Petition

An Open Letter from the American People to President Bush and Members of Congress:

End the Quagmire in Iraq: Change Course—Change the Team

The invasion and occupation of Iraq—in defiance of our international allies—has led our country into a quagmire.

From the outset, we have been deceived and manipulated:

• The president and his defense team warned of Iraq’s massive arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. There were no such arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.
• We were told that Saddam Hussein would give such weapons to Al Qaeda terrorists. There is no evidence of any significant link between Hussein and Al Qaeda.
• We were told that getting rid of Hussein was in response to the 9/11 attacks. Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 attacks.
• We were assured that American soldiers would be greeted with flowers and democracy would blossom in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth.
• We were told that the war would strike a blow against terrorism. In fact the US occupation is spawning new terrorists, galvanized by our presence and moving freely into this lawless, broken country.

The US occupation has left American soldiers unprepared and vulnerable, the country degenerating into chaos and the Iraqi people embittered and hostile. Now, the president is asking Congress for a staggering $87 billion blank check to fund more of the same.

We say not so fast—not without changing course and changing the team that failed our soldiers and led us into a quagmire. We call on Congress to condition any additional funding for US policy in Iraq on:

1. The dismissal of the Bush administration team responsible for the quagmire in Iraq - starting with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld; and
2. Ending the US military occupation of Iraq by immediately transferring full authority to the United Nations for the transition of the country to a truly representative government.