[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens mark 2, 000 US troop deaths in Iraq, demand end to occupation

[updates-admin at cagreens.org]

    GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
            www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, October 26, 2005



GREENS MARK THE 2,000th DEATH OF A U.S. SERVICEMEMBER
IN IRAQ

Greens press for immediate withdrawal and call for
political action to remove pro-war politicians;
Wisconsin Greens campaign for state referendum to
return U.S. troops.


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Parties across the U.S. are
marking the announcement that 2,000 members of the
U.S. Armed Forces have been killed in Iraq, with
vigils, protest rallies against the continued
occupation, and other events.

"We're remembering the 2,000 dead American troops,
thousands more injured, and also the tens of thousands
of Iraqi civilians killed as a result of the U.S.
invasion and occupation," said Rebecca Rotzler,
co-chair of the Green Party of the United States,
co-chair of the party's Peace Action Committee, and
Deputy Mayor of New Paltz, New York.  "'Occupation'
has become a euphemism for continued war."

Greens noted that the number of estimated civilian
Iraqi casualties -- uncounted by the U.S. Department
of Defense -- ranges from 24,000 to more than 100,000,
and that U.S. military deaths which occur outsidea a
war zone from injuries sustained within a war zone are
not counted within the Defense Department's 2,000
figure.

Green Party leaders emphasized the need for concerted
political action to follow up on the September 24
protests in Washington, D.C. and other cities against
the war.

"Unless Americans appalled by the direction of our
country take steps to remove the Bush Administration
and the Republicans and Democrats who supported the
war, the September 24 demos will have limited effect,"
said Steve Kramer, co-chair of the Green Party.

In Wisconsin, Greens have initiated a ballot
referendum which, if approved by voters in an April
2006 election, will authorize the state to demand the
complete and immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The Green Party called for the impeachment of
President Bush in July, 2003, citing the numerous
deceptions and violations of U.S. constitutional and
international law behind the invasion.  The party has
also strongly criticized Democrats and Republicans who
surrendered Congress's constitutionally mandated power
to declare war to President Bush, and has condemned
the requests from some Democratic leaders to increase
troop numbers, especially Sen. Hillary Clinton's
(N.Y.) call for 80,000 more troops.

In calling for a White House order to begin the
withdrawal of U.S. troops immediately, the Green Party
has rejected the position of Democrats who ask for a
plan to withdraw troops by the end of 2006.

"Every day the occupation is prolonged, more American
troops and Iraqi civilians will be killed and maimed,
we're no closer to stability in Iraq, and are possibly
nearer to a civil war there," said Jody Grage Haug,
Green Party co-chair and GPAX member.  "The thousands
of dead soldiers and civilians, nonexistent WMDs,
forged evidence of an Iraqi nuclear threat
(highlighted by the Plame scandal), torture in Abu
Ghraib, and realization that a radical political
ideology has motivated a massive abuse of power have
resulted in majority opposition to the war, according
to recent polls."

"On this sad day, we also remember the servicemembers
who are still risking their lives in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and we remember the families who have
lost loved ones and who fear news of a lost loved one.
 And we thank people like Cindy Sheehan and all the
veterans, families of fallen soldiers, and
organizations supporting them for calling America back
to sanity," added Marc Sanson, party co-chair.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX) 
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/

Wisconsin Green Party: Referendum on Troop Withdrawal
http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org/iraqreferendum

American Friends Service Committee: Wage Peace
Campaign
http://www.afsc.org/2000/

Gold Star Families For Peace
http://www.GSFP.org

Iraq Veterans Against the War
http://www.ivaw.net/

Military Families Speak Out
http://www.mfso.org