U.S. Peace Groups Hail Vote on Iraq Bases

U.S. Peace Groups Hail Vote on Iraq Bases
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-07-28 03:30. Congress
By Aaron Glantz, OneWorld



Peace advocates in the United States are welcoming a Congressional vote Wednesday that may be a political stepping stone to ending U.S. participation in the war in Iraq.

"It's a first step for Republicans who have thus far been raising questions about the war, but not voting against it," said John Isaacs, executive director of the Washington, DC-based Council for a Livable World. "Those same Republicans can be hammered in September when bills come up for a vote that could really make a difference."

A majority of Republicans joined Democrats in the 399-24 vote to bar the establishment of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. It was the seventh time the U.S. House of Representatives has voted on such a proposal.

The bill, sponsored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-California), forbids the Bush administration from spending any money "to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq" or "to exercise United States economic control of the oil resources of Iraq."

"The perception that the United States plans to maintain a permanent military presence in Iraq strengthens the insurgency and fuels the violence against our troops," Congresswoman Lee told the House.

"We must soundly reject the vision of an open-ended occupation as bad policy that undermines the safety of our troops and recognize it for what it is: another recruiting poster for terrorists," she added.

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