WAR IN IRAQ
Join The Efforts To End The War
Toward a Productive US Strategy In Iraq:
Ten Basic Principles
proposed by: The Greater Lansing Network Against War and Injustice (GLNAWI) - (January 2007)
- Staying in Iraq is not an option. The US should withdraw its troops without delay.
- An American strategy in Iraq must be based on the right of the Iraqi people to political
and economic self-determination. It must respect the culture and history of the Iraqi people.
It must acknowledge and make reparations for the damage done to the Iraqi people and their country.
- No discussion on how to resolve the Iraq War can or should avoid explicitly recognizing
its origins. This American disaster was caused by:
- An Executive office agenda to economically and militarily control the region.
- Lies from the Executive branch, led by the President;
- A climate of fear based on false threats;
- An intimidated and passive Congress, media, and populace;
- Diplomacy abandoned;
- Continued congressional funding for the invasion and the occupation;
- A continued state of conflict with Iraq since 1991.
- There should be no permanent US bases and no US control of Iraqi affairs. Funding of mercenaries must stop.
- The US should provide significant funds for a reconstruction carried out by and for Iraqis.
- The US should support an Iraqi-led negotiation and reconciliation process among all political
and ethnic factions. It should insist on a diplomatic resolution, not a resolution by force.
- The Iraqi-led negotiation and reconciliation process will succeed more quickly with regional
support. The US should support this process with its diplomatic efforts, not with military force
or threats of force.
- Security in Iraq should be provided by non-US forces acceptable to Iraqis, with broad international
support (e.g., U.N. peacekeepers). The US is responsible for the lack of security in Iraq, but as
occupiers, US military and security personnel cannot provide that security. So the US should pay for that security.
- The US should make no objections to the Iraqi government voiding all oil contracts for petroleum
exploration, development, and marketing.
- The US government should fund and implement a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for US military
service personnel who served in Iraq.
An Early Position on the War
The basis for the United States's intervention in Iraq was wrong and illegal.
The Bush doctrine, as expressed in the National Security Strategy, that states the
United States has the right to intervene unilaterally and militarily to overthrow
governments violates international law and the democratic spirit of our Constitution.
The post-war reconstruction of Iraq should be based on the need to serve Iraqi interests,
not American economic interests, and especially not large corporate interests.
The governance of Iraq should be immediately transferred from the United States
to the United Nations, with an immediate Security Council resolution to that effect.
Further, the transference of power back to the Iraqi people should be made as
expeditiously as possible, commensurate with United Nations implementation of this policy.
Updates on US troop and coalition deaths in the Iraq War can be found at
Join Us at Our Next Action
