Hundreds of US soldiers have signed a petition calling for a troop withdrawal from Iraq and the document is to be formally presented to Congress in January, organizers said.

US soldiers operate a checkpoint in the Karrada neighborhood in central Baghdad, October 2006. Hundreds of US soldiers have signed a petition calling for a troop withdrawal from Iraq and the document is to be formally presented to Congress in January, organizers said. Foto:Ali Al-Saadi/AFP

"As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq," the petition says.

"Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for US troops to come home," it says.

The campaign's website, www.appealforredress.org, says the petition is sponsored by active duty service members based in the Norfolk, Virginia area and by a sponsoring committee of veterans and military family members.

The committee includes Iraq Veterans against the War (IVAW), Veterans for Peace (VFP) and Military Families Speak Out.

"Many active duty, reserve, and guard service members are concerned about the war in Iraq and support the withdrawal of US troops," the website says.

"The Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to their congressional representative and US senators to urge an end to the US military occupation," it says.

One of the campaign's activists told AFP hundreds of soldiers have signed the petition.

According to a local newspaper, the Virginian-Pilot, the petition's leader is Jonathan Hutto, a sailor on the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. His website was activated in October, the daily said.

Iraq is the central theme of Tuesday's US congressional election, in which opposition Democrats hope to take control of Congress from President George W. Bush's Republicans.

Copyright © 2006 AFP

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