Join new Committee to End Occupation of Iraq

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Please forward far and wide!

ANNOUNCING NEWLY FORMING COMMITTEE TO END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ



Please complete this coupon and e-mail it to bwitanek@xxxxxxx to
indicate your interest in supporting the newly forming Committee to
End the Occupation of Iraq.  Below is our proposed statement of
purpose.  The statement was drafted at a meeting on Sunday, June 22 in
Rocky Hill, New Jersey.  Please feel free to provide your feedback to
the statement as well.  We are most interested in working with you in
presenting a slide show and open discussion for your organization or
in your community on the topic of the US occupation of Iraq.  We look
forward to hearing back from you!



Name



Address


Phone



E-Mail



Organization:



I / We are interested in having a workshop on the topic of the US
occupation of Iraq.  (You don?t have to do this as an organization.
If you are able to reserve a room in your neighborhood we are
interested in working with you to make this happen.)



I / we am / are interested in becoming member(s) of the COMMITTEE TO
END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.



Our organization ________________________ has decided to affiliate
with COMMITTEE TO END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ





COMMITTEE TO END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE



After the Gulf War of 1991 and 12 years of sanctions and low intensity
bombing warfare against the nation and people of Iraq, the US has
executed a devastating invasion and takeover of Iraq through massive
bombardment and invasion by hundreds of thousands of US troops.  While
the US administration has declared the ?war? to be over, a brutal
occupation continues as the US attempts to impose its will and the
theft of Iraqi oil upon the Iraqi nation and people.  For its part,
the United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to approve
the US takeover Iraq and has actually given complete ownership of
Iraqi oil to the US.  US troops regularly shoot, injure and kill
dozens of unarmed demonstrators opposing the US presence, carry out
midnight raids in which people are killed and hundreds are arrested,
arbitrarily set up road blocks and barbed wire barriers and otherwise
harass and repress the entire population.  The national museum and
library, much of Iraqi infrastructure, hospitals and many communities
around Iraq have been looted.  Cholera and malnutrition are rampant
and radiation poison is resulting from looted nuclear laboratories.
The water and the electricity is not running throughout much of the
country and depleted uranium and unexploded ordinance litters the
entire nation.



For their part, the Iraqi people are opposing the occupation in many
ways: through massive marches, to sermons in Iraqi mosques, to
non-violent blockades of military processions to armed resistance.
Lately, US GIs have are being killed daily as the resistance mounts
and families of GIs and the GIs themselves are starting to call for an
end to their involvement in the occupation.



The Committee to End the Occupation of Iraq has come together to work
to build solidarity with the Iraqi people.  We believe the best way to
demonstrate our solidarity and support for the nation and people of
Iraq is by demanding that the US withdraw from the occupation of Iraq.
We are united by the following principles:

· Unconditional immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq

· Immediate cessation of all hostile acts of military and economic
character

· End of all foreign interference including by the United Nations in
the internal affairs of Iraq

· US reparations for all destruction of Iraqi infrastructure as a
result of the US military sanctions, bombing and invasions including
environmental remediation and clean up of depleted uranium and
dangerous unexploded ordinance that litters the entire nation.

· We support the unconditional sovereign rights of the Iraqi people to
determine their own future.



We plan a campaign of action around these principles and goals to be
inclusive of but not limited to the following:



We invite individuals and organizations to join the committee.  We
would like to present to your organizations a workshop including a
slide show and discussion on the occupation and our plans to oppose it
to your group or committee.  Afterwards, we invite your group to join
and become part of the committee.  Please complete the above coupon if
you are interested in helping organize a workshop on the US occupation
of Iraq for your organization.


We are planning a picnic for the weekend of July 19 ? 20 or 26 ? 27 in
the central NJ area, mark you calendars.  Fun will be had by all.


We are proposing a week of Iraq solidarity for September 19 ? 27, with
activities to include vigils, demonstrations, public leafleting,
educational events, etc.


We are planning to present workshops around the US occupation of Iraq
at as many high schools and colleges as possible during the month of
September.


We will be preparing an 8 page newspaper about the US occupation of
Iraq with information on the many aspects of the US occupation,  The
deadline for the newspaper will be August 23.  The goal is to have it
ready for September.


We will be setting up a new website.


The slide show presentation we are using will soon be available as a
power point presentation for a small donation.  We will provide text
for the slides as well.  The idea if for each of us to become ?expert?
enough to continue to present on the topic to audiences large and
small.  We can also make copies of the slide presentation for
traditional slide projectors as well.