Introduction

We, the undersigned, are a group of Iraqi and Iraqi-American professionals and intellectuals, observe with pleasure the momentum towards peace, justice, stability, and democracy in our beloved Iraq, the cradle of human civilization.

We support the unconditional withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq, and we support the direction of President Barak Obama to remove all US troops from Iraq by Dec. 2011.

We strongly believe that Iraq must have full sovereignty as a unified democratic anti-sectarian state with equal rights and justice to all its citizens, irrespective of creed, ethnic origin, belief, or tribal affiliation and without the presence of all and any foreign military forces.

Concerns Based on Facts on the Ground

Progress has been made on a number of fronts, including security and local provincial elections. However, the political process in Iraq is still blocked by disagreements and opposite views, forming key obstacles in the way to achieving any progress leading to a safer and democratic Iraq. Therefore, we are concerned that the assessments of the progress made by the media, the Iraqi government and the US administration officials have been overstated and that the facts on the ground in Iraq remain alarming in their scope of damage. Here are few of these facts:

The forces of divisiveness, sectarianism, and fragmentation remain strong and active throughout Iraq, preparing for civil war, or wars, when their increasing demands are not met.
- The structure of most of the institutions of the Iraqi government, including security forces, remains largely sectarian exercising repressive power against groups of different political or sectarian persuasion;
- The forces of division and fragmentation retain active and visible militias through Iraqi regions, weakening the roles of the Iraqi government and civic society;
- This process is forcing and encouraging other groups to explore the formation of their own private militias, for self-protection, and, hence, accelerating the trend towards more divisiveness and war.
The process of political reconciliation on non-sectarian basis is stalled. It is a fact that several key disputed issues, like the oil revenues, the city of Kirkuk, the militias and others remain unresolved, although negotiations have been ongoing since 2003 to resolve them. It is also a fact that the Iraqi constitution remains in effect, with no hope of any process to reform it, although there were promises of reform and amendment before it was passed through a referendum in October 2005.
The United Nations classified Iraq, for the past three years, as one of the most corrupt states in the World. Efforts and billions of US Dollars have been spent to reconstruct the infrastructure, schools and health systems, since 2003. The levels of these services remain lower than pre-2003 levels and most billions have not been accounted for.
Iraqi's economic activities are near a complete standstill. More than 65% of the labor force is unemployed. Security forces and militias employ most of the rest of the 35%.
We note with horror that since the illegal invasion of Iraq six years ago, today we have the following demographic and social facts:
- Estimates put the number of civilian Iraqis perished by violence anywhere between 100,000 and 1.5 million.
- More than two million Iraqis are now refugees in neighboring countries and other parts of the world.
- More than two million Iraqis are now displaced inside Iraq and living in horrible conditions;
- Iraqi's cherished minorities, with their numerous rich cultural diversity and contributions to Iraq wellbeing are now nearly extinct;
- The status of Iraqi woman, in law and in public practices, has regressed to a level far below the status it achieved in the past fifty years;
- Iraq has more than 2 million widows and more than 5 million orphans, according to UNCEF;
- The process of assassination and intimidation of the intellectual wealth of Iraq continues unabated. Hundreds of Iraq's outstanding intellectuals, professionals, academics, and scientists have been assassinated and tens of thousands have been forces to flee Iraq and become refuges;

These facts are but a short list of the highlights of the extensive destruction caused, directly or indirectly, by six years of occupation, sectarian policies, and rampant corruption.

Assessment Based on the Concerns

These concerns, and other more disturbing facts, clearly point that an irresponsible withdrawal of foreign forces will push Iraq toward more dire conditions of conflict that will very likely engulf not only Iraq but also the whole Middle East in local warfare, imbalances, and destruction endangering, in the process, far more than just Iraq security.

On the other hand, and more importantly, any reversal that will consider keeping US and foreign forces beyond December 2011 will definitely act as a trigger to a broader and more entrenched resistance to this extended foreign occupation. This resurgence will not only engulf Iraq with a broader and more viscous war, but will also accelerate instability and war in the whole Middle East region.

Our assessment is that if the US continues with the current sense of "victory is at-hand," the likely outcome will produce two undesirable conditions: either an irresponsible withdrawal leaving chaos and civil war, or an extension of the occupation beyond December 2011.

The future of World's peace, security, and prosperity depends on the realization, as soon as possible, of a sustainable just Middle East peace. Many factors and players enter the equation of achieving Middle Eastern peace; among them is the necessary condition that a credible and legitimate government in Baghdad is a party to such peace.

The coming nine months are critical to producing a more desirable outcome.

The Desired Future of Iraq

We call on the US, the neighbors of Iraq, the Arab countries, the other countries of the Middle East, and the numerous interested international parties to respect and support the Iraqi people in realizing their desired vision:

A unified non-sectarian democratic Iraq with a strong national government bounded by the rule of law and democratic checks and balances.
A reformed Constitution that will be reformed by the will of the Iraqi people-- all Iraqi people-- to represent a more balanced non-sectarian legal framework, that emphases the principles of equal citizenship, and the protection of women, disadvantaged, and minorities.
Iraqi citizens, irrespective of creed, ethnicity, or belief are equal in their citizenship and have equal rights before fair, just and enforceable laws. Protection of the laws must, unequivocally extend to freedom of speech, assembly, petition of their government, and protection of all minorities, political, ethnic, gender, or belief-based.
The right of all ethnic groups in Iraq to develop in peace, and to celebrate their ethnicity's history, languages, and culture.
The ownership of energy resources, including oil and gas, will remain centralized and whose returns will serve the interests of all Iraqi people to build common prosperity.

Recommendations

It is in the United States' interest to see a potential partner for peace emerging in Baghdad. Supporting non-sectarian political reforms in Iraq will contribute to shorten the United States' armed forces presence in Iraq. Billions of dollars, now directed to sustaining the mission in Iraq, will be redirected towards the United States' domestic needs.

To the United States

We recommend that the US enacts policies and takes the following steps:

Commit to the withdrawal of all forces and all bases, as President Obama stated in his Feb 27, 2009 speech. Consider accelerating the complete withdrawal to December 2010 as a lever to expedite non-sectarian political conciliation.
Continue, unequivocally, to support institutional building based on non-sectarian basis.
Commit to the respect of the will of the Iraqi people to choose their leaders and their laws, irrespective of the outcome. No "Hamas treatment".
Commit to support, financially and politically, the reconstruction of Iraq over a long period.
Open dialogue with all Iraqi political forces, on non-sectarian basis, with the intention of securing their participation and support for a safe and open process of election
Use the influence of the US to engage regional and international powers to support the will of the Iraqi people and refrain from intervention in the internal affairs of Iraq. Further, facilitate the elimination of the burden of debt on the new emergent Iraq.
Support the formation and the participation in a Truth, Accountability, and Justice (TAJ) Commission of international personalities of trust and creditability, with Iraqi participation. The Commission should be formed independent of the Iraqi Government or any of the political parties and should have a wide jurisdiction of subpoena powers. The TAJ Commission will investigate openly and judicially:

All crimes committed against Iraqis and against humanity by any Iraqi or foreign personality from the current and previous regimes, whether they were officials or independent operators
All corruption and theft of public funds
Acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, or sectarian cleansing

To the Iraqi Political Forces

We recommend that the Iraqi Government, Iraqi political parties, and Iraqi forces of resistance accept and act faithfully to realize the following:

The Iraqi political groups have to commit to the building of a strong national government in Baghdad within the confines of democratic controls of transparency, non-sectarianism, and participation based of Iraqi citizens dedicate to the success of a unified democratic Iraq.
The institutions of the government, including army, security, and diplomatic services, has to be built on the principles of service, professionalism, non-political meddling, and definitely not on sectarian basis.
Open national political dialogue where all sides are allowed to freely and safely participate in the national debate and the rebuilding of Iraq. This dialogue should lead to internationally supervised open elections, an open process to reform the Constitution.
End the Debaathification program and replace that with a strong cooperation with the internationally established and independent Truth, Accountability, and Justice (TAJ) Commission.
All parties commit to the end of foreign meddling, intervention, and the withdrawal of all non-Iraqi bases and forces.
Iraq should assume full responsibility for the resettlement of Iraqi displaced persons and refugees.

Regional and International Interested Parties

We call on the regional and international parties, particularly countries bordering Iraq, to:

Commit to, and facilitate the building of a strong unified national government in Baghdad within a unified non-sectarian Iraq. They should also actively participate and support the effort of international mechanism to sustain and support the relocation of Iraqi refugees. Respect the will of the Iraqi people, expressed through free elections. End the unjust debt imposed on Iraq thought the past 25 years. Facilitate and participate in the effort to reconstruct Iraq to the interest of the Iraqi people.