FCNL/Politics and Economics/War/Iraq

Ask for vote for US withdrawal from Iraq

Maryknoll Magazine/Maryknoll/NY/USA/1-Aug-05

…Aug 01, 2005 - Voters who are concerned about Iraq should try to see their representatives in their home districts during the August congressional recess. Concerned citizens should ask lawmakers to support a policy of full U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, leaving no bases behind.

A variety of bills and resolutions, some still pending, have been introduced in Congress to address the situation in Iraq. Proposals range from the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops to an indefinite U.S. military presence in Iraq.

Arguing that a basic policy is needed before an action plan can be developed, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) has prepared a resolution it calls STEP (Sensible Transition to an Enduring Peace) on which, hopefully, all sides could agree. The FCNL resolution asks lawmakers to adopt a sense of the Congress resolution declaring that “It is the policy of the United States to withdraw all U.S. military troops and bases from Iraq.”

The STEP resolution recalls that President George Bush promised on April 13, 2004, that the U.S. would remain in Iraq “as long as necessary and not one day more.” It also reiterates that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Feb. 17, 2005, that “we have no intention, at the present time, of putting permanent bases in Iraq.”

For many, the claim that the U.S. does not plan a strong, long-term presence in Iraq rings hollow in light, for example, of a proposed U.S. embassy whose startup costs are estimated at $1.3 billion.
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