Posted by Sadie from ? (160.129.27.22) on Tuesday, April 08, 2003 at 4:58PM :
Dear Friends,
Sorry for the lapse in communication. Our own inbox is flooded every day
with more email than we can keep up with, so we try to write only when we
have something urgent to share.
Our team in Baghdad is now down to thirteen (for a list of IPT members still in
Baghdad, see below). Citing restricted movement, difficulty communicating
with the outside world, and diminishing funds, a convoy of Iraq Peace Team
and Christian Peacemaker Team volunteers left Baghdad for Amman,
Jordan on Tuesday. Many of them will be returning to their communities to
share their experiences and organize against this war.
Those who remain in Baghdad face many difficulties. For now they are
severely restricted by a government bracing for invasion. The authorities
are concerned about the long hours spent transmitting messages back
home via satellite phone. One government official suggested that we submit
our reports to officials before sending them out to assuage suspicions. The
team refused, choosing to sacrifice frequent reports for the integrity of
independence. We will continue our struggle to maintain an independent
presence in Iraq, regardless of the circumstances.
There is also the question of how to face occupation forces if and when they
enter Baghdad. The team is constantly planning for any number of possible
outcomes. There are still many uncertainties.
So stay tuned, we are expecting an update soon. There is much work to be
done. Below we have included some suggested actions you can take to
further the broad opposition to war against Iraq.
Sincerely,
Jeff Guntzel, for Voices in the Wilderness
Attachments:
1) IPT Members Still in Baghdad
2) Citizen's Humanitarian Pledge (from EPIC in Washington DC)
3) Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) April 5 Midwest Mobilization
4) STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! Gather at 12 Noon March on the White
House Joint Action in SF & LA & Chicago
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1) IPT MEMBERS STILL IN BAGHDAD:
Kathy Kelly (IL)
Cynthia Banas (NY)
Ed Kinane (NY)
Cathy Breen (NY)
Charlie Liteky (CA)
Martin Edwards (CA)
April Hurley (CA)
Wade Hudson (CA)
Bettejo Passalaqua (WA)
Joneed Khan (Canada)
Robert Turcotte (Canada)
Neville Watson (Australia)
Eun Ha Yoo (South Korea)
2) CITIZEN'S HUMANITARIAN PLEDGE
***Help spread the word! Forward this email on!***
Dear Friend:
Yesterday, Razek al-Kazem al-Khafaji and his extended family loaded into
a pickup truck and fled their hometown, Hilla - a farming community 50
miles south of Baghdad.
As they drove south in search of safety, a U.S. Apache helicopter fired
a missile and destroyed the truck. Razek now sits among 15 coffins at
the local hospital in Hilla. He lost his wife and six children, his
father, his mother, his three brothers and their wives.
This must end. In alarming numbers, ordinary civilians like Razek's
family are being killed in Iraq. Hundreds more have died as a result of
the massive U.S. bombing campaign.
To better safeguard the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians, we need to
increase the pressure on Washington. If you have not already done so,
please join me in signing a CITIZENS' HUMANITARIAN PLEDGE (see
below).
To sign on, go to http://epic-usa.org/signon.php
Within the next two weeks, we will present the pledge and a full list of
signatories to Members of Congress and the Bush Administration. Help us
send a clear message that Americans will hold them accountable for the
consequences of this war.
Thank you for your consideration.
CITIZENS' HUMANITARIAN PLEDGE
We, the undersigned citizens of the United States, fear the current U.S.
war against Iraq will result in disastrous humanitarian consequences.
While this war is fought, it jeopardizes the lives of 24 million Iraqi
civilians, over half of whom are children.
We call upon all parties involved in the military conflict to respect
the laws of war and take every possible step to protect civilians and
noncombatants.
We call upon the United States to safeguard civilians by guaranteeing
access, impartiality, and adequate funding for emergency humanitarian
assistance.
We call upon the U.S. Administration to ensure as soon as possible that
humanitarian aid and reconstruction are administered by civilian
authorities under the leadership of the United Nations - not the U.S.
military.
We pledge to hold our elected representatives accountable for the
consequences of this war. For the future of our children and the
children of Iraq, we pledge to support peace, justice, prosperity and
democracy for all Iraqis.
To sign on, go to: http://epic-usa.org/signon.php
Sincerely, Erik Gustafson, for EPIC (Education for Peace in Iraq Center)
3) CAMPUS ANTIWAR NETWORK APRIL 5 MIDWEST MOBILIZATION
***First nationally organized student protest mobilizes the Midwest in
downtown Chicago on April 5th
CONTACT:
Anthony Moser, Loyola University of Chicago. 440-227-0458
Amoser2@luc.edu
Robert Quellos, University of Illinois at Chicago. 773-531-2341
rquellos@hotmail.com
WHAT:
Midwest Student Antiwar mobilization--antiwar rally and march beginning at
Federal Plaza. Speakers, music, dance, and street theater will represent a
diversity of perspectives with emphasis on student voices. The event is in
conjunction with protests in Washington DC and San Francisco, also
organized by the Campus Antiwar Network.
WHEN:
12pm, Saturday, April 5th.
WHERE:
Federal Plaza (Adams and Dearborn), downtown Chicago.
On Saturday, April 5th, labor and student peace and antiwar activists take a
stand for America's needs at home while opposing the cruel misuse of
America's vast wealth and resources to kill Iraqis and put U.S. soldiers at
risk in an illegal, preemptive war.
The April 5th mobilization, spearheaded by Campus Antiwar Network,
brings together the Midwest's students and labor opposition.
The Campus Antiwar Network is a grassroots, democratic organization that
grew out of student antiwar organizing across the country. At its national
conference in Chicago on February 22nd/23rd, it ratified 5 points of unity: No
US or UN war on Iraq; oppose anti-immigrant attacks; end UN sanctions on
Iraq; defend civil liberties; allot money to education, jobs, and health care,
not war.
These points of unity demand an active opposition to the ongoing conflict.
Opposition requires education of not just students but the broader public.
This protest is a necessary forum for CAN to stand unified with other antiwar
groups, voice opposition to and make the case against this unjust war.
Members of the press are encouraged to RSVP for the event. Press
packets will be made available at the rally. Student organizers will be made
available to answer questions regarding the student anti-war movement and
student perspectives on the war.
Endorsements: Not In Our Name, Chicago Labor Against War, Chicagoland
Student AntiWar Network, Vietnam Veterans Against War, Chicago Coalition
Against War and Racism, United Auto Workers Local 2320, Voices in the
Wilderness, the American Friends Service Committee, Teamsters Local
705, Teachers for Social Justice, and others.
4) STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! Gather at 12 Noon March on the White House
Joint Action in SF & LA
On Saturday, April 12, join the tens of thousands of people of conscience
who will surround the White House. The whole world is watching to see if the
people of the United States can intensify the power of the anti-war
movement at the moment that the Bush Administration is intending to
slaughter tens of thousands of Iraqi people and occupy their country. We
urge every anti-war organizer and concerned person to bring your friends,
neighbors and family members to this all-important mobilization on April 12.
The world is in a state of Shock and Revulsion as the murderous Bush
Administration follows through on its promise to "Shock and Awe" the Iraqi
people by dropping thousands of bombs and missiles on their capital, a city
that is home to 4.5 million human beings. Baghdad has been bombed
relentlessly, terrorizing the occupants of that city and of the entire country.
U.S. "precision" bombs have slammed into poor residential neighborhoods
in Baghdad and a busy shopping street. U.S. and British troops are leaving
a "trail of death" in their wake as they invade and bomb Iraq and reporters
describe charred corpses littering the roads to Baghdad as well as in its
streets. U.S. and British forces have laid siege to Basra, bombing and
destroying the electrical supply to the main water plant and blocking the
Iraqi food distribution system into Basra. The people of Basra are now
starving and without water; various U.N. agencies state that Basra is in
humanitarian crises and on the verge of a major cholera outbreak and
massive child mortality. This crisis is caused by the U.S. attack coupled with
the effect of 12 years of U.S.-led U.N. economic sanctions. The United
States government is telling the people of Basra that they may only have
food and water if they rise up against the Iraqi government and accept the
U.S. occupation.
The Iraqi people and the U.S. GIs who have been killed and wounded and
are suffering are the casualties of George W. Bush's unprovoked war of
aggression. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families of all those
who have been killed and wounded as a consequence of this illegal
imperialist war.
This horrific unprovoked attack on Iraq must be understood as one of the
extreme terrorist acts of modern times. Cruise missiles launched from
submarines and aircraft hundreds of miles away and 2,000 lb. bombs
dropped from 30,000 ft. up are the latest example of the Bush
administration's criminal resort to limitless violence and terrorism in order to
achieve its objectives of conquest and occupation. The hypocrisy of the war
against Iraq is extreme: the most powerful military in the world waging first
strike war with the most advanced weapons against an impoverished
country on the pretext that it someday may possess such weapons.
The world has entered a new phase. The Bush Administration is hell bent on
world domination. The war on Iraq was meant to signal that the U.S. use of
raw military power will be the means to create a new era of Empire. We
understand that the war on Iraq is only one of the fronts on which the United
States government is determined to build a world empire. The U.S. is also
waging war in Colombia, training future death squads at the dreaded School
of the Americas/WHISC, and waging economic war through the IMF, World
Bank, and free trade treaties such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas
agreement.
To the shock of the warmakers, their plans have ignited a world movement
of opposition and solidarity. In addition to the well publicized demonstrations
in Europe and the Middle East, nearly every country in Latin America has
participated in massive street demonstrations and the continent has nearly
unanimously rejected Bush's "Coalition of the Willing." For months this
movement has delayed and restrained the war plans for Iraq. Bush and Co.
have lost all legitimacy and they are isolated. The people's movement has
deprived them of the any threadbare claim to legality.
April 12 comes in the midst of the long-planned "Mobilization Against Military
and Economic Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean" organized
by the Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC). This coalition, which
includes some members of the A.N.S.W.E.R Steering Committee, has
called for a series of actions from April 10- 15. In addition to converging in
Washington on Saturday April 12 for the mass march on the White House to
Stop the War on Iraq, A.N.S.W.E.R. encourages you to travel to DC in time
for the public opening plenary of the LASC conference on Friday evening,
April 11, and to stay for a demonstration on Sunday, April 13 focusing on
Latin America Solidarity which will march to several corporate and financial
institutions before arriving at the World Bank. Visit the LASC web page at
www.lasolidarity.org for full details.
Today our hearts are filled with both anger at the war and sadness for the
suffering people of Iraq who are enduring this unprovoked terrorist attack,
and for the grieving families of the sons and daughters of America who Bush
has sent to kill and be killed for his war of aggression and conquest. But
sadness and grief should be coupled with a profound understanding that the
sudden emergence of a new global movement offers the best and only
hope that the U.S. government's plans for militarism, war and domination --
the doctrine of endless war -- can and will be overcome. In the days ahead
we must intensify the struggle against this cruel war.
Fir more info, visit: http://www.internationalanswer.org
-- Sadie
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