Dahlia Wasfi, M.D.: 'Bring US Troops Home Now' — An Archived 2004 Speech

Archived historical material. The following is an editorial summary of a speech dated December 4, 2004, as listed by Colorado Communities for Justice and Peace on the former coloradopeace.org site. It is presented as a record of past material. Nothing here describes present events, present organizations, present availability, or present views of any person.

Context of the Record

The source identifies the speaker as Dahlia Wasfi, M.D., and titles the address "Bring US Troops Home Now — We owe it to the people of Iraq." The page carried a Colorado Communities for Justice and Peace attribution and a site address, with an edit notation dated December 28, 2004. These details are reported only as they appear in the archived source.

Content of the Speech

Wasfi opened by saying she spoke on behalf of her family in Iraq. She described Iraqis as having suffered under a brutal internal dictatorship and, in her words, a genocidal empire from outside. She recounted a cousin's anxious question before the November 2004 United States elections about whether President Bush would win, and she compared American elections to the ritual formality she associated with Iraqi elections under Saddam Hussein.

She criticized the swift concession by John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004 and contrasted it with objections raised at the time about irregularities in Ukraine's elections. She directed particular criticism at Colin Powell, citing his roles in earlier administrations and his February 5, 2003 presentation before the United Nations.

Wasfi disputed the stated rationales for the invasion of Iraq, arguing that weapons of mass destruction and an Al-Qaeda link were absent and that Saddam Hussein had been in custody for nearly a year. She asserted that the military presence served to install a regime supportive of American interests, and she cited Iraqi oil policy, including a change in the currency used for oil sales, and Iraqi support for resistance to the occupation of Palestine.

She called for consistent enforcement of United Nations resolutions, referencing resolutions concerning the occupied territories of Palestine. She also criticized repeated assaults on Fallujah and asked where Abu Musab Al Zarqawi had been found. She argued that the Iraqi resistance was involved while the American public was not, and she described the two major American parties as serving corporate interests that profit from war.

She closed with lines from a Peter, Paul, and Mary song written in the 1980s about El Salvador, then asked whether troops could be brought home from Haiti, Afghanistan, Korea, the Philippines, Fallujah, Baghdad, Samarra, Mosul, and Ramadi. She proposed spending on education rather than weaponry and asked whether the United States could confront AIDS, cancer, poverty, and hunger instead. She concluded that troops could and must be brought home.

Archival Status

This summary preserves the substance of a 2004 speech as recorded in the source. The claims, characterizations, and proposals are those attributed to the speaker at that time. Their inclusion here is not an endorsement and does not indicate that any person, group, or website holds these views today or remains active.