Bush claims he ordered the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq because he was concerned about the people of the United States and Iraq.
U.S. soldiers and Iraqis tell a different story.
U.S. soldiers
-- At least 275,000 veterans are homeless on any given night; at least 500,000 are homeless at some point in the course of a year. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) helps only 10%, thus at least 460,000 are homeless and without help each year. (1)
-- As of January, 2003, at least 236,000 veterans had asked to see doctors in the VA health system and had been put on a waiting list of six months or more, as the VA is understaffed. Bush has proposed cuts in funds to the VA that would exclude vets making more than $26,000 from care and force others to pay $250 a year. (2)
-- At least 206,861 Gulf War veterans have filed claims for disability compensation; at least 159,238 of these claims have been granted. (3) U.S. government authorities are now doing research on the origins of Gulf War Syndrome, characterized by blurred vision, shakiness, difficulty speaking, dizziness, memory loss, sleeplessness, chronic fatigue, joint and muscle pain, rashes. (4) Possible causes include U.S. armed forces' use of certain vaccines, U.S. armed forces use of depleted uranium weapons, exposure to toxic substances from oil well fires, exposure to chemical or biological weapons and/or local infectious diseases. Veterans with Gulf War Syndrome report their spouses and children also suffer from symptoms and are 2 to 3 times more likely to report children with birth defects. (5)
-- U.S. armed forces authorities have failed to provide at least 40,000 U.S. soldiers now in Iraq with Kevlar body armor; in some cases their families are trying to raise money for this life-saving equipment. Bush and his supporters proposed to cut combat pay to U.S. soldiers in Iraq by $75 a month and "separation allowances" to their families by $150 a month. Until soldiers, their families and others protested, U.S. authorities charged soldiers wounded in Iraq and now in U.S. hospitals $8 a day for food. They called for cutting $3 billion from public funds to VA hospitals. While Bush asked for, and got, $87 billion to finance continued war on and occupation of Iraq, he opposed adding $1.3 billion for soldiers' healthcare and hospitals. (6)
-- Nearly 10,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed or injured in the war on Iraq. At least 424 have been killed in combat; at least 2,401 have been injured in combat (these injuries have included third-degree burns over most of their bodies and injuries demanding amputations of limbs); 2,464 have suffered non-combat injuries; 4,397 have been evacuated to hospitals in Germany (290 for urological problems resulting from drinking high-mineral bottled water; 299 for heart problems; 249 for gastrointestinal problems; 504 for psychiatric problems). (7)
Iraqis
-- 70% of Iraqi workers are now unemployed. U.S. authorities have frozen wages for most Iraqi workers at $60 a month, eliminating subsidies for food and housing they once received, bonuses and profit-sharing. While U.S. authorities have set aside $87 billion for continued war on and occupation of Iraq, little of this will go to Iraqi workers. Much of it will go to corporate backers of the Bush administration, like Halliburton and Bechtel, through no-bid contracts to "rebuild Iraq." U.S. authorities in Iraq continue to enforce Saddam Hussein's 1989 decree prohibiting unions and collective bargaining in the public sector and publicly-owned enterprises where most Iraqis work. U.S. authorities have also issued a decree allowing 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi enterprises. (8)
-- Dozens, perhaps hundreds or thousands of Iraqis continue to die every day as a result of U.S. armed forces' destruction of their power, water, sewage and healthcare systems, and U.S. attacks on people in their streets and in their homes.
As long as the people of the United States allow their human and material resources to be used to kill people in other countries and to take their land, oil and other natural resources, there will never be peace or prosperity for the majority of people in the United States or anywhere else.
The road forward for the majority of people in the United States and Iraq lies in getting all U.S. forces out of Iraq now.
Working class women of all ethnic groups and nationalities, working class men, students, honest people of all classes, are going to have to lead this fight by building a grassroots movement in their neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, unions and community organizations.
It's impossible to rely on the Republicans or the Democrats to lead this fight. Only one Democrat voted against giving Bush a blank check to make "war on terrorism." Only 24 Senators voted against invading Iraq. Only 9 Senators voted against allocating $87 billion to continue Bush's war on Iraq. While more Democratic Party Congresspeople voted against the $87 billion, they continue to campaign and vote for Senators who voted for it.
The future lies in the hands of the people at the bottom, not the people at the top.
Bring the troops home now!
(1) Jim Carnes, Ohio State Senator. "Honoring our nation's heroes all year," Coshocton Tribune, May 30, 2003. http://www.coshoctontribune.com/news/stories/20030530/opinion/392254.html.
(2) Veterans for Peace. www.veteransforpeace.org.
(3) Veterans Benefit Administration. Office of Performance Analysis and Integrity, Data and Info Services. May 2002 Gulf War Veterans Information System Briefing for National Gulf War Resource Center. http://www.ngwrc.org/pdf/GWVISreportSeptember2002.pdf.
(4) Gulf War Veteran Resource Pages. http://www.gulfweb.org/.
(5) Gulf War Syndrome Among Veterans. www.uwec.edu/grossmzc/hammelee.html.
(6) Dave Lindorff. "Dishonorable Discharge," In These Times, November 26, 2003. http://progressivetrail.org/articles/031201Lindorff.shtml.
(7) Roger Roy. "Toll on U.S. troops in Iraq grows …," The Orlando Sentinel, November 28, 2003. http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/7368173.htm.
(8) Why a campaign for labor rights in Iraq?" U.S. Labor Against the War. www.uslaboragainstwar.org
Margaret Guttshall ~ December, 2003. q