[A-List] UAW: bring our troops home

[Waistline2@xxxxxxx]

International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural  Implement 
Workers of America â UAW 
 
Ron Gettelfinger, President Elizabeth Bunn, Secretary-Treasurer Vice  
Presidents: General Holiefield â Bob King â Cal Rapson â Jimmy Settles â Terry  
Thurman 
 
January 12, 2007 
 
Dear Representative/Senator: 
 
During the coming weeks Congress will be considering a number of measures  
relating to President Bush's plan to expand the number of U.S. troop in Iraq.  
The UAW strongly opposes this proposed escalation of U.S. involvement in Iraq.  
We urge you to support measures that will redeploy and bring U.S. troops 
home. 
 
President Bush has belatedly admitted that his policies in Iraq have not  
been working. The reason, as is now plainly evident, is that Iraq is embroiled  
in a civil war between rival ethnic and religious factions. The U.S. cannot  
solve this internal civil war. Only Iraq's leaders can do this, through  
politically negotiated agreements between the rival factions. Increasing  American 
troops only postpones the day when Iraq's leaders will have to assume  
responsibility for the future of their own country. 
 
The UAW applauds the heroism and dedication of the U.S. troops who have  
performed so magnificently in Iraq. We believe they should continue to receive  
whatever funding and support is necessary to protect them. 
 
But we also believe it is fundamentally wrong to send more U.S. troops into  
harm's way by placing them in the midst of the sectarian conflict in Iraq. It 
is  wrong to send more troops into battle based on a plan that cannot solve 
this  internal civil war. 
 
In our judgment, it is particularly noteworthy that President Bush's troop  
surge plan ignores the advice and recommendations from many leading U.S.  
military commanders, as well as the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. These military  
leaders and respected former government officials all recognize that the troop  
surge plan will not work. Instead, it will only serve to inflame the conflict 
in  Iraq and inflict even greater casualties on American troops. Moreover, it 
will  put further unwise and unacceptable strains on our nation's military 
forces, and  detract from our ability to combat terrorism and strengthen our 
homeland  security. 
 
As we now know, President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was  
based on erroneous assertions that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction  
that were a threat to the United States. Under a banner trumpeting "Mission  
Accomplished," President Bush subsequently announced on May 1, 2003 that major  
combat operations had ceased in Iraq. Now, after almost four more years of  
conflict, over 
25,000 brave American soldiers have been killed or wounded.  Yet President 
Bush is now proposing to compound his mistaken policies by further  escalating 
U.S. military involvement in Iraq. 
 
The UAW urges Congress to exercise its constitutional responsibilities by  
rejecting this mistaken and counterproductive response to the situation in Iraq. 
 Instead, we urge you to support measures that will decrease U.S. military  
involvement in Iraq and bring our troops home. 
 
Thank you for considering our views on this critically important national  
issue. 
 
Sincerely, Alan Reuther Legislative Director