WHEREAS, the Bush administration carried out an invasion of Iraq using the pretense that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, but no evidence has been found that Iraq possessed these weapons or the capability to deploy them, and

WHEREAS, the administration has embraced a new and dangerous path of preemptive war without an imminent threat to the United States, that has increased the threat of terrorism and that has put Iraq on a path towards civil war instead, and

WHEREAS, the war and military occupation of Iraq have cost the lives of over 1400 US troops, wounded and disabled thousands more, and caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, casualties among soldiers of other nations, and

WHEREAS, we recognize and applaud the courage of our US military personnel. They have risked their lives and made huge sacrifices, and bringing them home is the best means of protecting them, and

WHEREAS, the Bush administration has used the war and national security hysteria to create a climate of fear at home, to attack union and worker rights and civil liberties, and

WHEREAS, the war and occupation have cost over 200 billion dollars, leading directly to cuts in social and human services, education, and even cuts in benefits for military veterans. Meanwhile war spending has hugely enriched the friends of the Bush administration and their corporations, and

WHEREAS, the Bush administration has announced the wholesale privatization of Iraqi factories and workplaces, and kept in force a ban on unions in the public sector, a ban which the Delaware County Democratic Party would never tolerate here, and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Delaware County Democratic Party calls on President Bush to restore full sovereignty to the people of Iraq and begin now the withdrawal of our troops, and to reject the philosophy of preemptive war without a clear imminent threat to the United States, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Delaware County Democratic Party calls on president Bush to provide adequate veterans’ benefits and otherwise meet the needs of returning veterans, and our people in general, to jobs, education and health care, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Delaware County Democratic Party calls on all Democratic party organizations to consider and pass similar resolutions, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Delaware County Democratic Party calls on all Democrats to demand an immediate end to the US occupation of Iraq, the return of US troops to their homes and families, and the reordering of national priorities toward peace and the human needs of our people.