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SENATE MEMORIAL 11

TH LEGISLATURE

- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -

FIRST SESSION

, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Gerald P. Ortiz y Pino

A MEMORIAL

EXPRESSING THE INTENT OF THE SENATE THAT CONGRESS RESCIND THE

IRAQ RESOLUTION AND THAT CONGRESS PASS A RESOLUTION CALLING FOR

THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF AMERICAN TROOPS FROM THE WAR IN

IRAQ.

WHEREAS, over three thousand New Mexico army and air

national guard troops have served in Iraq; and

WHEREAS, more than three thousand United States troops

have lost their lives in the war in Iraq and more than forty-

seven thousand have suffered injuries; and

WHEREAS, President Bush deployed New Mexico's army and air

national guard troops on the pretense that weapons of mass

destruction existed in Iraq; and

WHEREAS, it has been conclusively determined that there

were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; and

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WHEREAS, President Bush deployed New Mexico's army and air

national guard troops on the pretense that Iraq was linked to

the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack; and

WHEREAS, it has been conclusively determined that Iraq was

not involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack; and

WHEREAS, President Bush deployed New Mexico's army and air

national guard troops on the pretense that Iraq was the most

serious threat facing the national security of the United

States; and

WHEREAS, it has been conclusively determined that Iraq

poses no risk to the national security of the United States;

and

WHEREAS, according to an October 2006 Newsweek poll:

A. fifty-eight percent of Americans believe that

the Bush administration knowingly misled the American people in

building its case for war against Iraq;

B. sixty-four percent of Americans believe that the

United States is losing ground in the war in Iraq;

C. sixty-six percent of Americans say the war has

not made the United States safe from terrorism; and

D. fifty-three percent of Americans believe that it

was a mistake to go to war in Iraq in 2003; and

WHEREAS, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, fifty-

five percent of Americans do not view the war in Iraq as being

related to the war against terrorism; and

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WHEREAS, New Mexico's national guard units may be deployed

again to serve in Iraq; and

WHEREAS, United States' allies in Iraq have already

reduced their forces by twenty-six thousand since the March

2003 invasion; and

WHEREAS, three of America's allies in Iraq, Italy,

Bulgaria and Ukraine, withdrew all of their forces in 2005 and

2006, and a half dozen other allies are debating possible

withdrawals; and

WHEREAS, according to a 2006 Zogby poll, nearly three out

of four American soldiers serving in Iraq believe that United

States forces should withdraw by 2007; and

WHEREAS, more than one thousand uniformed, active-duty

military personnel, many of whom have served in Iraq, have

appealed for redress to congress stating that "staying in Iraq

will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S.

troops to come home."; and

WHEREAS, according to a 2005 ABC News/Time magazine poll,

more than two-thirds of Iraqis disapprove of the presence of

United States forces in Iraq; and

WHEREAS, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, fifty-

five percent of Americans do not believe that President Bush

has a plan that will achieve victory for the United States in

Iraq; and

WHEREAS, according to a 2006 poll by the United States

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state department, a strong majority of Iraqis want United

States troops to withdraw immediately from the war because it

would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence and

reduce the genocidal slaughter of Iraqis; and

WHEREAS, America's soldiers are caught in the middle of a

civil war from which there is no victory in sight; and

WHEREAS, almost one-half of all American military

casualties are caused by roadside bombs, such that American

forces have simply become defenseless human targets for

pointless slaughter;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE

OF NEW MEXICO that congress hereby be called upon to rescind

the Iraq resolution and to pass a resolution calling for the

immediate withdrawal of American troops in Iraq; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution in no way

condemns our military men and women who honorably performed

their duties in Iraq according to their understanding; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the president of the United States senate, the

majority leader of the United States house of representatives

and the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.

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