by Medea Benjamin, published in the Miami Herald, April 30, 2005

Three years have passed since President Bush stood atop an aircraft carrier (May 1, 2003) and announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. Since that ''mission accomplished'' photo-op, more than 1,400 U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqi civilians have died. And just recently, the Pentagon acknowledged that insurgent attacks have again increased to last year's levels of some 400 attacks per week.

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Reigniting the Anti-War Movement

by Medea Benjamin; Published on Common Dreams

This weekend marks the second anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. Over 1,500 US soldiers have been killed, more than 100,000 Iraqis have lost their lives, violence continues unabated, and we—the US taxpayers—have sunk over $200 billion into invading and occupying the oil-rich nation. Many Americans feel this war has been a monumental disaster; others feel the US has brought democracy to the Iraqi people. But despite these opposite perceptions, according to the latest Harris poll, a larger majority than ever before—59%--believe the US troops should come home in the next year. The anti-war movement, which now represents the sentiment of the majority of the American people, is poised to mark this second anniversary by launching a new peace offensive. Here are several ways you can help.

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One Year After the Start of the War: Why We Are Marching

by Medea Benjamin; published in the Washington Post

Thousands of Americans today will mark the first anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq by marching against the war. Why, if the war is officially over and Saddam Hussein has been captured, will residents of some 200 American cities join others around the world and take to the streets? Those of us who have traveled to Iraq to witness firsthand the effects of this occupation have returned with some profound reasons.

We are marching for our children and our families, who have been put at risk by the growing anti-American sentiment stemming from George W. Bush's doctrine of preemptive strikes, his arrogant use of force and his contempt for international law. We are marching because we don't want to continue to squander billions of our tax dollars on war when the funds are needed to provide the public with health care, decent schools and new forms of energy that can eliminate our dependence on other nations' oil.

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Military Families Speak Out Against War

by Medea Benjamin and Jason Mark

As casualties mount and the rationales for war are revealed as lies, more and more military families are beginning to question—and actively oppose—the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

For the last year, Global Exchange and other voices within the peace movement have suggested that the best way to support the troops is to get them out of harm's way by ending the occupation.

That point of view is gaining new legitimacy as an increasing number of military families demand that the troops come home. An group called Military Families Speak Out is organizing the relatives of U.S. servicemen and women opposed to the war. Representing spouses, siblings, and parents, the organization offers a mutual support system while providing opportunities—such as Congressional briefings—to make their voices heard.

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Ways to Help Iraqi Women

by Medea Benjamin

While Iraqi women are 60% of the population, women are grossly underrepresented in the current interim government. There are only 3 women out of 25 on the Interim Governing Council; no women governors have been appointed in any of the 18 provinces, and there is only 1 woman minister out of 25 government ministries. For the new government that is scheduled to take power on June 30, women have asked for a 40% quota in public administration, legislative bodies and the judiciary, but so far, this request has been rejected.

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Report from Military Families Delegation to Iraq: December 1 to 7, 2003

In a trip that is unprecedented in the history of US military activity, a group of American family members of US soldiers currently serving in Iraq and veterans of previous US wars traveled to the conflict zone. During their visit, from December 1-7, the group met with a diverse cross-section of Iraqis, as well as American civilians and military personnel, to learn for themselves what conditions are like for the troops and Iraqis under the US occupation.

During this week of intense interactions, Iraqis of all types told the group they were glad that Saddam Hussein was no longer in power; but they were always quick to add they want the occupation of Iraq by US troops and administrators to end. The delegation left with some very strong and disturbing impressions, as well as urgent recommendations.

Read the report

US Delegation of Military Families and Veterans Leaves for Iraq

November 30, 2003, Medea Benjamin and Andrea Buffa (on CommonDreams.org)

In the wake of quick visits to Iraq by both George Bush and Hillary Clinton, another group of Americans is paying a visit to that war-torn nation. This is a 10-person delegation of veterans and military families with loved ones serving in Iraq. Organized by the San Francisco-based human rights group Global Exchange, the delegation offers a unique opportunity for Americans to get an unfiltered view of how Iraqis and US troops are faring under the occupation.

"Both George Bush and Hillary Clinton have a hidden agenda. They are both using their trips to Iraq to better position their political parties in the upcoming elections," said Michael McPhearson, one of the delegates who is a Gulf War veteran and has a son serving in the military. "The only agenda of our delegation is to uncover the truth."

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Iraqi Women Under Siege; Unemployment, Violence Rising

November/December 2003, Andrea Buffa (in War Times)

Fearing for the safety of conference participants, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), canceled a planned symposium following the Aug. 19 bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people and injured 150 others.

That cancellation symbolizes the fallen hopes of Iraqi women since the U.S. invasion.

President Bush promised that a U.S. war would improve the situation of women in Iraq. Instead, Iraqi women have been besieged by violence, unemployment and other crises set off by the occupation.

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Six Months After the Attack on Iraq, Was the Anti-war Movement Right?

September 23, 2003, Andrea Buffa (on CommonDreams.org)

Saturday, September 20 marked the six-month anniversary of the U.S. attack on Iraq. Although six months is certainly too early for a final determination about how things will turn out there, it's clear that the situation on the ground is quite bad. There were five major car bombings in Iraq during a five-week period this summer, killing hundreds of innocent people. The U.S. military is facing a dozen guerilla-style attacks every day. As for the Iraqis, their relief at being rid of Saddam Hussein is tempered by the fact that they now live under an occupation that gives them no control over their government or resources. Rampant crime, looting, and unemployment are facts of every day life, as are accidental shootings of innocent Iraqis by U.S. troops. Back here at home, the fact of life is that the war and occupation are going to cost at least $166 billion, probably significantly more.

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Eyewitness Report From Iraq

August 2003, Medea Benjamin (in War Times)

"We believed the U.S. when it said 'Help us get rid of Saddam Hussein and your lives will be better,'" said Baghdad taxi driver Issam Mohammed. "But now we find ourselves occupied by a foreign power taking our resources, and we are left with nothing, not even physical security."

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Baghdad Journal: The Clock Is Ticking

July 1, 2003, Medea Benjamin (on Alternet)

BAGHDAD -- There are two ways to get to Iraq from Jordan -- by air and by land. The air option is at best limited: there are no commercial flights and the few UN planes that have extra room are either booked or get canceled at the last minute. Thus, the advance team to set up the International Occupation Watch Center, consisting of myself and Gael Murphy from Code Pink took the overland route

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Time to Come Clean, Mr. President

June 6, 2003, Sen. Robert Byrd (on Alternet)

With each passing day, the questions surrounding Iraq's missing weapons of mass destruction take on added urgency. Where are the massive stockpiles of VX, mustard, and other nerve agents that we were told Iraq was hoarding? Where are the thousands of liters of botulinim toxin? Wasn't it the looming threat to America posed by these weapons that propelled the United States into war with Iraq? Isn't this the reason American military personnel were called upon to risk their lives in combat?

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16101

Iraq: A Corporate Gold Mine

May 22, 2003, Pratap Chatterjee, Inter Press Service (on Alternet)

Engineers and executives from San-Francisco-based Bechtel, one of the world's largest construction firms, kicked off a road show this week for companies that want to win profitable contracts in the reconstruction of Iraq.

The first conference was held a block from the White House at the Ronald Reagan Building on May 21. Two days later, the UK Department of Trade and Industry will host a meeting for the company at the Novotel in Hammersmith in southwest London; the final stop is May 28 at the Sheraton hotel in Kuwait city.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15985

Going Global: Building A Movement Against Empire

May 2003, Phyllis Bennis, Foreign Policy in Focus

As the Bush administration strengthens its military victory and consolidates its occupation of Iraq, it continues its trajectory toward international expansion of power and global reach. The arrogance of its triumphalism, ignoring civilian carnage and dismissing the destruction of the ancient cities because, in Rumsfeld's words, "free people have the right to do bad things and commit crimes," reflects the hubris of ancient empires. Shakespeare's "insolence of office" could well describe the contempt with which the Pentagon warriors look down on the peoples of the world.

http://www.fpif.org/papers/justice2003.html

Will International Law Shape the Occupation, or the Occupation Shape International Law?

May 14, 2003, Ian Williams, Foreign Policy in Focus

The problem with trying to be reasonable with the neoconservative hawks in the Bush administration is that all too often they take it as surrender. The announcement by key antiwar members of the UN Security Council that they would consider lifting sanctions on Iraq has been taken as total agreement with the U.S. agenda. It is clearly not.

http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2003/0305intllaw.html

The Grim Recent History of Iraq

May 7 -- 13, 2003, James Ridgeway, Village Voice

Much of the world already views the United States as a dangerous global bully. Some even see us as war criminals in violation of the Geneva Conventions because they say we recklessly embarked on an invasion of Iraq that killed civilians, many of them children.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0319/mondo1.php

My Country, The World

May 5, 2003, Howard Zinn, Tompaine.com

Our government has declared a military victory in Iraq. As a patriot, I will not celebrate. I will mourn the dead -- the American GIs, and also the Iraqi dead, of which there have been many, many more.

I will mourn the Iraqi children, not just those who are dead, but those who have been blinded, crippled, disfigured, or traumatized, like the bombed children of Afghanistan who, as reported by American visitors, lost their power of speech. The American media has not given us a full picture of the human suffering caused by our bombing; for that, we need to read the foreign press.

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/7726

What Is the War Going to Cost Us?

May 2, 2003, Bob Burnett, AlterNet

Before launching the war in Iraq the Bush Administration was, to say the least, circumspect about the projected cost. After the bombs began to fall they announced that our initial tab would be $75 billion. But these expenditures are just the first installment; they do not include reconstruction of the Iraqi infrastructure or that illusory concept, nation-building. Thus the billion-dollar question remains how much will George and Donald's big adventure cost us?

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15807

It's The Oil, Stupid

May 2, 2003, Michael T. Klare, Foreign Policy in Focus

On the second day of the invasion of Iraq, U.S. commandos seized two Iraqi offshore oil terminals in the Persian Gulf, capturing their defenders without a fight. "Swooping silently out of the Persian Gulf night," exulted James Dao of the New York Times, Navy SEALs claimed "a bloodless victory in the battle for Iraq's vast oil empire."

Dao's dramatic turn of phrase revealed more about the administration's plans for Iraq than almost every other report from the battlefield. While American forces turned a blind eye to the looting of Iraq's archeological treasures, they moved quickly to gain control over oilfields, refineries, and pipelines. Even before Iraqi resistance had been squelched, top U.S. officials were boasting that Iraq's oil infrastructure was safely in American hands.

http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2003/0305oil.html

Myths and Facts about the War

March 20, 2003, Rahul Mahajan and Robert Jensen, ZNet

Last night, our president announced a war to the nation and the world. Let us be clear about what this war is and what it is not. This war is not the result of a failure of diplomacy. This war is not a pre-emptive war. This war is not about weapons of mass destruction. This war is not about terrorism.

This war is not about the liberation of the Iraqi people.

http://www.nowarcollective.com/mythsandfacts.htm

The Human Costs of War in Iraq (PDF of Report)

March 6, 2003, Center for Economic and Social Rights

The Center For Economic And Social Rights sent a team of experts to Iraq to assess the probable effects of a war on Iraq. The Research team's main findings were that the international community was completely unprepared to deal with the humanitarian disaster that would accompany a war on Iraq.

http://www.cesr.org/iraq/docs/humancosts.pdf

Why Another War? A Backgrounder on the Iraq Crisis, 2nd Ed. (PDF of Report)

December 2002, Sarah Graham-Brown and Chris Toensing, Middle East Research and Information Project

The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) has published an updated second edition of a concise 16-page primer by Sarah Graham-Brown, author of Sanctioning Saddam (1999), and Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, offering answers to the major questions swirling around the Iraq crisis of 2002.

Does Saddam Hussein's regime pose a "mortal threat" to the US and Iraq's neighbors? How have sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait affected ordinary Iraqis? How has the Iraqi regime stayed in power despite its defeat in the Gulf war and a decade of sanctions? Has the US attempted to end the 12-year confrontation between Iraq and the UN through peaceful diplomacy? What drives the Bush administration's policy of "regime change"?

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