All readers can now post comments on any of the stories in this blog by clicking on the link below.
I have now added “comments” links to all my blogs. This means that when you read something, you can add a comment, without having to subscribe.
------------------------------
Karl Dallas
MARCH 20: Global Day of Action against the War
MARCH 20, 2004
GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION on the FIRST ANNIVERSARY of the U.S. BOMBING and INVASION of IRAQ
* BRING the TROOPS HOME NOW!
* END the OCCUPATION of IRAQ!
* MONEY for JOBS, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE and HOUSING - NOT WAR!
On March 20, 2004, protests will take place all around the world on the one year anniversary of the U.S. bombing and invasion of Iraq. People are organizing on a global scale to demand an end to the occupation of Iraq and an immediate withdrawal of U.S. military forces from the country.
Since the invasion began, hundreds of U.S. and British soldiers and unknown thousands of Iraqi people have been killed. The Iraqi people have clearly stated that occupation is not liberation that they want the foreign soldiers occupying their country to leave not tomorrow, but today. Growing numbers of U.S. soldiers and their families are calling to bring the troops home now. Increasing numbers of people in the United States are helping to build a movement against the occupation as they fight cuts to education, healthcare, job programs, housing and other social service programs.
On October 25, 100,000 people took to the streets of Washington DC to call for an immediate end to the occupation and to bring the troops home now. Tens of thousands more demonstrated in San Francisco and other U.S. cities, and in cities around the world. On that day, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition began to circulate in the U.S. the international call for demonstrations on March 20 that has being made by groups around the world. We urge all groups and organizations in the US to support this international call and to work together to show the power of a united movement on a global scale.
Begin planning now to hold a demonstration in your city on March 20, 2004. Hundreds of cities around the world will be issuing, circulating and joining this call.
We will have flyers, stickers and other organizing material available in the coming days.
- In New York City, the demonstration is planned to assemble at 12 noon at Times Square with a march to the United Nations. Call 212-633-6646 for details about upcoming city-wide planning meetings and for more information. - In Washington DC, the demonstration is planned to gather at the White House at 12 noon. Call 202-544-3389 for more information. - For information about the San Francisco demonstration call 415-821-6545. - In Los Angeles, the demonstration is planned to assemble at 12 noon at Hollywood and Vine. Call 213-487-2368 for more information.
A full listing of March 20 activities will be available on the A.N.S.W.E.R. website in the next days.
---------------------
Email circulated by: A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
FOR MORE INFORMATION http://www.InternationalANSWER.org info internationalanswer.org
New York 212-633-6646 Washington 202-544-3389 Los Angeles 213-487-2368 San Francisco 415-821-6545
To make a tax-deductible donation, go to http://www.internationalanswer.org/donate.html
Sign up to receive updates (low volume): http://www.internationalanswer.org/subscribelist.html
------------------
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USAF Mobilizing to Attack Iran
USAF Mobilizing to Attack Another Middle East Country!
Since Saturday, people in the Highlands of Scotland have been witnessing
large movements of US warplanes overhead. Experienced observers say the
large numbers are reminiscent of those that preceded the bombing of Iraq in
1998 and military strikes on Libya in the1980's as well as the first Gulf
War.
At the weekend warplanes were flying over at a rate of roughly one every 15
minutes. As well as watching them from the ground the plane spotters have
also been able to overhear pilots talking by listening to their radio
frequencies.
At this rate some 288 warplanes would have passed over Scotland in three
days. It is thought that the planes have flown on a route from the US over
the north pole to bases in Europe and the Mediterranean. The size and scale
of the movement suggests that the US may be preparing to strike at a country
in the Middle East in the next week to ten days.
Please pass this information on as widely as possible- the US may be
planning to use the pretext of "foreign" terrorist attacks on US personnel
in Iraq to attack Iran or Syria. Please alert any sympathetic elected
representatives, media representatives and other sympathetic organisations.
Publicising this military movement may prevent the air-strikes.
SCOTTISH CND, 15 Barrland Street, Glasgow, G41 1QH. Tel: 0141 423 1222 scnd
banthebomb.org http://www.banthebomb.org
=======+++=======
US and ISRAEL PREPARING AGAIN TO STRIKE BIG MID-EAST REALITIES - MER -
www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 4 November 2003:
There are growing rumors in Washington now that the US is preparing hard air
strikes somewhere in the Middle East. Secret heavy bomber deployments may be
underway to European bases as has been the case in previous years when major
strikes were being readied. Whether the targets are in Iran or Syria, or
even North Korea for that matter, are of course highly classified. Ariel
Sharon's surprise visit to Moscow this week to again meet personally with
Putin could be another ominous sign. The Israelis will probably try to
blackmail or threaten Putin in one way or another to stay out of whatever is
coming, especially if it involves Iran, now Israel's top target. Meanwhile,
as in previous MER analysis reports, the hijacking of Bush-Washington by the
Israeli-Jewish lobby hardliners working closely with Vice-President Cheney
was too much for a former ranking insider. The former Air Force
Lieutenant-Colonel is now trying to blow the whistle; but few in Washington
have the courage or understanding to both listen and act. Among other things
MER has learned that President Bush personally some time ago promised Ariel
Sharon -- during one of the nine meetings the two have held in the White
House -- that he would have advance copies of all Presidential speeches
dealing with the Middle East in case the Israelis felt any changes might be
necessary.
=======+++=======
TARGET IRAN It's a semi-secret joint US-Israel Operation
MID-EAST REALITIES - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 28 October
2003: The US has now secretly cooperated more than ever with the Sharon
regime in Israel to prepare for an attack which if successful will destroy
Iranian facilities that could be used to produce nuclear weapons and the
missiles to deliver them. The justification model is of course Israel's
attack on Osirak near Baghdad 22 years ago. Possibly to take place at the
same time the Americans are preparing to attack North Korean nuclear
facilities. This is the real military pressure that is now being ratcheted
up on both countries to quite literally attempt to force them to change
course. This was the reason senior European Foreign Ministers recently
rushed to Tehran. But after watching what the US has now done to Iraq -- a
country that in fact did succumb and change course only to find itself
'regime changed' and occupied by the Americans -- this historic cat and
mouse game may not work quite so easily as it has before for Washington.
Moreover there are other players much more intimately involved now --
Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia...with China as well as Russia watching every
so closely and a whole world more skeptical of the Americans, as well as the
Israelis, than ever. Moreover as well the Americans are already overextended
-- both militarily and fiancially -- in Iraq which raises the spectre of
American as well as Israeli threats, and possible use this time, of tactical
nuclear weapons should the going get rough and any country attempt to fight
back against the modern-day crusading Empire now armed with the doctrine of
pre-emption and a Judeo-Christian zealotry.
========+++========
US MISSILES TARGETED AGAINST IRAN BY ISRAEL
US Harpoon missiles armed with nuclear warheads are now aimed by Israeli's
fleet of Dolphin-class submarines against Iran's nuclear facilities.
Following September's exclusive report in American Free Press about Israel's
submarine nuclear attack capability, over 100 Harpoon cruise missiles have
been secretly flown to the remote island of Diego Garcia, a joint UK-US base
in the Indian Ocean. The three Israeli submarines which arrived at the base
early this month were each loaded with 24 Harpoon missiles. They then set
sail for the Gulf of Oman ---- bringing Iran's nuclear facilities all within
range of their submarines' multi-payloads. The decision to launch them is
entirely in the hands of Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon. Just as he
gave Washington only a short warning he was going to attack an alleged
terrorist camp deep inside Syria, Sharon has made it clear to Washington
that the same rule of engagement will apply if it comes to launching the
Harpoon missiles. Sharon made his position clear in a telephone call to
President Bush the day after the attack on Syria. According to one Israeli
source, Bush said he "just wanted to be kept informed". Credible
intelligence sources say the reality is that Sharon believes he would have
the support of Bush if he did launch an attack. But an indication of the
deepening concern that some members of the Bush Administration now feel, is
that national security advisor Condoleezza Rice last weekend allowed one of
her senior aides to confirm our September report to the Los Angeles Times
and London's Guardian newspaper. Both drew heavily on the original American
Free Press story. The senior Pentagon and State department sources for our
first story, about Israel's Dolphin class submarines, have told us
exclusively that, in the words of one high-level Pentagon source, "matters
have now advanced considerably and for the first time Rice is sounding alarm
bells in the Oval Office". Rice''s decision to leak is also the first clear
indication of her concerns over Israel ---- as well as her own direct
challenge to the authority of Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld. She is
now engaged in an internal power struggle with Rumsfeld ----and has chosen
to use what she sees as his failure in the Middle East to harness Sharon''s
behaviour as her launch pad to have the Secretary of State ousted. "Rice has
a long-term strategy to become Secretary of State. While Rumsfeld is no
supporter of Powell, he knows that having Rice in charge of State would give
her more power than she even has now. And there is also the ultimate
ambition for Condi, to be Bush's running mate, if not in this election, then
in the one afterwards. Her own inner circle say that she would relish a
face-off with Hillary Clinton in 2008. If Condi became vice-President, then
she is but a step away from becoming the first Black woman in the White
House. That is what is driving her," said a senior Washington analyst.
Meantime, Rice's concerns have deepened following Sharon's stark warning
last Sunday that "states harbouring terrorists are legitimate targets".
Aides in Tel Aviv have confirmed to American Free Press that "Iran and Syria
are top of that list ---- with Iran in the top spot". The revelation comes
at a time of rapidly escalating tensions in the region. Israel's senior
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Gideon Meir, insisted "any country that harbours
a threat to Israel is a legitimate target for us out of self-defence".
Today, American Free Press can reveal, again for the first time, that a team
of US computer specialists flew to Diego Garcia to fit the latest version of
the software known as "over the horizon". This would allow a Harpoon missile
to hit any of Iran''s nuclear establishments with pin-point
accuracy.Originally developed by Inslaw, the Washington based specialist
computer software company, the "over the horizon" capability has been
enhanced to handle the sophisticated electronics of the Harpoon missiles. In
the meantime, Sharon has ordered Mossad to put together a specialist team to
prepare. by Gordon Thomas - 27 October 2003
P.S. MER exclusively reported nearly three years ago now that the Israelis
had received new conventionally-powered submarines, made and financed in
Germany in fact, which they were planning to fit with nuclear-tipped
missiles despite earlier assurances given the Germans they would not do so;
and that Israel also has an extensive super-secret biological and chemical
weapons program.
========+++========
Cheney's Hawks 'Hijacking Policy'
By Ritt Goldstein Sydney Morning Herald - Australia, 30 October 2003:
A former Pentagon officer turned whistleblower says a group of hawks in the
Bush Administration, including the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, is running a
shadow foreign policy, contravening Washington's official line.
"What these people are doing now makes Iran-Contra [a Reagan administration
national security scandal] look like amateur hour. . . it's worse than
Iran-Contra, worse than what happened in Vietnam," said Karen Kwiatkowski, a
former air force lieutenant-colonel.
"[President] George Bush isn't in control . . . the country's been
hijacked," she said, describing how "key [governmental] areas of
neoconservative concern were politically staffed".
Ms Kwiatkowski, who retired this year after 20 years service, was a Middle
East specialist in the office of the Undersecretary of Defence for Policy,
headed by Douglas Feith.
She described "a subversion of constitutional limits on executive power and
a co-optation through deceit of a large segment of the Congress", adding
that "in order to take that first step - Iraq - lies had to be told to
Congress to bring them on board".
Ms Kwiatkowski said the pursuit of national security decisions often
bypassed "civil service and active-duty military professionals", and was
handled instead by political appointees who shared common ideological ties.
There was speculation earlier this year that such an ideologue group had
emerged, and that it was behind the US attack on an Iraqi convoy in Syria in
June.
The New York Times quoted Patrick Lang, a former senior Defence
Intelligence Agency (DIA) official, as saying that many in the Government
believed the incursion was an effort by ideologues to disrupt co-operation
between the US and Syria.
Ms Kwiatkowski said there was an extra-governmental network operating
outside normal structures and practices, "a network of political appointees
in key positions who felt they needed to take some action, to make things
happen in a foreign affairs, national security way". She said Pentagon
personnel and the DIA were pressured to favourably alter assessments and
reports.
In a separate interview, Chalmers Johnson, an authority on US policy, said
that the Administration's neo-conservatives had in effect seized power from
Mr Bush.
Dr Johnson said the neo-conservatives had pursued an agenda outlined in the
controversial 1992 Defence Planning Guidance. That document, drawn up at the
direction of Mr Cheney when he was defence secretary, said the world's only
superpower should not be cautious about asserting its power.
=======+++=======
'They will suffer until they understand... When you look at this through
Palestinian eyes, you can understand why they hate us so much... Just like
any other war, this is not a clean war. This is a dirty war. You cannot
judge it in humanitarian terms... We're in the middle of a hundred-years'
war' -- The Israeli colonel in command of Nablus, Oct 2 2002
========+++========
_______________________________________________
campeace mailing list campeace gn.apc.org
http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/campeace
November 14th national press conference to defend the US Shields and Iraq Humanitarian travelers
November 14th national press conference to defend the US Shields and Iraq
Humanitarian travelers
We issued the following press release today:
"We Will Not Be Silenced"
U.S. Humanitarian Travelers to Iraq to Hold Nationwide Press Conferences
"We Will Not Go Quietly"
On November 14, 2003, 8 press conferences will take place in various cities
throughout the U.S., where individuals who have traveled to Iraq will stand
in solidarity with those who have been targeted by the U.S. government on
charges of breaking the sanctions. They will publicly acknowledge and
reiterate their purpose for going: to assist, through non-violent, direct
action, their brothers and sisters of Iraq and tell the stories of their
lives under sanctions, war time, and occupation.
They will also reaffirm their intentions to ignore any efforts by the U.S.
government to silence them in this endeavor. Dozens of travelers and
supporters are expected to attend. Statement from the participants: The U.S.
Treasury and State Departments insist on pursuing charges against several
individuals and groups that have traveled to Iraq.
We fully acknowledge that we also traveled to Iraq and are standing in
solidarity with these people in affirming the First Amendment rights of U.S.
citizens to speak, to have oversight of governmental policy, and to bring
humanitarian assistance to its victims. The ban on traveling was to prevent
commercial profit to either Iraq or businesses wanting to trade with Iraq.
The purpose of our travel was to communicate the results of U.S. policy in
Iraq to our fellow citizens, not to engage in any commercial ventures. - We
will not yield to the government's intimidation tactics that are designed to
silence us. - We intend to fully exercise our First Amendment Rights, and
all of our treasured rights as American citizens. - We will not cease
relaying the stories of our travels to anyone willing to listen. - We will
continue to pursue paths of peace, understanding, friendship and compassion
with the citizens of the world rather than paths of violence, death, war and
destruction. - We will not go quietly There are currently close to 50
participants. We expect the number of cities and participants to increase
over the coming week.
Contact Barbara Johns (BJohns99 aol.com) regarding the national press
conference.
Contact Rev. Tom Reiber-Martinez (PastorTomReiber aol.com) (718) 941-2640
for more information regarding the New York City press conference.
The "We Will Not Go Quietly" Iraq Humanitarian Travelers Speakout has been
endorsed by September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, the War
Resisters League, New Yorkers Say No to War, Global Exchange and Code Pink.
People who travelled under their auspices, as well as Human Shields who
travelled with the Truth Justice Peace action project, will be represented
at the conferences. Faith Fippinger and Antoinette McCormick are
participating in the New York City speak-out along with eight regional
people.
Judith Karpova
REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE
CONTRACT REVIEW PANEL
NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION.
Dear Friend,
I am Dr Bona Kamade Chairman, Contract Review Panel of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Sometime ago , a Contract was awarded to a
conglomerate of Foreign Companies by my Committee on behalf of the NNPC. The Contract was however
Over-invoiced to a surplus tune of USD24 Million (Twenty Four Million, United States dollars). This was deliberately done by my colleagues and l to benefit from this project.
This fund is presently floating in the NNPC accounts having observed all laid down protocols. This surplus of USD24 Million, is what we ask that you help us receive, by providing an account for the
lodgement of this funds since it is forbidden for us as government workers or public office holders to operate foreign bank accounts under our country's policy.
On final conclusion of this project, 70% of this
surplus shall be for us, while 25% shall be for you and the remaining 5% shall be used to compensate either party should there be any expenses incurred.
You should be informed that all arrangements to make
you the beneficiary contractor of the funds shall be perfected from our office and upon our final recommendations,our bankers will transfer
the funds directly to your account. This piece of information should however be kept to yourself as we are still very much in government service.
Send me an email immediately to let me know if you
would be of assistance to (bonakamade_45@yahoo.co.uk).
Regards,
Dr. Bona Kamade.
No wonder America has so many enemies
By ERIC MARGOLIS -- Contributing Foreign Editor
Toronto Sun
September 28, 2003
President Bill Clinton was impeached by a Republican-controlled Congress for lying about sex. President George W. Bush and aides lied the United States into a stupid, unnecessary colonial war that has so far killed more than 305 Americans and seriously wounded more than 1,400. It has also cost many thousands of Iraqi dead, and $1 billion US weekly.
Lying about sex is an impeachable offence; lying the nation into war apparently is not.
I was no Clinton fan, but give me his iffy morals any day over Bush's Mussolini-like strutting. Sen. Edward Kennedy is absolutely correct when he calls Bush's Iraq war a "fraud" concocted to win the next elections.
A fraud and an epic blunder.
Last week, Bush received a glacial and scornful reception at the United Nations that symbolized the world's contempt and disgust for his administration. Not since Nikita Khrushchev pounded his shoe on the speaker's rostrum has a major leader so embarrassed himself and his nation before the world body.
In his UN speech, Bush again claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and "ties" to terrorism. Days later, U.S. intelligence teams that scoured Iraq for four months reported no traces of weapons or terrorism links - the pretext used by Bush and his neo-conservative handlers for unprovoked war against Saddam Hussein.
The White House was left choking on its own grotesque lies.
Incredibly, VP Dick Cheney, a prime architect of the Iraq war, actually claimed recently that Iraq still had mobile germ labs, though U.S. and British inspectors debunked this claim last June. The "special" intelligence network created by neo-conservatives is still apparently feeding disinformation to America's leadership.
This latest humiliation came only days after Bush finally admitted Iraq was not, as most Americans were misled into believing, behind the 9/11 attacks.
No wonder world leaders gave Bush the cold shoulder, and even usually timid UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned against "dangerous acts of unilateralism" - a pointed reference to the bellicose Bush administration.
Unfortunately, many Americans still do not understand how gravely the Bush White House has damaged and sullied their nation's once noble reputation.
Dangerous aggressor
Recent polls show that even among traditional friends abroad, America is no longer regarded as a champion of freedom, democracy and human rights, but increasingly as a dangerous aggressor bent on imperial domination and exploitation.
America's most precious and proudest asset, its moral reputation, has been gravely damaged by the Bush White House. The only positive note: rising anti-Americanism is largely associated in the eyes of non- Americans with the persona of George Bush, a man who projects almost all the negative stereotypes foreigners hold of Americans.
Bush's blinkered core supporters in middle America simply don't understand or don't care what the rest of the world thinks of their nation, which, since 9/11, has wrapped itself in a cocoon of xenophobia and self-righteous rage.
The White House's mouthpiece media, led by Fox News, have simply blanked out world opinion and endlessly chorused administration war propaganda.
A fascinating March study of network TV news by New York's Fairness and Accuracy in Media shows how Americans were misled into war by outrageously biased programming on Iraq.
The analysis found: a) 76% of all commentators about Iraq on TV were present or former government officials; b) only 6% of commentators expressed skepticism regarding the need for war - when 61% of the public supported more time for diplomacy and inspections; c) on the four TV networks, less than 1% of sources were identified with anti-war groups.
And more than two-thirds of commentators were from the U.S., 75% either present or former government or military officials. The small number of foreign commentators mostly came from nations like Britain and Israel which were backing Bush's war policy.
In short, the major networks, under White House prompting, beat the war drums and blatantly excluded commentators with contrary views, giving Americans a badly warped view of world events.
No wonder so few Americans understand what is going on abroad, how the outside world really sees them, or why America has so many enemies overseas. Small wonder many Americans are turning for balanced news to the CBC, BBC and the Internet.
Citizens of the old Soviet Union suffered the same information isolation. Like Americans since 9/11, they were force-fed agitprop and patriotic pap disguised as news, and deprived of all knowledge of the real world around them.
Back to reality. Bush's UN speech was another attempt to mislead Americans into believing the horrid mess in Iraq - entirely the creation of Bush and the neo-cons - is somehow the fault of the UN.
French President Jacques Chirac proposed the U.S. hand Iraq over to UN control. But Bush, still lusting for Iraqi oil and fearful his family foe, Saddam Hussein, would return to thumb his nose at him, foolishly scorned this wise proposal.
Bush is praying his hit teams will assassinate Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein before next year's elections. But even that may not save him from the growing anger of defrauded Americans who are slowly realizing that his Iraq war was a political version of the giant Enron swindle.
Eric can be reached by e-mail at margolis@foreigncorrespondent.com.
November 14 Speak-Out by Iraq Humanitarian Travelers
-----Original Message-----
From: Judith Karpova [mailto:dahlia@ix.netcom.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 6:38 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: November 14 Speak-Out by Iraq Humanitarian Travelers
Dear Friends and Supporters,
For those new to my informational support list, my name is Judith Karpova. I was a US Human Shield in Iraq. I did not stay thorugh the war, but left Iraq on March 9 and worked for the next several weeks in the Human Shields office in Amman, Jordan, to assist other Shields leaving Iraq in contacting their national media. During the time the two of us spent together in Iraq I became good friends with Faith Fippinger, a US retired schoolteacher who stayed through the bombing and volunteered at several Iraqi hospitals. She, Ryan Clancy and I all received letters from the Treasury Department, and Faith and Ryan received follow-up calls from them threatening to seize their business assets, pensions, social security; to ruin them. I am assisting in publicizing her targeting by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Following is a two-part message. The first part concerns a speak-out of pre-war US travelers to Iraq, who have not thus far come to the attention of the Treasury or Justice Departments. They are stepping forward publicly to support those humanitarian travelers who are currently being threatened or prosecuted, such as Faith Fippinger, Ryan Clancy, and Voices in the Wilderness. The second part is in response to those who have offered donations and sent queries as to how they may help in the defense of these enlightened, brave people.
Apologies for any duplications. Please let me know if you want further background information or if you do not wish to receive future messages on this topic. Please distribute.
Judith Karpova
dahlia@ix.netcom.com
I – November 14 Speak-Out
The U.S. Treasury and Justice Departments insist on pursuing charges against several individuals and groups that have traveled to Iraq. In support of these people, and to assert the right of US citizens to be informed and to communicate information, others who have travelled to Iraq but have not thus far been targeted are stepping forward to fully acknowledge that they have also traveled to Iraq and are standing in solidarity with those charged.
On Friday, November 14, 2003, 10 press conferences will take place in various cities throughout the U.S., where humanitarian travelers to Iraq will stand in solidarity with their fellow travelers who have been targeted by the U.S. government on charges of breaking the sanctions before and during the war and occupation. Press conferences will take place across the country on Friday, Nov. 14th in the following cities (10:00 AM WEST COAST, 1:00 PM EST, etc):
New York City, NY
Syracuse, NY
Chicago, IL
Minneapolis, MN
Montgomery, AL
Seattle, WA
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Washington, D.C.
At these press conferences, individuals who have traveled to Iraq for humanitarian purposes will gather and read a joint statement of solidarity with their fellow humanitarian travelers. We're looking for individuals who would like to join the list of signers, as well as people who would like to support us in other ways: organizational endorsements, publicity help, press conference attendees, etc. If you or someone you know might be interested in attending and/or participating in this action and/or signing the joint statement, please respond to BJohns99@aol.com.
Thank you for your time. Also, to receive a copy of the text of the joint statement, please contact BJohns99@aol.com.
II – Offers of Funds for the Defense of Faith and Iraqi Travelers
In response to people who have offered to contribute to the defense of these travelers, Faith and Ryan have stated that though they thank people for such offers, they categorically decline to receive any money from anyone. They urge people to write to their Congresspeople, and participate in the ongoing call-in campaign to OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) and the Justice Department (contact me for information on this if needed: dahlia@ix.netcom.com).
However, there are several projects related to Human Shields activities people can support.
One is a very powerful 22 minute documentary by a Debra Hussong, a Florida filmmaker which features Faith Fippinger and the mother of another US Human Shield, Ben Joffe-Walt, a young man I also knew personally in Iraq. I have seen it and it makes a profound impact. Funds sent to her will be used to publicize her film and defray travel expenses for US humanitarian travelers to Iraq to accompany showings. For more information contact Debra Hussong, DAH Media, at dhm7@infionline.net
Another is the establishment of a childrens' shelter in Iraq. Below is the email I received yesterday from fellow Shield Donna Mulhearn of Australia. I personally know and completely trust the people she refers to who will be initiating that project; these people stayed through the bombing and I believe that because of them, the humanitarian infrastructure where they were sited was not destroyed:
From Donna Mulhearn
Hello human shields, friends and supporters,
Have you heard about Our House - Iraq? It is a project that some former human shields will be pioneering in Baghdad very soon.
It will be a children's shelter which will provide accomodation in houses and day-to-day care for the many orphans and street kids of Baghdad who have fallen through the cracks and ended up sleeping on the street.
The project will work in partnership with a local orphanage which is bursting at the seams. The wonderful Iraqi staff will help us set up houses close to the orphanage and we will work together.
The project will be funded totally by public donations by friends and supporters. An appeal has been launched in the UK and Australia. The support has been fantastic.
With so many aid agencies withdrawn from Iraq, this is a way to support direct work on the ground in Iraq.
There are a few ways that you can help:
1. Remember all those Iraqi dinar notes that you carried around in bundles? Well did you end up having leftovers that you still have? You might want to keep one or two as a souvenir, but why not donate the rest to us? You can send them to me, and I can take them with me when I leave on November 18. The old currency will be used for another 3 months and will be very useful for us. You can send it to: Donna Mulhearn, 27 Lenton Parade, Waterloo, NSW, 2017 Australia. Thanks!
2. You could come and join us as a volunteer.
3. You could make a donation to our funds. In the UK: Lloyds TSB sort code: 30-97-07 Account name: Our House - Iraq, account number: 00723748. In Australia you can deposit into Commonwealth Bank account named: Our House - Iraq, account number: 2231 10207377
4. Is there anyone in America who can set up an account for us and do an appeal there?
5. Please pass this on to all your e-mail lists and networks.
This is an exciting project that will provide help and hope to the children in Baghdad.
It is being driven and will be staffed by Uzma, Rory, myself, Helen and Kevin and I'm sure others I don't know about. Many other volunteers are keen to come.
It will probably begin in mid-November.
Thanks for your support. I will be sending out regular stories from Baghdad. Please let me know if you'd like to go on my list.
peace and solidarity
Donna
donnamulhearn@yahoo.com.au
