BRING OREGON'S TROOPS HOME
End the US Occupation of Iraq
January 20, 2005     Inauguration day   page 2

MYTH: IRAQIS ARE BETTER OFF NOW THAN THEY WERE UNDER SADDAM HUSSEIN
Taking in all the current conditions, many Iraqis have questioned whether they were better off with the ruthless dictator Saddam Hussein than they are with the U.S. occupation.

--The US military has used chemical weapons against Iraqis, specifically napalm and phosphorous, which burn the skin of humans and set fires when used (The Independent, August 10, 2003 and San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 2004).

--Water and electricity are still scarce nearly two years after the U.S. "liberation." While the infrastructure was deliberately destroyed by the U.S. in the "Gulf War" of 1991, many improvements had taken place by 2003 when the invasion took place. There is now just barely more electricity available than in the last year of Hussein's rule­5000 megawatts per day versus 4400, while 9000 megawatts were available prior to the 1991 war (Reuters, December 3; Voices in the Wilderness, December 13).

--Freedom of the press has been squelched. Acting Prime Minister Iyad Allawi shut down one paper which was critical of the U.S. presence, sparking the long battle in Najaf in the summer of 2004. Allawi has since then been giving money to Iraq's "free" press to print positive stories about the occupation's progress (Financial Times, January 10).

--The $22 billion in alleged money Saddam Hussein took in from 1991 to 2003 outside of the Oil- for-Food program (which was only in place 1996-2003) was no secret. Certainly the Iraqi people may have benefitted from this money allegedly hoarded by Hussein and his cronies. But to this day, money generated by Iraq's oil sales continues to be given to countries seeking compensation resulting from Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent war (Reuters, December 9). An estimated $5 billion was given out to companies and countries over and above what they were due (Reuters, January 9).

--Iraqi Christians, once roughly five percent of the population, lived in a tense but safe non-Islamic state under Hussein, but after the US invasion roughly 300,000 have fled Iraq due to fear of genocide against them (Daily Telegraph, January 8).

BRING OREGON'S TROOPS HOME
CNN reported on January 5 that U.S. troops have a one an 11 chance of being killed or wounded and a one in 96 chance of being killed in battle. The Oregonian reported that Oregon's national guard troops have been dying at nearly three times the rate of other states (December 17). Oregon has roughly 3 million residents, or about one percent of the US population, yet as of December 16, 9 of 142, or over 6 percent of the fatalities of National Guard troops in this conflict have been from Oregon.

Please join Peace and Justice Works, these groups, and others in calling for Oregon's troops to come home:

Portland Peaceful Response Coalition (PPRC)
PO Box 5112, Portland 97208    
http://www.pprc-news.org
Rally Fridays, 5 PM, Pioneer Courthouse Sq.

War Resisters League - Portland
2000 NE 42nd #224, Portland 97213
(503) 238-0605
Military and Draft Counseling Project/Oregon Community for War Tax Resistance.

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
2249 E Burnside, Portland 97214
(503) 230-9427 http://www.afsc.org
Quaker peace-making and human rights.

Multnomah Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)
4312 SE Stark, Portland 97214
(503) 232-2822
http://www.multnomahfriends.org

Oregon PeaceWorks
1401 Commercial NE, Salem 97301
(503) 585-2767
opw@oregonpeaceworks.org, http://www.oregonpeaceworks.org

Northwest Veterans for Peace
P. O. Box 7
Banks, OR 97106
(503) 324-1804
http://www.peaceveterans.org

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
1819 NW Everett, Portland 97209
(503) 224-5190         http://www.wilpf.org
Weekly peace vigils, Wednesdays 12 noon, Pioneer Courthouse Square

Veterans for Peace Chapter 72
http://www.vfpchapter72.org

Military Families Speak Out
http://www.mfso.org

Send your comments to:

GOVERNOR TED KULONGOSKI:
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 378-4582
FAX (503) 378-6827
http://governor.oregon.gov

President George W. Bush
Phone: (202) 456-1111
president@whitehouse.gov

This flyer was prepared January 2005 by the

Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group