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From the International Anti-Occupation Network I.A.O.N. - please spread as widely as possible to peace and solidarity organisations and media contacts.

Urgent - please spread as widely as possible to peace and solidarity organisations and media contacts.

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1- A decade of war and occupation has not defeated the will of the Iraqi people to regain their national independence. The US attempt to conquer Iraq has failed, due to the continued resistance of the Iraqis and their refusal to allow themselves to be subjugated.

The political process imposed by the occupation has resulted in a sectarian and ethnic divide, the result of a conscious policy to weaken and indeed to destroy the national identity of what was once the most developed country in the Arab world. Even as US policy to reconstruct the Middle East after its own designs has failed, it continues to speak of dividing the country into three as a last resort to guarantee control over the oil resources of the area.

2- The Al-Maliki regime, left behind as the guardian of US interests under the imposed conditions of the Bremer decrees and constitution, has proved itself incapable of realizing the aspirations and hopes of the Iraqi people for peace and self-determination. Large segments of the population remain subjected to oppression or imprisonment as well as excluded from the political participation in the destiny of their country.

The corrupt politicians and the so-called parliament in the green zone have continued to serve the interests of foreign powers rather than those of the Iraqi people. They have no role to play in the fight to bring peace and reconciliation to Iraq.

3- Millions of Iraqis are today engaged in an uprising against the proxy government in Baghdad. Large areas of the country have been liberated from the control of AL Maliki´s forces. Attempts to portray the uprising as a sectarian struggle between Sunni and Shiite are doomed to failure. Iraq is not a regional dispute in the Middle East. The Iraqis refuse to allow their legitimate struggle to be used as a pawn in imperial designs and conspiracies against them or their neighbours.

The rebels leading the continued resistance, which embodies the spirit and aspirations of the people of Iraq, have made it clear that Iraq wants normal relations with its neighbours based on strict respect for and adherence to the principles of non-interference. This is a political stand firmly endorsed by the solidarity movements.

4- The western press has falsely characterised the uprising as a terrorist insurgency led by Al Qaida linked groups. The spokesman for the Military Council of the Rebels has clarified that it has no organisational links or political unity with forces such as ISIL that advocate policies of terror, intolerance and sectarianism in the fight to topple Al Maliki and his cohorts. Such groupings, even if they are limited in numbers, are financed and supported by outside forces. They create more havoc and bloodshed rather than encourage the conditions and efforts required for true reconciliation by the national forces who must work together to regain peace and independence.

The struggle now is concentrated on the overthrow of Iraq´s main enemy, the Al Maliki gang of thieves.

5- The people of Iraq have suffered enormously as a result of the invasion and its aftermath. For the majority of Iraqis material living conditions have deteriorated to such an extent that only a broad-based unity of the growing poor and what remains of the middle class can advance the national unity required to return Iraq to the course of social and economic development.

6- US efforts to interfere politically or militarily, as well as the support of its allies and enemies to involve themselves in the resolution of the conflict started by the illegal invasion, can only cause even more civilian casualties and further destruction and must be opposed by all anti-war forces. This includes the open sending of US advisors as well as the clandestine involvement of others such as the AL Quds brigades to defend the collapsing regime.

The Military Council of the Rebel Fighters, established in over 70 localities, is the only force capable of leading the struggle to bring about a provisional government that can agree on a new constitution, carry out democratic elections and reconstitute the national Iraqi Army which can ensure peace and stability and protect Iraq´s borders.