the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jan 22, 2007
Active duty soldiers presented a petition to Congress, calling for the swift withdrawal of all troops in Iraq. The petition was signed by more than 1,000 other active duty, reserve and National Guard troops.
A group of soldiers led by Marine Sgt. Liam Madden, an Iraq war veteran, presented the petition to Congress on January 15, Martin Luther King Day. It was signed by 1,080 soldiers at the time. Names continue to be gathered; by Saturday, January 20, the number had grown to 1,192.
The soldiers who have attached their names to this petition are taking great risks: They risk prosecution and prison, certainly; and they risk their lives with the possibility of the military retaliating by sending them on the most dangerous missions day after day after day.
For this growing number of soldiers to take this risk, shows that they rest on a much larger number of soldiers who feel exactly the same way they do. It may be “only” 1,192 soldiers who have signed the petition at this point; but they are the reflection of a deep-seated feeling throughout the military today: that the U.S. needs to get out of Iraq NOW!