On May 1, 2003 President Bush, in a televised speech from an aircraft carrier announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. Now, more than four months later . . .

People are still dying and being wounded

To date Sept 2,2003, the casualty count for coalition  forces is  - 282 U.S. troops  (145 troops have been killed since May 1) and 44 soldiers from the United Kingdom. At least 6,000 Iraqi civilians died in the conflict, and 1,000 children, on UNICEF’s estimate, have been maimed or killed in the weeks of peace by ordnance. Extraction of media-reported civilian injuries from the Iraq Body Count database and archive of war reports provides evidence of at least 20,000 civilian injuries . 8,000 of these injuries were in the Baghdad area alone, suggesting that the full, countrywide picture, as with deaths, is yet to emerge. (www.iraqbodycount.org). The number of US battlefield casualties are increasing daily, with almost 10 American troops a day now being officially declared  “wounded in action“. “With no fanfare and almost no public notice, giant C-17 transport jets arrive virtually every night at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, on medical evacuation missions. Since the war began, more than 6,000 service members have been flown back to the United States. The number includes the 1,124 wounded in action, 301 who received non-hostile injuries in vehicle accidents and other mishaps, and thousands who became physically or mentally ill”. (1)

Basic Services and humanitarian relief are lacking and aid workers are leaving

The already deteriorated water and sanitation system in Iraq collapsed as a result of this latest war. Sewage treatment facilities are not operating. .Levels of malnutrition and preventable disease among children are dramatically increasing according to UNICEF. Electricity has not been restored throughout the country. According to the Guardian, four months after the war officially ended power cuts are more frequent not less.(2) After the bombing of UN headquarters in eastern Baghdad, many UN staff have left, the Red Cross announced it would drastically reduce its staffing. Oxfam has left Iraq. (2)

Occupation and reconstruction costs are rising

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told the Senate the occupation's “burn rate” runs about $3.9 billion per month. (3) US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer has estimated rebuilding costs at $100 million. “The spiralling cost of involvement in Iraq will put the US in the red by almost half a trillion dollars next year, according to a non-partisan government report this week. The Congressional Budget Office figures mark a new record in dollar terms and suggest a near-$1.4 trillion deficit in the 10 years to 2013 where a surplus of $891billion had been previously foreseen.” (4)

U.S. Corporations are Profiting

Through multi-billion-dollar “reconstruction” contracts, a handful of well-connected, mostly U.S. corporations –many with scandal-ridden business records – are making hundreds of millions in war profits -Bechtel, Halliburton, and MCI to name a few. 

The Administration’s original reasons for war are collapsing (See sources 5,6,7)

• No WMD have been found despite extensive searches by US  weapons teams.
• The Iraqi regime, which Bush portrayed as an imminent threat, was  quickly overrun, and no WMD were used against US troops.
• Forged documents were used as evidence of Iraq’s nuclear program.Mobile trailers Bush called “biological laboratories” were determined by British experts to be incapable of producing biological weapons.
• National intelligence reports from as far back as last October cast doubt on the Iraq-Al Qaeda connection. Intelligence agents now say the Bush administration misused and distorted their reports  on Iraqi weapons capabilities

Sources
1.Loeb, Vernon“Number of Wounded in Action on Rise”, Washington Post (9/2/03)
2. McCartthy, Rory.“Even the optimists are losing heart as Iraq goes from bad to worse” ,The Guardian (8/27/03)
3.”Iraq ‘needs tens of billions’”, BBC News (8/27/03)
4.  Slevin, Peter, “Countries Resist Aid to Iraq”, Washington Post (9/2/03)
5. General admits chemical weapons intelligence was wrong, The Guardian (5/31/03, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,967491,00.html).
6. White House ‘lied about Saddam threat’, The Guardian (7/10/03, http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,995188,00.html).
7. Diplomat: US knew uranium report was false, CNN (7/6/03, http://edition.cnn.)

So where do we go from here?
Ethical Next Steps In Iraq and at Home

[Ethical Next steps found below are drawn primarily from Voices in the Wilderness       www.nonviolence.org/vitw/]

Meet Immediate Humanitarian Needs
We ask for compliance by the U.S. with the Geneva Conventions requiring that they, as the occupying force, meet the immediate humanitarian needs of Iraqis. We assert that the U.S. should then step aside to allow humanitarian relief to be done by the UN and qualified NGOs working with Iraqis.

End Occupation
Replace US/UK occupation forces by an independent, international peacekeeping presence, working in cooperation with the Iraqi people and independent NGOs to stabilize the country and quickly establish a legitimate Iraqi government, subject to the needs and interests of Iraqis, not to the political and economic interests of the U.S.
For more info, see www.occupationwatch.org  and
Military Families Speak Out    www.mfso.org

Recognize that Iraq’s Natural, Cultural, and Economic Resources Belong to Iraqis.
Endorse the Call to Stop War Profiteers   

We call on Congress to immediately convene hearings to investigate the activities and influence of the war profiteeers: After World War I. Senator Gerald Nye launched the Munitions Investigating Committee in 1934 to examine the influence of arms manufacturers during the war. We call on Congress to investigate war contractors with undue political influence.
We call on Congress to curb war profiteering through an “excess profits tax”:During the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, the U.S. government instituted an “excess profits tax” to ensure companies didn’t profit off death and destruction. The Berkley city council recently passed a resolution urging Congress “to introduce legislation calling for a high percentage tax on all excess profits on every contract dealing with U.S. military action in Iraq and/or the ‘rebuilding’ of Iraq.”
We call for an end to the corporate takeover and selling off of Iraq’s industries and resources, and demand that they be returned immediately to the Iraqi people. The wealth of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq-not multinational corporations. Control of Iraq and its resources must be returned to the people.
 

Clean up all Cluster Bombs, DU, etc
Clean-up of all cluster bombs, mines and depleted uranium used in Iraq and an end to the development, production, distribution or use of these weapons by any country. We hold US/UK weapons companies accountable to Iraqis and demand compensation for damages done.

Pay Reparations
Payment of reparations from the U.S. and UK to families of Iraqi civilians killed over the last 13 years of military actions and economic sanctions.

Cancel Debt
Cancellation of debt and compensation demands from the 1991 Gulf War. The Iraqi civilian population should not be forced to pay for the debts accrued by the Ba’ath regime.

Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil
Over the last three decades our dependence on foreign oil has actually increased from 35 to over 50 percent. Enough already! Learn about the exciting Apollo Project, a joint venture of Institute for America's Future,Center on Wisconsin Strategy,Common Assets Defense Fund,Americans for Energy Freedom, and Carol/Trevelyan Strategy Group. It is designed to  free us from our over-reliance on Middle East oil, by increasing the diversity, efficiency, and security  of our energy system. According to the website, “For just a fraction of President Bush's $790 billion in tax cuts, we can drastically cut our reliance on oil imports, increase the use of clean renewable energy, retrofit our homes and  factories to use less energy, and rebuild the infrastructure of our cities so we can be more productive. See www.apolloalliance.org.