CPTnet
17 December 2005
IRAQ URGENT ACTION: Contact President Bush before his speech regarding
situation in Iraq
Background: President Bush will be making a rare address from the Oval
Office this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to address the nation
about how the U.S. war effort should proceed in Iraq.
Based on CPT's on-the-ground work in Iraq, the Iraq team would like the
President to know what team members have observed and the appropriate steps
they and the CPT constituency think he should take toward ending violence
and human rights abuses in Iraq.
The Iraq team has observed the following with respect to the presence of
U.S. and Multinational Forces in Iraq:
· Loss of faith and trust in the United States government by both
Iraqis and Americans
· Absence of security
· Iraqi and American injuries and deaths
· Lack of basic services
· Limited reconstruction
· Continued bombing of civilians
· Kidnapping, torture and extrajudicial deaths
· Continued illegal detentions
· Continued mass arrests, house raids and theft of personal
property
· Alienation of Iraqi people and of the Muslim world
· Growing number of people in the international community who
perceive the United States as the enemy because of our policies and actions
in Iraq
Please e-mail President George W. Bush at comments@whitehouse.gov and Vice
President Richard Cheney at vice_president@whitehouse.gov
Please copy your members of congress by going to
http://capwiz.com/fconl/home and entering your zip code.
For those of you outside the U.S., please e-mail your U.S. embassy
(http://usembassy.state.gov/)
The following is a sample of text you might use:
"Based on reports from Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, I know that you
have failed in your stated goals of bringing peace and true democracy to
Iraq. In light of your upcoming speech Sunday, December 18, I make the
following recommendations:
1. Clearly state your intention to withdraw all U.S. troops and military
bases promptly
2. Recognize the human rights of all people of Iraq by
· Withdrawing U.S. troops from urban areas immediately
· Stopping U.S. bombing
· Providing sufficient funds to the Iraqi people to rebuild basic
infrastructure
· Ending illegal detentions and torture in U.S. detention facilities
both in Iraq and in locations outside Iraq
· Ensuring a fair and speedy judicial process for detainees held in
U.S. facilities
· Using diplomatic means to pressure the Iraqi government to take
corresponding actions regarding detainees held in Iraqi detention facilities
· Using diplomatic means to pressure the Iraqi Ministry of Interior
to end the use of government sponsored commando units and extrajudicial
killings
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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in
organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained,
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