On This Page
Exit From Iraq: A Responsible Strategy
A Demand that the Bush Administration be Held Accountable
THE CLUB AND THE WAR IN IRAQ
The JVCDC has opposed the war in Iraq from the time it became obvious that the Bush Administration was set on having one without proper justification. There was sufficient public information before the invasion to show reasonable people that the official Bush justification was phony: there was a good case for believing that Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction and it was already sufficiently established that there was no connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq which would engender a terrorist threat from Iraq to the US and its allies. Moreover, it was clear that the administration was in fact acting on an entirely independent line of justification for an attack, one that it was not using to convince the American people and the United Nations that war was necessary in self-defense: the neo-conservative program behind the war led the Administration to believe large numbers of good things would accrue to the US (and Israel) if Saddam were to be swept away militarily.
Since the invasion, all of our earlier arguments against a war have been borne out: no WMD, no prior al-Qaeda connections. However, several further and damning things about the Bush Administration have been learned: their total credulousness in imagining that the Iraqi’s would fall into our, and each other’s, arms when Saddam was deposed; their incompetence in managing the post-war reconstruction; and their viciousness in resorting to torture and dehumanizing treatment for no good reason.
The JVCDC has now adopted two position papers designed to extricate this country from the continuing carnage in Iraq and to get us to accept the Bush Administration’s complete failure in the Iraq adventure. We urge that all Americans of good sense adopt the proposals contained in the following two documents both adopted by the Jerry Voorhis Claremont Democratic Club on November 1, 2005.
EXIT FROM IRAQ: A RESPONSIBLE STRATEGY
The JVCDC agrees with Senator Russ Feingold that: "It is dishonest to admit there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, only to invent new reasons for inflicting mass destruction on that country. It is dishonorable to fix the facts around the policy. It is unacceptable to admit that going to war was a mistake, only to claim that the mistake must be perpetuated.”
This means that we have to face the sad truth that the tens of thousands who have died or been injured as a result of our decision to go to war -- Americans, our allies and Iraqis – should not have died, should not have been injured -- and if we are now to bring some meaning to the death and suffering, it can only be by our having the courage to take the steps necessary to try to stop this war.
We therefore join with other progressive voices in the Democratic Party in calling for an end to the immoral, unnecessary, catastrophically destructive war in Iraq and stand with fellow Californians Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey as well as John Conyers and the 63 other House Members who comprise the 'Out of Iraq' Caucus.
The Democratic Party as a whole and its leaders individually must acknowledge that the continued presence of U.S. military personnel in Iraq is a serious part of the problem, because it provides a focal point for the expression of anti-U.S. anger and a motivation, though not the only one, for the insurgency. The simple truth is that the U.S.’s military presence in Iraq is now far more a part of the problem than it is a part of any feasible solution.
Therefore, the U.S. must announce a firm commitment to an orderly withdrawal of its military from Iraq in accord with a clear timeline, with the understanding that such an announcement will make it clear to the Iraqi people that they must move quickly to establish and train their own security forces and to seek accommodations among all factions so that none have a motivation for insurrection or civil war.
The U.S. must make it clear that if Iraq continues to deteriorate into turmoil or civil war, it will be a problem the Iraqis will have to solve on their own, with the understanding that the Iraqi people, through their soon to be elected new national government, may wish to enlist the assistance of the international community in a peacekeeping operation. The U.S. must pledge to support, but not lead, such a peacekeeping effort.
Polls suggest that a majority of Americans are now opposed to the war, but are not aware that there exists any viable strategy to honorably withdraw our troops.
Therefore, it is with the goal of presenting an effective and honorable exit strategy that the JVCDC urges the immediate implementation of the following seven steps to bring this ignoble venture to an end:
The Essential Steps Upon which a Responsible Iraq Exit Strategy Must Be Based
1. The U.S. must declare that it has no plans to establish any permanent military bases or military presence in Iraq and it must immediately halt any military construction projects already underway.
2. The U.S. must immediately announce that the withdrawal of U.S. troops shall begin no later than January, 2006, following the election of a government under the new constitution, and shall be completed by the end of 2006.
3. The U.S. must announce that it encourages and supports an international summit meeting to address the possibility of the creation of: a) an International Bank for the reconstruction of Iraq and b) an international peacekeeping force.
The U.S. should encourage the widest possible participation in such a summit, to include, but not be limited to: a) the nations of the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, the Arab League and the Palestinians; b) the European Union, NATO, and the United Nations; c) Russia, China, Canada, Japan, Australia, India, Parkistan, Indonesia and Brazil.
4. The U.S. must declare that it will support any international peacekeeping effort that is requested by the Iraqi people (preferably as a result of an international summit meeting) with money and supplies, and, if requested, with logistical support that does not require any U.S. troops to be on Iraqi soil.
5. The U.S. must declare that as a nation we have no intention of controlling Iraq’s oil and that we will not allow U.S. corporations to do so. The U.S. must state that we view the oil as the property of the Iraqi people, for them to control as they choose, whether through State ministries or Iraqi firms. While we hope that the goal will be an equitable distribution of the proceeds among all ethnic, religious and regional groups so as to provide a basis for a peaceful society, we recognize that ultimately this must be decided by the Iraqi people.
6. The U.S. must commit itself to provide generous reconstruction assistance to rebuild and improve the infrastructure of Iraq. But we must make it clear that such assistance will be provided only through Iraqi-administered agencies employing Iraqi workers, and/or through internationally administered agencies, such as a Bank for the Reconstruction of Iraq, if so requested by Iraq.
7. While the U.S. may express a desire to see Iraq continue as a single nation, it must make clear that the issue of whether Iraq moves toward becoming a single, integrated nation, whether it restructures itself as a confederation of weak or strong regions, or whether it devolves into independent republics, as has happened in the former Yugoslavia, is a decision that the U.S. intends to leave to the Iraqi people.
A Demand that the Bush Administration Be Held Accountable for the Disastrous Conduct of the Iraq War and Its Aftermath
It is clear that the death and destruction caused by the ongoing insurgency in Iraq and by our efforts to overcome it are in large part the result of the ineptitude and failed policies of the Bush Administration.
It is clear that the failure of the reconstruction efforts in Iraq are similarly caused primarily by the poor planning and ineptitude of the Bush Administration.
In particular:
- The decision to simply disband the Iraqi military, against the advice of the State Department and many experts with knowledge of Iraq, provided impoverished, disenfranchised, but trained troops that fueled the insurgency.
- The decision to hire U.S. firms like Halliburton and Bechtel and to allow them to import foreign labor, rather than to hire and organize Iraqis, including ex-military personnel, to assist in the reconstruction of their own nation was a tragic policy mistake which provided the insurgency with angry adherents and further impoverished tens of thousands of Iraqi families.
- The failure to secure arms depots provided the weapons that are now being used by the insurgents.
- The failure to move immediately to protect hospitals, schools, public utilities and museums caused many of the difficulties now faced by the Iraqi people and necessitates a far bigger reconstruction effort than would otherwise have been needed.
- Many of the deaths of U.S. military personnel were and are the result of a failure to provide adequate personal armor and adequately armored vehicles.
- The failure to understand the deep cultural and religious divisions among the Iraqi people, despite the advice of many experts; the failure to move to immediately open lines of communication with all the factions, including the Sunnis; and the failure to immediately establish forums in which all factions could have a meaningful voice and could sustain their human dignity have led to the disillusionment that has fueled the insurrection.
- The failure to plan from the beginning to seal the borders with Syria and Iran to prevent the incursion of non-Iraqis opposed to the invasion has fueled and strengthened the insurrection, even though it remains a largely Iraqi effort.
It is critical that the leadership of the Democratic Party make it clear to the American people that the cumulative results of all these failures of U.S. policy have greatly weakened our own nation’s security and increased the threat of terrorism due to thousands of persons gaining terrorist training and experience, and focusing their anger and resentment on the U.S.
The demoralization of our reserve and National Guard forces -- including the economic losses suffered by National Guard and reserve personnel and their families in the form of failed small businesses and lost homes -- are another price our nation has paid for starting and conducting this war.
The financial costs to our nation, and even more importantly the opportunity costs in terms of resources spent on the war instead of on Social Security, healthcare, education, social programs, homeland security and disaster preparedness are a further burden of this war.
Therefore, the JVCDC joins with other patriots throughout America in calling for the leadership of the Democratic Party to make clear to the American people that the conduct of the war and of the reconstruction effort have been marked by an astounding level of incompetence on the part of the Republican Administration and that this has lead to a weakening of our national security by causing a heightened level of terrorist activity, a weakening of the U.S. military, and unacceptable financial burdens on the Nation as a whole and on the families of our National Guard and Reserve force.
(909)-626-8100
P.O. Box 1201, Claremont, CA. 91711