Ictu calls for troop withdrawal from Iraq

The United States-led coalition in Iraq should commit to withdrawing troops from the war-torn country, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) today said.

Three years after the invasion and 180,000 deaths later, Congress general secretary David Begg said the situation had yet to improve, and that civil war was a real danger. But he said a commitment to bring soldiers home would be a significant step in securing peace.

"The very real possibility of Iraq degenerating into civil war is the ultimate nightmare scenario," he said.

"Disengaging in this context is highly-problematic, but equally, using the prospect of civil war to justify continuing the occupation is wrong. A clear statement of intent to withdraw as soon as conditions of stability will allow is the only morally viable option.

"Such a statement would also deprive those behind the current wave of atrocities of the justification for their campaign."

Marking the third anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Mr Begg said 180,000 innocent people were killed in the conflict along with 2,300 US troops. He said the deaths were a result of the ideological obsessions of the current US administration led by President George W Bush.

And Mr Begg claimed the war had cost in excess of $500 billion, with the cost of the ongoing occupation adding an extra $6 billion every month. He described the cost as "a horrific waste of human life and resources".

"The war is wrong, illegal and was based on a lie. In fact, the enduring and defining image of this whole

sorry affair will probably be the depravity and brutality of Abu Ghraib."

Mr Begg was speaking after hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Dublin demanding the US-led coalition withdraws from Iraq. Politicians and activists addressed a 500-strong crowd, calling on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to halt the use of the Shannon Airport by US troops on their way to Iraq.

Many of the protesters carried placards warning the US not to invade Iran, which is being referred to the UN Security Council for its decision to re-start work on its nuclear programme.

PA