Jose Maria Sison - ILPS chairperson
OPPOSE THE US INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ,
DEMAND TOTAL, IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL WITHDRAWAL
OF US AND OTHER FOREIGN FORCES OF AGGRESSION
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
20 March 2009
After six years of brutal occupation following the widely condemned
US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the US government has found itself
more isolated than ever before. The people of the world are outraged that
at a horrendous cost the US has committed the worst form of terrorism,
the crime of aggression, in order reduce Iraq to a puppet state, take
control over its oil resources and establish permanent US military bases
on Iraqi territory.
More than one million Iraqis have been killed, including hundreds of
thousands civilians, by US bombs, missiles and shells deliberately rained
on non-military targets including neighborhoods, hotels and hospitals.
Five million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes, seeking shelter
in refugee centers within Iraq and in neighboring countries. The Iraqi
infrastructure is in shambles despite billions in reconstruction
contracts cornered by US firms (including Halliburton, which US Vice
President Cheney has favored and continued to receive compensation from.)
At least 4,200 US soldiers have been killed and more than 45,000 wounded
in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. In Afghanistan, more than 620 US
soldiers have been killed and more than 2,300 wounded since the October
2002 invasion of Afghanistan.
The US has spent more than USD 600 billion on the war in Iraq, and more
than USD 200 billion in Afghanistan. The US Congressional Budget Office
estimates that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars would cost US taxpayers up
to USD 2.4 trillion projected up to 2017, including interest payments for
debts incurred to finance the wars. Other more comprehensive estimates
show that the financial cost will run up to far more than USD 3 trillion. Continue reading
