ckaihatsu
24th December 2011, 03:13
Solidarity message from USLAW to Iraqi Unions
Today USLAW sent this solidarity statement to the unions in Iraq.
Dear Comrades in the Iraqi Labor Movement:
U.S. Labor Against the War recognizes that the end to formal U.S. military occupation of Iraq does not end continuing U.S. interference in the internal affairs of Iraq. The Maliki regime has given permission to the U.S. to continue to operate unarmed Predator drones from Iraqi bases, purportedly to provide the Turkish government with intelligence on the activities of PKK fighters operating in the mountains of Iraq. These can be armed and redeployed elsewhere in Iraq whenever the U.S. desires.
Many thousands of private mercenary security forces will remain and the U.S. government has constructed the largest embassy in the world to manage and direct its continuing interference in Iraqi affairs. It may redeploy many of the departing troops to bases in Kuwait and other areas in the region, positioned to reenter Iraq on short notice if U.S. interests appear to be threatened.
The Maliki regime is a political creation of the U.S. occupation, not a legitimate expression of the democratic will of the Iraqi people. Already parties that had been cobbled together to provide Maliki with a majority in Parliament have abandoned him as he aggravates sectarian tensions for partisan advantage. As a predictable outcome of the U.S. divide and conquer policies that pitted religious, sectarian, ethnic and regional interests against one another, Iraq will now likely see escalating sectarian conflict. The responsibility for this belongs first and foremost to the U.S. government.
Predatory multinational corporations have not abandoned their plans to gain control over Iraq's abundant oil and gas reserves. Therefore, the struggle by the Iraqi people to regain full sovereignty over the nation's natural resources will continue because the neo-liberal scheme to privatize the Iraqi economy has not been abandoned.
The struggle to establish human and labor rights will continue because under U.S. occupation, those rights were a fiction, and were and continue to be regularly violated. The Iraqi government has ignored the country's own constitution, which calls for the adoption of a basic labor rights law that conforms to international standards, and continues to enforce the 1987 antiunion decree of the dictatorship, adding even more repressive edicts in an effort to cripple the Iraqi labor movement and suppress the movement for true democratic rights. In this the U.S. and Maliki regime will fail because the Iraqi labor movement will not forfeit its rights. The will of the Iraqi people for a true democracy and Iraqi sovereignty will prove stronger than the schemes of a corrupt regime that serves as a willing pawn for U.S. interests.
The U.S. debt to Iraqis will not be paid by the withdrawal of U.S. military forces. We consider it our honor and duty to stand in solidarity with you, to hold our government to account, to demand that our government abandon its interference in the internal affairs of Iraq, to struggle in support of your national sovereignty and human and labor rights, and to demand that reparations without strings be paid for the horrific damage inflicted on Iraq and its people.
The U.S. military was driven from Iraq by the iron resolve of the Iraqi people to be free of all foreign domination, supported by the solidarity of U.S. and other antiwar forces around the world which finally made it politically untenable for the occupation to continue. The work of U.S. Labor Against the War, founded nine years ago in January in response to the threat of the illegal U.S. invasion, does not end with the departure of U.S. troops. The bonds of solidarity USLAW forged with the Iraqi labor movement through nine years of struggle will continue.
We extend to you and the courageous labor movement and working people of Iraq our heartfelt wishes for peace, democracy, justice, security and sovereignty in the new year.
Yours in solidarity and struggle,
USLAW Co-convenors: Kathy Black, Gene Bruskin, Bob Muehlenkamp, Brooks Sunkett, Nancy Wohlforth, Michael Zweig
Staff: National Coordinator Michael Eisenscher, National Organizer Tom Gogan, Administrative Coordinator Adrienne Nicosia
On behalf of the Steering Committee and 195 labor organizations affiliated with U.S. Labor Against the War
Help USLAW meet its year end challenge to raise
$10,000
Join the 100 X $100 campaign
Be one of 100 people to contribute $100 yourself or collect $100 in contributions for USLAW from others
Whatever you can afford will bring us that much closer to the goal.
We're on our way.
With your help we'll reach the goal!
Make checks payable to "USLAW" unless you intend to claim a tax deduction
(details below)
Send checks to:
USLAW
1718 M Street., NW, #153
Washington, DC 20036
If you contribute by check and want to claim a tax deduction, make the check payable to "USLAW/IPS". The Institute for Policy Studies/IPS is USLAW's non-profit fiscal agent. Donations to IPS qualify for a tax deduction to the extent permitted by law, but the value of your donation is reduced by additional administrative fees. If you don't need the deduction, making your check payable to USLAW will assure USLAW receives the full value of your contribution.
This is a low-volume email list operated by
US Labor Against the War
1718 M St, NW #153
Washington DC 20036
202-521-5265
Unsubscribe (never receive ANY emails from USLAW)
Manage profile (change preferences, unsubscribe from other USLAW lists, update email address, etc...)
Contact USLAW
Have you visited the USLAW website recently? www.uslaboragainstwar.org Check it out for news, information and resources for labor's antiwar movement. See the latest news about Iraq's labor movement, the U.S. military occupation and the movement that seeks to end it. Learn more about USLAW and what you can do to bring all U.S. troops and contractors rapidly home.
Today USLAW sent this solidarity statement to the unions in Iraq.
Dear Comrades in the Iraqi Labor Movement:
U.S. Labor Against the War recognizes that the end to formal U.S. military occupation of Iraq does not end continuing U.S. interference in the internal affairs of Iraq. The Maliki regime has given permission to the U.S. to continue to operate unarmed Predator drones from Iraqi bases, purportedly to provide the Turkish government with intelligence on the activities of PKK fighters operating in the mountains of Iraq. These can be armed and redeployed elsewhere in Iraq whenever the U.S. desires.
Many thousands of private mercenary security forces will remain and the U.S. government has constructed the largest embassy in the world to manage and direct its continuing interference in Iraqi affairs. It may redeploy many of the departing troops to bases in Kuwait and other areas in the region, positioned to reenter Iraq on short notice if U.S. interests appear to be threatened.
The Maliki regime is a political creation of the U.S. occupation, not a legitimate expression of the democratic will of the Iraqi people. Already parties that had been cobbled together to provide Maliki with a majority in Parliament have abandoned him as he aggravates sectarian tensions for partisan advantage. As a predictable outcome of the U.S. divide and conquer policies that pitted religious, sectarian, ethnic and regional interests against one another, Iraq will now likely see escalating sectarian conflict. The responsibility for this belongs first and foremost to the U.S. government.
Predatory multinational corporations have not abandoned their plans to gain control over Iraq's abundant oil and gas reserves. Therefore, the struggle by the Iraqi people to regain full sovereignty over the nation's natural resources will continue because the neo-liberal scheme to privatize the Iraqi economy has not been abandoned.
The struggle to establish human and labor rights will continue because under U.S. occupation, those rights were a fiction, and were and continue to be regularly violated. The Iraqi government has ignored the country's own constitution, which calls for the adoption of a basic labor rights law that conforms to international standards, and continues to enforce the 1987 antiunion decree of the dictatorship, adding even more repressive edicts in an effort to cripple the Iraqi labor movement and suppress the movement for true democratic rights. In this the U.S. and Maliki regime will fail because the Iraqi labor movement will not forfeit its rights. The will of the Iraqi people for a true democracy and Iraqi sovereignty will prove stronger than the schemes of a corrupt regime that serves as a willing pawn for U.S. interests.
The U.S. debt to Iraqis will not be paid by the withdrawal of U.S. military forces. We consider it our honor and duty to stand in solidarity with you, to hold our government to account, to demand that our government abandon its interference in the internal affairs of Iraq, to struggle in support of your national sovereignty and human and labor rights, and to demand that reparations without strings be paid for the horrific damage inflicted on Iraq and its people.
The U.S. military was driven from Iraq by the iron resolve of the Iraqi people to be free of all foreign domination, supported by the solidarity of U.S. and other antiwar forces around the world which finally made it politically untenable for the occupation to continue. The work of U.S. Labor Against the War, founded nine years ago in January in response to the threat of the illegal U.S. invasion, does not end with the departure of U.S. troops. The bonds of solidarity USLAW forged with the Iraqi labor movement through nine years of struggle will continue.
We extend to you and the courageous labor movement and working people of Iraq our heartfelt wishes for peace, democracy, justice, security and sovereignty in the new year.
Yours in solidarity and struggle,
USLAW Co-convenors: Kathy Black, Gene Bruskin, Bob Muehlenkamp, Brooks Sunkett, Nancy Wohlforth, Michael Zweig
Staff: National Coordinator Michael Eisenscher, National Organizer Tom Gogan, Administrative Coordinator Adrienne Nicosia
On behalf of the Steering Committee and 195 labor organizations affiliated with U.S. Labor Against the War
Help USLAW meet its year end challenge to raise
$10,000
Join the 100 X $100 campaign
Be one of 100 people to contribute $100 yourself or collect $100 in contributions for USLAW from others
Whatever you can afford will bring us that much closer to the goal.
We're on our way.
With your help we'll reach the goal!
Make checks payable to "USLAW" unless you intend to claim a tax deduction
(details below)
Send checks to:
USLAW
1718 M Street., NW, #153
Washington, DC 20036
If you contribute by check and want to claim a tax deduction, make the check payable to "USLAW/IPS". The Institute for Policy Studies/IPS is USLAW's non-profit fiscal agent. Donations to IPS qualify for a tax deduction to the extent permitted by law, but the value of your donation is reduced by additional administrative fees. If you don't need the deduction, making your check payable to USLAW will assure USLAW receives the full value of your contribution.
This is a low-volume email list operated by
US Labor Against the War
1718 M St, NW #153
Washington DC 20036
202-521-5265
Unsubscribe (never receive ANY emails from USLAW)
Manage profile (change preferences, unsubscribe from other USLAW lists, update email address, etc...)
Contact USLAW
Have you visited the USLAW website recently? www.uslaboragainstwar.org Check it out for news, information and resources for labor's antiwar movement. See the latest news about Iraq's labor movement, the U.S. military occupation and the movement that seeks to end it. Learn more about USLAW and what you can do to bring all U.S. troops and contractors rapidly home.