Some of you may or may not be familiar with a group of women called “Code Pink.”
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities. CODEPINK rejects the Bush administration’s fear-based politics that justify violence, and instead calls for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to international law.
These women do not simply arm-chair quaterback the protest, they are atually on the ground in Iraq. If we simply do not trust our MSM, then I suggest you give this story a read. The story is one of reality and dissapointment told by an individual that lives and experiences the things she writes about.
Notes from the Middle East
As most of you already know, I was part of a delegation, puttogether with extraordinary care by Medea Benjamin and Chris Michael of Global Exchange in San Francisco. We traveled to Amman, Jordan,with medical supplies, blankets, heaters and water purifiers for the refugees in the camps outside Falluja. Global Exchange received donations of medications from a large pharmaceutical company as well as small donations of supplies and cash valued at $600,000.
Once again, my vocabulary is not adequate to describe the experience of meeting Iraqis, for whom every day is September 11th. These good people, who wept as they told their stories, risked their lives tocome to Amman to meet with us. We were Americans, some of whom had lost sons in Iraq, Military Families Against the War. I represented September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Some members of the delegation were Americans who have not lost a loved one, but have concluded that the war is wrong, that Iraq had no weapons of massdestruction (except those for which Rumsfeld has the receipts) and no complicity in 9/11. We met with Arabs whose, long history of oppression has made them cynical of Americans, but who greeted us with warmth and gratitude for caring enough to come with medical supplies and humanitarian aid. I told them that Timmy had died on 9/11 trying to rescue civilians trapped in the twin towers and that now innocent civilians are being killed in his name and we were all trying to stop it.
On New Year’s eve, we attempted to hold a candlelight vigil in front of the U.N. building in Amman, but the police were waiting for us and tried to grab our candles and peace signs. After a bit of a tussle, while the media were filming, we managed to get our signs back. The cameras were chased away and the police apologized and expressed sympathy for our cause, but explained that they had to do their job, so we agreed to leave.
On New Year’s day, we tried to get to the Iraqi border, but were turned back by the military police, who proceeded to follow us. We stopped in the desert and held a brief ceremony for peace with alJazeera filming us and interviewing the members of the delegation. We spoke with some shepherds who politely agreed to be interviewed, but believed that Americans are responsible for the chaos in the region. They know all about what is going on because they watch alJazeera on TV. We then stopped at a refugee camp near the border and spoke, through an interpreter, to some of the children. One very articulate 12 year old told us that many NGO workers came to visit them, but nothing ever changed. She alleged there was a shortage of milk and other necessities. Evidently, there was no shortage of cigarettes, we saw the men all smoking. I was introduced to the firefighters just outside the camp and was invited into their tent for tea. Afterwards they handed me a jacket and helmet and we posed for pictures in front of the fire truck.
At dinner that evening, one of the Iraqi doctors asked me if Americans know how privileged we are. And while I answered yes, I wondered if this is true. Or maybe Americans know they are privileged and believe we deserve to be by virtue of the accident of birth that made us so. For it is obvious we consider ourselves”better” than the people in other parts of the world so much less fortunate, whose lives don’t seem to matter very much. Dr. Jeff Ritterman, a member of our delegation, responded that privilege incurs responsibility, and that is key. For in the sense of privilege we all enjoy, we cannot let this sense of responsibility go unheeded – the responsibility to keep ourselves informed and to participate in the development of government policies, if we want the government to truly represent us. We forget what constitutes a democracy. We also have a responsibility to those who are not so privileged, not only victims of natural disasters, but man made tsunamis as well. Our Iraqi interpreter has told us that over 200,000 Iraqis have been killed in this war, 100,000 since the end of the invasion.
Stories were exchanged. Questions were asked that most often could not be answered. Why? Why is America doing this? What have we ever done to you? Nothing! There is less food now than under the food for oil program. Obesity among children that was once a problem in Iraq has given way to malnutrition. Twenty billion dollars from the oil for food program is unaccounted for. Iraq was once one of the most advanced Middle Eastern countries in terms of its educational system. It has now been bombed into the dark ages. Why?
Allegations were made that would not stand up in a court of law. They would be labeled hearsay, for although the storytellers were eyewitnesses to these events, we are not mandated reporters. These stories, they so movingly related, are difficult to accept. Yet we heard similar allegations repeated by different groups that arrived over the course of the week we were in Amman. Stories of atrocities committed by American troops that make Abu Graib seem like childish pranks instead of the horrible acts of violence they really were.They told us that since Abu Graib, the torture of prisoners has gotten worse, but there are other prisons in Iraq, outside of Baghdad, prisons that are underground and are not monitored by outside agencies. There, whole families are detained, the males beaten and the women raped in full view of the other prisoners.
They told us about routine instances of tanks rolling over and crushing cars on the road, cars filled with people. In one instance, a car contained a seven year old girl, whose father had just run into the market. She was screaming and banging on the window as the tank crushed the car around her. Many of the Iraqis testified to having witnessed this type of occurrence more than once. Others told of troops smashing down doors in the middle of the night and shooting the males in the household, often in front of their mothers and wives. And then there were the incidents of rape, the rape of teenage girls before the eyes of their parents and siblings. Upon learning they have made an error, the officers come back with two thousand dollars compensation and an apology for killing the heads of households by mistake.
To the surprise of most Americans, civilians in Iraq (the last figure I read before leaving Amman was 200,000) now support the insurgency. Witnessing these crimes has fueled this support, for these atrocities do not occur in the dark dungeons of the Iraqi prisons alone, but on the street in broad daylight or in homes surrounded by family members and neighbors. In hospitals, young males between the ages of 15 and 45 are dragged out of the emergency room or even the operating room and shot in the streets, regardless of how their injuries may have been incurred. In Baghdad hospital, only two of the sixteen elevators work, making emergency transfer from the ER to the operating theaters dangerously slow. After an attack, ambulances are not allowed to leave the hospital grounds to attend the wounded. This is the face of America that the average Iraqi sees, Americans who shoot pregnant women and children. This is where all the hate comes from.
We have all received e-mails from American troops in Iraq who are trying to show a different face of America. These young soldiers distribute school supplies to children and other items that are in short supply. Many of them take even greater than usual risks to help the NGO workers distribute humanitarian aid. The Iraqis with whom we met said they could not do their work without these American soldiers, who take them into areas that are forbidden, because they want to help the innocent civilians who are the victims of the bombings. These are the soldiers we would hope represent the moral character of our men and women in uniform. These are the troops we support, who can make moral judgments in the midst of chaos. In the beginning of the occupation, Iraqis saw these Americans as liberators, but as goods and services became non-existent, attitudes began to change. With the increased level of violence, the attitude has become one of intense hatred, despite the efforts of these extraordinary soldiers.
In Falluja alone, six thousand civilians were killed in one week. We saw pictures of bodies, burned beyond recognition, whose limbs have been eaten by dogs because anyone trying to retrieve them is shot. We saw pictures of bodies discolored by chemical weapons of unknown origin. Bodies show signs of napalm and are radio active. Unfortunately, most pictures taken by Iraqi journalists have been confiscated by the military, who routinely imprison journalists not imbedded with the troops. Their homes are searched, their cameras and film are destroyed. Those photos we saw were smuggled out and can be seen on various websites. They are very graphic and not for the feint of heart. The food and water in Falluja is contaminated because the weapons used are not conventional. Returning residents have been warned not to eat or drink anything that was left behind. But there is nothing else and the doctors are expecting cancer rates to rise significantly.
Western journalists usually stay in their hotels and get information about what is happening from Iraqis who manage to slip in and out of the compound daily. They must constantly change cars and routes, leaving at different times of day. Gasoline now costs one dollar a liter and they must wait on line for up to 48 hours to get it. This includes gasoline for the generators. Electricity is on usually between two to eight hours a day. The mainstream media is NOT reporting this.
One of the Iraqis told us about a Human Rights meeting that was held over a year ago where his brother gave a speech. American troops broke up the meeting and randomly shot nine people. Two were pushed up against a wall and shot. The leader of the meeting was beaten before all the participants at the meeting and imprisoned. They broke his nose and his hands. This man’s brother is still in prison, has not been charged with a crime and the family was told that his legs are now paralyzed.
We heard these stories until we were on atrocity overload. At dinner one evening, I asked the Iraqi doctors what they do to decompress, how they relax, what they do for fun. I asked if they went out to the movies, were there theaters or concert halls. They told me there is no such thing in Iraq, and because of the curfew, they cannot go out at night to visit friends. But on evenings when there is electricity, they watch television. And what, I asked, do they watch? Seinfeld! They love Seinfeld. I was amazed that they would understand the humor and asked, “What does it mean – Get outta here?”. After giving it some thought, one of the doctors replied,”It means – that is so unbelievable, it cannot be true”.
So there we were, Americans and Iraqis, our countries at war, sharing a common humanity and a common sense of humor. In Iraqi homes in the late night hours, they sit in front of their TV sets watching Seinfeld. While in all probability, American troops sit in their recreation tents watching Seinfeld. And when the sun rises, they start killing each other.
GET OUTTA HERE!
