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Today's Topics:
1. Shame on ' we the people of the United Nations' (farbuthnot)
2. News from the BRussells Tribunal (Dirk Adriaensens)
3. New horror stories emerge about GI abuses at Iraqi hospitals (Mark Parkinson)
4. [Peace&Justice] Iraq War Bad for Business (IRC Communications)
5. The Victims of the Tsunami Pay the Price of War on Iraq (Mark Parkinson)
6. Death in Fallujah rising, doctors say (Saibal Mitra)
7. Iraqi election officials quit over death threats (The Iraq Solidarity Campaign)
8. Mosul bomb and September 11th (farbuthnot)
--__--__--
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 19:00:54 +0000
Subject: Shame on ' we the people of the United Nations'
From: "farbuthnot" <asceptic@DELETETHISfreenetname.co.uk>
To: casi-analysis@lists.casi.org.uk
CC: hussy_al_2000@yahoo.co.uk
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
=A0
=A0
=A0
=A0 =A0
Rage of Fallujah residents boils over
=A0
=A0 =A0
FALLUJAH (AFP) =8B Three-year-old Mustapha stands at the door of his family=
's
torched living room in the devastated Iraqi city of Fallujah. He has not ha=
d
a hot meal in nearly two months.
Residents of the city battered by a massive US-led onslaught against Sunni
Muslim rebels are being allowed to gradually return to their homes despite
ongoing clashes with some pockets of insurgents.
But the US military and the interim Iraqi government are having to confront
the rage and despair of many returning residents and the few that lived
through the massive assault in November and its aftermath. Mustapha's
father, Omar Khalil, 38, moved his family of eight about 10 days ago to a
nearby Red Crescent compound because he was told Iraqi and US troops wanted
to sweep through homes to make sure no insurgents were hiding there. They
came back a week ago and found their home =8B a living room and one bedroom=
=8B
destroyed by fire, along with all their contents. "We were heartbroken,"
said Khalil's wife Thana, 30. "This is worse than the shelling and bombing.=
"
The family survived the worst moments of the fighting and did not join the
few hundred thousand people that fled the city before the start of the
assault and settled in makeshift camps or with relatives.
The US military has promised to reopen more sections of Fallujah one week
after it started allowing Iraqis to return to three western neigbourhoods.
"We take our direction from the Iraqi interim government of Iyad Allawi, we
were instructed to let residents in even though some neighbourhoods are
unsafe and we continue to combat insurgents," said Major Naomi Hawkins, a
civil affairs officer with the Marines. She said troops find weapons caches
and defuse roadside bombs daily.
Hawkins told Khalil he can go to the mayor's office to file a claim or to
Baghdad and receive $100 from reconstruction funds deposited at designated
banks to tie him over until his application is processed.
But a weary-looking Khalil was not convinced and spoke of the perils of
venturing out of his neighbourhood as sporadic blasts echoed in the
background.
Every single home, shop and shed in Khalil's neighbourhood has a big "x"
mark sprayed in red to indicate that US and Iraqi forces have searched it.
Some are burnt or simply levelled to the ground.
"I saw them burn homes with my own eyes on the 14th (of December), there wa=
s
no fighting, why?" said an angry Ismail Ibrahim Shaalan, 50.
His son was angry at both sides. "Insurgents beheaded people and the
Americans destroyed our city, we do not know who to believe now," said
Wisam, 14. Another neighbour emptied a pair of shoes and a sweater from
inside a paper bag on to the ground, saying this was all he was able to
salvage from his destroyed home.
"Is this the olive branch that Allawi extended?" said a bitter and tearful
Alaa Abdullah, 25, who has just returned to the city.
Most are returning to destroyed and looted homes in a city that resembles a
disaster zone with no power, heat or running water. Some are finding bodies
of relatives that stayed behind.
"I buried my father three days ago," said Qisma Diab, 55, as she waited wit=
h
nine other women at an intersection for a special bus to take them back to =
a
checkpoint through which they entered earlier. The few that stay are settin=
g
up tents next to the rubble of their homes and living off rations handed ou=
t
by US and Iraqi forces.
A US Marine admitted that in some cases they were forced to use "alternativ=
e
means" like torching or bombing homes they believed were being used as
sanctuaries for insurgents.
"If we could not get in there we had to use alternative means," said
Sergeant John Cross.
But an Iraqi soldier nearby admitted that in some cases Iraqi troops burnt
homes if they found pro-insurgency literature or material.
His remarks provoked the anger of a man who overheard him and a scuffle
ensued, which is broken up by a passing national guard patrol. In a similar
scene of anger and frustration, an argument broke out between an old-man an=
d
an official with the Red Crescent handing out blankets and heaters.
The humanitarian agency tried to venture Wednesday into some of the worst
neighbourhoods of Fallujah to look for bodies, but was told by the US
military this work was being done by the health ministry and that it was
better off distributing aide to returning residents.
It takes about six hours for people to make it through a security checkpoin=
t
at the entrance of the city. They are then handed small orange cards that
list 13 "new rules of conduct" such as a ban on graffiti and public
meetings.
"This is an insult," sayd Khalid Ibrahim, 42. "They treat us like
Palestinian refugees."
Friday-Saturday, December 31-January 1, 2004-2005
=A0
--__--__--
Message: 2
From: "Dirk Adriaensens" <dirk.adriaensens@DELETETHISskynet.be>
To: <mail@uruknet.info>, <iac-discussion@lists.riseup.net>,
<casi-analysis@lists.casi.org.uk>
Subject: News from the BRussells Tribunal
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2005 00:31:52 +0100
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
Dear friends of the BRussells Tribunal,
this is an update of the message US families of dead soldiers raise 600,000=
dollars for Fallujah refugees, that we've sent you a few days ago.
Perhaps you're anxious to know how the story of solidarity continues? Under=
neath are some moving and heartwarming articles in English about the action=
of Global Exchange and Code Pink in solidarity with the Iraqi people:
a) Dead Soldier's Dad Finds No Enemy in Iraq
b) Relatives of US Servicemen Killed in Iraq to Hold Vigil on Jordan Border
Inge Van de Merlen (Medical Aid For The Third world MATW- StopUSA) and Mar=
c Demeyere (participant of SOS Iraq's International Peace Mission), all end=
orsers of the BRussells Tribunal, are in Amman right now and Inge made some=
reports for us and wrote down testimonies about what happened (only in Dut=
ch). They also had some medical equipment and aid with them to donate to th=
e people of Fallujah.
In solidarity. And we wish you all a very active 2005.
Dirk Adriaensens.
organising committee BRussells Tribunal.
Dead Soldier's Dad Finds No Enemy in Iraq
by Rebecca Romani
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1230-01.htm
ESCONDIDO, California - Fernando Suarez del Solar is a busy man. He i=
s busy opening boxes, counting pills, counting bandages; he is busy checkin=
g everything in the boxes that come addressed to him from all over the Unit=
ed States.
Suarez stops for a moment. "There are other boxes," he says, "many of=
them in San Francisco, in New York, in Chicago. So many boxes."
He could be doing other things. It is holiday time, after all, and th=
e Mexican immigrant could be out shopping for his grandchildren; he could b=
e out enjoying the unusually balmy weather.
But he needs to be checking these boxes. Like Suarez, their contents =
will be heading for Iraq, on a mission that memorialises his only son, Jesu=
s, one of the first soldiers to die in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Sayne Suarez Del Solar mourns her husband, Jesus, who was a cit=
izen of Mexico but a legal resident of the United States. He died in combat=
in Iraq. Their son Erik is 15 months old. (AP Photo/Todd Warshaw)
Jesus died Mar. 27, 2003, after stepping on an unexploded U.S. cluste=
r bomb. An advocate for the poor in his native Mexico, his father, who depa=
rted Monday, has been an outspoken advocate and tireless campaigner against=
the war ever since.
"This trip is a very special one for me," Suarez tells IPS. He has be=
en to Iraq before, last year, to visit the site where his son was killed. B=
ut this time is different.
"This year I am coming with something. I have something to give. Last=
time I came with my pain, my loss and my tears. This time I have medicine =
for the children of Iraq."
Suarez will be accompanied by his wife Rosa, Jesus' mother. This is n=
ot what the couple expected to be doing when they moved their family from T=
ijuana, Mexico seven years ago.
"This is her first time," says Suarez. "I really pushed her to go."
When I ask Rosa, a trim, sophisticated woman, about this, she says ye=
s, she is going, but looks rather nervous.
Suarez is part of a small band of military parents -- mostly mothers =
-- whose children have been killed since Washington led the invasion of Ira=
q in March 2003, and who are heading for the Jordan-Iraq border to hand off=
donated medicine and other medical supplies to doctors in the refugee camp=
s along the border.
Suarez will be accompanied by members of three families who lost rela=
tives in the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, as well =
as members of San Francisco-based human rights group Global Exchange and th=
e Los Angeles-based peace group Code Pink, who are sponsoring the trip.
The half-million dollars in medical supplies and cash that they will =
deliver have been donated by humanitarian aid groups, doctors and other Ame=
ricans around the country, who responded to Internet appeals. The donations=
are for children's hospitals, adds Suarez.
Jodie Evans of Code Pink, speaking to IPS from her office in Los Ange=
les, called the outpouring of support from average Americans amazing. "Peop=
le are grateful to be able to do something, to help," she says. "Over a tho=
usand people have sent us small donations or walked in off the street."
According to Evans, many people were moved to donate after November's=
U.S. military siege of Iraq's city of Fallujah. Some aid has already been =
sent to the displaced residents of that city, with additional support going=
to refugee camps and children's hospitals.
The delegation will travel to Jordan from Dec. 27 to Jan. 4, and plan=
s to hold a press conference and a candlelight vigil with Jordanian peace g=
roups on New Year's Eve.
Suarez sifts through the medicines in the boxes. There are pills, ban=
d-aids, dressings. He hopes to hand it, and more, to Iraqi doctors -- but t=
hat might not be possible.
"When we get there, one of two things will happen," he says. "We put =
it all in our bags like backpacks and carry it in or, two, Customs opens th=
e bags and I have to show them my letters."
Suarez will carry a letter from Democratic Senator Henry Waxman, an o=
utspoken critic of the war, who represents parts of Los Angeles, close to t=
he Suarez home in Escondido. Suarez hopes the letter, addressed to the U.S.=
ambassador in Amman, Jordan, will ensure needed cooperation.
A third option -- that the U.S. military has sealed the border and wi=
ll refuse the groups entry on orders from the Pentagon -- is also a possibi=
lity.
"But I hope not," says Suarez.
"The last time I went to Iraq," he adds, "the Pentagon called up anot=
her California Senator, Sen Javier Vincera who was supporting me, to tell h=
im to tell me that I would not be welcome in Iraq," and if he did go, they =
would not assure his safety.
In response, Suarez called a press conference to question the Pentago=
n's motives. "I said, 'whatever happens, Bush is responsible'," he recalls.=
The Pentagon backed down and declared him welcome.
Last year, as part of his voyage to see where his son died, Suarez vi=
sited ordinary Iraqis and children's hospitals. It was an experience he fou=
nd profoundly moving, one that inspired him to return to help Iraqi childre=
n.
"The Iraqi people were so good to me, so beautiful."
At the hospitals he saw youngsters dying from the lack of medicine an=
d learned that a number of others had been killed picking up unexploded clu=
ster bombs or when trying to hand them in to U.S. soldiers.
The bombs look like tennis balls or beer cans, Suarez explains. And w=
hen the children try to give them to U.S. soldiers, they are shot on the sp=
ot -- military orders.
Cluster bombs, munitions that scatter hundreds of small "bomblets" ov=
er a wide area, are designed to inflict high numbers of casualties. "I aske=
d a colonel why they couldn't clean up the cluster bombs, and I was told, c=
onfidentially, that they couldn't, there were too many."
And then Suarez's voice gets hard.
"They say Saddam had illegal weapons. Jesus died because of an illega=
l weapon. Cluster bombs are illegal under the Geneva Conventions."
The story of Jesus A Suarez del Solar Novaro and the cluster bomb tha=
t killed him is not a pretty one and despite what must be hundreds of telli=
ngs, his father's anger and grief are still just under the surface, tightly=
controlled.
Jesus had moved with his family to Escondido when he was 14 to fulfil=
his dream of becoming a U.S. Marine and joining the Drug Enforcement Agenc=
y (DEA) to combat narco-trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border. That drea=
m died Mar. 27, 2003. Just 20 years old, Jesus left behind a young wife and=
an infant son.
"Jesus was walking like this," says his father, imitating a crouching=
walk, "when he stepped on a cluster bomb."
But Suarez found out this part of the story only much later. At first=
, he and his family were told Jesus had been shot in the head, an image tha=
t horrified his parents. Later, he was told his son had stepped on an Iraqi=
mine and there was an investigation pending.
But a reporter with the 'San Diego Union Tribune' newspaper called Su=
arez to confirm elements of a story he was writing and told him his son had=
stepped on an unexploded ordinance, information that Bob Woodruff of ABC N=
ews later confirmed because he had been embedded with the soldier's unit.
According to the Union Tribune, Jesus lay wounded for two hours, blee=
ding out. He died en route to hospital.
"I can understand the confusion at first," says Suarez, "but why cont=
inue to lie to me?"
It took two weeks for the military to return his son's body for buria=
l, and they refused to let the father see it until the remains were at the =
mortuary.
The day of the funeral, Suarez asked to spend time alone with his son=
. Armed with university training in forensic medicine, he examined the corp=
se and found that, indeed, something had ripped through the right side, rem=
oving pieces of hand, foot, upper thigh and groin.
"At that point," says Suarez, I knew."
And now his fury is palpable.
"The Americans dropped about 20,000 cluster bombs. Only 20 percent ex=
ploded. My son didn't die in the front lines from enemy fire; he died becau=
se of the military's negligence."
"You know," Suarez del Solar says thoughtfully, enunciating every wor=
d, "there are people who say I give aid and comfort to the enemy. I never s=
poke with Bush, he never sent me anything, but the people of Iraq I met, TH=
EY comforted ME for my loss! I have yet to see the enemy."
In the shadow of the glass case that holds his son's picture, as well=
as the Mexican and American flags, Suarez del Solar goes back to organisin=
g medicines, in the hope that some Iraqi parent will not have to do what he=
has done -- bury a child killed in the war.
=A9 Copyright 2004 IPS - Inter Press Service
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-----
Relatives of US Servicemen Killed in Iraq to Hold Vigil on Jordan Bor=
der
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1231-06.htm
AMMAN - Relatives of US servicemen killed in Iraq and members of anti=
-war groups announced plans to hold a candlelit vigil on the Jordan-Iraq bo=
rder to protest US involvement.
Members of Families for Peace, Code Pink and Global Exchange an=
nounce that they have sent 600,000 USD in humanitarian aid to the displaced=
people of Fallujah.(AFP/Khalil Mazraawi)
Members of Families for Peace, Code Pink and Global Exchange told a n=
ews conference in Amman that they had sent 600,000 dollars' worth of humani=
tarian aid to residents of the Iraqi town of Fallujah displaced by last mon=
th's massive US-led assault.
"I don't know of any other case in history in which the parents of fa=
llen soldiers collected medicine ... for the families of the 'other side',"=
said Medea Benjamin, the founding director of Global Exchange, a human rig=
hts group.
"It is a reflection of a growing movement in the United States ... op=
posed to the unjust nature of this war," she said.
"This is the positive face of the American people which we would like=
to show ... so that we are not looked at with animosity but with love. Our=
hearts go out to the people of Fallujah and to all the Iraqi people," she =
said.
Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son Lance Corporal Victor Gonzalez, =
better known as Jesus, was killed in Iraq on October 13, and his wife Rosa,=
made a passionate appeal to the US government to end its military involvem=
ent in Iraq.
"My son died when he stepped on an illegal (US) cluster bomb. The US =
government told me he died because Iraqi fire killed him, but this was anot=
her lie from the Bush administration," Fernando said.
"My wife and I don't speak Arabic but our grief is the same as the Ir=
aqis. We understand their pain and we don't want others to feel the same pa=
in," said the Mexican-born California resident.
The group will hold a candlelit vigil on New Year's eve outside UN he=
adquarters in Amman before travelling to the border on January 1 for a simi=
lar gathering.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 december 2004
Conferentie met Irakese en Jordaanse artsen
Wanneer we, nadat onze bagage in Hotel Al-Monzer is afgezet, met Rana=
de conferentiezaal in het aanpalende Hotel Toledo betreden zijn de artsen =
uit Irak en Jordanie net aan het woord. Rana vertelt ons dat de ouders van=
de gesneuvelde Amerikaanse soldaten en van de slachtoffers van 11 septembe=
r hun verhaal voordien reeds deden, en dit zou een zeer emotionele aangeleg=
enheid geweest zijn. We maken al vluchtig kennis met Dahr Jamail en met Ga=
el Murphy van Code Pink, en Marc ontmoet dadelijk Harp, een oude bekende va=
n tijdens zijn eerdere reizen naar Bagdad.
Aangezien de toespraken aan gang zijn haal ik onmiddelijk mijn notabo=
ek boven en noteer alles wat ik opvang.
Er komen drie artsen aan het woord. Ze leggen er de nadruk op dat ze=
zeer wel differentieren tussen de Amerikaanse regering en het Amerikaanse =
volk zelf. Ze stellen dat Bush en Allawi criminelen zijn, die het land van=
een vredelievend volk bezetten, hun zonen doden en hun rijkdom stelen. Ze=
zien de bezettingstroepen als vreemdelingen, die van over de oceanen komen=
en misdaden plegen tegenover mensen in hun huizen, mensen die hen nooit aa=
ngevallen hebben. Dit hebben ze kunnen doen door middel van een leugen. D=
e Amerikaanse regering herhaalt namelijk telkens weer dat de Arabische en i=
slamitische mensen de Verenigde Staten haten omwille van hun democratie en =
omdat de Arabische islamieten niet van vrijheid houden. "De Verenigde Stat=
en beweren een democratie van hoog niveau te zijn, maar wij geloven niet in=
het conflict van de 21ste-eeuwse beschaving. Wij houden van vrede en resp=
ectvolle dialoog," Aldus een van de dokters. Hij haalt een vers uit de Kor=
an aan, waarin staat dat God de mensen geschapen heeft om van elkaar te hou=
den, niet om te vechten. Het is de politiek van de Verenigde Staten, die d=
e Palestijnse en Iraakse bezetting blijft voeden. De Amerikaanse regering =
ondersteunt ook de agressieve politiek van Israel in naam van vrede en demo=
cratie. Alle Jordaniers kennen mensen in Palestina en bijna iedereen in Jo=
rdanie verloor reeds een vriend of familielid in dit bezette land. De Vere=
nigde Staten zijn de vijand van alle andere staten en er moet veel meer dru=
k vanuit de Europese regeringen komen om al deze misdaden in naam van de de=
mocratie aan te klagen.
Een man uit San Diego, California, van Mexicaanse afkomst en vader va=
n een in Irak gesneuvelde soldaat merkt op dat de Verenigde Staten alle nat=
ies besteelt. Ook de Latijns-Amerikaanse landen ontkomen hier niet aan. D=
aar willen ze voortdurend de oliemaatschappijen privatiseren, en landen die=
zich hiertegen verzetten, zoals Cuba en Venezuela worden door hen bedreigd=
.
De artsen leggen verder de nadruk op hun appreciatie voor de activite=
iten van de ouders van de gesneuvelde soldaten en van de organisatie in haa=
r geheel. Ze begrijpen de gevoelens van deze mensen die hun zonen verloren=
zeer goed, daar ook Irak vele moeders en vaders hun zonen verliezen door d=
eze oorlog. Het was bovendien een Amerikaanse organisatie die als eerste m=
elding maakte van de meer dan 100.000 burgerslachtoffers in Irak. Ze zijn =
overtuigd dat steeds meer Amerikanen zullen ontdekken wat de realiteit is. =
Met nadruk vragen de artsen aan het Amerikaanse volk om zich te blijven ve=
rzetten tegen het dictatoriaat van Bush en tegen de bezetting van Irak. Wa=
nt het verzet in Irak zal niet ophouden alvorens de bezetting volledig voor=
bij is.
Wanneer we later in het restaurant van het hotel napraten, stelt Rana=
me voor aan een sheikh uit Fallujah. Hij schudt geen handen met vrouwen, =
maar zijn open gezichtsuitdrukking met blinkende ogen en brede glimlach str=
aalt een enorme warmte uit. Wanneer Rana beaamt dat ik christen ben wil ik=
haar hierin corrigeren, maar ze snoert me discreet de mond. Ik leg uit da=
t ik alle verschillende religies zie als de spaken van een wiel, die in de =
as samenkomen, en dat het christendom en de islam zeer dicht bij elkaar lig=
gen. Nadat ze dit voor hem vertaald heeft blijkt dat ik hierdoor zijn hart =
gewonnen heb.
Dan begint hij te vertellen hoe zijn schoonzoon door de Amerikaanse s=
oldaten vermoord werd. Dit gebeurde vrij recent. De Amerikanen klopten aa=
n de deur. Toen de schoonzoon deze opende vroeg hij een minuutje de tijd, =
zodat zijn vrouw haar hijab (hoofddoek) kon opzetten. Hierop werd de man g=
rofweg doodgeschoten. Hij laat een vrouw en twee kleine kindjes achter. D=
rie dagen later zijn de Amerikanen zich voor dit voorval komen verontschuld=
igen. Mijn hart bloedt bij het aanhoren van dit verhaal, niet wetende dat =
in de komende dagen nog ettelijke, veel gruwelijkere verhalen verteld zulle=
n worden.
Dan vraagt hij me of ik me de nieuwsberichten herinner over de bomaut=
o die nabij een christelijke kerk in Bagdad ontplofte. Een ooggetuige (het=
is me niet helemaal duidelijk of hij dit al dan niet zelf is) zag dat deze=
ontploffing door de bezettingstroepen (het kan ook zijn dat hij de Iraakse=
Nationale Garde zegde) met behulp van een afstandsbediening werd geactivee=
rd.
De rest van de avond vond de kennismaking met de Amerikaanse activist=
en en de andere aanwezigen plaats. Ze dankten ons meermaals voor onze aanw=
ezigheid. Onze entr=E9e in Amman was achter de rug.
30 december 2004
Persconferentie in Hotel Intercontinental
Donderdagochtend begeven we ons met zijn allen per taxi naar het luxu=
euze Hotel Intercontinental, waar om 10 uur de persconferentie zal plaatsvi=
nden. De inleiding wordt door Medea Benjamin, lid van Global exchange en m=
edeoprichter van Code Pink, verzorgd. Een verslag:
De aanwezige organisaties worden voorgesteld. Onder andere 'United f=
or Peace and Justice' wordt hierbij vermeld. Er is ook een delegatie van f=
amilieleden van gesneuvelde soldaten en van slachtoffers van 11 september. =
Er bestaat namelijk een groeiende beweging in de Verenigde Staten van Irak=
veteranen en hun familieleden.
Na de herverkiezing van Bush werd het plan voor deze missie opgevat. =
Toen begin November bleek dat de bezettingstroepen weldra Fallujah zouden =
binnenvallen, lanceerde Global Exchange in samenwerking met Code Pink een n=
oodoproep voor de inzameling van geld en hulpgoederen voor de bedreigde sta=
d. Hierop kwam een buitengewone respons van de Amerikaanse bevolking en ve=
rscheidene organisaties, en ze kwamen zo tot een budget van om en bij de 60=
0.000 US$. Verschillende mensen stuurden ons ook aanmoedigings- en dankbri=
even. Vele hulpmiddelen werden reeds aan de slachtoffers en vluchtelingen =
van Fallujah bezorgd. Jullie zien hier een deel van wat we nu bij hebben, =
maar gezien de voortdurende gevechten zal er nog veel meer nodig zijn.
Naast de concrete hulp voor de bevolking van Fallujah vinden de betro=
kken organisaties het zeer belangrijk om aan de Irakezen en de rest van de =
wereld te tonen dat er ook goede en meevoelende Amerikanen bestaan.
Het oorspronkelijke plan was om deze missie in Bagdad te volbrengen, =
maar de Irakese medewerkers wilden dit om veiligheidsredenen niet toestaan.=
De Amerikaanse delegatie wilde hier eerst niet van weten, maar toen de Ir=
akezen uitlegden dat het voor henzelf een enorm risico betekent om in Irak =
met Amerikanen gezien te worden viel de keuze op Amman.
Getuigenissen van betroffen Amerikaanse familieleden
Fernando Suarez
Onze zoon, Albert, sneuvelde in maart 2003. Toen de vertegenwoordige=
rs van het leger ons zijn dood kwamen melden, zegden ze dat hij door de Ira=
kezen vermoord werd. Dit bleek echter een grove leugen te zijn, daar later=
bleek dat hij gestorven is door een illegale Amerikaanse clusterbom. Mijn=
zoon vertrok naar Irak met een droom; een droom om de kinderen van Irak t=
e helpen. Hiertoe kreeg hij echter nooit de kans, omdat hij een van de eer=
ste gedode soldaten in Irak was. Vandaag zetten mijn vrouw en ik deze droo=
m voort. We bezochten in Irak de plaats waar Albert gestorven is. Maar we=
gingen ook er naar de hospitalen, waar we de Irakese kinderen zagen sterve=
n door een gebrek aan medicijnen. Mijn zoon ging naar Irak om de kinderen =
te helpen, maar dit mislukte door toedoen van de Amerikanen. Nu kan ik dit=
zelf doen, dankzij de hulp van alle mensen die ons geld geschonken hebben =
voor deze missie. Vandaag geven we als symbool van onze vriendschap medici=
jnen aan deze vrouw. (Dr. Intisar, internist te Bagdad)
Nadia McCaffrey
Ik wil jullie het verhaal vertellen van mijn zoon, Patrick, die op 34=
-jarige leeftijd stierf in Irak. Hij liet 2 kinderen na van 3 en 9 jaar. =
Voor hij bij het leger ging was hij manager van zijn bedrijf in California.=
De dag na 11 september 2001, was mijn zoon zodanig geshockeerd, dat hij z=
ich bij de Nationale Garde aansloot. Deze blijft normaal gezien in het bin=
nenland om er hulp te verlenen bij catastrofes. Bush bracht hier echter ve=
randering in. Zo komt het dat mijn zoon het eerste lid van de Nationale Ga=
rde in California werd, die zou sneuvelen in Irak. Patrick heeft altijd ve=
el van kinderen gehouden. Toen hij naar Irak gezonden werd had hij geen ke=
uze, omdat hij de leugens van de regering geloofde. Hij werd ingezet in ma=
art 2003 en stierf in juni van datzelfde jaar. Hij heeft echter slechts ee=
n week nodig gehad om te begrijpen wat deze invasie in werkelijkheid beteke=
nde. Hij begreep dat vrede niet de echte bedoeling was en dit maakte hem z=
eer droevig. Dagelijks telefoneerde hij naar huis. Dan keerde hij zich to=
t de kinderen van Irak, en hij vroeg ons om regelmatig materiaal voor hen o=
p te sturen. Hij ontfermde zich eveneens als een vaderfiguur over de jonge=
re soldaten. Ik ben blij dat hij gestorven is voor de gruwelijkheden in Fa=
llujah plaatsvonden. Kinderen waren altijd zo belangrijk voor hem, zodat i=
k nu in het bezit ben van discs, vol met foto's van Irakese kinderen. De l=
aatste foto van Patrick werd 40 minuten voor zijn dood genomen. Hij zat bo=
ven op een humvee met witte bloemen in zijn hand, vreugde op zijn gezicht e=
n omgeven door Irakese kinderen. De humvee was omgeven door kinderen die h=
em aanlachten en er stond een meisje bij, nauwelijks groter dan 1,20m, met =
op haar ene arm haar kleine broertje en in haar andere hand een witte bloem=
. Patrick stierf met die bloem in zijn hand. Mijn vraag vandaag is: laat =
ons de kinderen en vrede op de eerste plaats stellen. Ik voel zo mee met d=
e Irakese moeders. Deze tafels met hulpgoederen zijn slechts een begin en =
er is nog een lange weg te gaan. Vandaag zijn hier nog twee moeders van ge=
sneuvelde soldaten aanwezig. De zoon van een van hen zou gisteren 20 jaar =
geworden zijn.
Adele Welty
Mijn zoon Timothy stierf als brandweerman in een van de WTC-torens. =
Hij was een held, niet omwille van de wijze waarop hij stierf, maar omwille=
van de wijze waarop hij leefde. Op deze dag stierven 355 brandweerlui en =
3000 burgers. De Amerikaanse regering besloot om wraak te nemen en de slac=
htoffers van 11 september als excuus te gebruiken voor de 100.000 doden in =
Irak. Ik maak deel uit van een groep met ongeveer 100 leden, die mensen ve=
rloren op de dag van de aanslagen. We delen allen eenzelfde gevoel. We re=
isden over de hele wereld, naar Hiroshima en Nagasaki, naar Afganistan, naa=
r Afrika waar we de overlevenden van de genocide in Rwanda bezochten en naa=
r Madrid. Mijn zoon vroegt in de WTC-torens niet naar de religie, cultuur =
of nationaliteit van de mensen die hij redde.
Getuigenissen van hulpverleners in Irak
Dr. Intisar
Ik kwam van Irak om de stem van de Irakezen te brengen, om aan de res=
t van de wereld en vooral de Amerikanen te laten weten dat Irak nu niet gel=
ukkiger of bevrijd is. Alles is er verwoest. Het vroegere Ministerie van =
Gezondheid, waar zich voor de invasie degelijke plannen bevonden voor de ve=
rbetering van de gezondheid, is vernietigd. Alle hospitalen werden kapotge=
schoten en leeggeplunderd. Het huidige Ministerie van Gezondheid levert ge=
en goed werk. Het is niet op de hoogte van de noden en behoeften van de be=
volking. Het brengt de hulp niet op de plaatsen die de prioriteit zouden m=
oeten krijgen. Vele dokters verlieten het land omdat ze het doelwit van de=
Amerikanen en de Iraakse Nationale Garde werden in hun eigen ziekenhuizen.=
Wij willen dit nutteloze bloedvergieten stoppen.
Rana
Ik ben de enige vrouw die sinds de belegering van Fallujah de stad ko=
n betreden. Tot 26 november was ik er elke dag. Ik bracht er de medicijne=
n die door Code Pink geleverd werden en ook dekens en verwarmingstoestellen=
voor de vluchtelingen, die de scholen waar ze eerst een onderkomen gevonde=
n hadden, waren uitgezet. Toen ik hen die dag bezocht konden ze niet gelov=
en dat er mensen kwamen om hen te helpen. Toen ontmoette ik mensen die me =
wilden helpen om Fallujah binnen te komen. De Amerikaanse soldaten waren v=
erwonderd dat een humanitaire helper binnen wilde om de families te helpen.=
Goede soldaten hielpen me verder. Ik kon vele gebouwen binnen gaan. Een=
soldaat zegde me dat een familie met vijf kinderen in een gebouw van het R=
ode Kruis vastzaten. Ze hadden voedsel nodig, maar ik mocht er eerst niet =
heen, omdat er op dat moment luchtaanvallen waren. Deze waren na 20 a 30 m=
inuten voorbij en ik kreeg de toelating erheen te gaan. Toen ik aanklopte =
waren ze eerst bang dat er Amerikanen voor de deur stonden. Nadat ik hen g=
ezegd had een Irakese vrouw te zijn die hen wilde komen helpen lieten ze me=
binnen. Ze vroegen om hen te helpen naar een andere blok te geraken. De =
kinderen waren in een miserabele toestand. Ze waren vuil, enkele van hen w=
aren ziek, hun hoofden vol luizen. De moeder kon niet voor me verbergen da=
t ze in een ernstige psychische toestand was. We hebben hen naar een ander=
gebouw gebracht, waar het veiliger was. De man van ongeveer 40 jaar ging =
naar zijn huis om spullen op te halen, maar alles bleek stukgeschoten te zi=
jn. Door toeval vonden we nog drie andere families en zo konden we hen bre=
ngen wat ze nodig hadden om te overleven: dekens, verwarmingstoestellen en =
voedsel. In de tuin van een van de huizen vond ik onder een deken een lijk=
in ontbinding. Het was een burger, geen strijder. De mensen vroegen me o=
m de volgende dag weer te keren, maar ik moest eerst alles regelen om naar =
Amman te vertrekken. Fallujah wordt nog steeds gebombardeerd en er zou vol=
gens de officiele bronnen ook nog verzet zijn. Ik heb zelf echter geen ver=
zetsstrijders gezien toen ik in de stad was.
Voor zover de getuigenissen tijdens de persconferentie in Hotel Inter=
continental. In de namiddag gaan we met enkele mensen naar de kantoren van=
een advertentiebureau getrokken, waar we de lokalen mogen gebruiken om pla=
katen en spandoeken te maken voor de vredeswakes aan het gebouw van de Vere=
nigde Naties en aan de Irakese grens, die voor de komende dagen gepland zij=
n.
31 december 2003
Amman: Internationale happening voor stopzetting van de bezetting van=
Irak
Op 29 december vertrok ik samen met Marc De Meyere richting Amman om =
deel te nemen aan een internationale bijeenkomst die plaats vindt van 27 de=
cember tot 4 januari, en georganiseerd wordt door de Amerikaanse NGO's Code=
Pink en Global Exchange. Deze NGO's voeren een gedreven strijd tegen het =
imperialisme van de Verenigde Staten. Onder de leden van de organisatie vi=
ndt men ook verschillende ouders van soldaten die in Irak sneuvelden en van=
slachtoffers van de aanslagen op 11 september. Deze mensen zijn zeer ontd=
aan over de wijze waarop de Amerikaanse regering de tragedie van 11 septemb=
er misbruikte om de aanval op Irak te legitimeren. Zij wilden Iraakse slac=
htoffers en vredesactivisten uit andere landen ontmoeten om samen te overle=
ggen hoe we gemeenschappelijk stappen kunnen ondernemen om zo spoedig mogel=
ijk de stopzetting van de illegale bezetting van Irak af te dwingen. De aa=
nwezigen zijn het er roerend over eens, dat de ontbloting van de VS-leugens=
naar het brede publiek toe hierin een cruciale rol speelt. De organisatie=
is er eveneens in twee maanden tijd in geslaagd om 600.000 US$ in te zamel=
en voor hulpgoederen ten voordele van de slachtoffers uit de verwoeste stad=
, Fallujah.
Andere aanwezigen zijn Irakese slachtoffers, artsen en journalisten, =
de co-ordinator van Iraq Occupation watch, een sheikh uit Fallujah, vertege=
nwoordigers van Jordaanse humanitaire organisaties en Irakezen die als bemi=
ddelaar voor buitenlandse journalisten en hulpverleners werkzaam waren en z=
ijn sinds de invasie in maart 2003. Tot deze laatsten behoort ook Rana, di=
e reeds als tolk fungeerde voor Hiba Kassim, het Irakese oorlogslachtoffert=
je dat in juni 2004 door de Belgische NGO Geneeskunde voor de Derde Wereld =
voor een medische behandeling naar Belgie werd gehaald. Deze NGO bezorgde =
ons voor het vertrek 8 beenprothesen, 2 externe fixators voor de behandelin=
g van botbreuken en medisch basismateriaal dat we hier ook zullen overhandi=
gen voor de slachtoffers van Fallujah. Verder werd nog een budget meegegev=
en om ter plaatse medisch materiaal aan te kopen.
Tot slot moet hier nog Dahr Jamail vermeld worden, die sedert Novembe=
r 2003 zeven maanden in Irak doorbracht en er als onafhankelijk journalist =
zijn leven riskeerde om te kunnen berichten over de oorlogsmisdaden die doo=
r de officiele media bijna volkomen verzwegen worden.
Tijdens de twee dagen dat we hier zijn, hebben we reeds aan zodanig =
veel activiteiten deelgenomen, dat ik het gevoel heb hier al meer dan een w=
eek te hebben doorgebracht. Vergaderingen waarin hartverscheurende verhale=
n naar boven komen van zowel Irakese als Amerikaanse zijde, persconferentie=
s, ettelijke contacten met vredesactivisten uit oost en west, een vredeswak=
e voor het VN-gebouw in Amman, die door de politie ontbonden werd (maar de =
pers is gelukkig met haar filmmateriaal en de beelden kunnen ontkomen). Mo=
rgen staat een trip naar de Irakese grens op het programma om ook daar een =
vredeswake te houden. Ik zit hier momenteel om budgetaire redenen in een v=
uil en bouwvallig hotelletje (maar met uiterst vriendelijk en behulpzaam pe=
rsoneel) op een aftandse computer te typen en weet niet hoeveel tijd ik zal=
hebben om de berichtgeving reeds tijdens ons verblijf naar Belgie door te =
spelen. Maar mijn notablok wordt zienderogen voller gekribbeld met getuige=
nissen van betrokkenen, die schreeuwen om gehoord te worden. Alle twijfels=
om mijn bankrekening voor deze reis te ruineren smelten als sneeuw voor de=
zon, wanneer me elk moment duidelijker wordt hoe belangrijk het is om deze=
boodschap naar de welvarende staten van het westen uit te dragen.
Zonnige vredesgroeten uit Amman,
Inge Van de Merlen
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--__--__--
Message: 3
From: "Mark Parkinson" <mark44@DELETETHISmyrealbox.com>
To: newsclippings@casi.org.uk
Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 12:40:46 -0000
Subject: New horror stories emerge about GI abuses at Iraqi hospitals
By: Dahr Jamail on: 03.01.2005
BAGHDAD, December 31, 2004 (IPS/GIN)=97 The U.S. military has been
preventing delivery of medical care in several instances, medical
staff say.
Iraqi doctors at many hospitals have reported raids by coalition
forces. Some of the more recent raids have been in Amiriyat al-
Fallujah, about 10km to the east of Fallujah, the town U.S. forces
now hold after a bloody assault. Amiriyat al-Fallujah has been the
source of several reported resistance attacks on U.S. forces.
The main hospital in Amiriyat al-Fallujah was raided twice recently
by U.S. soldiers and members of the Iraqi National Guard, doctors
say. =93The first time was November 29 at 5:40 a.m., and the second
time was the following day,=94 said a doctor at the hospital who did
not want to give his real name for fear of U.S. reprisals.
In the first raid, about 150 U.S. soldiers and at least 40 members of
the Iraqi National Guard stormed the small hospital, he said.
=93They were yelling loudly at everyone, both doctors and patients
alike,=94 the young doctor said. =93They divided into groups and were all
over the hospital. They broke the gates outside, they broke the doors
of the garage, and they raided our supply room where our food and
supplies are. They broke all the interior doors of the hospital, as
well as every exterior door.=94
He was then interrogated about resistance fighters, he said. =93The
Americans threatened to do here what they did in Fallujah if I didn=92t
cooperate with them,=94 he said.
Another doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all of
the doors of the clinics inside the hospital were kicked in. All of
the doctors, along with the security guard, were handcuffed and
interrogated for several hours, he said.
The two doctors pointed to an ambulance with a shattered back window.
=93When the Americans raided our hospital again last Tuesday at 7 p.m.,
they smashed one of our ambulances,=94 the first doctor said.
His colleague pointed to other bullet-riddled ambulances. =93The
Americans have snipers all along the road between here and Fallujah,=94
he said. =93They are shooting our ambulances if they try to go to
Fallujah.=94
In nearby Saqlawiyah, Dr. Abdulla Aziz told IPS that occupation
forces had blocked any medical supplies from entering or leaving the
city. =93They won=92t let any of our ambulances go to help Fallujah,=94 he
said. =93We are out of supplies and they won=92t let anyone bring us
more.=94
The pattern of military interference in medical work has apparently
persisted for many months. During the April siege of Fallujah,
doctors there reported similar difficulties.
=93The Marines have said they didn=92t close the hospital, but
essentially they did,=94 said Dr. Abdul Jabbar, orthopedic surgeon at
Fallujah General Hospital. =93They closed the bridge which connects us
to the city, and closed our road. The area in front of our hospital
was full of their soldiers and vehicles.=94
This prevented medical care reaching countless patients in desperate
need, he said. =93Who knows how many of them died that we could have
saved?=94
He, too, said the military had fired on civilian ambulances. They had
also fired at the clinic he had been working in since April, he said.
=93Some days, we couldn=92t leave or even go near the door because of the
snipers. They were shooting at the front door of the clinic.=94
Dr. Jabbar said U.S. snipers shot and killed one of the ambulance
drivers of the clinic where he worked during the fighting.
=93We were tied up and beaten despite being unarmed and having only our
medical instruments,=94 Asma Khamis al-Muhannadi, a doctor who was
present during the U.S. and Iraqi National Guard raid on Fallujah
General Hospital, told reporters later.
She said troops dragged patients from their beds and pushed them
against the wall. =93I was with a woman in labor, the umbilical cord
had not yet been cut,=94 she said. =93At that time, a U.S. soldier
shouted at one of the (Iraqi) national guards to arrest me and tie my
hands while I was helping the mother to deliver.=94
Other doctors spoke of their experience of the raid. =93The Americans
shot out the lights in the front of our hospital, they prevented
doctors from reaching the emergency unit at the hospital, and we
quickly began to run out of supplies and much-needed medication,=94
said Dr. Ahmed, who gave only a first name. U.S. troops prevented
doctors from entering the hospital on several occasions, he said.
Targeting hospitals or ambulances is in direct contravention of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, which strictly forbids attacks on emergency
vehicles and the impeding of medical operations during war.
At several places, doctors said U.S. troops had demanded information
from medical staff about resistance fighters. =93They are always coming
here and asking us if we have injured fighters,=94 a doctor at a
hospital said.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad told IPS that routine searches
of hospitals are carried out to look for =93insurgents.=94 He said it has
never been the policy of coalition forces to impede medical services
in Iraq.
Mark Parkinson
Bodmin
Cornwall
--__--__--
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 10:17:45 -0700
To: peaceandjustice@lists.riseup.net
From: IRC Communications <communications@DELETETHISirc-online.org>
Subject: [Peace&Justice] Iraq War Bad for Business
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Justice News from FPIF
http://www.fpif.org/
January 4, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Introducing a new commentary from Foreign Policy In Focus
Iraq War is Bad for Business
By Jim Lobe
On top of the human and financial costs of the war in Iraq, the Bush
administration's foreign policy may be costing U.S. corporations business
overseas, according to a new survey of 8,000 international consumers
released this week by the Seattle-based Global Market Insite (GMI) Inc.
Brands closely identified with the U.S., such as Marlboro cigarettes,
America Online (AOL), McDonald's, American Airlines, and Exxon-Mobil, are
particularly at risk. GMI, an independent market research company,
conducted the internet survey with consumers in eight countries from Dec.
10-12. One-third of all consumers in Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan,
Russia, and the United Kingdom said that U.S. foreign policy, particularly
the "war on terror" and the occupation of Iraq, constituted their strongest
impression of the United States.
Twenty percent of respondents in Europe and Canada said they consciously
avoided buying U.S. products as a protest against those policies. That
finding was consistent with a similar poll carried out by GMI three weeks
after Bush's November election victory.
Jim Lobe is a political analyst with Foreign Policy In Focus, online at
http://www.fpif.org. He also writes regularly for Inter Press Service.
See new FPIF commentary online at:
http://www.presentdanger.org/commentary/2004/0412europoll.html
With printer-friendly pdf version at:
http://www.presentdanger.org/pdf/gac/0412europoll.pdf
For More Analysis from Foreign Policy In Focus:
Mainstream Media Miss Rumsfeld's "Dirty Wars" Talk
By Jim Lobe (December 1, 2004)
http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2004/0412rumsfeld.html
Neocon Wish List
By Jim Lobe (November 11, 2004)
http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2004/0411wish.html
Security Scholars Say Iraq War Most Misguided Policy Since Vietnam
By Jim Lobe (October 13, 2004)
http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2004/0410scholars.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interhemispheric Resource Center is proud to announce that, in conjunction
with our 25th anniversary, we have changed our name to International
Relations Center. Please visit our website at www.irc-online.org to see our
new logo and check back in the coming months as we begin the integration
and improvement of all of our program and project websites. As
International Relations Center we remain IRC and committed to our mission
of: working to make the U.S. a more responsible member of the global
community by promoting progressive strategic dialogues that lead to new
citizen-based agendas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Produced and distributed by FPIF:"A Think Tank Without Walls," a joint
program of International Relations Center (IRC) and Institute for Policy
Studies (IPS).
For more information, visit http://www.fpif.org. If you would like to add a
name to the "What's New At FPIF" specific region or topic list, please
email: communications@irc-online.org with "subscribe" and giving your area
of interest.
To add your name to this list, send a blank email to:
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To unsubscribe, send a blank email to:
peaceandjustice-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
International Relations Center (IRC)
(formerly Interhemispheric Resource Center)
http://www.irc-online.org/
Siri D. Khalsa
Outreach Coordinator
Email: communications@irc-online.org
--__--__--
Message: 5
From: "Mark Parkinson" <mark44@DELETETHISmyrealbox.com>
To: newsclippings@casi.org.uk
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 21:59:44 -0000
Subject: The Victims of the Tsunami Pay the Price of War on Iraq
By: George Monbiot on: 04.01.2005 [19:43 ] (33 reads)
The Victims of the Tsunami Pay the Price of War on Iraq
US and British aid is dwarfed by the billions both spend on slaughter
There has never been a moment like it on British television. The
Vicar of Dibley, one of our gentler sitcoms, was bouncing along with
its usual bonhomie on New Year's Day when it suddenly hit us with a
scene from another world. Two young African children were sobbing and
trying to comfort each other after their mother had died of Aids. How
on earth, I wondered, would the show make us laugh after that? It
made no attempt to do so. One by one the characters, famous for their
parochial boorishness, stood in front of the camera wearing the white
armbands which signaled their support for the Make Poverty History
campaign. You would have to have been hewn from stone not to cry.
The timing was perfect. In my local Oxfam shop last week, people were
queuing to the door to pledge money for the tsunami fund. A pub on
the other side of town raised =A31,000 on Saturday night. In the pot on
the counter of the local newsagent's there must be nearly =A3100. The
woman who runs the bakery told me about the homeless man she had
seen, who emptied his pockets in the bank, saying "I just want to do
my bit", while the whole queue tried not to cry.
Over the past few months, reviewing the complete lack of public
interest in what is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
and the failure, in the west, to mobilize effective protests against
the continuing atrocities in Iraq, I had begun to wonder whether we
had lost our ability to stand in other people's shoes. I have now
stopped wondering. The response to the tsunami shows that, however we
might seek to suppress it, we cannot destroy our capacity for
empathy.
But one obvious question recurs. Why must the relief of suffering, in
this unprecedentedly prosperous world, rely on the whims of citizens
and the appeals of pop stars and comedians? Why, when extreme poverty
could be made history with a minor redeployment of public finances,
must the poor world still wait for homeless people in the rich world
to empty their pockets?
The obvious answer is that governments have other priorities. And the
one that leaps to mind is war. If the money they have promised to the
victims of the tsunami still falls far short of the amounts required,
it is partly because the contingency fund upon which they draw in
times of crisis has been spent on blowing people to bits in Iraq.
The US government has so far pledged $350m to the victims of the
tsunami, and the UK government =A350m ($96m). The US has spent $148
billion on the Iraq war and the UK =A36bn ($11.5bn). The war has been
running for 656 days. This means that the money pledged for the
tsunami disaster by the United States is the equivalent of one and a
half day's spending in Iraq. The money the UK has given equates to
five and a half days of our involvement in the war.
It looks still worse when you compare the cost of the war to the
total foreign aid budget. The UK has spent almost twice as much on
creating suffering in Iraq as it spends annually on relieving it
elsewhere. The United States gives just over $16bn in foreign aid:
less than one ninth of the money it has burnt so far in Iraq.
The figures for war and aid are worth comparing because, when all the
other excuses for the invasion of Iraq were stripped away, both
governments explained that it was being waged for the good of the
Iraqis. Let us, for a moment, take this claim at face value. Let us
suppose that the invasion and occupation of Iraq had nothing to do
with power, domestic politics or oil, but were, in fact, components
of a monumental aid program. And let us, with reckless generosity,
assume that more people in Iraq have gained as a result of this aid
program than lost.
To justify the war, even under these wildly unsafe assumptions,
George Bush and Tony Blair would have to show that the money they
spent was a cost-efficient means of relieving human suffering. As it
was sufficient to have made a measurable improvement in the lives of
all the 2.8 billion people living in absolute poverty, and as there
are only 25 million people in Iraq, this is simply not possible. Even
if you ignore every other issue - such as the trifling matter of mass
killing - the opportunity costs of the Iraq war categorize it as a
humanitarian disaster. Indeed, such calculations suggest that, on
cost grounds alone, a humanitarian war is a contradiction in terms.
But our leaders appear to have lost the ability to distinguish
between helping people and killing them. The tone of Blair's New Year
message was almost identical to that of his tear-jerking insistence
that we understand the Iraqi people must be bombed for their own
good. The US marines who have now been dispatched to Sri Lanka to
help the rescue operation were, just a few weeks ago, murdering the
civilians (for this, remember, is an illegal war), smashing the homes
and evicting the entire population of the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Even within the official aid budgets the two aims are confused:
$8.9bn of the aid money the US spends is used for military
assistance, anti-drugs operations, counter-terrorism and the Iraq
relief and reconstruction fund (otherwise known as the Halliburton
benevolent trust). For Bush and Blair, the tsunami relief operation
and the Iraq war are both episodes in the same narrative of
salvation. The civilized world rides out to rescue foreigners from
their darkness.
While they spend the money we gave them to relieve suffering on
slaughtering the poor, the world must rely for disaster relief on the
homeless man emptying his pockets. If our leaders were as generous in
helping people as they are in killing them, no one would ever go
hungry.
Mark Parkinson
Bodmin
Cornwall
--__--__--
Message: 6
From: "Saibal Mitra" <smitra@DELETETHISzonnet.nl>
To: <newsclippings@casi.org.uk>
Subject: Death in Fallujah rising, doctors say
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 00:07:27 +0100
http://tinyurl.com/65std
IRAQ: Death in Fallujah rising, doctors say
04 Jan 2005 14:56:16 GMT
Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks
FALLUJAH, 4 January (IRIN) - "It was really distressing picking up dead
bodies from destroyed homes, especially children. It is the most depressing
situation I have ever been in since the war started," Dr Rafa'ah al-Iyssaue,
director of the main hospital in Fallujah city, some 60 km west of Baghdad,
told IRIN.
According to al-Iyssaue, the hospital emergency team has recovered more than
700 bodies from rubble where houses and shops once stood, adding that more
than 550 were women and children. He said a very small number of men were
found in these places and most were elderly.
Doctors at the hospital claim that many bodies had been found in a mutilated
condition, some without legs or arms. Two babies were found at their homes,
who are believed to have died from malnutrition, according to a specialist
at the hospital.
Al-Iyssaue added these numbers were only from nine neighbourhoods of the
city and that 18 others had not yet been reached, as they were waiting for
help from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) to make it easier for them
to enter.
He explained that many of the dead had been already buried by civilians from
the Garma and Amirya districts of Fallujah after approval from US-led forces
nearly three weeks ago, and those bodies had not been counted.
IRCS officials told IRIN they needed more time to give an accurate death
toll, adding that the city was completely uninhabitable.
Ministry of Health officials told IRIN that they are in the process of
investigating the number of deaths, but claim that a very small number of
women and children were killed, contrary to what doctors in Fallujah have
said. They added that they are working together with the US-led forces to
rehabilitate the health system inside the city.
Residents who have returned to their homes after waiting hours to enter the
city found that most of their homes had been totally destroyed by the
fighting which started nearly a month ago between the US-led forces and
insurgents who are said to be under the control of Abu-Mussab al-Zarqawi, a
Jordanian terrorist wanted by the Iraqi government.
"I've been here for more than six hours and until now could not enter the
city, even after the fighting finished in our area. There is no respect for
civilians," Samirah al-Jumaili, a mother of seven, told IRIN.
The situation in Fallujah is still not clear. According to Col. Clark
Mathew, spokesman for the US Marines, night time attacks continue in some
areas of the city. US forces have informed residents not to leave their
homes after the imposed curfew of 1800 to 0600.
Mathew explained that most attacks were in areas where US troops have bases
in order to secure the city, but added that by the end of this month the
situation should be under control and that the reconstruction of Fallujah
would then begin. "We hope that very soon reconstruction of Fallujah will
start and families will feel a new life," Mathew added.
"The US troops are saying that soon Fallujah will be rebuilt. I believe that
this city won't offer a minimum of living conditions until another year has
passed. I am still searching for what they have been calling democracy,"
Muhammad Kubaissy, a civilian from Fallujah, told IRIN. His home and two
shops were destroyed in the fighting.
"They came to bring us freedom, but all Iraqis are now prisoners in their
own homes," he added.
"It is impossible to live in Fallujah. There is no water, electricity or
sewage treatment. Even hospitals cannot afford the minimum of security for
all families of the city. We don't have enough medicine and you can feel the
bad smell of bodies in the air," al-Iyssaue added.
Residents of Fallujah have been asking the Iraqi government to allow
journalists and TV reporters to enter the city in order to show the reality.
The government will only allow journalists to visit with a special identity
card, saying it is for their own safety. Many journalists have been turned
away from Fallujah after not receiving authorisation from US-troops guarding
the city.
"We need someone here to show the reality of Fallujah. Even when some
journalists are here they are being followed by the Marines. We need someone
to help us. The world should see the real picture of Fallujah," Sheikh Abbas
al-Zubeiny told IRIN.
--__--__--
Message: 7
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 22:42:38 +0000 (GMT)
From: The Iraq Solidarity Campaign <mcr_coalition@DELETETHISyahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: MCR_Coalition@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: Iraqi election officials quit over death threats
To: MCR_Coalition@yahoo.co.uk
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
Iraqi election officials quit over death threatsBAGHDAD
election committee officials in charge of organizing the upcoming Iraqi gen=
eral elections in the northern city of Baiji quit on Sunday after some of t=
hem received death threats.
"We all resigned.
They said the election was illegitimate because it will take place under oc=
cupation," said Mohammad Shahran, president of the 12-member Baiji Higher E=
lectoral Commission. He gave no details about the threats.
Anti-US insurgents are active in Baiji, where one of Iraq's most important =
oil refineries is based. Earlier on Sunday, guerrillas in the nearby town o=
f Sharqat blew up a local government building due to serve as a polling cen=
ter.
Insurgents have also severely disrupted the imports of goods and refined oi=
l products from neighboring Turkey.
The general elections are scheduled for Jan. 30.
January 3, 2005
The Iraq Solidarity Campaign
---------------------------------
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--__--__--
Message: 8
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 12:04:20 +0000
Subject: Mosul bomb and September 11th
From: "farbuthnot" <asceptic@DELETETHISfreenetname.co.uk>
To: casi-analysis@lists.casi.org.uk
CC: hussy_al_2000@yahoo.co.uk
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
=A0
=A0
=A0 =A0
'Mosul suicide bomber was Saudi medical student' Jordan Times.
=A0
=A0 =A0
CAIRO (AP) =8B The suicide bomber who killed 22 people when he blew himself=
up
in a US mess hall in Mosul, Iraq, was a Saudi medical student, an Arab
newspaper reported Monday.
Saudi-owned Asharq Al Awsat identified him as 20-year-old Ahmed Said Ahmed
Al Ghamdi, citing unnamed friends of the man's father. The friends said
members of an Iraqi resistance group contacted Ghamdi's father to tell him
his son was the suicide bomber who carried out the December 21 attack, the
deadliest on an American installation in Iraq.
The Associated Press was unable to reach Saudi security officials for
comment despite several phone calls on Monday.
The US-led coalition that toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has faced
fierce resistance, most of it carried out by Saddam loyalists or Iraqi
nationalists. Some of the deadliest attacks, though, have been blamed on
foreign Muslim extremists.
US officials have said their preliminary investigation indicates the bomber
was dressed in an Iraqi military uniform =8B but was not an Iraqi soldier =
=8B
when he slipped into a mess tent packed with soldiers eating lunch in
northern Iraq.
The father refused to discuss the suicide bombing, but told the newspaper
his son had gone to Iraq to fight the Americans and had died there. The
family held a mourning ceremony the paper said. It did not say when the
ceremony was held or where in Saudi Arabia the family lived.
The paper did not name the Iraqi resistance group. But Ansar Al Sunnah, a
radical Islamic Iraqi group that has been active in northern Iraq, claimed
responsibility for the mess hall attack. In a videotape posted on the web,
Ansar Al Sunnah identified the suicide bomber as Abu Omar Al Musali =8B an
apparent nom de guerre meaning Abu Omar of Mosul.
The man identified as Abu Omar Al Musali appeared in the web video wearing
an explosives-laden vest, but did not speak. Another man, speaking in an
Iraqi accent, described how the operation had been planned. A subsequent
segment showed what appeared to have been the attack. Ansar Al Sunnah share=
s
the anti-Western, Koranic rhetoric of Islamic extremist groups like Al
Qaeda, but has confined its fight to Iraq and has not actively recruited
foreign fighters. The group, though, has declared that it worked with an Al
Qaeda branch in Iraq on at least one operation, in November. Asharq Al Awsa=
t
said Ghamdi started studying medicine in Sudan when his father worked and
lived there. Ghamdi stayed to complete his studies when his family returned
to Saudi Arabia, the paper reported, without saying when the family left.
It said the father said he learned December 16 that his son had withdrawn
all the money left in a Sudanese bank account for him and later received a
phone call from his son telling him that he was in Iraq to fight the
Americans.
The Ghamdis are a large Saudi clan. Three Ghamdis were among the September
11 hijackers.
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
=A0
End of casi-news Digest
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