The Way Out Petition

To: US and UK Governments

The Way Out

* US forces must negotiate an immediate withdrawal with the Iraqi resistance

* The American people must hold their leaders responsible for the crime of aggressive war

In the November 2006 congressional elections, the American people expressed their clear rejection of the Bush administration's war in Iraq. However, a broad movement of opinion is needed to force U.S. leaders to heed the will of their own people and, still more, the people of Iraq.
U.S. military leaders admit that their invasion and occupation of Iraq have produced "chaos". The logical conclusion is that the U.S. presence itself, based on criminal aggression and multiple crimes against humanity, is responsible for such chaos, and that to bring about stability, the United States should withdraw immediately.
However, U.S. leaders continue to claim that they must remain in Iraq in order to achieve "stability". To this end, they speak of creating an American-trained puppet Iraqi army to fight the resistance, and of enticing foreign powers to aid in ending the resistance.
This implies fostering both civil war and more foreign intervention, attempting to take from the Iraqi people the sovereign right of deciding their own future.
Meanwhile, Iraq is being destroyed. The infrastructure has been ruined. People are dying in the hundreds of thousands or fleeing abroad. It is urgent to end this massive crime and return Iraq to its own people.
To this end, we call on world public opinion to make two demands:
* Negotiate with the Resistance!
The United States invasion was a clear violation of international law. In contrast, international law recognizes the legitimacy of armed resistance to foreign invasion and occupation. These principles cannot be negated by the fact that the United States was able to use its immense influence to persuade the UN Security Council to recognize its presence, as being requested by a government that is nothing but a Washington-installed puppet regime.
Armed resistance expresses the legitimate desire of the vast majority of Iraqi people to free their land from foreign occupation. The national popular resistance in Iraq is the only legitimate and effective force able to defend popular sovereignty and determine the future of liberated Iraq.
Instead of negotiating with neighbouring regional powers in the hope of bringing the resistance under foreign control, the United States should negotiate directly with the resistance itself.
* Punish the crimes!
We support all efforts by the American people to initiate a thorough investigation of all the officials, from the highest level on down, who deliberately spun a web of lies and deceptions in order to create the pretext for the criminal invasion of Iraq. We believe that such an investigation would provide ample grounds for impeachment of both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Such a repudiation of criminal leadership would be a first step toward full reconciliation with the martyred people of Iraq, setting the stage for a peace agreement including reparations to the war-torn country.
We fully recognize that, despite the recent U.S. election results, these demands require a strong mobilization of world public opinion and reactivation of the peace movement, notably in the United States.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Source: The Way Out Petition

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