Stewart A. Alexander for President
Peace and Freedom Party

August 15, 2007

These days the presidential candidates for the Democratic Party are sounding more like replacement candidates for Bush; on the issue of ending the Iraq War. All the candidates, with the exception of Representative Dennis Kucinich and Governor Bill Richardson, are making open-ended commitments to keep American forces in Iraq and the Middle East region for years.

While Bill Richardson has a one-point plan to get out of Iraq, “Get Out” even leaving equipment behind, Kucinich supports an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. All the other Democratic presidential candidates are sounding more like Bush rather than opponents of the occupation. Due to the outspoken position of Kucinich, regarding the war, he has been censored by most of the corporate media.

To gain the nomination and support of the two corporate parties, the Democratic and Republican candidates are claiming American troops must remain in Iraq and the region to protect vital American interest and to protect the civilian population. Dennis Kucinich has adamantly charged that the occupation of Iraq has always been about controlling Iraq’s vast oil reserves, 115 billions barrels of reserve.

Today over 85 percent of all Americans are opposed to the war; more than 57 percent favor an immediate withdrawal according to recent polls. Most Americans now believe going into Iraq was a mistake and favor bringing American troops home.

As of the present none of the Democratic candidates have offered any real solutions to end the war; most of the candidates have focused more on what should be done to protect the vast oil reserves and fewer concerns on the human cost.

Since the war began in March 2003, America has lost 4,126 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even though the US military has declined to report or keep records of Iraqi and Afghan casualties, scientific data has determined that civilian casualties have surpassed one million and the refugee crisis is beyond four million; a fact that none of the Democratic, Republican or the candidates from either party will even discuss.

Despite their rhetoric, most of the candidates representing the two corporate parties are now poised to resume and finance the war past 2008 and into the next decade. Recent estimates indicate the war could cost American tax payers more than two trillion dollars.

Only the Peace and Freedom Party and the Socialist Party USA are demanding an immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Both parties, and their presidential candidates, are rejecting the false claim that logistic difficulties may require further intervention and bloodshed. This is a systematic political crisis in the US that will not be resolved with either the corporate controlled Democrats or Republicans. The people of America need a real political alternative to this nightmare.

I urge working people across the nation to work in their unions and other organizations to take direct action to stop the war now. The ILWU Local 10 in San Francisco has called for an international labor conference to support labor action against this criminal war on October 20; I fully support this initiative by ILWU Local 10 and ILWU Local 34. Workers have the power and the ability to shut the war down.

In the course of human events, the Democrats and Republicans would still be in Vietnam if that nation was sitting on 115 billion barrels of oil; the Democrats and Republicans are determine to protect the interest of the capitalist and American imperialism no matter what the cost.

For more information search the Web for: Stewart A. Alexander, Presidential Candidate Wants Iraq Vote on Ballot; Democrats Retreat before Bush.

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