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THE WORLD OF LABOR — January 12, 2007 http://www.laboreducator.org/expandtroops.htm By Harry Kelber AFL-CIO Head Opposes Bush Plan to Expand Troops in IraqIn a formal statement that opposed President Bush’s intention to send 20,000 additional U.S. soldiers to Iraq, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said: “American policy in Iraq has been based on false premises and wishful thinking since the beginning. And we have tried to increase American troop presence in the most violent and dangerous areas of Iraq before without success,”
Sweeney cited the results of the 2006 elections, where the “American people spoke loudly and clearly that the President’s course in Iraq was flawed and that he should begin bringing our troops home rapidly.” Anti-war sentiment within the labor movement has been growing, with a large number of unions joining the U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW). Sweeney called on Congress to “insist that the President, and his military leaders, clearly articulate the path for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq rapidly.” |