Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=12/12/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=MILITARY FAMILIES / IRAQ (L O)

NUMBER=310793

BYLINE=JENNY FALCON

DATELINE=NEW YORK

INTERNET=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: An anti-war coalition of U-S military families and veterans is calling on the United States to withdraw from Iraq. Correspondent Jenny Falcon reports from New York, a group of families and veterans recently returned from a trip to Iraq, where the met with coalition and Iraqi provisional government officials.

TEXT: On March 27th, Marine Lance Corporal Jesus Suarez died, when a coalition cluster bomb exploded. He was one of the first U-S servicemen killed in Iraq.

Now, Corporal Suarez's father, a Mexican immigrant from California, is urging the U-S-led coalition to pull its forces out of Iraq.

Fernando Suarez del Solar is a member of the group that recently returned from Iraq. Speaking to more than 100 opponents of the war at a gathering in New York, he said withdrawing the troops will help Iraqi children.

/// SUAREZ DEL SOLAR ACT ///

My son has no more opportunity to help the children of Iraq. But I am here, and I am going to finish my son's job.

/// END ACT ///

Several anti-war groups, including the California-based organization Global Exchange, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans Against War and United For Peace and Justice, sponsored the week-long trip to Iraq earlier this month.

The anti-war groups say that opposition to the occupation is growing. However, a recent Gallup Poll found an increase in American support for the war in Iraq since September. The survey, conducted in early December, found that "59 percent of Americans say the situation with Iraq was worth going to war over," while 39 percent say it was not worth it.

The anti-war coalition sent about a dozen people to Iraq on what it calls a fact-finding mission. They met members of the Iraqi Governing Council, and human rights organizations. They also visited hospitals and schools. They say they had hoped to have more time to discuss their misgivings about the U-S presence in Iraq with Coalition Administrator Paul Bremer, who met briefly with the group.

Anabelle Valencia, who lives in the U-S state of Arizona, has two children serving in Iraq. She says, during the trip, she saw her daughter and discussed the presence of coalition forces with local people.

/// VALENCIA ACT ///

I think the Iraqi people are fine now, they want to take the power, they want the troops to (go) back to the United States, and I think it is the right thing that we have to do. I think they are killing our children, and I am worried. I feel so sad about this.

/// END ACT ///

The Bush administration says coalition troops cannot leave Iraq now. President Bush said last month that the coalition must stay until the country is "free and peaceful."

/// REST OPT ///

Vietnam veteran John Grant of the group Veterans for Peace says he does not believe that chaos will overcome Iraq, if the coalition leaves now.

/// GRANT ACT ///

It may not be an absolutely rosy future, but Iraqis should decide their own future, and we should just get out of the way.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Grant is calling for general elections in Iraq. He says United Nations population records from the former U-N Oil-For-Food program could be useful in organizing the vote. (SIGNED)

NEB/NYC/JBF/BJS/TW