We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, mark the August 31st partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq with the following evaluation and recommendations:
– The U.S. occupation of Iraq continues and the reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq can at best be called only a rebranded occupation.
– The U.S. military’s overthrow of the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein did not lead to a better life for Iraqis—just the opposite.
– The majority of the refugees and internally displaced persons created by the US intervention have been abandoned.
– Iraq still does not have a functioning government. Many months after the March 7 elections, there is still a political vacuum and violence that is killing roughly 300 civilians a month. There is no functioning democracy in place and little sign there will be one in the near future.
– The Iraq War has left a terrible toll on the U.S. troops.
– The war has drained our treasury.
– The U.S. officials who got us into this disastrous war on the basis of lies have not been held accountable.
– The war has led to the pillaging of Iraqi resources and institutionalization of corruption.
– The war has not made us more secure.
The Iraq Debacle: The Legacy of Seven Years of War