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The effort to stabilize Iraq is out of control. President Bush spoke for an hour last night, and still did not lay out a plan. It’s time to face the facts squarely, and recognize that America, acting alone, is no longer capable of reaching the hearts and minds of Iraqis.
We’ve got to transfer management authority over Iraq to the United Nations, to enable a real transition to peaceful Iraqi self-rule. Join us in calling for this change, at:
http://www.moveon.org/unauthority/
60 Americans and reportedly hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in just the past week; 677 Americans have died in Iraq since the war began. A religious leader hostile to the United States now controls two cities, and has sparked uprisings in two others. Dozens of foreigners have been taken hostage.
The growing opposition to American rule among the Iraqi population “probably runs in the tens of thousands”, consisting of people who “have jobs in vegetable shops, offices, garages, and schools.”1 These are the very people who should comprise the civil society we’re hoping to build as the basis for peaceful Iraqi self-rule. Instead, they’re arming themselves and awaiting the call to attack Americans.
Our troops in Iraq are stretched thin — many reservists have been serving there for more than a year, with no end in sight. U.S. commanders are asking for more troops, and Senate leaders like John McCain share the concern that our current troop levels are inadequate. There’s talk of a draft, perhaps to be announced just after our November elections.
But instead of simply redoubling our commitment to the present course, we should support our soldiers by taking the bull’s-eye off their backs.
At its core, the challenge our troops face in Iraq is about legitimacy: Iraqis see us increasingly as an occupying power, not a liberating one. To send a credible message of stewardship and transition to self-rule, we need a truly international coalition, including key Arab nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. As Thomas Friedman put it, “If it is America alone against the Iraqi street, we lose. If it is the world against the Iraqi street, we have a chance.”2
Of course, transferring control to the U.N. would also enable many other nations to share the logistical and financial burdens of helping Iraq transition to peaceful self-rule.
This isn’t a partisan issue. “In both parties, members are concerned,” according to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) “There’s not abject panic, but there’s deep concern, and there should be.”3
The time to make this change is now, before the situation escalates further out of control. Join us in this call, at:
http://www.moveon.org/unauthority/
Thank you, for all you do.
Sincerely,
–Carrie, Joan, Noah, Peter, and Wes
The MoveOn.org Team
Wednesday, April 14th, 2004Footnotes:
1. See this sobering New York Times article for details:
“Anti-U.S. Outrage Unites a Growing Iraqi Resistance”2. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/11/opinion/11FRIE.html
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A355-2004Apr9.html
Hey Hey what else is new
… this is good news for the Bush family and friends
the longer the war lasts the more money they make.
:rolleyes:
I hope he makes it sitting in Crawford.
As soon as they transfer power to the people of Iraq you can
assume one thing … the Illuminati are confident that they
have total control over ” the printer ” .
If you understand this you have begun to understand The Matrix.
Remember: the loooooooooooooooooooonger they
stay the moooooooooooooore $$$ money they make !
War is just a beautiful money making enterprise for the
New World Order.
British troops ‘may have to stay 10 years to keep order’
By Paul Kelbie, Scotland Correspondent
20 April 2004British troops might have to stay in Iraq for up to 10 years to help local forces maintain security after the proposed hand-over of power to the Iraqi government on 30 June, the commanding officer of UK forces in Basra has warned.
Brigadier Nick Carter said it could take British troops between two and 10 years to restore long-term stability, under the authority of an Iraqi police force acceptable to all rival factions within the country.
“We are in cloud-cuckoo land if we think we are going to create overnight a police force that is accountable to the population,” the officer told The Scotsman newspaper. “We have to build solid foundations now for the longer term.”
Yesterday, British troops were attacked by supporters of the Shia cleric Muqtadr Sadr in the town of Amarrah. Brigadier Carter warned that increased violence in south Iraq from militia loyal to the rebel cleric could mushroom into a major revolt in Iraq’s Shia community if the Allies tried to seize the leader by force.
He added: “While they [the wider Shia community] regard Sadr as an upstart, they have some sympathy with his grievances,” he added. “The Basra Shia will see an attack on Sadr as an attack on the Shia overall. He is becoming a bit of a talisman figure.”
