3-22-06, 10:34 am
The Iraqi people have awakened from the nightmare of dictatorship only to be plunged into a seemingly bottomless abyss of bombings, torture and executions by the U.S. military; death squads, attacks on civilians and exploding sectarian violence between the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities; car bombings and other terrorist attacks on civilians by Al-Qaeda-type groups in Iraq.
Thousands of U.S. troops have been killed or maimed in their role as unwelcome occupiers of a sovereign foreign nation fighting an illegal, immoral and ultimately unwinnable war. A recent Zogby poll of U.S. troops found that 72% of them believed that they should be brought home. Troop opinions mirror the ever-rising popular sentiments against the war and for bringing the troops home. At its national convention, the AFL-CIO passed a resolution opposing the war and calling for the troops to be brought home as soon as possible. It was an historic step, joining with the NAACP, National Council of Churches, Union for Reform Judaism and many others in calling for an end to the war.
The Bush administration’s 'war presidency' has grown increasingly unpopular as more and more people realize that the war abroad has been accompanied by an equally devastating war at home, which continues to claim countless victims everyday. Foremost among these have been the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita—events that laid bare the elitist, destructive and racist underbelly of years of anti-environment, anti-people, pro-corporate policies of the Bush administration.
Our youth have become the special target of predatory military recruiting, a cruel circle of lies and bribery. While the Bush administration proposes the gutting of education funding from preschool to college, our young, disproportionately from communities of color, are pushed into a 'poverty draft' and sent to die in a war based on lies.
Faced with an economy in trouble, deep cuts in healthcare, education and social needs funding, growing militarization of the U.S. economy, attacks on civil liberties and basic human rights, racist attacks on Black/Latino/Asian/Arab and other immigrant communities, and a fear-mongering 'war on terror', a growing number of the people are recognizing that Bush’s policies are at the root of these destructive and anti-democratic conditions.
The Communist Party, USA is firmly committed to helping end the war in Iraq and bringing the troops home immediately.
In 2006, we believe a strong movement for peace and solidarity with the peoples around the world must find every way possible to end the far right control of Congress as an important step towards ending this immoral war in Iraq. Militant mass peace mobilizations set the framework for defeating the Bush agenda in November. While at the same time, we should find the ways to mobilize the peace majority in the 2006 elections.
Dealing a serious blow to the Bush ideological agenda in the mid term elections would lay the basis to organize greater opposition to the mounting threats of new wars, embargos, nuclear blackmail, and illegal interventions in the democratic processes of other countries.
The Communist Party commits itself to exposing the dangers of the first strike, preemptive war policy, challenging the 21st century’s version of the Cold War: the 'war on terror.'
In view of these developments, the National Committee of the Communist Party, USA at its March 4-5, 2006 meeting,
CALLS on every club, district, every Communist Party and Young Communist League member to mark the 3rd anniversary of the start of the Iraq war by organizing vigils, marches, civil disobedience actions, interfaith services, Congressional lobby visits, and passing resolutions at local union bodies, city council and community groups calling for the troops to be brought home;
URGES joint efforts with the Young Communist League to mobilize for the national day of youth resistance and culture on March 16, 2006 to organize open mic events, concerts and art exhibits that give space for young people to address the impact of war on the young generation in their own voices and to demand that Congress fund books not bombs;
SUPPORTS the call of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) for coordinated grassroots local actions during the week of March 15-22, 2006 in cities all across the country to mark the 3rd anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, to demand: 'End the Occupation of Iraq', 'Bring the Troops Home Now', 'No U.S. Bases in Iraq;'
SUPPORTS the call for the broadest mobilization of social and political forces under the leadership of United for Peace and Justice, U.S. Labor Against War, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, National Organization of Women, Veterans for Peace, Hurricane Peoples Relief Fund, National Youth and Student Peace Coalition and others, for a national demonstration on April 29, 2006 in New York City, for peace, justice and democracy. The call to action is premised on the need for a historic coming together of movements to spark new levels of involvement in the critical mid term elections and to unite to turn the country around;
CALLS on the Communist Party, Young Communist League and friends to organize the largest contingent ever to march on April 29, 2006 in New York City.
Adopted by the National Committee, CPUSA March 5, 2006
