threaten the Iraqi people.
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Bush Administration officials, including the
President, have not been held accountable for the litany of
deceptive justifications for the invasion: nonexistent WMDs;
forged evidence of nuclear weapons; fraudulent claims of
conspiracy between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and Iraqi
involvement with the 9/11 attacks.
-
Shocking revelations of torture at Abu Ghraib
mirror the White House's own efforts to circumvent international
and constitutional prohibitions against torture in Guantanamo Bay
and elsewhere.
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Terrorist attacks have increased in countries
allied with the U.S. (most recently Britain, in July), as
predicted by opponents of the war before the 2003 invasion. Vice
President Cheney continues to call Iraq a "critical front in
the war on terror"; Greens, in agreement with recent CIA and
other intelligence studies, assert that the occupation itself has
motivated further attacks on the West and violence within Iraq,
and threatens U.S. security and international stability.
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The costs of the occupation are causing social
needs in the U.S. to go unmet; while President Bush preaches
sacrifice -- presumably for families who have lost children,
parents, and spouses in the war, and for soldiers given
insufficient armor and other equipment; meanwhile, he has granted
tax cuts for the wealthy and indulged Halliburton and other
favored firms multibillion-dollar contracts allowing them to
profit from the war.
-
The war itself is a crime, violating
international covenants signed by the U.S. against invasion of a
nation on 'preventive' grounds; Hitler used preventive
justifications (also fraudulent) for the German invasion of
Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1939.
"These charges are not Green opinion. They
are statements of fact. They're the reason why the Green Party has
called for Mr. Bush's impeachment," said Tom Siracuse of the West
Side (Manhattan) Greens and Veterans For Peace, both of which are
represented at the Camp Casey vigil. GPAX is urging Americans outraged
by the Iraq venture to sign on to the Veterans For Peace petition for
impeachment <http://www.veteransforpeace.org/impeachment/petition2.htm>,
which is also linked at the GPAX web page <http://www.gp.org/committees/peace>.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
September 24 protests against the war; related events in Washington,
D.C.
United For Peace & Justice http://www.unitedforpeace.org/fallmobe
Operation Ceasefire http://www.opceasefire.org
Gold Star Families For Peace
http://www.GSFP.org