Washington, D.C. - The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Executive Council, in recognition of the security threat that Saddam Hussein’s regime poses to the world, voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution that supports United Nations, NATO and congressional resolutions calling for his government to disarm.

"AFT supports the U.N. resolution with the hope that war can be avoided, but with the sober recognition that military conflict may become unavoidable as a last resort," reads the AFT resolution. It expresses the AFT’s strong preference that "military action in Iraq be taken in concert with an international coalition of allies or the United Nations," but "recognizes that the United States may at times have to act unilaterally in defense of its national security."

The AFT resolution stresses the importance of long-term American support to provide the Iraqi people "both the freedom and means to run their government" and to develop a democratic civil society. Recalling the post-World War II Marshall Plan to assist Europe in rebuilding its economies, the AFT called it "a moral and practical imperative that any international military action in Iraq must be followed by a comprehensive and fully funded international program."

The resolution also acknowledges the Executive Council’s concern that President Bush is pursuing a partisan domestic agenda at a time of war. "Nevertheless," the resolution states, "we know that our position on national security issues must be taken in response to security threats and not from our disagreement with the administration on other issues."

Before debating and voting on the resolution, AFT Executive Council members were briefed by Rend Rahim Franke, executive director of the Iraq Foundation. Ms. Franke spoke about the activities of the anti-Saddam Hussein Iraqi coalition and recounted the atrocities perpetrated against the Iraqi people by Saddam Hussein’s government.

"This resolution reflects AFT’s long history of support for democratic movements, both nationally and internationally," said Sandra Feldman, AFT president. "Throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, AFT supported the efforts of teachers and workers to fight the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile and to overturn apartheid practices in South Africa, as well as to provide moral and material support to the Solidarity movement in communist Poland."

The AFT works with educators in many parts of the world to promote democracy through education. In 1989, AFT created Education for Democracy/International, a project that promotes educational activities that improve the teaching of democracy and civics throughout the world.

The full text of the resolution is available at http://www.aft.org/about/resolutions/2004/iraq.htm.