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U.S. Activists on Peace Mission in Iraq
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U.S.
Activists on Peace Mission in Iraq
Sanctions-busting American group believes in `giving blood, not
spilling it'
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by
Olivia Ward
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BAGHDAD — As the U.S. Congress prepares to vote on backing a possible war against
Iraq, a handful of resolute Americans are doing battle here on their own front.
Today, a small band of volunteers from the Chicago-based anti-sanctions group
Voices in the Wilderness
will gather outside the U.S. Interests section of the Polish embassy — the only
diplomatic office Washington has in Baghdad — to donate blood at a mobile blood
bank.
"We believe in giving blood, not spilling it," says Detroit-born activist Ramzi
Kysia. "I refuse to allow my government to use my tax dollars for a war, and commit
violence in my name. I'm here because I can't do anything to help by sitting home
yelling at my television set."
An Iraqi woman walks near by American anti-War activists with Voices in the Wilderness,
a Chicago-based group that campaigns against U.N. sanctions who distribute between
US$20,000-$30,000 worth of medicines at al-Mansour hospital in Baghdad, Tuesday,
Sept. 24, 2002. from right to left, Ramzi Kysia, Dr. Loai Al-Mansour hospital
director, Henry Williamson, Nathan Mauger and Bill Quigley. ( AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
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Kysia, the spokesperson for the group's mission in Iraq, tagged the Iraq Peace
Team, says they plan to keep 30 Americans here "indefinitely," and the numbers
will swell to 100, regardless of an imminent war.
The donated blood will go to local hospitals and clinics, highlighting the plight
of the impoverished Iraqi medical services.
The latest action follows in the tradition of Voices in the Wilderness, which
began in 1996 after its anti-nuclear activist founder, Kathy Kelly, was shocked
by the effect of sanctions on Iraqi children. Since then, the group has brought
45 delegations to the isolated country.
It has won support in other Western countries for its sanctions-busting activities,
carrying medical supplies, journals and children's toys into Iraq without U.N.-approved
export licenses.
Sanctions were imposed on Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in the summer
of 1990. They ban all imports to Iraq except for medicines and supplies identified
as "essential civilian needs." However, even with approval the passage of medicines
is slow, and many necessary items such as medical and sanitary equipment, electrical
supplies and textbooks are barred.
Humanitarian organizations say the result has been catastrophic, especially for
children.
Hospitals lack drugs, X-ray machines and basic equipment such as dialysis machines
for kidney diseases.
Water is unsafe for drinking, causing fatal diarrhea in babies.
Cancer patients die for lack of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Dennis Halliday, former U.N. Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq, resigned in protest
in 1998 after declaring that "4,000 to 5,000 children are dying each month due
to the impact of sanctions."
Voices in the Wilderness has attempted to fight the sanctions with its small but
well-publicized aid deliveries, aimed at raising international consciousness about
the plight of Iraqi civilians.
But the campaign has been a risky business for the group.
In the U.S., Voices has been threatened with a $163,000 penalty, and advocates
in Britain with prosecution. Maximum American penalties for evading sanctions
are 12 years in jail and a $1 million (U.S.) fine.
Now, the group also faces anger from pro-war Americans, who have accused them
of being tools of the Iraqi president.
"We're used to the accusations by now," says Kysia, 34, a stocky, bearded man
who converted to Islam in solidarity with ordinary Muslims after the Sept. 11
bombings sparked a backlash against the religion in the United States.
"Either they say we're naïve, and being used by the Iraqi regime, or we're called
apologists."
But, says the former grocery store manager and child welfare counselor, "I only
apologize for myself. I believe that Americans should understand the human consequences
of war. That's what I'm working for."
In a televised speech Monday, President George W. Bush told Americans that the
threat posed by Saddam's weapons program is serious and growing. But he said that
he would take "every precaution" to act with the backing of allies before beginning
a war.
In Baghdad, Kysia and his colleagues from Voices in the Wilderness are hoping
that in spite of the drive for a new war, it can still be avoided.
"The World Health Organization and (the U.N. children's fund) UNICEF have come
out strongly against it," he says.
"Sanctions have made the country dependent on aid from the Oil for Food Program.
If a war begins, the program will be disrupted.
"Even a few weeks without those food supplies will bring thousands of people to
the brink of starvation."
The program was authorized by the United Nations Security Council in 1996 after
international protest spread over the plight of Iraq's children — largely due
to the publicity generated by humanitarian organizations like Voices in the Wilderness.
The program, whose first shipments began in January, 1997, allowed the purchase
of humanitarian supplies from limited sales of oil by the Iraqi government, under
the supervision of the U.N.
Since then it has become a staple of life for many Iraqis. They now routinely
use the coupons and supplies to sell and barter with, as well as to provide subsistence
food for their families. Analysts have credited the program with a gradual improvement
in living conditions.
"Bush says he's against weapons of mass destruction," says Kysia.
"But he fails to realize that launching a war against Iraq will take a massive
toll on human life."
The hardening of opinion in the U.S. following the Sept. 11 bombings has made
it easier to convince Americans that they are under threat from Iraq, Kysia admits.
But, he adds, "I don't believe the majority of Americans want a war.
"They may have been shocked and outraged by what happened in their country, but
they also learned a painful lesson.
``They don't want other people to die like that."
Copyright 1996-2002. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
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