When we had Iraqi guests on the ship I was able to learn about the situation in Iraq from a personal point of view. I heard about families being destroyed, people dieing, looting, violence, grief. It was heartrending. Now we have a guest on the boat from an anti-war NGO in Washington, DC and I am learning more about the politics and the economics of the war. It is interesting to be able to see both sides in such a short period of time—the qualitative and quantitative. Some of the facts from Erick are interesting, as well as shocking, and I’m going to put highlights from them on this blog.

Erick Lever’s 1st lecture on Iraq:

40% of the US soldiers in Iraq are reserves (mostly police officers, firemen, doctors, and medical personnel). 44% of US police departments have had officers leave to go to the Iraq war (meaning that the US streets are less protected).

The US has spent $208billion so far on the Iraq War and Congress is going to approve another $50billion soon. That is approximately $2000 per every family in the US. Adjusted for inflation the US spent $5.1 million a month on the Vietnam War. The US currently spends $5.5 million a month on the Iraq war.

Employment in Iraq is between 30-70%. During the US Great Depression the unemployment rate went up to 25%.

The War cannot be won militarily
The strength of the insurgency has increased. In Nov. 2003 the insurgency was thought to have 5,000 members. It now has 17,000 members and another 200,000 people support the resistance. The US coalition has been shrinking and has lost 10 members since the war started.

Only 25% of Americans favor immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Staying the course won’t lead to a better or safer Iraq. Having waged an illegal war and occupation the US has no good options left. Maintaining the occupation continues to violate international law and the Geneva Convention. Withdrawal will happen eventually, but it will be our legacy to see when it happens and how it happens.

Suggestions to end the situation in Iraq:
1. End offensive operations and decrease US troops in Iraq. Pull the troops out of the cities and focus on protecting the borders to help stem the flow of foreign fighters in the insurgency. If Iraq wants help they should ask for it and then it should come from the UN not the US.
2. The US should declare no long term plans to stay in Iraq or have military bases there. This would deprive the insurgents of one of their primary recruiting tools—continued US occupation. Without this promise of no long term plans, the Iraqis have no reason to believe the US won’t stay.
3. Give Iraqis the ability to reconstruct their own country. The US should stop paying US corporations to go into Iraq and re-build Iraq by American standards. This doesn’t help Iraq problems of unemployment because reconstruction money is going mostly to Americans and American corporations. Iraqis should have control over their own future. Reconstruction is not happening now. The UN estimated that reconstruction in Iraq would cost $60 billion. But the US has only spent $15 billion on reconstruction so far and much of it has been wasted or used ineffectively.
4. Encourage negotiations between the US, the Iraqi government and the insurgents. 40 different groups are part of the insurgency. Some of them have realistic political demands that can be easily met (ie they won’t participate in the government until the US has set a date for withdrawal). By working with some of the moderate groups, meeting their demands and incorporating them, it will isolate some of the more radical groups. This will cause the insurgency movement to lose momentum and popular support.