End the US-UK Occupation of Iraq! : QC IMC

On the first anniversary of the US-led war against Iraq, we pledge to mark the day with prayerful reflection and protest actions in the Philippines as our contribution to the Global Day of Action calling for an end to the US-UK occupation.

The Bush administration unleashed this lop-sided war characterized by the massive bombardment of Iraq and the use of the most sophisticated weaponry against Iraqis who were defending their families, homes, means of livelihood and their right to exist as a free and sovereign people.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi people have been killed. Civilian infrastructure such as water systems, hospitals, schools, museums and sites of ancient civilization have been destroyed.

We were told that this war was about eliminating Iraq’s stockpile of “weapons of mass destruction”. None have been found to this day.

The war was justified by demonizing Iraq as part of the U.S.-labeled “axis of evil” that needed to be dealt with by a “preemptive strike”; that is, without provocation and without UN approval. One year later, there is no shred of evidence to show Saddam Hussein’s link with the Al Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden.

We were assured that the Iraqi people would welcome the “liberation” of Iraq from the oppressive regime of Saddam. A war of resistance rages to this day, killing and injuring hundreds of US and other foreign military forces and their civilian allies.

In the face of incontrovertible facts, it is clear that the US-led war against Iraq was without justification. We therefore join in the demand to end the US-UK military occupation of Iraq immediately.

We call on the international community to condemn the US-led war and occupation of Iraq for they constitute gross and grievous violations of international humanitarian law, the UN Charter, and all norms of decency and morality.

The sovereignty of the people of Iraq must be upheld and their right to self-determination, self-governance and control over their oil resources, must be defended.

The US and UK governments must undertake reparations to the people of Iraq for the destruction and damage wrought on lives and property including Iraq’s priceless cultural heritage.

We call on the people of the United States and Britain to make theirgovernment leaders accountable for lying and misleading them and the rest of the world in order to carry out criminal, inhumane and immoral designs: that is, to gain strategic control over Iraq’s oil resources; to boost the US and British military-industrial complex; to corner lucrative reconstruction contracts and to drastically widen the US-UK sphere of influence in the entire Middle East.

We call on the Filipino people to make the Macapagal-Arroyo government accountable for blindly following the US in its war against Iraq, to the extent of even allowing the use of the country’s territory and airspace by the US and sending Filipino troops and other personnel to work with the U.S. program in this war-torn country.

We also reject the government’s penchant for using the purported “war on terror” as justification for
· allowing US troops to enter and stay in Philippine territory indefinitely;
· intensifying military offensives in the countryside causing large-scale displacement, loss of lives and destruction of property of civilian populations;
· derailing peace negotiations with the NDFP and the MILF by conniving with the US and other foreign countries in using “terrorist listings” as leverage to pressure the NDFP and the MILF into capitulation;
· undermining the people’s civil and political rights (cf Malacanang-proposed Anti-Terrorism Bills and the rash of extrajudicial killings of civilians involving military and police personnel).

Thus our calls,

End the US-UK occupation of Iraq!
Solidarity with the Iraqi people in their heroic struggle against recolonization!
Uphold Philippine sovereignty! Renounce and resist US and other foreign interference
in Philippine internal affairs!
Justice for all victims of state-sponsored terrorism!