[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Green Party welcomes news of troop withdrawal from Iraq, urges further steps for peace

[Green Party of California Updates]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, December 19, 2011

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org


Green Party welcomes news of troop withdrawal from Iraq, urges further steps
for peace


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders welcomed the news of the withdrawal of
US troops from Iraq by the end of December, calling the presidential order
more than eight years overdue.  Greens urged President Obama to let the troops
come home to be with their families for the holiday, rather than stationed or
redeployed elsewhere.

"We're glad that President Obama is calling all US military personnel home
from Iraq and has ignored Republican demands to prolong the occupation.  The
President is honoring a binding Status of Forces Agreement between the United
States and Iraq that President Bush signed.  The US must make every effort now
to help US troops return to their civilian lives, especially those who've been
wounded or have suffered psychological trauma because of the war.  We owe the
troops a great debt and an apology for sending them to fight in a war based on
deception and cooked intelligence," said Carl Romanelli, Pennsylvania Green
and member of the party's International Committee
(http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).

Greens noted that the withdrawal is the result of the Iraqi government's
insistence and that the Obama Administration was initially reluctant to comply
with the agreement
(http://www.nationaljournal.com/u-s-troop-withdrawal-motivated-by-iraqi-insistence-not-u-s-choice-20111021).

The Green Party opposed the invasion of Iraq since its inception in March 2003
and demanded withdrawal afterwards.  Greens blamed both Democrats and
Republicans for transferring congressional war powers to the White House in
Oct. 2002 despite uncertainty about WMD allegations (later revealed to have
been the product of manipulated intelligence), forged evidence of nuclear
weaponry, and implausible claims of cooperation between Saddam Hussein and
Al-Qaeda.

Greens participated in protests throughout the US against the Iraq War, and --
unlike many Democrats who claimed to oppose the war -- continued to protest
after President Obama's election.

The Green Party called on President Obama to take further steps to ensure peace:

• The Obama Administration must also withdraw remaining personnel from private
US security firms, whose presence in Iraq would constitute a low-level
military occupation. These include thousands of State Department security
contractors, despite the abuses and fraud in Iraq by firms like KBR and Xe
(formerly Blackwater), which are not subject to the same restrictions and
public scrutiny as US  military personnel.  (See "Out of Iraq: What Will the
War Service Industry Do Now?" by Dina Rasor, Truthout, Oct. 26,
http://www.truth-out.org/out-iraq-what-will-war-service-industry-do-now/1319637699)

• The US owes Iraq billions of dollars in reparations for the loss of hundreds
of thousands of civilian lives, many more wounded and displaced, and
destruction of the country's infrastruction in an unnecessary war.

• The US should cease pressing Iraq to transfer control over much of the
country's oil resources to US and UK energy companies, such as the hydrocarbon
law still stalled in the Iraqi Parliament.  The Iraqi people have consistently
opposed the deal and prefer that their country's oil be developed and produced
by Iraqi state-owned companies.

• The Obama Administration must withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, end air
strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, and other countries, and
cancel funding for Israel's military assaults on Palestinians.  The continuing
US military action in these countries remains a threat to peace in the region.

• Congress must reduce the bloated military budget and reject the
Bush-Cheney-Obama policy of warfare for preemptive and aggressive purposes,
such as ousting other heads of state.  The cost of the Iraq War for the US has
surpassed three trillion dollars, an economic loss that aggravated the current
economic crisis.  The human cost includes nearly 4,500 lost American lives and
over 32,000 seriously wounded.  (More information: Costs of War,
http://costsofwar.org)


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191
• Green candidate database and campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Ballot Access Page http://www.gp.org/ballotstatus
• Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• Video Page http://www.gp.org/video/index.php
• Green Papers http://www.greenpapers.net

2012 Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention
July 12-15, 2012 in Baltimore, Md.
http://www.gpconvention2012.com

Occupy America: Voices of Green Party Activists
http://www.gp.org/ows

Press conferences, forums, and other events at the Green Party's 2011 Annual
National Meeting in Alfred, NY, broadcast and archived on the Green Party's
Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
• 2011 Annual National Meeting http://nygreenfest.org

Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the
United States (Summer 2011 issue now online)
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog


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