Urges Him to Represent Marylanders Not BushFor Immediate Release: December 7, 2005
For Further Information: 301-257-3847
Montgomery County, MD: Today, U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Zeese asked Lt. Governor Michael Steele in an open letter whether he supported President Bush's factually inaccurate statements on Iraq. Zeese said “The devastating Iraq War is too important to continue to be based on falsehoods, misinformation and manipulations. I urge Mr. Steele to disassociate himself from the President's statement.”
Zeese, who is director of the national anti-war group, DemocracyRising.US, supports the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops over a six month period as part of a responsible exit strategy.
Zeese, who will be participating in an international conference on the Iraq War in London this weekend said: “It is time to recognize that the United States cannot bring stability or real democracy to Iraq by force. We need to put resources into the United States rather than occupying Iraq at a weekly cost of $5 Billion. The basic necessities of the American people are not being met, the infrastructure of the United States needs urgent attention, the deficit is growing and too many lives are being lost. It is time to end the Iraq War.”
Giving specific information to counter the President's claims, Zeese pointed to four areas of falsehoods in the President's speech:
1. The Iraq oil industry is doing well – when in fact production is below pre-war levels.
2. Fallujah is an example of successful control of a city – when a day after the speech ten Marines were killed in Fallujah.
3. The reduction in suicide bombings is a sign of success – when in fact attacks on U.S. troops are increasing.
4. And, that Iraqi battalions are taking the lead in actions in Iraq – when embedded reporters see the opposite.
“The key question is: will Michael Steele walk lock-step with his top fundraiser who just raised $500,000 for him or will he stand with the people of Maryland? Marylanders believe the Iraq War is wrong, including a majority of Republicans. We need a Senator who represents the voters in Maryland not one who blindly supports the President,” said Zeese.
Zeese concluded the letter offering to debate the Iraq War and other issues of importance to Maryland voters “anywhere and anytime that is convenient” for Mr. Steele.
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December 6, 2005
Lt. Gov. Michael Steele Michael Steele Senate Campaign PO Box 347
Annapolis, MD 21404
via email
Re: Do you support President Bush's continued dishonesty on the Iraq War?
Dear Mr. Steele:
Last week before President Bush raised a reported $500,000 for your senate campaign, he made a speech on the Iraq War in Annapolis. When you announced your campaign for the U.S. Senate you expressed support for the president's policy on Iraq War. I am writing to seek clarification of your views in light of the President's recent speech. This letter is being sent to the media in the hope that they will ask you some of these questions while you are on the campaign trail.
Maryland voters have reached the conclusion that it is now time for the U.S to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. Indeed, a majority of Republicans in Maryland no longer support the war. Therefore, your views on the war are out of step with the vast majority of Maryland voters.
But even worse than supporting the failed Iraq policy, it is important to understand whether you support President Bush's advocacy of the war based on false and misleading information. In his Annapolis speech the President was so desperate to tell U.S. voters that there were signs of success in Iraq that he manipulated statistics, presented misleading information and provided false rhetoric. For example:
Bush claimed oil production was up, but to do so he had to manipulate the dates. He said: “Oil production increased from an average of 1.58 million barrels per day in 2003, to an average of 2.25 million barrels per day in 2004” and then acknowledges a slight reduction since then. Of course, 2003 was the year of the U.S. invasion shutting down Iraq oil production for months. The truth, as Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) noted is oil production actually lower than prior to the U.S. invasion – despite the U.S. spending billions on the industry. And, in reality oil and related products are scarce in Iraq.
The US military said that suicide bombings fell to their lowest level in seven months in November and pointed to this statistic as a sign of progress in the war. But the sad truth is this is probably a sign that the resistance does not have to rely on suicide bombers anymore, instead they are relying on remotely detonated bombs that are actually more dangerous. November saw 87 U.S. troops killed – one of the highest death tolls for a 30-day period.
A major area of manipulation and dishonesty is the President's claim that 40 Iraqi battalions were taking the lead in the fight against insurgents, and that in the battle of Tal Afar this year, “the assault was primarily led by Iraqi security forces - 11 Iraqi battalions backed by 5 coalition battalions providing support.” As Maureen Dowd wrote in The New York Times on December 4, CNN swiftly produced Time's Baghdad bureau chief, Michael Ware, who was embedded with the US military during the entire Tal Afar battle. “With the greatest respect to the president, that's completely wrong . . . They were not leading.” Ware went on to report that “a very senior officer here in Baghdad said to me that there's never going to be a point where these guys will be able to stand up against the insurgency on their own.”
Do you join the President in these deceptions of U.S. voters or will you state your disagreement with this false information? Will you speak for yourself on the Iraq War and represent the views of Maryland voters or will you support the President – no matter how out of step he is with the views of Marylanders?
Maryland tax payers have spent $4.5 billion on the Iraq War. The United States is going further into deficit spending in order to continue the Iraq War. The Iraq War is risking the stability of the economy with extremely high deficit spending which is a risk to jobs, wages, purchasing power and the security of Maryland voters. Do you favor spending hundreds of billions rebuilding Iraq when the basic infrastructure in the United States needs more than a trillion dollars in repair according to the American Society of Civil Engineers? Do you see it as the role of the United States to nation build around the world?
Thirty-two Marylanders have lost their lives in the Iraq War. How many lives of U.S. soldiers are you willing to lose in order to continue this war? Some in the administration have suggested we may be in Iraq for a decade or longer. We have lost more than 2,100 lives and more than 100,000 serious physical and debilitating mental injuries to Americans in less than three years. In a decade, we could see tens of thousands of lives lost and hundreds of thousand casualties. Is this a cost you think the United States should bear?
Do you support the development of long-term, permanent military bases in Iraq? The development of such bases indicates a long-term presence in Iraq is planned. Do you think that is appropriate?
Finally, regarding U.S. corporate interests in Iraq, do you favor the withdrawal of U.S. corporations from Iraq? Such a withdrawal will demonstrate to Iraqis that they will be getting their country back. It will help reduce the extremely high unemployment, reportedly as high as 70 percent. In addition, United States corporations have been unable to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq. Withdrawal of U.S. corporate interests will assist in bringing stability to Iraq.
I hope you recognize that the United States is not capable of restoring stability to Iraq. We invaded the country based on false, misleading, manipulated and inaccurate intelligence information. During the occupation U.S. troops have been caught on camera torturing and humiliating Iraqi civilians. The U.S. assault on Fallujah and other cities as well as the use of checkpoints on roads has resulted in the deaths many innocent Iraqi civilians.
Thus far you have said very little on the Iraq War. Now that your primary fund raiser, President Bush, has put forward his views it is important for Marylanders to know whether you will be walking lock-step with the President in this disastrous policy.
Sincerely,
Kevin Zeese U.S. Senate Candidate
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