Thursday 30th June 2005 (16h03) :

Iraq Withdrawal Bill Critical and Timely

There is a new urgency to our bipartisan efforts to pass House Joint Resolution 55, a bill to establish a plan to begin the end of the war in Iraq. Last night’s nationally televised speech by the President made it clear we are in Iraq for time indefinite. While the Administration relentlessly conflates Iraq and 9/11, the war in Iraq is not about Saddam and WMDs anymore. It’s about terror, terrorists, and anti-terrorists: the President told us that over thirty times in his speech. The President also urged us to have courage.

H.J. Res. 55 is an opportunity to rally the nation around a bipartisan plan to bring the troops home. It requires the Administration to "develop and implement a plan for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq." Its original cosponsors are Walter Jones (R-NC), Neil Abercrombie, (D-HI), Ron Paul (R-TX), Marty Meehan (D-MA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and myself.

The bill, entitled "Homeward Bound", requires the Administration to announce not later than December 31, 2005 a plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, and to begin bringing our troops home not later than October 1, 2006. This will be the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq.

Withdrawal from Iraq has never been in the Administration’s plans - not when the war was being planned, nor during its execution. The occupation in "sovereign" Iraq will continue unless we stop it. We are building several permanent military bases in Iraq. "We will stay in Iraq as long as we are needed, and not a day longer," the President said last night. When the Administration ties Iraq into the "War on Terror" the war never has to end. It then becomes a steady source of cash for the 20,000 "private contractors" in Iraq, some of whom were paid with the $10.8 billion in cash that cannot be accounted for in a program where the U.S. had oversight responsibility.

The longer we stay in Iraq, accidentally killing tens of thousands of civilians, we create more people who swear vengeance against America. Pre-war intelligence, including C.I.A. reports, saw no serious link between Osama Bin Laden and Hussein. Recently, the New York Times reported on a C.I.A. report stating that now Iraq has become a breeding ground for terrorists. Highly-sophisticated explosive devices are being tested on our brave soldiers with devastating result. The U.S. death toll will soon rise above 1,700. While the ranks of the volunteer army, the reserves and the National Guard are being depleted, the Pentagon is using a private firm to amass names and detailed personal information on millions of 16-18 year olds. The cost of the war will soon approach $300 billion and the nation’s budget deficit is $368 billion.

Everything about the war in Iraq has been wrong. It was wrong to go in. It is wrong to stay in. It is wrong to keep our troops in harm’s way. H.J. Res. 55 gives us a chance to right the wrong and exit with a plan which is sensitive to the security concerns of both the Iraqi people and the American people, because the truth is that this war is making people in both countries less safe.

It is time to begin to organize efforts to contact individual members of Congress to support H.J. Res. 55. It is time to plan teach-ins at high schools and college campuses. It is time to mobilize peace marches for September. It is time to join the nationwide effort to create a cabinet-level Department of Peace. It is time to reclaim our active citizenship. It is time to prepare to leave the cocoons of fear which some may have been spun into. A new America is about to emerge.

Our President has urged us to fly our flags in support of our troops this 4th of July. I agree. Fly the flag. Support the troops. Bring them home.

http://kucinich.us