WASHINGTON - March 7 - As we approach the one year anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, United States Section, charges the Bush administration with a criminal invasion of Iraq, having created lies validated by the intelligence community to justify a war that was in the making before the 2000 election. WILPF-US supports Congressional investigation of the lies and holds President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and all those responsible for this illegal war accountable.

Justifications for going to war on March 20, 2003, included: Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons capability, purchase of uranium from Niger, and Saddam Hussein's collaboration with Al Qaeda. Investigations have shown these justifications were false, and pre-war intelligence in the US and Britain was politicized.

The war and military occupation have not liberated Iraq but led to violent confrontations and deaths of civilians and military personnel - 548 American soldiers and more than 15,000 Iraqis, though their deaths are not officially counted. The invasion has caused material destruction and a total disruption of everyday life in Iraq - 50% unemployment and water systems, schools, and hospitals in collapse.

WILPF rejects the US government's manipulation of the Iraqi Governing Council in order to maintain control in the country. If the Iraqi people, through their duly elected representatives, request international assistance during a transition period, especially from the Organization of Arab States, it should be granted. The Iraqi people have the right to a sovereign state, in control of its own government and resources. WILPF-US supports the full participation of all women and men, including minority populations, of any country in making governmental decisions that affect the citizens of that country.

The Iraqi people and their new government must decide how their oil money is to be distributed and who is to be employed for reconstruction. We oppose the economic exploitation by US contractors, such as Bechtel and Halliburton. While these corporations have much to gain from contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, their enormous profits are a loss for the Iraqi people and US taxpayers, with a total bill that will far exceed the $87 billion approved in 2003.

Under Bush Administration policy Iraq will be forced to pay back reconstruction costs from oil revenues, adding to its already enormous debt stemming from pervious wars, destruction, and UN sanctions. WILPF supports forgiving international loans made to Iraq, and the payment of reparations to Iraq, primarily from the US and Britain for the destruction caused by the illegal invasion.

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, one of the world's oldest international peace and justice organizations, opposes the US government's goal of dominance in the Middle East, which creates a dangerous and unstable political and military climate in the area. Just solutions must be found through international and regional agreements, solutions that represent the needs of all people, regardless of their nationality or religion.

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