The United States and Iraq - an action platform

Background

Los Altos Voices for Peace (LAVP) opposed the US invasion of Iraq from its inception. There was no basis for the immediate threats to US security that the government claimed Iraq posed-and those claims look even more empty today.

But the invasion and occupation of Iraq happened, and the country fell quickly to US bombs and troops. It's clear that the Iraqis are not happy with US troops running their country nor that they are looking forward to a government in Bush's image. Iraqis are unlikely ever to accept such a government.

Iraq resistance is mounting. Both US and Iraqi casualties remain at a high daily level. General Tommy Franks has doubled his estimate of the costs of continuing occupation--to four billion dollars a month. He also served notice that the occupation will continue for four years or more.

We wish the Iraqis self-determination and a peaceful future. But how? Simply leaving the country would result in a chaotic vacuum that would almost certainly be followed by years of internal war and massacres, and probable dissolution of the country into three or more fiefdoms.

At the same time, it is unacceptable that the US should use its military supremacy to continue occupying the land, denationalizing its central assets and diverting its oil revenue to pay US corporations to "rebuild" what was destroyed by the US invasion. Further, it is unacceptable that the US should dictate the composition or orientation of the Iraqi government or its constitution.

Our Two-Point Strategy for Iraq

First, Los Altos Voices for Peace recommends that the US immediately announce its intention to transfer interim control of Iraq to a body appointed by the Security Council of the United Nations, and that it begin the transfer as soon as possible.

Second, some fraction of the $4 billion Bush government is currently spending monthly to keep Iraq under occupation should be diverted to compensation for the damage inflicted on the Iraqi people and infrastructure, and to aid of various kinds - channeled through a UN body - to help the Iraqis rebuild their own country as they themselves desire.

Spending only one-tenth of the occupation cost to improve education, health care, technology, and other basic needs in Iraq would do much to enhance the security of the US by winning friends instead of creating more enemies.