Myths of War Funding

It has become clear in poll after poll that the majority of Americans want an end to the occupation of Iraq. There is much confusion, however, on how exactly that would be accomplished. Elements within our government would like to keep American troops in Iraq indefinitely. To advance this agenda, certain myths and misinformation have been presented to the American people in order to foster confusion, and prevent them from calling for decisive action. The purpose of this brochure is to dispel these myths, so that the people will be empowered to call upon our elected representatives to initiate bold and concrete steps that will finally bring this occupation to an end and bring our servicemen and women home.

Myth 1: Funding must be continued to support the troops.
If Congress were to deny funding to the war, there would still be money available to fund a full and safe withdrawal. Funding bills are voted on well in advance of the actual need, meaning that there would be money left in the pipeline to fund withdrawal once it was apparent that funds to continue operations were no longer forthcoming. Limited supplemental funding bills could be passed to fund withdrawal if needed. Funding the war simply continues the conflict, which in turn only leads to more death and injury of our fighting men and women. Without funding from Congress, the President would be forced to end the conflict and bring the troops home.

Myth 2: The U.S. military cannot leave until it brings stability to Iraq.
The instability in Iraq has been caused by the presence of the American military. Since the U.S. invasion of 2003, it has been estimated that over 1 million Iraqis have died because of the invasion and occupation by the U.S. Furthermore, the conflict has created over 4 million Iraqi refugees, in a country whose total population is only 25 million. Polls show that the vast majority of the Iraqi people resent the U.S. occupation and want it to end. A majority of Iraqis also support attacks on American troops. Furthermore, the U.S. invasion has opened a Pandora’s box of ethnic rivalries and hatreds by favoring one side over another. This has led to disaster and fostered much more violence than it has prevented. Only by removal of the foreign occupying force can there be any hope of reconciliation by the main sectarian groups. International agencies can, and should, aid in this reconciliation, but it can only begin once all occupying forces are removed and full sovereignty is returned to Iraq.

Myth 3: Fighting the terrorists in Iraq prevents them from attacking us here.
This is not only a myth, but is the exact opposite of the truth. It has been demonstrated time and again that acts of terrorism, especially of the suicide variety, are a direct result of unlawful occupation of one group by another. Suicide attacks did not appear in Iraq until the U.S. occupations began. Another example of this phenomenon can be found in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where Israel has occupied Palestinian territory for over 40 years. In fact, even the suicide attacks of 9/11 can be attributed to the American military presence at the time in Saudi Arabia. These observations, of course, do not justify suicide attacks. They simply illustrate that these terrorist attacks are the direct result of occupation. Once the occupation is ended, the motivation for suicide attacks is also removed. Therefore, ending the occupation of Iraq would ultimately make Americans safer.

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