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An Open Letter to Save Tareq Aziz
An Open Letter: His Holiness Pope Benedict xvi, His Grace The Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace the Archbishop of Westminster, The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon., David Cameron, The Deputy Prime Minister, The Rt., Hon., Nick Clegg, The Foreign Secretary, The Rt. Hon., William Hague.
To: benedictxvi@vatican.va; enquiries@rcdow.org.uk; contact@lambethpalace.org.uk; ainagcorrespondence@fco.gov.uk; camerond@parliament.uk; cleggn@parliament.uk;haguew@parliament.uk
Your Holiness, Your Graces, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary,
I apologise for this multiple sending, but time is of the essence. So much blood has been spilt in the illegal invasion of Iraq, that it is hard to comprehend, with the upper figure of deaths, since 2003 being estimated at 1.4 million. Nearly five million souls (4.7) are displaced, internally and externally, according to UNHCR, a million widows and five millions orphans have been created, according United Nations Agencies.
Now, after the sickening lynching of the country's legitimate President, and close colleagues, a country whose: "sovereignty and territorial integrity", was guaranteed by the U.N., his Deputy, Tareq Aziz, a Chaldean Christian, is to be executed, it has been announced today. This on top of the invasions's blood letting, on a Biblical scale -- and in the light of the appalling revelations of "liberation's" realities, in last days, by Wikileaks.
Wikileaks, of course also revealed the terrorism rained on the people of Iraq by the imposed "Vichy" government's forces, "mentored" by U.S., and U.K., troops.
The charge against Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, is religious discrimination. Ironically, half a million Iraqi Christians have fled due to persecution since the invasion. Uncounted numbers have been murdered. They had lived side by side with the majority Muslim population, since, seemingly 33 AD., when it is believed, St Thomas founded Christianity in Mesopotamia.
The charge relates to an assassination attempt on Aziz and Saddam Hussein, in Dujail, Iraq, by affiliates of the Iranian backed Dawa party, in 1982. The same Dawa Party to which Nuri al Maliki adheres. (I have not put "Prime Minister", since he no longer is, in rudderless Iraq.) The retribution in Dujail was certainly woeful, but it was a decision made by the President. In context, it pales, however, against the massacre meted out to the population of Fallujah, in 2004 by America's forces, in retribution for the murder of four mercenaries, and reaction against U.S., troops, who had been killing men, women and children unaccountably since the invasion.
The blood-shed in Iraq is on the hands of all the citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom. We live with it wherever we travel, with the shame and disgrace of our governments' actions. Further, there was no Presidential immunity for Iraq's illegally overthrown government, a usual legal norm, yet the occupying forces could have halted their murders. As the dominant, remaining occupying force, America is now responsible for every human rights violation.
Mr Aziz was part of a government that far from religiously discriminating, gave annually, proportionately, equally, to all religions for upkeep of their places of worship and related offices. Punishments were meted out not on basis of religion, but for crimes committed. Harsh they indisputedly were, but it is shaming to reflect that they pale in comparison to that which has occurred, and continues to occur, under the occupying powers from the day of the invasion.
Tareq Aziz gave himself up the United States authories, in good faith. That faith was ill-founded and abused. He is an elderly man and was in poor health long before the invasion. His days are, anyway, surely numbered. I beg you to take at least this chance to save just one life. Mr Aziz is a nationalist, as all his government, they could have fled. They chose to stay in Iraq, because they are Iraqis through and through -- unlike the current government, with their foreign loyalties and passports, largely.
Tareq Aziz went to the Vatican, prior to the invasion, to see the Head of the Church in which he had put his faith, all his life, to beg intervention to halt the destruction of his people and the land of Ur of the Chaldees, mentioned, of course three times in the Book of Genesis: 11:28, 11:31, 15:7. His plea fell on deaf ears.
Your Holiness, Your Graces, Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, please do not let him down again. Britain and America may never anyway wash the blood from their hands. "To save one, is as if to save the whole of mankind" is a belief common to all faiths.
Please act now. Time is running out. If it does and you have done nothing, in spite of your collective influence and contacts, his body will lie at your feet, throughout your lives. Further, any lack of action, which results in another lynching, will impose that horror on any citizen of conscience, since we are, so we are told, a democracy. I beseech you to act.
Today we were warned of a real danger of a terrorists attack; we have already committed uncountable acts of terrorism -- please do not let us be a party to another, which, with the will, is wholly preventable.
Yours sincerely,
Felicity Arbuthnot
- Posted in
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30 Comments so far
Show AllI'm sorry but why are you writing to these religious leaders? Do they have troops in Iraq or have any say in the governance of ANY country, let alone a Moslem country.
Frankly, I find it a little insensitive to even ask these people to do anything about the situation.
I would rather see people write and call congressional reps and embassies. Getting religious leaders involved is ALWAYS a mistake.
I guess you missed the part where she also mentioned her PM, her deputy PM, and her FS.
Two comments for 'JohnShade':
1) Yesterday the Vatican urged that Iraq halt the Aziz execution (link below).
2) It appears you didn't recognize Ms. Arbuthnot, who's renowned for her writings and humanitarian work during the sanctions decade and since. Her 'curator of Hatra' essay is one of the most evocative of that time. For an overview, see http://www.casi.org.uk/conf99/proceedings.pdf.
Regards,
DrewHamre
"Vatican urges Iraq to halt Aziz execution"
(AP October 26, 2010):
The Vatican has urged Iraq to not carry out the death sentence meted out to former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz and says it may intervene diplomatically to try to halt it.
The 74-year-old Aziz, the only Christian in Saddam Hussein's mainly Sunni inner circle, was sentenced to death by hanging Tuesday for persecuting Shiites.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Tuesday the Vatican hoped that the sentence wouldn't be carried out. He said commuting the sentence would encourage reconciliation and the rebuilding of peace and justice in Iraq.
He said the Vatican usually would pursue any possible humanitarian intervention to halt an execution via diplomatic channels.
[See http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/10/26/international/i103900D95.DTL]
I remember seeing Tariq Aziz give talks and interviews several times before the US invasion. He was erudite, cultured, sensitive and an utterly charming human being. So we should definitely kill him. Team America
plus he's old. American Yokel Supreme has to be clear that we are pro-execution without exceptions for age, race, infirmity, justice etc. Our economy is slow, and we need to kill more people to get it rolling. Wow, Maliki is a real mensch. We are lucky to have lost 6k troops installing him.
The London Independent notes that Britain will not ask for clemency. Aziz knows too much about western complicity with Hussein.
Bingo. That's why he's getting hanged. Aziz was a regular visitor to the US and other Western countries prior to the war. Obviously if our government thought he was a criminal, we could have nabbed him many times over.
The fact that Bush, Cheney, Rumsy, et al still walk free is particularly infuriating in the wake of this news.
can we also throw in Condi, Wolfi, & other assorted neocons? (see PNAC securing the realm)
A good read, Felicity, except this minor factual error:
> They had lived side by side with the majority Muslim population, since, seemingly 33 AD...
The "Muslim population" did not exist until 610 AD, when Muhammad received his first revelation from God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
Well, he was about as legit as they come.
Our little pulp of presidential flesh is responsible for a hell of a lot more death, destruction and mayhem that Saddam ever was. Is he "legit"?
Oilybombers claim of the right of Universal Executive Extrajudicial Execution.
Commonly known as murder.
Saddam was just as legitimate as any other murdeous dictator installed by the USA
Good for you, Felicity Arbuthnot, and thank you. Hector
Indeed. Thank you.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Regardless of what anyone thinks about the war, isn't the world a better place without Saddam? Who will mourn the loss of this "legitimate president" who killed everyone who opposed his rise to power, shot anyone who might be disloyal to him personally, and used poison gas on entire villages who opposed his rule? Who will cry over the tyrant who waged war against Iran for 8 years?
Aziz was convicted in an Iraqi court for "crimes against humanity".
"The court today issued the death sentence on Tareq Aziz and four others for committing crimes against humanity. The charge of elimination of religious parties was classified as crimes against humanity," Judge Mohammed Abdul-Sahib, a spokesman of the Iraqi High Tribunal, told Reuters.
"The nature of the crimes is wilful killing, torture and the enforced disappearance of persons."
If we really believe in freedom and autonomy for Iraq, how can we challenge the verdicts of their courts? While we might argue for a penalty that does not involve the direct death of Aziz, the trial result should not be challenged by outsiders.
I totally understand the mindset of both CD and the posters here. You're right. Anything anti-USA is to be praised, protected, and promoted. Anything that makes USA look good (true or otherwise) must be denounced as evil, profit-driven exploitation of the noble working man!
"...evil, profit-driven exploitation of the noble working man!"
Yeah, that about covers it. :)
Yes, because neocon trolls like you give a flying rat's ass about human rights.
Wow, how liberal of you to care about people's lives, except when you advocate bombing them from your rotting right-wing suburb. Ah, the empathy of the right. Go Join Glenn Beck in a good boohoo. And then go read the Constitution you supposedly defend.
esolesek,
a. I pretty much think bombing folks is usually the wrong thing to do.
b. Don't live in a suburb, right-wing or otherwise.
c. Where I live isn't rotting, we're in pretty good shape.
d. I have a great deal of empathy for the folks in Iraq who really just want to be left alone to live, manage their own lives and businesses, and practice their faith without persecution.
e. Glenn Beck can boo-hoo until his face falls off. I still won't join him.
f. I have read the Constitution. Within the last 3 months. Also the Federalist, the Anti-Federalist, and the debates on ratification from the state legislatures.
g. Why am I wasting my time?
"If we really believe in freedom and autonomy for Iraq, how can we challenge the verdicts of their courts? While we might argue for a penalty that does not involve the direct death of Aziz, the trial result should not be challenged by outsiders."
Quite frankly, your comment is absurd. "Freedom" what KIND of freedom? Washington/American style Capitalist "Freedom"? The kind of "Freedom" that seems to be working so well for us? Is that the one you speak of?
"...the trial result should not be challenged by outsiders."
WTF? Uh, excuse me... haven't we invaded, attacked and laid waste to an entire nation that had done nothing to us? Me thinks we pretty much "challenged" every fucking thing they had going for themselves... from courts, to schools, to electricity & running water, even a decent nights sleep.
Sins of the past do not pave the road to the future. Why don't we start today letting the Iraqis have the freedom of self-determination? We've done what we've done, and can't change that. Starting today, let's try to do better.
"Regardless of what anyone thinks about the war, isn't the world a better place without Saddam? Who will mourn the loss of this "legitimate president" who killed everyone who opposed his rise to power, shot anyone who might be disloyal to him personally, and used poison gas on entire villages who opposed his rule? Who will cry over the tyrant who waged war against Iran for 8 years?"
Yes, and the world will be a better place without Bush, Blair, Obama, etc. So, bombing the US and UK populations to achieve that goal of removing them is justified? That is your argument, that is your logic.
"If we really believe in freedom and autonomy for Iraq, how can we challenge the verdicts of their courts? While we might argue for a penalty that does not involve the direct death of Aziz, the trial result should not be challenged by outsiders."
If you really believe in freedom and autonomy for Iraq, then you should have opposed the invasion. You should oppose the continued presence of foreign soldiers, regardless of whether you call them "private contractors", in Iraq.
And the result can be challenged by outsiders, since the courts, the government was put into power by outsiders.
You are promoting the murder of any leader we dont like who uses murder as a tool? that would leave most of the planet leaderless.
"Regardless of what anyone thinks about the war, isn't the world a better place without Saddam?" I am no supporter of Saddam Hussein. Surely in a just world the world WOULD be "a better place without" him. Unfortunately, the evidence seems to be that Iraq is NOT a "better place without" him -- and there one has perhaps as powerful and succinct an indictment of the US/British war crimes in the Middle East as one can get: Saddam was a monster. The US and Britain deposed him -- and made Iraq the worse for it.
"isn't the world a better place without Saddam?"
The documents recently released by WikiLeaks prove that US and allied forces have killed, maimed, and tortured more people than Hussein ever did.
So what are you saying again?
I see that George W. Bush was not the only US President to turn Iraqi officials over to Lynch mobs.
I hope that Tareq Aziz is not executed, irrespective of his religious affiliation.
There has already been too much bloodshed and killing. As Mahatma Gandhi said, an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind. The death penalty against Aziz will not achieve anything.