In the aftermath of Saddam's capture, jubilant Iraqis poured into the streets of Baghdad and other cities and towns across Iraq to celebrate what is most likely the final chapter in Saddam's three decade long dictatorial rule . The Fellowship of Reconciliation, and all those who support the genuine freedom and human rights of the Iraqi people, certainly acknowledge the genuine joy of those in Iraq who have suffered under the rule of the Ba'ath Party.

We join with others in the international community to demand that Saddam be brought to justice under the rules of international law, and that, because of the international character of his offenses, he be tried by a UN-sponsored international tribunal. Principles of international law must be stringently upheld in all matters related to Saddam's captivity and trial, and these legal principles must be held as more important than any political considerations of the United States occupation authorities. It should be noted that Articles 13 and 14 of the Geveva Convention say that prisoners should be treated with respect and not be subjected to insults and public curiosity.

Yet, though Saddam Hussein has indeed been captured, the Fellowship of Reconciliation believes that even greater dangers and challenges face the 23 million people of Iraq. These challenges include both the continued presence of United States and international military occupation troops in Iraq and the pursuit of strategic, long term interests of transnational corporations that seek to exploit Iraq's vast oil resources, privatize the Iraqi economy for the purpose of extracting profit, and impose "leaders" on the people of Iraq who are more accountable to business interests than to the Iraqi people themselves.

These challenges constitute a continued catalyst for violent resistance in Iraq and an impediment to the development of a culture of nonviolence and respect for universal human rights and true democracy in that nation.

The FOR supports true peace and freedom for the suffering people of Iraq. We believe that this will only happen when Iraq is free from all foreign occupation and from the imposition of any economic or political agenda from the outside. We join with Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) in demanding that, since the currrent administration's objective of regime change in Iraq has finally concluded, the U.S. (and all allied nations) must immediately end the military occupation of Iraq.

Further, the United States, in cooperation with the international community of nations, should (1) facilitate the establishment of international peacekeeping forces in Iraq, with the cooperation and consent of the Iraqi people; (2) fully commit to the necessary resources to rebuild and rehabilitate the Iraqi infrastructure decimated by thirteen years of war and economic sanctions; (3) allow for true, democratic elections in Iraq without any undue interference ir influence from external parties; (4) grant relief to Iraq from the crushing burden of international debt incurred by the regime of Saddam Hussein; and (5) embargo the sale or trade of all military weapons to Iraq and Iraq's neighboring states, withing the framework of regional security agreements and the respect for the political and human rights of the peoples of the region.

The rule of Saddam Hussein is over. Now, the people of Iraq themselves, joined by the international community of nations and forces of peace and justice, must insure the establishment of a new era in Iraq of peace, democracy, economic justice, and human rights, and for an Iraq free from both internal dictatorship and external military occupation and oppression.