People’s Petition on Iraq Urges Bush to Shift Strategies
As the death toll in Iraq escalates and support for the Iraq war plummets, a national consensus has taken root that current U.S. strategies there have failed and cannot bring about peace and stability in that country. While President Bush and his chief advisors seem in deep denial, it is overwhelmingly apparent to the rest of the nation that we are faced with only one question: How to exit Iraq.
Peace Action Education Fund and the Progressive Democrats of America are offering ordinary Americans and other interested groups the opportunity to provide leadership for the politicians in Washington. This leadership will take the form of a petition to Congress. The plan calls for the administration to shift from a military to a conflict resolution model and offers five initial policies, which if enacted, will markedly move the U.S. towards peace in Iraq.
The petition lists five principles essential to ending the quagmire in Iraq:
-the US government must declare it has no interest in permanent military bases or controlling Iraqi oil or other resources.
-the US government must set goals for ending the occupation and bringing all our troops home, in months, not years, beginning with an initial withdrawal of troops by the end of this year.
-the US government must request that the United Nations monitor the process of military disengagement and de-escalation, and organize a peaceful reconstruction effort.
-the US government should appoint a peace envoy independent of the occupation authorities to underscore its commitment to an entirely different mission—that of a peace process ending the occupation and returning our soldiers home.
-the peace envoy should encourage and cooperate in talks with Iraqi groups opposed to the occupation, including insurgents, to explore a political settlement. The settlement must include representation of opposition forces and parties, and power-sharing and the protection of women's rights as core principles of governance and economic and energy development.
To sign the petition and join hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans in calling for an end to the war in Iraq, click here.
