United Electrical Workers Union (UE) Says, `No U.S. Invasion of Iraq´

RALEIGH, N.C. 9/19/02

OPPOSE U.S. INVASION OF IRAQ

"Despite the lack of any evidence linking the Iraqi regime to the September 11 terrorist attacks, George Bush is pressing for an invasion of Iraq. All U.S. allies except Great Britain, and even many in Bush´s own party, are opposed to this. Scott Ritter, former head of the UN Weapons Inspection team in Iraq, has denounced Bush´s outlandish claims about the threat posed by Iraq to the rest of the world. Military experts warn than an invasion will inevitably be followed by a costly, years-long occupation, leaving large numbers of U.S. military personnel in a hostile environment.

An invasion of Iraq is not in the interest of workers. As in the Vietnam War, working people will be forced to pay for this war with our lives and our pocketbooks. The government will continue to cut funds for already economically distressed states and vital government programs. The administration is jacking up next year´s military budget by $48 billion, bringing it to a staggering $383 billion. Programs that benefit working people and the poor are being threatened by budget cuts, and yet the airline industry receives a bailout of $15 billion and corporate America receives $25 billion in tax cuts.

While there is an urgent need for genuine multilateral action to eliminate weapons of mass destruction world wide, this has become less likely as we alienate our necessary allies over the question of Iraq.

The Bush Administration is cynically using inflated claims of Iraq´s threat to vastly increase the military budget, to help his friends in the oil business control oil production in the Middle East, and to boost his own popularity and prop up the electoral fortunes of the pro-corporate Republican Party. None of these will help to prevent terrorism, but all of them will hurt workers in the U.S. and abroad.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 67TH UE CONVENTION:

1. Opposes a U.S. invasion of Iraq, but supports instead a genuinely multilateral diplomatic approach to the Iraq situation, sanctioned and directed by the United Nations;

2. Encourages UE at all levels to educate our members on the history and issues underlying the disputes in the Middle East."