Our Troops and Iraqis Are Still Dying

After
six years of war and the historic election of a new President, we as veterans, military and Gold Star families felt an urgent
need to reach out to the larger peace/anti-war movements to make our position on
Iraq clear during this time of political and economic uncertainty. Iraq
Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans For Peace
continue to stand together in our demand to Bring the Troops Home Now! We
ask all those who have stood with us in the past to stay faithful to the
cause.

President Obama has announced a plan to gradually reduce
troop levels in Iraq. Many in the peace/anti-war movements are breathing
a sigh of relief, and suggesting that it is time for us to scale back our
efforts to bring an end to the occupation of
Iraq. But for our troops on the ground, their families
and the Iraqi people, the nightmare continues. They need all of us to stay
in the struggle. IVAW, MFSO and VFP have been long united in our call for
an immediate and complete end to the occupation of
Iraq and will not shift our stance under any circumstances.

President Obama's plan will result in more casualties and
suffering for U.S. troops, their families and Iraqis. To the American public facing hard times here at home, two
and a half more years of occupation may not sound like that long -- but for our
troops and their families it means two and a half more years of fear, pain, and
separation in a war and occupation based on lies. Hundreds of the troops
deployed in the next two and a half years will not come home alive. Many
more will return forever scarred by deep wounds to their bodies, minds, and
spirits. Well over a million Iraqis
have died as a result of this war -- many more will be killed as the occupation
continues.

We
cannot afford the cost of empire. Today we are in the midst of the worst economic
crisis most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Yet our government continues
to allow the occupation to drain $10 billion a month from our nation's coffers.
Meanwhile, veterans and military families struggle to put food on the
table and get decent housing and adequate medical care. Women and men who risked their lives for
this country are often forced to fight tooth and nail to get health care from an
underfunded and overburdened Veterans Administration. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are
homeless.

The
occupation of Iraq is the source of the violence not the solution.
Living under occupation the people
of Iraq are held back from taking control of their own lives to
determine their destiny. The continued
U.S. military presence there is a cause of the violence they
face, not its solution. U.S. continued interference contradicts the principles of
democracy and self-determination our country was founded on.

IVAW,
MFSO and VFP will continue to keep pressure on Congress and the President to
bring all our troops home from Iraq NOW, ensure that veterans receive the care they need and
deserve, and that the U.S. provides resources to rebuild a country we
destroyed. But we cannot do that alone. We need your help to reach out
to the vast majority of the American people who are completely isolated from the
realities of this war. Please don't abandon this struggle or shift
your position before the occupation is over and our veterans and the Iraqi
people are on the path to healing.