Bells Toll in Opposition to the War in Iraq

Chicago, Illinois - On April 5, four anti-war activists were arrested at Senator Richard Durbin’s office in Chicago for their opposition to the war. The Senate Appropriations Committee is to consider a spending bill on April 6 to provide nearly $80 billion more to fund the war in Iraq. They sought a pledge from Senator Durbin to vote against the bill.

Senate Appropriations Committee to “Mark Up” Funding Bill on April 6

On April 6 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the Senate Appropriations Committee will meet to “mark-up” the Emergency Supplemental Spending Bill which would provide upwards of $80 billion in additional funds for the U.S. war in Iraq. Contact members of the Committee as well as your own Senators to tell them to vote “No”.

Click here to contact members of the Appropriations Committee. Click here to contact your own Senators. Click here for a complete list of members of the Senate Appropriations Committee with their Washington, DC office phone numbers.

Following is a model letter which you could send to your Senator or from which you might derive talking points to include in your own letter.

We urge you to vote against the proposed Supplemental Spending Bill which is pending before the U.S. Senate. We urge you to publicly state your oppostion to this bill, both verbally and in writing. Now is the time to begin to end the U.S. war against and occupation of Iraq.

Our country has waged economic and military warfare against the people of Iraq for the past 15 years. It is time for this war to end. It is time to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq; to cancel the “odious debt” incurred by Saddam Hussein; to pay reparations to Iraqis injured by the U.S. war against Iraqi people; and to fully fund the reconstruction of Iraq as Iraqis exercise self-determination and rebuild their country in a manner which benefits the ordinary Iraqi and not the interests of the U.S., the World Bank, the IMF or other international forces.

By Cliff Kindy
Christian Peacemaker Teams

Recently world media carried the story about the U.S. shooting of an Italian kidnap victim and her security guard. At the same time, a Bulgarian soldier died as U.S. forces opened fire from a checkpoint. These stories made the news, but the regular incidents of Iraqis injured in similar circumstances often remain unpublicized.

An Iraqi friend asked me to visit his cousin. Lafta Rahim, 39, who has four children, was at home in his bed. Immediately his smile drew me as we met. Then I noticed contraptions on his body. His upper left arm had an 8-inch rod parallel to the bone, attached with six pins and two clamps. His lower right leg had a similar rod, this one with five pins and five clamps. Bullets had shattered both bones.

Lafta told his story.