Ehab Lotayef
Baghdad

It was late in the evening in Al-Aadamia, just north of downtown Baghdad. There was no electricity, as is usually the case when raids happen. A mother was home with her three daughters, the youngest of whom is twelve. First there was a loud bang (that was the garden door being kicked open), then heavy banging on the house door. The mother screamed, “I’m coming, don’t break it.” But by the time she got to the door she was face to face with the American soldiers who had already smashed the door open.

The house search was quick, while a state of shock took over the four women, who spoke little English. They were then told that they had to go with the soldiers. Where to, and what for, are questions that were never answered. They were barely allowed a few seconds to grab shoes and jackets, but not all of them managed to get what they needed. The mother, for example, ended up leaving without her diabetes and blood pressure medications, which she needs regularly, and one of the girls only had time to grab a pair of sandals she usually wears in the garden.

The US-led reconstruction business in Iraq is faltering because it is less about reconstruction than about business

Summary: Nine months after the invasion, deteriorating living conditions marked by constant lack of electricity, a severe gasoline shortage, and massive unemployment highlight the failure of the US-led reconstruction of Iraq. While insecurity and incompetence are partly to blame, the problems could be more adequately explained by the US and its contractors’ determination to hang on to as big a portion of the post-war bounty as possible.

By Herbert Docena

Anna Bachmann is a resident of Port Townsend, Washington. She is a founding member of the Cedar Island Center for Nonviolence and Peace and has worked in the labor or environmental movement for most of her life. She traveled to Iraq with the Iraq Peace Team from mid-Jan to mid-Feb of 2003 and has returned to Iraq for several months to volunteer with Voices in the Wilderness. She hopes to look at some of the environmental consequences of the War.

The following is from January 2001 and contains some errors due to corporate mergers, and may not be completely up to date. If you know of a more updated list please email us at info at vitw dot org

Number of DU patents / Patent Owners

19 WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP
17 HITACHI LTD
17 US ARMY
14 US ENERGY
14 COMMISSARIAT ENERGIE ATOMIQUE
13 TOKIO SHIBAURA ELECTRIC CO
11 STARMET CORP
9 OLIN CORP
8 FRAMATOME & CIE
7 RHEINMETALL GMBH
7 REMET CORP
6 SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORP
6 ELLIOTT GUY R B
6 JERSEY NUCLEAR AVCO ISOTOPES
6 MARWICK EDWARD F
5 SIEMENS AG
5 FRAMATOME SA
5 SCHNEIDER USA INC
4 WESTERN ATLAS INT INC
4 BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS PLC
4 GEN ELECTRIC
4 NUCLEAR METALS INC
4 PRIMEX TECHNOLOGIES INC
4 UNIV TEXAS
4 US OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED B

• U.S. Army, Yuma Proving Ground
• U.S. Air Force , Eglin AFB
• USAF, Rocket Propulsion Lab, Edwards
• U.S. Army, Sierra Army Depot
• U.S. Army, Seneca Army Depot
• USAF, HQ Aeroscape (Norveich AB, GR)
• USAF, Grissom AFB, Indiana
• U.S. Air Force, Nellis AFB