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AFSC, FCNL call on President to De-escalate, Negotiate, Withdraw

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Philadelphia [January 11] - As Quaker organizations, the American Friends Service Committee and the Friends Committee on National Legislation oppose the violence and brutality of any war. We have long ministered to the victims and survivors of war, and we know the face of human suffering, despair, and fear that wars generate. War is not the answer. Peace and security in Iraq will not come from increased levels of U.S. troops and more warring. It will be achieved only by diplomacy, political processes, reconciliation, and reconstruction.

Last night, President Bush revealed his Iraq plan in a television address. He announced an escalation of 20,000 more U.S. troops in Iraq. Sending half a million troops for five, ten, or twenty years might, arguably, pacify the country, according to military experts, but sending these troops to Iraq did not work last summer and there is no reason to believe it will work today. The presence of U.S. military forces in Iraq feeds the violent insurgency, rather than dampens it. The United States should accept now that it has a responsibility to withdraw and to adopt a policy to responsibly withdraw troops from Iraq, not increase their number.

"We believe the U.S. should de-escalate, negotiate, and withdraw from Iraq," said Joe Volk, executive secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation in responding to the President's new proposal. "Sending more troops will not bring safety and security to the people of Iraq, but ending the U.S. war in Iraq would take a step in that direction."

From decades of humanitarian work in conflict zones, Quakers know the devastation that war brings and the long commitment needed for healing and repair. For lost lives there is no repair.

For the visible and less visible wounds of war, healing is long and hard. The President, who started the Iraq war based on faulty premises, now proposes to deepen U.S. involvement in the faulty belief that more violence will bring peace. He has rejected the substance of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group that was mandated by Congress. His decision reflects an arrogance of power that exceeds that of the Vietnam era presidents.

A policy that increases troop levels in Iraq is opposed not only by Quakers but also by current and former military leaders, including two of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs; and General John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command.

In November, Abizaid testified to the U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee, "I do not believe that more American troops right now is the solution to the problem."
We agree with the general. There is no military solution to end the violence in Iraq.

Congress should compel President Bush to accept the Baker-Hamilton program of action and acknowledge that only a political solution offers Iraqis an opportunity to create a stable and sovereign nation. Only a U.S. commitment to withdraw its military forces from Iraq by a date certain will open the door to a political solution, and only a political solution will enable the U.S. to withdraw responsibly.

The United States government should reinvigorate its neglected diplomatic efforts within Iraq and with Iraq's neighbors - including Iran and Syria. President Bush's decision to continue the same old course will eventually result in a disorderly, irresponsible withdrawal such as we saw in Vietnam, after other obstinate presidents refused to change course.

An Iraqi-led reconstruction is an essential ingredient for security in Iraq and in the region. The United States has a moral obligation to fund Iraq's rebuilding, and to ensure that funds allocated are spent responsibly.

"We are encouraged that President Bush's plan calls for $1 billion in reconstruction projects over the next year in Iraq. Sadly this does not compare to the $2 billion that the U.S. spends each week on the occupation or the billions that were squandered on projects in the first two years after the invasion," said Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, an international peace and social justice organization.

The U.S. should disengage its troops from Iraq, pursue a diplomatic plan to quell the internal violence, and assist the Iraqi people with reconciliation and reconstruction. We commit ourselves to continue to work for an end to this war, as the American and Iraqi people both want. We look forward to the time when Iraqis can live in peace and security, able to build a vibrant society for themselves and their children.

Backed by an 89-year history working for peace and reconciliation in an atmosphere of war, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Best known for launching massive food programs that fed millions of children in post-war Germany, AFSC has provided crucial, life-saving assistance to people struggling for survival whether caught in the crossfire of war or suffering the horrors of earthquake or famine.

The Service Committee, along with its European counterpart, the British Friends Service Council, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian service on behalf of Quakers worldwide.

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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

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