HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

284

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

urging the president and congress of the united states to end the united states' rule in the military occupation of iraq and to take necessary action to begin withdrawal of united states troops from iraq.

 

 

WHEREAS, the citizens of Hawaii have a strong tradition of upholding the principles of democracy and respect for the rights of all people:

(1) Hawaii supported the United States-led fight against Al Qaeda, which led to the liberation of the people of Afghanistan from the oppressive Taliban regime; and

(2) House Resolution No. 2 expressed the Legislature's support for Operation Desert Storm in 1991; and

WHEREAS, the reasons given by the United States President to justify the United States' preemptive military invasion of Iraq without the support of the United Nations have proved groundless:

(1) The United States was not threatened with imminent attack by Iraq;

(2) Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction; and

(3) Iraq had no role whatsoever in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States; and

WHEREAS, the financial and human costs of military operations in Iraq are staggering and continue to escalate:

(1) As of March 8, 2006, congressional appropriations total nearly $250,000,000,000, reducing funds available for education, health care, and other needed social services in our cities, towns, and rural areas; and

(2) In human costs, more than two thousand three hundred United States troops have been killed and nearly seventeen thousand have been wounded or disabled--killing our young and guaranteeing another generation of physically and emotionally wounded veterans; and

WHEREAS, although confirmation is problematical, sources report as many as six thousand Iraqi soldier deaths prior to May 1, 2003, with estimates of civilian Iraqi deaths ranging from approximately thirty thousand to more than one hundred thousand civilian deaths due to coalition military action, according to a fall 2004 study by the British medical journal, The Lancet; and

WHEREAS, the United States President's policy in Iraq has isolated the United States from the international community, and many Americans believe the United States' military actions have made the nation less safe from terrorists; and

WHEREAS, the United States' attack on Iraq and our continued occupation has damaged the nation's credibility and reduced America's standing as a global leader; and

WHEREAS, the cost of activating members of Hawaii's National Guard for deployment to Iraq has been significant, resulting in lost lives, combat injuries and psychic trauma, disruption in family life, financial hardship for individuals, families, and businesses, and interruption of professional lives; and

WHEREAS, these hardships have been all the more difficult since they were suffered under the false pretenses given to justify the United States' preemptive invasion of Iraq; and

WHEREAS, the United States must make a dramatic change in its Iraq operations; the President and Congress of the United States should involve other nations and begin withdrawal of United States troops to bring them home safely as soon as practicable; and

WHEREAS, as former President Theodore Roosevelt stated, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally reprehensible to the American public"; and

WHEREAS, support for our country does not mandate continuing to keep our troops in harms way; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the President and Congress of the United States are respectfully requested to consult with officials from other nations regarding the necessary involvement of troops in the occupation and restoration of Iraq, and to take necessary action to withdraw United States troops from Iraq, consistent with the mandate of international humanitarian law; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President and the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, members of the Hawaii congressional delegation, the United States Secretary of Defense, the United States Secretary of State, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Iraq War; Withdrawal of Troops