American activists in Cuba express fierce opposition to Bush plan for more troops in Iraq

HAVANA: American activists in Cuba to demand the closure of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay said they are fiercely against more troops being sent to Iraq, a plan to be confirmed Wednesday when U.S. President George W. Bush presents his new war strategy.

The group, which plans to march outside the gates of the U.S. prison camp for terrorism suspects in eastern Cuba on Thursday, includes "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan and retired Army Col. Anne Wright, who said she thinks a military success in Iraq is impossible.

"The 400,000 troops there right now are not able to win this militarily and politically," Wright told a news conference Tuesday in Havana. "So 20,000 is a very small number to (obtain) security ... and represents a sacrifice of the U.S. military and the tens of thousands of Iraqis who will be killed in the next few months."

Wright said the United States should pull the military out of Iraq, then pay reparations for victims of the violence and continue funding reconstruction projects.

"We need to have accountability in my country for war crimes," said Wright, who is also a former diplomat. "And a minimum would be the impeachment of the president of the United States for his criminal activities."

Sheehan, who became an anti-war activist after her son was killed in Iraq, said U.S. President George W. Bush has been acting like a tyrant, and urged more Americans to speak out against his administration and the war.

"Almost three-fourths of Americans want the troops to come home," she said, wearing a black shirt with the words "We will not be silent" in both English and Arabic. "It's time our government listens to its people, but it's also time the people force our government to listen."

Medea Benjamin, who organized the Cuba trip through her California activist groups Global Exchange and Codepink, said she couldn't believe Bush "could be so deaf to the cries of the American people, and so blind to the reality of what is happening in Iraq."

Bush has told lawmakers he will send thousands more U.S. troops to Iraq's two most troubled regions, a plan facing resistance by U.S. Democrats. He is to announce the details in a speech Wednesday.

The anti-war activists said they are more optimistic that their voices will be heard now under the new Democrat-led Congress, but said dramatic change is necessary.

"We are happy that there are Democrats now who are standing up to George Bush," Benjamin said. "But we're calling on Congress to be even bolder, not to just be against an escalation but to come out clearly for the troops to come home now and announce that they will cut off all funding for the war."