New Years Plea From Greens

New Years Plea From Greens: End the Occupation and Bring U.S. Troops Home

Greens charge pillage and profiteering in Iraq by
U.S. corporations, with Bush's aid -- and a
Commerce Dept. web site for profiteers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party began the New
Year with a renewed call for the U.S. to end the
occupation of Iraq, the rapid withdrawal of U.S.
troops, and transference of authority over
humanitarian relief, reconstruction, and
establishment of democracy in Iraq to the United
Nations.

"The Bush Administration's treatment of Iraq and
the Iraqi people is more consistent with conquest
than with liberation," said Starlene Rankin,
California Green and Lavender Green Caucus
delegate to the Green Party of the United States.
"President Bush's notion of democracy has little
to do with the power of people to govern their
own affairs; instead, it means opening up
resources, businesses, and markets to corporate
ownership, especially by U.S. firms."

The U.S. Department of Commerce has set up a web
site for U.S. businesses that wish to profit from
contracts for rebuilding Iraq, at
<http://www.export.gov/iraq/ .

Greens note that the takeover of Iraq's essential
services and industries by foreign corporations,
under occupation rules that enable 100% foreign
ownership of Iraqi banks, mines, and factories
and allow these firms to move 100% of their
profits out of Iraq, violates the Hague
regulations of 1907 (signed by the U.S.) and the
U.S. Army's code of war.

"There's a word for allowing foreign companies to
take over and profit from Iraqi resources and
business. The word is pillage," said J. Roy
Cannon, chair of the Peace Committee of the Green
Party of Delaware. "Halliburton's $61 million
overcharges for shipping refined petroleum
products into Iraq under a no-bid contract is the
tip of the iceberg. It's not enough to cancel
Halliburton's contract. We need to see an
independent investigation of war profiteering and
pillage in the wake of the U.S. invasion."

"There are several steps we can take to rein in
the war profiteers and pillagers," added Cannon.
"The U.S. must end contracts without competitive
bidding, and deny government contracts to
corporations with a history of corporate crime,
tax dodging, and off-shore accounts. And we need
to help Iraq get back on its own economic feet by
awarding reconstruction contracts to Iraqi
businesses."

Greens observed that President Bush's
democracy-building attempt in Afghanistan, after
the 2001 invasion in retaliation for 9/11, has
failed, with U.S. troops still present, daily
violence, warlords in charge of most of the
country, revival of the opium trade, and
widespread nostalgia for the Taliban.

Greens, in urging the quick return of U.S.
troops, cited recent news of high suicide rates
among military personnel in Iraq, the Pentagon's
refusal to allow American soldiers to leave the
armed services after their original contracts
expire, the growing number of troops killed and
injured, reports that U.S. troops have been
ordered to kill unarmed Iraqi demonstrators, and
increasing Iraqi resentment and frustration over
the occupation.

The Green Party of the United States, which
opposed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning,
endorsed a 'Uniting For Peace' resolution in May,
2003 and a resolution in July calling for all
U.S. troops to be returned stateside by the
winter holidays.

"Is Saddam Hussein's removal from power and
capture a good thing? Absolutely," said Greg
Gerritt, Rhode Island Green and secretary of the
national party. "But there are other questions,
too. Is the world better off with a lone
superpower that declares for itself the right to
invade other nations? Are we better off with the
U.N. Charter, Nuremburg principles, and U.S.
Constitution in tatters? Can we justify a war
based on deceit and cooked intelligence about
Iraq's 'imminent threat' to the U.S. and
collusion with al-Qaeda? When Saddam goes to
trial, will Donald Rumsfeld and all those U.S.
companies that provided Saddam with the weapons
for his atrocities be indicted too?"

MORE INFORMATION

The 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

"Iraq is not America's to sell"
By Naomi Klein, The Guardian, November 7, 2025
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1079575,00.html

"Army's Suicide Rate has Outside Experts Alarmed"
By Michael Martinez, The Baltimore Sun, December
30, 2003
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1230-01.htm

"Pentagon Stops Troops From Signing Off"
by David Usborne, The Independent, December 30,
2003
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1230-06.htm

"'Staggering': Medical Evacuations from Iraq Near
11,000"
By Mark Benjamin, UPI, December 19, 2025

Uniting For Peace Coalition
http://www.uniting-for-peace-net