Americans are typically generous,
resourceful and quick to respond

“… I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states…Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea.”

~ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Our national conscience

The Iraqi refugee crisis is, by all accounts, one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world today.

Americans are typically generous, resourceful and quick to respond to humanitarian needs.  So, when nearly ¾ of Americans state that they feel the war was a mistake, we also know that

    * Americans are united in their remorse for the damages inflicted on innocent civilians.
    * American are united in our willingness to take responsibility
    * America’s national conscience will unite us, in every state, to help repair the damages done in our name.

The US spends $341.4 million dollars per day on the war in Iraq
If we divide that amount equally among all of our 50 states, your state's portion is 6.8 million dollars every day

Iraqis have paid a high price, too. Almost 5 million Iraqis have become displaced - that's about 1 of every 5 Iraqis. If an equal percentage of US citizens were displaced, 60 million of us would be homeless.

Civilian deaths in war is euphemistically called “collateral damage”. Displacement as a result of war can also be considered collateral damage.

Please contact The Collateral Repair Project at www.collateralrepair.org or call 206-781-9559 for information about a fundraising party on July 12 here in Seattle.

VETERAN’S DAY – A POEM

              BLOOD

I was left covered in Blood
Everyone was covered in Blood
Everyone IS covered in Blood


The Blood of WAR never washes off
We are NOW drowning in Blood
Our children are drowning in this Blood as their Mothers
  and their Fathers are dying in combat.
Children of the WORLD are drowning in this Blood as
  their parents are being killed in WAR


The Bloodsuckers thrive on everyone’s Blood
They continue to have life as long as the Blood keeps flowing,


We Must find a way TO STOP THE BLEEDING.
We Must put an end to their supply of Blood
And let it all dry up
And be like a desert

Where the only thing you hear is the Peace in the wind.

By Charlotte, a female Veteran
from the Vietnam War

Side Two of Flyer for October 22

From an On-Line Petition to the United Nations,
Organized by Iraq Solidarity UK

“Young women in Fallujah in Iraq are terrified of having children because of the increasing number of babies born grotesquely deformed, with no heads, two heads, a single eye in their foreheads, scaly bodies or missing limbs. In addition, young children in Fallujah are now experiencing hideous cancers and leukemia.

“These deformities are now well documented. Our direct contact with doctors in Fallujah report that in September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital had 170 new born babies, 24% of whom were dead within the first seven days, a staggering 75% of the dead babies were classified as deformed. This can be compared with data from the month of August in 2002 where there were 530 new born babies of whom six were dead within the first seven days and only one birth defect was reported.”

The reason for these deformities is the U.S. use of weapons containing depleted uranium and white phosphorus in Iraq. The petition continues:

"The use of certain weapons has tremendous repercussions. Iraq will become a country, if it has not already done so, where it is advisable not to have children. Other countries will watch what has happened in Iraq, and imitate the Coalition Allies' total disregard of the United Nations Charter, the Geneva and Hague Conventions, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Some countries, such as Afghanistan, will also come to experience the very long term damage to the environment, measured in billions of years, and the devastating effect of depleted uranium and white phosphorous munitions.”

The petition has a list of requests for the United Nations General Assembly including:

- To acknowledge that there is a serious problem regarding the unprecedented number of birth defects and cancer cases in Iraq, specifically in Fallujah, Basra, Baghdad and Al - Najaf.

- To implement the cleaning up of toxic materials used by the occupying forces including Depleted Uranium, and White Phosphorus.

Please read the complete petition and sign to show your support:
www.petitiononline.com/hdcif/petition.html

Flyer for October 22, 2009

Side One of the Flyer does not change weekly.  You can see it here.

Seattle Women in Black - 8th Anniversary Vigil

Women in Black standing at Westlake have become a silent witness to the many changes in attitude towards wars and destruction all over the world. When we first started standing together in September 2001 we were reviled by some, called Jezebels and agents of Al Qaeda, yelled at and told to go home. Now we are accepted and often thanked. We are not agents of any political party or religion. We stand for justice and an end to human suffering wherever it occurs.

We will continue our silent vigil until the day peace, justice and humanity are restored to the world.

Peace, Salaam, Shalom