Posted by worker ant from ? (160.129.27.22) on Thursday, February 21, 2002 at 9:19PM :
Dear Friends,
During the past several weeks, the Bush Administration has escalated threats against Iraq, stating its intent to develop parallel overt and covert means of regime change. US attacks on the political and social center of Iraq could have uncontrollable consequences, including civil war, invasion, and catastrophic destruction of an already fragile infrastructure. In light of the potential affliction that could be visited upon Iraqi civilians, we urge participation in one or both of the following pledges:
- UK Pledge (scroll down to find pledge)
http://www.justicenotvengeance.org
- Peace Pledge http://www.scn.org/wwfor/coc-peacepledge.html
To fulfill these pledges, please consider joining us in one or more of the following activities:
1. Iraq Peace Team -- US reliance on the language of threat and force heightens our determination to understand and become voices for ordinary Iraqi people. In the next few weeks, we will re-establish a core crew to maintain a long-term presence in Iraq. This group of three - four people will prepare for larger teams to visit Iraq, later this spring, intent on developing language exchanges in Baghdad and maintaining a peaceful presence there. Participants, perhaps as many as 100, will plan to remain in Iraq indefinitely, linking with ordinary Iraqi families to learn Arabic and teach English. Applicants should contact the Chicago Voices in the Wilderness office at kkelly@igc.org or call 773-784-8065
for more information about logistics, cost, and schedules. In a departure from our past delegation strategy, we will plan for larger
groups that will require more orientation and training. We anticipate holding a training in two US cities in late April for a group that will leave for Iraq in early May, followed by a second training in late May for a group that would depart for Iraq in early June.
2) Compassion Iraq Peace Walk from the Jordan - Iraq border to Baghdad -- while this plan is presently still tentative, we want to announce the idea and encourage your support and participation as soon as the
definitive "call" is issued: Jim Jennings of Compassion Iraq will be the primary organizer for this promising plan. Jim Jennings envisions a 350 mile walk that could be accomplished in three weeks. We've suggested that walkers solicit 10 cents or more per mile from their friends and that the collected monies defray the cost of the walk and then go straight into a humanitarian relief project in Iraq. The proposed itinerary for the walk is: leave US for Beirut May 17 (or directly to Amman May 22); leave Amman for Baghdad May 24 (pm); arrive in Baghdad June 14; leave Baghdad June 20; arrive in US June 21 or 22. The initial proposal for the Compassion Iraq Peace Walk to Baghdad is appended to
the end of this message. For application materials contact either Compassion Iraq (see below) or Voices in the Wilderness. Note: Dr. Jim Jennings, Ph.D. has a doctorate in Middle East Studies. He organized and led the Baghdad Airlift in January 2001 and has a long history of humanitarian and human rights work.
3) Affinity Groups for Local Organizing -- Recognizing that the US has developed, sold, stored, and used more weapons of mass destruction than any other country on earth, affinity groups here in the US can undertake
action, now, to focus on places in their own locale where weapons or the "triggers" to use weapons are functioning. Affinity groups can promote awareness through teach-ins, vigils, and various means of nonviolent
non-cooperation (e.g., war tax refusal, counter recruitment, boycotts, and nonviolent direct action). Many of you have already formed such affinity groups. Please let us know if you'd like to be included in the network we'll promote as we try to make visible nonviolent resistance to US war-making. Contact us if you would like assistance in forming an affinity group.
We write with deepest gratitude for the chance to join with you as we regroup and rededicate ourselves to stop the long and cruel warmaking against Iraq.
Sincerely,
Voices in the Wilderness - Chicago office
Compassion Iraq Coalition
An Association of Humanitarian Groups Seeking to Stop the War, Stop the Bombing,
and End the Sanctions on Iraq
The Compassion Iraq Coalition produced the video Silent Weapon: The Embago Against Iraq and has organized numerous humanitarian missions to Iraq, including the Baghdad Airlift, the first American civilian delegation to fly to Iraq in defiance of US/UN sanctions.
CALL FOR ACTION
Peace Walk to BAGHDAD
--from the Jordan border
Our group of pilgrims will cross the Syrian Desert by foot, walking from the Jordan border to Baghdad, a distance of some 350 miles, as witnesses for peace in solidarity with the people of Iraq.
Dates: May 22 to June 21 (30 days)
Estimated Cost: Air--$695/Land $695; Total $1,390
Statement of Purpose
As the US moves closer to launching an all-out war on Iraq, we intend to dramatize the plight of Iraq's 23 million people, advocate a peaceful resolution of the conflict, and help bring an end to the
US-sponsored siege of Iraq, the longest and most punitive embargo in modern history.
We Demand
No new war in Iraq
An end to ten years of mindlessly bombing Iraq
A complete and unconditional end to the sanctions on Iraq
Rationale
US policy toward Iraq since the Gulf War remains ineffective, inhumane, and morally bankrupt. A new war will further destabilize the region and kill large numbers of people with no guaranteed outcome. Evidence of growing outrage over the sanctions policy can be seen in increasing student demonstrations, many recent newspaper editorials, protest
resignations of key UN officials, and statements by numerous congressional representatives and religious leaders. Human Rights Watch, in an Explanatory Memorandum attached to their letter to the
Security Council of Jan. 4, 2000, presented a devastating indictment of the US/UN sanctions policy. Yet the US has continued to bomb Iraq regularly following "Operation Desert Fox" during Christmas of 1998, with over 44,000 aerial incursions and 13,000 actual bombing raids, often killing and wounding civilians. Despite this cruel record, the death toll on civilians from the historically unprecedented and brutally harsh sanctions regime has been documented as more than a thousand times worse.
Participating Organizations (others to be added)
Compassion Iraq
Voices in the Wilderness
Fund Raising/Humanitarian Aid Project: Participants may solicit sponsorship from friends and acquaintances of 10 cents to $1 per mile (x350 miles), yielding $35.00-$350.00 from each donor, to be applied to
their trip expenses. Participants are further encouraged to solicit matching funds to be used exclusively to support cancer and leukemia treatments for child victims of Depleted Uranium and other war-related diseases at Basra's Birthing and Children's Hospital. Special forms will be provided.
Itinerary: leave US for Beirut May 17 (or directly to Amman May 22); leave Amman for Baghdad May 24 (pm); arrive in Baghdad June 14; leave Baghdad June 20; arrive in US June 21 or 22.
Information for pilgrims:
1) Applicants must be in good health and capable of completing several miles of strenuous walking each day for three weeks; 2) Applicants will be screened for aptitude and selected by committee;
3) Participants must sign liability waiver; 4) Accommodations will be tents (hotels in Baghdad);
5) Logistics and security teams will accompany the group;
6) Organizers will secure Iraq visas and conduct
training sessions in Beirut May 19-23 (or Amman May 23);
7) There will be opportunities for people-to-people interaction, sightseeing, and meeting the press.
For application materials contact Compassion Iraq or Voices in the Wilderness at 773-784-8065.
Compassion Iraq Coalition,
4685 Chamblee-Dunwoody Rd. A-7
Atlanta, GA 30338
Tel.: 770-454-9109
FAX: 770-936-0996
e-mail: conscience@usa.com
-- worker ant
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