If Basra Is Any Indication, Kucinich Is Right

Kucinich has long been the only candidate saying that the "Occupation is fueling the Insurgency" and that the first step in stabalizing the region is withdrawing all of our troops, contractors, etc.

If the recent withdraw of British troops from Basra is any indication, then he's dead on. From Associated Press:

BAGHDAD: Attacks against British and Iraqi forces have plunged by 90 percent in southern Iraq since London withdrew its troops from the main city of Basra, the commander of British forces there said Thursday.

The presence of British forces in downtown Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was the single largest instigator of violence, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns told reporters Thursday on a visit to Baghdad's Green Zone.

90%! Now, it should be noted that Basra is a different situation than, say Baghdad, because of it's overwhelming Shite population. The theory here, being that this will lessen the likelihood of sectarian conflict. Which, of course, seems logical.

However, Basra has seen major fighting:

...between Shiite militias vying for control of the city and its security forces.

British officials expected a spike in such "intra-militia violence" after they pulled back from the city's center, and were surprised to find none, Binns said.

So, the view of the British as an Occupation force seems to have been the most important factor in driving up violence, just as Kucinich has been holding for the past 5 years.

Further than this, Kucinich's plan is the only one that addresses all of the issues regarding the occupation. This includes oil privatization, handing reconstruction contracts back to Iraqis, stabalzing their economy, and reparations. It is the most comprehensive and, even with all of the hard work and effort going into it-take a deep breath-the most practical. Kucinich is the only candidate who is proposing what we need to do.

Please support Dennis Kucinich's 12 Point Plan:

(1) the United States should end the occupation of Iraq immediately, simultaneously with the introduction of a United Nations-led international peacekeeping force pursuant to an agreement with nations within the region and which incorporates the terms and conditions specified in section 1;

(2) the Department of Defense should use readily available existing funds to bring all United States troops and necessary equipment home while a political settlement is being negotiated and preparations are made for a transition to an international security and peacekeeping force;

(3) the Department of Defense should order a simultaneous return of all United States contractors and subcontractors and turn over all contracting work to the Iraqi Government;

(4) the United Nations should be encouraged to prepare an international security and peacekeeping force to be deployed to Iraq, replacing United States troops who then return home;

(5) the United States should provide funding for a United Nations peacekeeping mission, in which 50 percent of the peacekeeping troops should come from nations with large Muslim populations;

(6) the international security force, under United Nations direction, should remain in place until the Iraqi Government is capable of handling its own security;

(7) the Iraqi Government, with assistance from the United Nations, should immediately restart the failed reconstruction program in Iraq and rebuild roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, and other public facilities, houses, and factories with jobs and job training going to local Iraqis;

(8) the Iraqi Government, in an act of political sovereignty, should set aside initiatives to privatize Iraqi oil interests or other national assets and abandon all efforts, whether at the behest of the United States or otherwise, to change Iraqi national law to facilitate privatization;

(9) the Iraq Government, in an act of political sovereignty, should set forth a plan to stabilize Iraq's cost for food and energy, on par to what the prices were before the United States invasion and occupation;

(10) the Iraqi Government, in an act of political sovereignty, should strive for economic sovereignty for Iraq by working with the world community to restore Iraq's fiscal integrity without structural readjustment measures of the International Monetary Funds or the World Bank;

(11) the United States should initiate a reparations program for the loss of Iraqi lives, physical and emotional injuries, and damage to property, which should include an effort to rescue the tens of thousands of Iraqi orphans from lives of destitution; and

(12) the United States should refrain from any covert operations in Iraq and any attempts to destabilize the Iraqi Government.