by Phyllis Bennis
Institute for Policy Studies

January 11, 2006

• The peace movement in the U.S. and globally has helped create the growing public consensus and rising demands to end the war and bring home the troops. The Bush administration is responding with escalating claims of Potemkin-style troop withdrawals.
• The withdrawal of even tens of thousands of U.S. and "coalition" troops will not constitute an end to occupation while tens of thousands more remain in Iraq.
• Ending occupation means complete withdrawal of ALL U.S. troops, ALL "coalition" troops, and ALL mercenaries (known as "private military contractors") from Iraq.
• Ending occupation means closing all U.S. military bases in Iraq, including removing warplanes, offensive weapons systems, etc.
• Ending occupation means ending the privatization and other outside economic controls imposed on Iraq by the United States, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
• Ending occupation should include negotiating a political solution for, among other things, meeting Washington's post-occupation obligations to Iraq.
• Ending occupation by withdrawing all U.S., foreign and mercenary troops will allow the people and legitimate resistance of Iraq to deal with what remains of their own occupation-fueled "terrorism problem."

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