Fw: Iraq Through the Looking Glass - FCNL

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Volk" <joevolk@fcnl.org>
To: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@optonline.net>
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 4:26 PM
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Iraq Through the Looking Glass - FCNL

Miriam Vieni

The discussion this week of U.S. policy in Iraq makes me wonder if we
are now living in the world described in Alice in Wonderland .

How else to describe a week in which the House voted to affirm that the
U.S. must stay the course in Iraq, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to
reject calls for a change in policy, and the president declared during
a visit to Iraq that the U.S. is committed to success in Iraq?

We must be on the other side of the looking glass, because these
actions by both political parties here in Washington do not respond to
the situation in Iraq that we at FCNL are hearing about. The bottom
line is staying the course in Iraq is not a strategy for success.

We know that the debate about U.S. policy is continuing in Congress. We
also know that many members of Congress, from both parties, would like
to see a change in the direction of U.S. policy. But politics keep
getting in the way. The discussion this week was a stark contrast to
the votes by the House and the Senate earlier this year to approve
resolutions declaring the U.S. will not maintain permanent military
bases in Iraq. The administration lobbied successfully to have those
resolutions defeated in back room negotiations, but others will propose
them again.

Meanwhile U.S. policy continues on its present course and the situation
in Iraq gets worse. The last three years of war and U.S. occupation in
Iraq have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis and
2,500 U.S. troops . The Washington Post reported today that armed
militias are running the prisons, freeing their friends and executing
their enemies. Last month, the Baghdad morgue was busier than ever
trying to cope with the onslaught of broken bodies. Read Dan Smith's
reflection on U.S. casualties in Iraq at:
http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=1913&issue_id=35

Rick McDowell and Mary Trotochaud, our senior fellows who joined FCNL
after nearly two years of living in Iraq, hear every day in telephone
conversations the desperation of friends in Iraq. "The majority of
people in Iraq would like to see an Iraqi government succeed, but there
is not much faith in the new government," Rick told us this week.
"President Bush's trip to Iraq may have played well in the United
States, but in Iraq the trip confirmed the belief that the new Iraqi
government is a puppet of the U.S. That impression undermines the new
government and generates support for attacks against U.S. and Iraqi
forces."

No wonder one Iraqi told Rick this week: "We are the 53rd U.S.
State, aren't we?"

Why is the U.S. government reluctant to say in this country what the
Iraqi government is saying in Iraq? Iraq's national security advisor,
Mouwafak Al-Rubaie, said this week that large numbers of U.S. forces
would leave this year, that the "majority" of coalition
forces should leave in 2007 "and maybe the last soldier will leave
Iraq by mid 2008." The president refuses to discuss when U.S.
troops might leave and The New York Times reports that the Pentagon
plans to keep at least 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq for years to come.

We need to change the conversation from how does the U.S. win to how
does the U.S. leave Iraq. The war in Iraq is raging, but security is
not improving. A change in U.S. policy in Iraq, at this point, is no
guarantee that a peaceful, stable Iraq will emerge. But we can be
certain that staying the course in Iraq will lead to more civil war,
more deaths, more destruction, and quite possibly the disintegration of
the government.

Over a hundred members of Congress from both parties asked for a
substantive debate on U.S. policy in Iraq this week. The debate
happened on Thursday and Friday, and some members from both parties
spoke eloquently about the need for a change in policy. But the
leadership in the House engineered an up or down vote on a resolution
endorsing president Bush's war policy and rejecting calls to set a date
for the withdrawal of U.S. military troops.

There is another way. We at FCNL urge Congress to enact legislation that:

* states that it is the U.S. policy to remove all U.S. military
troops and bases from Iraq;
* requires the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. military troops and
bases from Iraq; and
* provides resources for reconstruction by the people of Iraq
through appropriate multinational, national, and Iraqi agencies. Read
more.http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/

In the House, Rep. John Murtha (PA) continues to propose alternatives
to the current U.S. policy and, most recently, attached an amendment to
military appropriations legislation that would bar funding for an
agreement to build permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. Sen. Joseph
Biden (DE) is considering offering a similar amendment in the Senate.

These proposals would begin a substantive discussion about how to
change the failed U.S. policies in Iraq. There may be no strategy for
success. But we must continue to seek a strategy that will end the
killing, end the cycle of violence, and provide some hope that Iraqis
may determine their own future.

Sincerely,

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary

PS: As I write this, Mary is describing to us how U.S. troops are
preparing for what they describe as a "major military
offensive" against the city of Ramadi, similar to the attack on
Fallujah two years ago. Ramadi is a city of nearly 400,000 people. The
residents of that city, remembering what happened when U.S. troops
leveled Fallujah several years ago, are fleeing, but they have nowhere
to go. Baghdad is closed off and under a curfew. How will this new
offensive help bring peace and stability to Iraq?

_______________________________________

The Next Step for Iraq: Join FCNL's Iraq Campaign, http://www.fcnl.org/iraq/

Contact Congress and the Administration:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/

Order FCNL publications and "War is Not the Answer" campaign
bumper stickers and yard signs:
http://www.fcnl.org/pubs/
http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=bump

Contribute to FCNL:
http://www.fcnl.org/donate/

Subscribe or update your information to this list:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/mlm/. To unsubscribe from this list, please see
the end of this message.

Subscribe to other FCNL legislative, policy, and action alert lists:
http://www.fcnl.org/forms/forms.php?type=ls.

________________________________________

Friends Committee on National Legislation
245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795
fcnl@fcnl.org * http://www.fcnl.org
phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330

We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
We seek a society with equity and justice for all
We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled
We seek an earth restored.

---
If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please visit
http://capwiz.com/fconl/lmx/u/?jobid=71330869&queueid=768678916.