As our elected and not elected U.S. officials and the corporations they serve continue to lie, steal, and murder the innocent and the poor with “conventional” war machines and silent economic strangleholds such as sanctions, oncologist Rafil Dhafir is threatened with a maximum sentence of almost 300 years in prison for bringing aid to Iraqis and breaking economic santions. Humanitarian work and aid does not equate to a threat to our national security.

Dr. Dhafir is the only person to be arrested for breaking the sanctions. The U.S. Justice Department’s case against VitW is civil.

Please read about the case in the following article by Madeleine Baran of the New Standard.

Complete information on the case can be found at jubileeinitiative.org

The major media is, once again, asleep at the wheel.
What can we do to help?

Help free Rafil and expose the prejudice of the government’s fight against terrorism. If you traveled to Iraq or gave aid to an organization that defied the sanctions we ask that you join Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness and send a letter to Judge Mordue telling him that you defied the sanctions and were not charged. For more ways to help visit jubileeinitiative.org

Doctor May Get Life for Violating Iraq Sanctions
by Madeleine Baran
The NewStandard
August 19, 2004

In the eighteen months since central New York oncologist Rafil Dhafir was arrested and charged with violating the U.S. embargo against Iraq, he has been sitting in a Syracuse jail, ignored by most of the national media, as prosecutors continue to add charges threatening him with a maximum sentence of almost 300 years in prison.

Once more, US forces are embattled with Muqtada Al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army. The U.S. and Multinational Forces in Iraq (MNF-I) appear to be winning this round, but in doing so, may lose the trust and loyalty of the Iraqi people and Muslims around the world.

Though many Iraqis already see the Interim Government as little more than a US front and extension of the occupation, they feel the need to give it a chance. Do they betray their people and support the siege of the Shia holy shrine in Najaf and the killing of their fellow Iraqis? Or do they refuse to cooperate and risk being left out of shaping the new Iraq? Some government officials have resigned in protest. Many Iraqi police and soldiers in the MNF-I have left their posts and refused to fight.