Common Cause’s National Governing Board has approved a resolution calling on the United States to withdraw its troops from Iraq as “expeditiously as possible, consistent with the safety of the troops and Iraqi people.” Further, the resolution calls for the establishment of a commission to investigate a range of war-related issues, including whether “the invasion and occupation of Iraq may have resulted in abuses of executive power, disregard for fundamental principles of our democracy, dishonesty in government, deprivations of fundamental civil rights and civil liberties, and misuse of U.S. taxpayer money.”

“Congress gets advice this week to stay the course in Iraq, but many believe that ample evidence exists to know that we need to withdraw as soon as it is safely possible for US troops, as well as the Iraqi people,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause. “The Administration’s conduct related to the Iraqi war has caused severe damage to our democracy and to our standing as a beacon for democracy abroad. We need to end this war and then we need answers to many of the questions that have been raised in this difficult chapter of American history.”

The resolution said the investigative commission should also consider whether the decisions to invade and to occupy Iraq were violations of the War Powers Act or other laws or Constitutional protections, and whether Congress satisfied its Constitutional obligations in connection with the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The commission should also recommend measures to prevent the United States from ever again going to war under false pretenses, and to prevent abuses of power by the Executive Branch.

Click here to read the full resolution approved Friday by the governing board.

Common Cause’s 30-member National Governing Board serves as its policy-making body and provides broad oversight for the organization. The board meets in Washington, DC three times a year to discuss, determine and oversee issue, financial and organizational matters.