Speakers: Raed Jarrar, AFSC and Peace Action; Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
Join our call to find out from Raed Jarrar and Phyllis Bennis the facts and fiction surrounding US troop “withdrawal” from Iraq. Also, scroll down to see what you can do to continue pressure for a total US military withdrawal.
When MSNBC proudly broadcast their exclusive report on the early departure of the “last remaining” US combat troops from Iraq, many across the country were not as elated by the news as the reporter. With 50,000 well-armed troops remaining, 75,000 contractors, the largest US Embassy on the planet, US-built bases throughout the country, and violence on the rise many are feeling that this is not the end of our blood and treasure drain in Iraq.
While the Peace Movement can be proud of our efforts to move the country faster toward a complete end to US military involvement in Iraq, our work is far from over. We still have thousands of Americans inside Iraq supporting a government that is corrupt and unpopular. It’s time to let the Iraqis handle their own affairs. Let them rebuild their country and safely return millions of their citizens back home. Our interference in Iraq’s internal affairs has harmed too many and we are bound to do more damage if we stay.
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Join us for an enlightening call this Wed. Find out from Raed Jarrar what is going on inside Iraq and between the US and the Maliki Governments. Phyllis Bennis will discuss what lies ahead for the Obama Administration and implications for the Peace Movement.
Raed Jarrar is an Iraqi-born architect, blogger, and political advocate resident in the U.S. Capital Washington, DC. He is currently the Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee, and a Senior Fellow at Peace Action. Read more about Raed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raed_Jarrar
Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and directs the New Internationalism Project challenging the drive towards U.S. empire, focusing particularly on ending the U.S. wars and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and supporting an end to Israeli occupation and apartheid policies in Palestine. Link here for more info: http://www.ips-dc.org/staff/phyllis
What YOU can do: UFPJ Member Groups across the country are following CODEPINK’s lead by taking action to highlight the true cost of the Iraq War in the face of the combat troop withdrawal. Join CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, US Labor Against the War, IPS and many others by signing the Iraq Debacle petition to Obama and Congress! (http://bit.ly/aZupAS). Send your own letter to the media (http://bit.ly/9ffeVy) and contribute to the counter-spin media strategy (http://bit.ly/c38vCz)! Check out the calendar of national actions here (http://bit.ly/9BSdDY).