A new year’s message from Ramsey Clark

Dear friends,

The year 2005 brought new hardships but also new hope to the people of the world. Hope because the Bush administration has shown itself before the world to be lawless, cruel and brutal but also inept and incompetent. In Iraq the Pentagon has shown it is incapable of repressing a growing resistance from the Iraqi people. Meanwhile the government has been caught running torture camps inside Iraq and outsourcing torture around the world.

The people of the U.S. have decided the war is unjust and not worth the price in Iraqi lives or the sacrifice of our youth. Young people are refusing to enlist in the military in sufficient numbers to carry on the illegal occupation and continuing assault on the Iraqi people. In New Orleans the government did nothing for a week while the city drowned. Now more than four months later tens of thousands remain homeless. More and more of the population is outraged by the crimes emanating from the White House and are enlisting in the campaign to stop those crimes.

Under these conditions the International Action (IAC) has been a major organizing force. The IAC has persevered in mobilizing opposition to these policies, not only in their work this past year, but for the last 15 years it has consistently worked to oppose criminal and immoral U.S. military adventures.

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In August 1990 when the murderous sanctions against the Iraqi people were adopted, those now active in the IAC, still resisting the U.S. assault on Panama, mobilized to stop the anticipated U.S. aggression. This work accelerated during the 1991 U.S.-led war against Iraq, and led to the IAC’s founding.

Since that time, the IAC has mobilized, held meetings, and educated millions, produced videos and books—translated to many languages--and helped to organize massive demonstrations in coalition with others to oppose U.S. aggressive actions against Iraq. It has organized international campaigns against the use of illegal radioactive depleted uranium weapons and rallied broad campaigns against the death penalty.

The IAC is a unique organization of activists and educators. It has developed a worldwide reputation for its brave opposition to U.S. war, militarism and interventions from Venezuela to Haiti and Cuba, from Palestine to Yugoslavia and now Iran and Korea. It has stood up when others were afraid of being demonized and isolated by the most powerful propaganda machine the world has ever known.

Now we must do more. Our plans for 2006 are bold and challenging. An initial focus is March 18-19, 2006 which will mark the third anniversary of the start of the Bush administration’s criminal war and occupation of Iraq, which has taken the lives of over 100,000 defenseless women, men, and children, and continues to bring devastation of untold magnitude. The IAC is committed to peace actions in New York City, and in cities across the country, coordinated with movements and countries around the globe. All in concert on March 18-19 will call for all U.S. troops to be brought home from Iraq immediately.

We must stop the Bush Administration from stealing Iraqi oil through oil production-sharing agreements with the U.S. puppet regime-- giving the lion’s share of oil profits to U.S. oil companies; this is the real reason for the U.S. occupation and regime change.

To preserve our Constitution, we must impeach President Bush and his principal cohorts in crime. This is a big agenda on which the peaceful and humane future of our country depends.

Working together to end this criminal war must be our New Year’s Resolution for 2006--our challenge and our commitment. The IAC will continue this work tirelessly in the coming year.

We depend on your help. Together we shall overcome.