2006 AAA Business Meeting Resolution #1

U.S. Occupation of Iraq

WHEREAS the U.S. Government led an invasion and occupation of Iraq in violation of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter in March 2003; and

WHEREAS over the past 32 months more than 2700 U.S. troops and an estimated 655,000 Iraqis (the vast majority civilians) have been killed in the subsequent violence; and

WHEREAS the U.S. military is holding in detention approximately 15,000 Iraqis without charge; and

WHEREAS U.S. military and intelligence personnel and U.S. Government subcontractors have tortured and abused detainees at Abu Ghraib and other Iraqi prisons in violation of the Geneva Conventions; and

WHEREAS much of Iraq's historical, cultural, and archaeological heritage was looted or destroyed following the U.S.-led invasion while occupying forces made no effort to protect it; and

WHEREAS the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority, under the leadership of Paul Bremer, created a set of edicts (codified into the Iraqi constitution in violation of international law) that has facilitated the plunder of Iraq's national industries and natural resources by multinational corporations; and

WHEREAS the U.S. military presence in Iraq has undermined the political stability of that country and the Middle East region;

Be it moved that the American Anthropological Association condemns the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq and urges the U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush to:

Immediately withdraw all U.S. military personnel, intelligence agents, and subcontrators from Iraq ; and

Cease all U.S. military operations and vacate all U.S. military bases in Iraq ; and

Make payments for the removal and cleanup of depleted uranium, unexploded cluster bombs, and other residual waste left from munitions; and

Prosecute all individuals who have committed war crimes against Iraqis; and

Fund the creation of a United Nations peacekeeping force to assume peacekeeping duties in Iraq .

Submitted by:

Roberto J. González                                                     Kanhong Lin
Associate Professor of Anthropology                             Doctoral Student  
San Jose State University                                            American University