JORDAN: U.S anti-war activist demand that their government set a timetable to withdraw its troops from Iraq

A group of leading U.S anti-war activist demanded that their government set a timetable to withdraw its troops from Iraq. They also hold their government responsible for the deaths and destruction in Lebanon by its refusal to call for a ceasefire. The U.S delegation, compromised of 15 activists from around America, met with Iraqi Members of Parliament in Amman to discuss the current situation in Iraq. One of the activists, Ann Wright, who served in the U.S military for 29 years and in the diplomatic corps for 16 years resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war, said that the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq is the first step towards the stability of the country. "The withdrawal of U.S troops (from Iraq) is the very first thing that will help regain the security for the people of Iraq. The (Iraqi) parliamentarians are very firm that they know that the people of Iraq can resolve their own issues internally once the United States steps out of the way. So I think we will have a lot of messages to take back to our people in the United States, that American people can feel comfortable that the Iraqis know they can handle the situation when the American troops leave. They know, the Iraqis know that they can handle their own economic future, they know that if the United States is an ethical and moral country they will help rebuild the destruction that this war caused, that the United States caused in this war," Wright said in a press conference following their meetings with Iraqi parliament members. "Our delegation I think is firmly convinced that there is a way out of what the Bush administration has gotten American into and we will be going back to the United States to talk to the people of America, to reassure them that there is no need for fear that we will be leaving the Iraqi's defenceless if the United States withdraws," she added. The United States has about 133,000 troops in Iraq. Despite the increasing unpopularity of the war in the U.S and public pressure for withdrawal of troops, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned on Thursday (August 3) against pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq prematurely, saying it would be seen as a victory by extremists who want to control a region extending beyond the Middle East. The activists also condemned Bush administration's refusal to call for a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and blamed their government for the death and destruction taking place in both countries. "We feel that the U.S government by not calling for immediate and unconditional ceasefire is also responsible for a lot of the deaths and destruction that's going on today and we feel as U.S citizens appalled by our government's refusal to call for the ceasefire, appalled that the U.N ambassador to the United States John Bolton stopped the Security Council from calling for an immediate ceasefire, so that puts a great weight on us as U.S citizens," Medea Benjamin, founding director of Global Exchange, a human rights organisation, said. The U.N. Security Council on Sunday unanimously rejected U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an immediate truce. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he opposed calling for a truce, as requested by Annan in an impassioned plea to an emergency council meeting he called after the strike on Qana, the deadliest single attack of Israel's war against Hizbollah militants. Benjamin also added that the delegation will be travelling to Lebanon to assess the humanitarian situation there. "Our visit to Syria and Lebanon will be both to assess the humanitarian crisis but also to see that we can do as civilians to aid those who are in danger and to hook up with the civil society in both Lebanon and Israel who are determined to stop the bombing, stop the killing, to see how we can work together to be peacemakers." The activists are expected to leave for Syria and Lebanon tomorrow.

ITN Source | August 6, 2006

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