An Open Letter to Congress

18

Ladies and Gentlemen:

In case you haven’t noticed our country is in crisis. We have a moral crisis unlike any in the history of this nation. Since March 20, 2003 the United States has killed 650,000 Iraqi civilians. This is the number that was accepted at the Congressional Hearing of December 11, 2006. In addition to the 650,000, we must add the 500,000 children who perished because of the illegal US blockade. Also, it must be pointed out that many died in the bombings that started in 1991 and continue today. Some estimate the total number of Iraqi civilian deaths at more than 2 million.

It is indisputable that the number of killed Iraqis is more than one million. This is not "collateral damage." This is a slaughter reminiscent of another time in history.

Ladies and gentlemen, the blood of each of these human beings is on your hands. It may be politically convenient to place all of the blame on the President, but I remind you that only the Congress has the power to declare war. Only the Congress has the power to fund the war. The President has no planes, no bombs, and no tanks. Only the Congress has the power to provide the weapons that have been used in Iraq. If George Bush had to fight a war, his only weapon might be the chain saw that he normally uses on the ranch.

The argument that funding must continue in order to "protect" the troops is a false one. The only way to stop the killing is to order an immediate withdrawal of all troops and US civilian contractors. A complete withdrawal is needed, not a redeployment. Redeployment is just a way of saying to the world, "We won’t kill you today, but our guns are near-by, loaded, and ready to fire."

The complete withdrawal from Iraq should just be the first step in a new US foreign policy. The total withdrawal of all military troops on foreign soil should be the next step. Chalmers Johnson states that the US has 6000 bases in 130 countries. The methods used by the US to acquire some of these bases exposes the US to Charges of genocide. Please review the history of Diego Garcia. [1]

The Iraqi people have been the victims of this illegal war. Many who have died are women, children and the elderly. I urge you to look at the war photos as collected by Robert Fisk’s web-site. [2]

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congress, that is what you have done. You have blown the heads off children. To you, I say, "Shame." You have brought shame not only on yourselves, but on all of us – taxpayers, voters, and ordinary US citizens. The whole world knows what you and we have done. The whole world is watching to see what you and we will do next.

Rosemarie Jackowski

Notes:

[1]. http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/
full_article/jackowski08012004/

[2]. http://www.robertfisk.com/iraqiwarvictims_mar2003.htm