Dear Friends,
This email is to inform you of a new video clip that is available on our website. http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/newPages/movie1.html
This clip will provide images and voices of two of our members currently in Iraq as they talk about the recent OFAC lawsuit against Voices in the Wilderness. It also has new footage from Iraq. To view this clip, you will need Quicktime software which is available for free on the internet.
Read up-to-date stories from Iraq from our web page. Two stories are included in this email, right below this text! When you browse through our website, you can find journal entries from John Farrell, Kathy Kelly, Ramzi Kysia and others. Bookmark this section as it changes frequently. http://vitw.vitwmedia.org/weblog/
These stories contain information about ordinary Iraqis living under US led sanctions, and US occupation. Hear how our team members respond to and report what they see and hear in Baghdad, Basra, and other cities in Iraq. Stay informed and read the reflections of our team members as you get to know more Iraqis and understand their plight.
Voices in the Wilderness has been traveling to Iraq in the effort to educate US and global citizens about the devastating effects of economic sanctions since 1996. Now we go to continue the educational work and to unmask the truths of US led occupation.
We are still collecting funds for medical relief to Iraq. We are also maintaining a list of names who are signing on to oppose the OFAC fines. See our appeal for 20,000 Voices. Please sign the petition and join in our struggle.
http://www.petitiononline.com/usvvitw/petition-sign.html
Sincerely,
Voices in the Wilderness-Chicago
Voices in Iraq
Taxi Cab Diaries
September 07, 2003
Baghdad, Iraq
John Farrell
Voices in The Wilderness
Here in Iraq there is so much to learn that I feel overwhelmed. There are so many things that I do not understand about this place, which is just one reminder to me of how much the United States government does not understand about this place and about ordinary Iraqis. I read that Donald Rumsfeld was in Iraq today, telling US troops that their work here, while difficult, is succeeding and will continue to succeed. From where I sit, looking out at Karrada Dakhil street from this Internet Cafe in the cool of the evening (that is, when the cool of temperature below 100 degrees)it could very well be the case that everyone is happy and content here. The Iraqis that I have met are very resilient and are used to enduring great calamity and hardship, not to mention corrupt government officials. However, when you talk with people and more importantly when you listen to people, then you get a different opinion
of what’s going on here under US occupation.
So here’s my suggestion to Donald Rumsfeld while he is here in Iraq. Mr. Donald, leave the comfort of the former Republican Palace, where Iraqis were not allowed to go freely under Saddam and where they still are not allowed to go freely under the Coalition Provisional Authority (unless accompanied by a foreigner), and take a ride around Baghdad in a taxi cab. Hail one of the rickety cabs, the ones painted white and orange, not the cabs that someone at a hotel would call for you. Take an interpreter with you, and introduce yourself as someone from the United States. Don’t tell them that you are Donald Rumsfeld. For the full effect, take a cab during the hottest part of the day, anytime from 10 am to 5 pm, when temperatures inside these tin boxes on wheels can easily reach a stuffy 130 degrees Fahrenheit. I guarantee you that you will get a different view of the situation than you are getting from the safety of your squadron of helicopters, cruising overhead.
Continue reading “Taxi Cab Diaries”
http://www.vitw.us/archives/000015.html#more
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News from Baghdad
September 02, 2003
Baghdad, Iraq
Kathy Kelly
Voices in The Wilderness
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that a full week has gone by since our group of four arrived in Baghdad, raising Voice’s numbers in Iraq to eight. As I lie on the roof (so much cooler than inside) gazing up at the stars or watching the sun come up over the city, I sometimes wonder if I am dreaming. Gunshots in the night, however, and the sounds of helicopters overhead and periodic tanks roaring down the road help to remind me of where I am. In terms of the many visits with Iraqi friends, conversations and stories too numerous to relate, events in the house and in the country, New York city seems like another lifetime.
Tomorrow Ed, Kathy, John and I plan to go south to Basrah for a couple of days. Here the heat is blessedly dry, but in Basrah we will be hit with the humidity, something I’d rather not think about. Before we depart, I am hoping today to get something more off to you all. Caoimhe, Ewa and Michael will head to Hilla where tomorrow there is to be an official ceremony to turn over power to the Polish troops there. They represent the 3rd largest contingent of foreign troops in the land, 2,500, I believe. Ewa, who is Polish/British herself, is especially knowledgeable about that country’s own history of occupation. It is because of her presence among us that some are going to Hilla to do some sort of symbolic action at the ceremony to raise awareness that a formerly occupied
country is now occupying Iraq.
Continue reading “News from Baghdad”
http://www.vitw.us/archives/000011.html#more