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March 29 2012 You can easily help prevent destruction in Iraq and Turkey

We've done a lot to destroy much of Iraq. YOU CAN HELP PREVENT FURTHER DESTRUCTION OF THE SOUTHERN MARSHES. A proposed dam on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia will have a devastating effect on parts of Turkey and Iraq. Particularly, the unique antique town Hasankeyf, with a past of at least 10,000 year of continuous settlement, in the mainly Kurdish populated Southeast of Turkey and  Marshlands in South of Iraq, the largest wetlands of the Middle East cultivated by Millions of “Marsh Arabs“, are threatened by the Ilisu Dam. It is one of the most controversial dams in the world.
[IRAQ CIVIL SOCIETY]  HAS THE FULL STORY.

Sign the petition at: UNESCO

The marshes, ordered destroyed by Sadaam, [in an attempt to drive out Shi'a opposition groups in southern Iraq] were a  part of a traditional culture that depended upon them for their livelihood. Rich in fish and fowl, they were referred to as the original Garden of Eden.

For some time, there have been efforts to develop plans to restore the Mesopotamian marshes and return the Ma'dan people to their ancestral homes. There are now two major projects to restore the Marshes. The first to start working was AMAR (Assisting Marsh Arabs and Refugees), which is helping the Ma'dan people to survive in the refugee camps in Iran, and has also done a considerable amount of research on the ecology and hydrology of the Marshes from the scientific literature. The second project, Eden Again, is a more recently initiated program sponsored by the Iraq Foundation and the U.S. Department of State to develop a viable plan to restore the Marshes. The Eden Again Project, led by project directors Dr. Azzam and Dr. Suzanne Alwash, and project manager Michelle Stevens, is developing a hydrological model to determine how much water will be needed to restore the marshlands, how to reintroduce the ecologically important springtime flood pulse, and how best to wash out accumulated salts and pollutants. Project members are also examining remote sensing data from satellite photos to define habitat types within the marshlands, and are compiling a list of focal plant and animal species that can serve as biological indicators of successful habitat restoration. Eden Again is also working with representatives of the Ma'dan people to find out what they need in order for them to eventually return to their homes in the Marshes. According to Dr. Stevens, the two projects, AMAR and Eden Again, have been working together to come up with a comprehensive plan to restore the Marshes. Whereas AMAR tends to emphasize human needs more strongly, Eden Again is more focused on restoring the environment of the Marshes. There is, however, considerable overlap between the efforts of the two projects, which gives both the potential to devise a truly comprehensive program to restore the Mesopotamian marshlands to their former splendor. [Iowa State University] http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mariposa/marshes.htm

Feb 24 2012 Two conversations: Syrian Slaughter, Iraqi Bombings, and Iran

We stand in the cold drizzle and talk of Syria. The Lieutenant, a disabled Vietnam vet, is wearing his khakis, smoking his cigarette, and talking loudly of the cruelty of the Syrian government. I listen.

"They are killing women and children. The bastards. They're bastards, you know. These people should be hung. They don't even let the Red Cross in. No food. Nothing," he rants. He goes on for quite a while before I find a place to break in with some quiet assent, a word for the future, and a damp goodbye.

I don't have the heart to bring up Fallujah. Every day the Syrian slaughter reminds me of Fallujah, especially the assault on Homs. Fallujah has become a symbol to me of the utter illogical cruelty of our invasion and occupation of Iraq;  where we crushed the innocent civilians with every bit as much gusto as the Syrian government has mustered now.

---

Later I'm on the phone to Baghdad, and the news is not good.

"The neighborhood is closed since yesterday. We cannot go anywhere. The older children cannot go to college. We are trapped. Again. There is no hope."

"But there is hope in the future...the  young ones who are coming out of college," is my reply. It is also my hope.

He tells me, "This is a dead hope. I have been in Syria for 4 years before I come back now. Baghdad is not Baghdad. It is Iran. Even the cars that blew up yesterday are Iranian taxis. Everything is Iran here. Do you think these children can change that?"

"Do you know," he continues, "the government paid 60 million for their cars? 60 million American. Now they ride in safety in their armoured cars. They don't care for the people. Only themselves and all they can steal. This is Baghdad now."

The conversation shifts to the children and how they are coping with the madness around them. Little K has taken to biting. Each time he is upset, each time he hears a loud noise, each time he is angry he bites. Usually his mom, but anyone around is in danger. They don't know what to do about it, how to handle it, how to punish, reward, prevent...

The line is cut and I am in the rain again, or maybe it's tears.

Feb 22 2012 Condolences and Prayers: Does Homs Remind You of Fallujah?

RIP Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik. We publicize the names of brave journalists killed in Syria. Let's not forget the many, many innocent civilians being murdered in the midst of the violence.

We remember when we were told that Fallujah had been evacuated before the shelling. We remember the students who arrived in Baghdad to tell the tales of the many who were left behind, unable to leave. Sure, the rich, those with transportation, those who fled on foot did escape the bombs. But what of the families too poor, too traumatized, too paralyzed to leave?

Hundreds for sure, perhaps thousands, died in Fallujah. The death toll in Homs is already over 400 [France News International], and the killing hasn't stopped.

Can you tell which is Homs; which is Fallujah?

 

Innocent civilians, as always, are paying the highest price in this latest violence in Syria. Does it matter who does the killing? The Syrian government? American troops? Violent resistors of tyranny? It's all the same to the daughter who loses her dad or the mother who loses her precious son.

We offer our condolences and prayers to the families of the lost innocents.

Feb 14 2012 Syria: The shame and the blame

It's Valentine's Day. This wonderfully commercialized holiday is RED. Red covers everything: boxes of chocolate and jewelry, Hallmark cards, and bouquets of roses.

The streets of Syria are red, too, but there are no flowers. Over 7,000 have died so far and there is no end in site. Indiscriminate bombing of Homs and other civilian centers intensifies; fighting dances around the edges of Damascus; arms and fighters flow in and the rich and/or lucky flow out.

The blame of it: It depends upon which media you read. It depends upon which pundit you revere. It depends upon which house you were born into.

We already hear the echoes of Iraqi voices in such statements as, "Yes, it was bad before, but I could go to the store and not fear for my life," and "Sure, we hated him, but it is NATO we really hate now."

I don't have any answers. Syria is internally split and the opposition is also internally split. They have no leader and the various anti-government forces are creating their own militias. Rumors of Al Qaeda, Iranian influence are increasing. The old "Syria-to-Iraq" path of arms and fighters has evidently been reversed.

The shame of it all is bigger than Syria. It is the shame of a human race that thinks it cannot resist the tyrannies of power that are so willing to use violence to keep themselves on top. Truth be told, the peace activist (just the activists, mind you, not the vast majority of peace-loving people) outnumber the leaders and operators of The Machine by at least a million to one.

The Machine depends upon our cooperation. Our taxes pay for the bombs. Our bodies are the soldiers. Our munitions manufacturers (and those that work for the military industrial complex; not just the owners) are critical to the oppression of freedom loving peoples.

The peace activists, if working together, could, in the manner of Gandhi and King, refuse to participate in large enough numbers so that we could halt The Machine.

The shame of it: We are as splintered as the militias of Iraq were; as the militias of Syria are; as [insert clever metaphor here]...

Happy Valentine's Day.

Nov 28 2011 Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative-a defense against Western domination.

As a measure of the growing maturity of the Iraqis who are engaged in the non-violentm Iraqi-led transformation of Iraq we note the presence of an Iraqi delegation at the South Asian Social Forum. No longer are progressive Iraqis thinking of themselves as isolated and powerless. Their resistance to the domination of of Iraq by corporations and capital is laudable.

Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع

A message to all members of Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع

28th November 2011 Press Release by the Iraqi delegation at the South Asian Social Forum Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24th November 2011 An Iraqi delegation composed by eight members of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (www.iraqicivilsociety.org) took part in the South Asian Social Forum (Dhaka, 18-22 November 2011, www.wsfsouthasiabd.org) meeting local representatives of social movements, unions, professional organizations and political parties of Bangladesh. South-South coordination proved to be fundamental to break the isolation of Iraqi civil society. On November 23rd in Dhaka a meeting was held between the Iraqi delegation and seven local political parties and union members, aimed at creating direct links with Iraqi social movements, not mediated by Iraqi governmental forces.  Activists from Brazil, Belgium, Germany, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, India, Italy, France, Pakistan, Canada, and Turkey’s Kurdistan participated in the meeting as well. Iraqis spoke about the need of creating direct links with the people of South Asia and its social movements. Due to Iraq's isolation for decades form its geographical surroundings and from the world social movements, political life has been controlled by parties and Iraqi communities didn't have opportunities to discuss about regional and global issues. The Iraqi delegation stressed that such an absence from the global civil society must end: Iraqi social movements, unions and NGOs must take initiative to join international struggles for freedom and social justice. Participants in the meeting stressed on the urgency to re-establish an Iraqi cultural and political role in the region and the world, wishing the complete withdrawal of US troops. Turning the page of war and occupation is essential to develop a new scenario where social and civic action re-builds on new bases what was destroyed by war. The Iraqi delegation finally took part in the International Council of the World Social Forum, where the plan to organize in 2012 the Maghreb-Mashreq Social Forum (Tunis) and in 2013 an Iraqi Social Forum (Baghdad) was discussed and approved. The second will be an open space for independent movements and networks operating in Iraq, with a clear position against the project of New-Liberalism that western powers tried to implement through the war, which aims at full transition to the market economy and domination of Iraq by corporations and capital. Iraqi people hold human rights, national sovereignty and social justice higher than economic profit, and will resists foreign grab of their resources. The Iraqi group was composed by representatives of the Engineering Professional Union (Electricity section), Al Masalla Organization for Human Resources Development, Iraqi Women Network, Tamouz Organization for Social Development, Information Centre for Research and Development, Basrah Civil Forum, Iraqi Centre for Research and Studies, in addition to the Italian NGO Un ponte per... (www.unponteper.it) who facilitated coordination through the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative. Active support of the network Alternatives International (www.alterinter.org) and financial help by Karibu عربي

Visit Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع at: http://icssi08.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Nov 1 2011 Ground Zero: A Monument to Violence?

Ground Zero: A Monument to Violence?
Nov 1, 2011 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

It is with great anger and sadness that I write this piece about the monument ‘they’ are planning to site at Ground Zero.  It will carry the Green Beret motto and depict a lone U.S. commando on horseback in the Afghan mountains; a monument to violence at the very spot at which so many victims of violence were murdered. 

My anger is directed both at the group of cowardly members of Wall Street banking firms (they ask to remain anonymous) who have privately financed this monument to violence,  and to the bureaucrats  that are allowing this to go forward. Where was the public hearing?  Where was the sensitivity? 

In a particularly callous statement one of the private backers was quoted by CNN as saying, “We wanted to do [this]…because every day since 9/11, we've had to look at that hole in the ground." A statement seemingly cold to the fact that for so many Ground Zero is much more than a ‘hole in the ground.’ 

My sadness stems from the lack of compassion inherent in this proposal. We have just witnessed 10 years of useless loss and devastation as a result of our invasion and occupation of Iraq and the ongoing operations in Afghanistan. The American lives lost are countable, as are the wounded soldiers who gave so much for so little. The ‘collateral damage’ (as the military likes to refer to innocent civilians killed or wounded in or as a result of war) was enormous. Millions of displaced persons, hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, and countless wounded and traumatized victims follow in the wake of the wars. 

And this speaks nothing of the tax dollars that went from the American people into the pockets of those who profit handsomely from military actions. Don’t forget: the US10 billion dollars a month we spent (for ten years) in Iraq, did not just vanish into the air. And now we are spending that much on both Iraq and Afghanistan.   

My hope is that we can stop the statue from ever sitting at Ground Zero, and let our government, and those heartless bankers know we need monuments to peaceful solutions, not to violent profit taking.

Oct 25 2011 Phyllis Bennis Speaks, Brooklyn for Peace Listens, will you?

It was a stunning display of Phyllis Bennis'  intimate knowledge of Middle East machinations, aspirations, and failed American efforts to get it right. A darn good performance, considering that she'd already spoken at two events earlier in the day. 

I felt at home in the  audience, organized by Brooklyn for Peace, as a grey-haired, over 60, liberal activist. I suspect there were more than a couple of old-line socialists in the crowd...a few lefty, commie, pinko keepers of the flame. About 50 of us sat in front room of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, across from Prospect Park. 

She focused mainly on how past US Middle East policy (create stability by support for dictators, control the oil and water, unflinching support for Israel) is now empty since 'the people' have thrown the dictators out, or are in the process of doing so. She did not describe a detailed US policy going forward, but concentrated instead on the importance of US civil society keeping the pressure on politicians to steer away from the 'problem, therefore use force'  mentality.

She did, however prescribe a broad conceptualization of future policy that would help guide the world to more peaceful tomorrows: end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and stop the military support of Israel which come to some US$3 billion/year. She called for US civil society to demand, and US government to admit,  the discourse has changed. We must move from the militaristic, simplistic "support the dictators at all cost" mode of thinking. It just doesn't work.

Some point that caught my attention:

• Although Obama takes credit for pulling the troops ouf of Iraq the American civil society movement had more to do with it, and the Iraqi people are the most responsible. Maliki found almost no internal support for keeping troops there, although he would dearly love the occupation, and it's tacit support for his regime, to stay... "after all, Gaddafi was our guy."

• Obama's "we stand with the fruit sellers" is a painful distortion, given that we supported/continue to support so many dictators in the Middle East; those same powers that led to the self-immolation of a fruit seller in his misery of oppression.

• Even if we remove all Department of Defense troops from Iraq by the end of the year, as the SOFA demands, the State Department has already signed contracts that will put 5-10,000 mercenaries on the ground, not under DoD control. Many contracts are right now being moved from Dod to the State Department to avoid counting the troops uner the SOFA agreement.

• Afghanistan is now holding about a quarter of a million occupation forces: 100 thousand US military, 100,000 US mercenaries, and the rest from NATO countries.

One of my favorite moments was her acknowledgement (I love people who validate my own ideas) that U.S. media, in fact most Western media outlets ignore the facts of peace movements in the Middle East. Palestinians have been peacefully active for at least 10 years. Their Palestine Spring had no positive media attention. The first intifada was, in fact, a peace movement. There are many Budrus-like activities that take place in Palestine each and every day.

[Iraq has a fast-growing civil society that embraces non-violence. All the Arab and non-Arab nations of the Middle East have withing them non-violent movements that are pressuring their governments to transform into more democratic regimes, even Saudi Arabia! b]

Now what? The moral equations have failed to move the American public to pressure the US government to alter policy. Dead children, collateral damage, the destruction of Iraq, ... none of this has led to widespread moral outrage. What is moving people today? It's the economy.

Civil society in America must hammer home the relationship between the costs of war and the failure of the US economy to recover quickly. The US$10 billion/month that feeds the war machine could go a long way to helping create jobs, increase technical education, decrease class-size (by hiring more teachers), and repair our failing infrastructure (creating more jobs in the process). The list is longer, but the aim is clear. Make the economic facts known.

In the Q/A session that followed her talk she was asked if she was worried about the Islamists taking over the Egyptian government. Her response was a succinct, "I am not afraid of the Islamists. I am concerned that the people of Egypt  get what they want." We may not like their chosen path, but if it is democratically chosen then let us support it, deal with it, and move forward.

Bennis closed by saying, "US civil society has to speak up, and keep speaking. I know it is frustrating...but the discourse must change. You can't give up. Let them know, "We are not going away."

 

 

 

Oct 12 2011 Iraq, the ICSSI and more peaceful tomorrows

Oh, sure. He laughed at me and made a few jokes about me to my newly met colleagues. But how was I to know the cops don't even carry guns here? Erbil,like most of Iraqi Kurdistan, is peaceful. I did see a couple of the police officers with sidearms but that's about it. The only soldiers I saw were at the entrances to the many, many ministries and at Erbil International Airport. I'm thinking there's probably a Ministry of Ministries.

My emails to Ali, in Samawah, certainly contained more than a hint of my nervousness about my first trip to Iraq. The first hours of deciding were filled with mental videos of me; in a cross-fire (but not wounded); near to an exploding car (but far enough away to not be injured); and, of course, me as a kidnapping victim. I'd heard that Erbil was safe and the few I knew how had been there told me not to worry. Ali promised to meet me at the airport. So I worried anyway, and decided to go.

 Baghdad 2005 and Mosul 2011 were on my mind. What the hell happened to Mosul anyway. This past year has been a horrendous slide. Hanna'a tells me of her folks not letting her go out of the house except for school, or maybe shopping, but never alone. Long boring hours listening to the same music over and over, cleaning the already clean house, and staring at the walls. Tears threaten to run from her eyes as she drops back into the details of her uncle's kidnapping, still fresh after only 10 days. There were desperate calls from him as other prisoners of this gang were shot and killed, had hands amputated, had heads cut off as he was forced to watch. "We sold everything. All the family sold. They let him go, but his is ruined," she sobbed...

where was I? Oh, yeah,

I'd been invited to take part in the 2nd ICSSI conference in Erbil, Iraq. Some 150 Iraqis activists, and peace and social workers, along with about 100 'internationals' of various organizations (from huge, like the UN, to tiny like 121Contact) attended. We were there to assist the Iraqi NGOs as they planned campaigns for the coming year.

The sessions of large and small groups ran incredibly smoothly and you could hardly feel the Kurdistan/Iraq tension. The Iraq/USA tension was another matter. We were only three Americans at the conference and a couple of times the anti-USA anger came out sideways at us. But we can take it, and the difference between the US government and its people, and the American peace workers was quickly pointed out by our Iraqi defenders.

Don't get me wrong. The Iraqi/Kurdish divide exists, and there are some private comments attested to this; some more agitated than others. 

"Look," a man from the southern city of Basra said, "When you land in Erbil there's no Arabic. Only Kurdish and English. Look, here on every Iraqi passport...look! Arabic, English, and Kurdish." His voice keeps rising as he nearly shouts, "Why should I carry Kurdish with me everywhere?" I'm glad we're down the road, out of earshot.

Security was tight at the conference, but not so tight that someone wasn't able to walk off with my Nikon. Yes, I left it alone on a ledge as we all rushed in from our tea break to watch a marvelous performance by young Iraqi actors. They were great. I couldn't understand more than a stray word, here and there, but I got it! Or so the producers told me as I recapped the themes. I hope they weren't just being polite.

On the other side I met a few Iraqi Kurds who once were happy to accept the intellectual capital fleeing from the South but are now resentful of the competition in jobs,housing, and attention. In my narrow focus I said to greg, "They'll have to deal with this." He answered, "Maybe not." And then recited a list of "peaceful separatism regions" where mild anti-other-snobbishness takes the place of bullets and bombs...Catalonia, Extreme Northern Italy, Sardinia, Quebec, ...

I learned a lot this trip. I watched experienced hands in Global civil Society movements, some part of the WSF, gently (sometimes not so gently) nudge the leaders of Iraq's NGOs to take charge of their own projects, recognize that they are part of a struggle larger than Iraq, and work together on common causes even though they don't agree on everything.

If I wasn't so tired I'd say more about the Iraqi youth at the conference. They are a movement unto themselves. Facebook and twittered and music'd into a world their folks don't have a clue about. They've opened channels among young Iraqis in all parts of Iraq.

"OK. OK," Mohammed said to the UN guy. "We don't need more of your surveys and your statistics. If you want to know the problems facing Iraqi youth just ask me. Let us have some input into what is decided. You can spend some of your money helping instead of collecting more informations." These young people who are activists hold onto hope. They see change that others are unaware of. They have crossed divides of political violence, and they intend to continue to build the new Iraq in a non-violent way.

Iraq may not get there tomorrow. There will be serious setbacks, but lookout! They will get there. Inshallah.

 

 

 

Sept 11, 2011

9/11 is not about how many died. It is about _each_ one who died. There is true mourning within the media spectacle of 9/11 and we must remember without comparing,  the mourning in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel...so many places, so many lives...how long will it take to learn? But we will evolve, and we will know more peaceful tomorrows. Inshallah.

Aug 27 2011 Those Illiterate Women of Iraq

The United Nations defines an illiterate person as “someone who cannot, with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement on his or her everyday life. One out of four Iraqi women are illiterate! The figure is lower for men, at about 11%. That leaves about 6 million Iraqis unable to express themselves in writing or read about the world around them.

This, after Iraq led the region in literacy for many years. In 1982 Iraq was awarded The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) prize for eradicating illiteracy. What happened?

Well, the 1980's sanctions took a big bite. Educational materials were on the list and everything from pencils, books, and computers were kept away from schools.The invasion and occupation that followed brought the final blows to the destruction of Iraq's educational system.

Following that was the US led invasion and occupation which resulted in the physical destruction of many schools by bombs, rockets, fires, looting, and wanton vandalism by US forces (among others).  When a school is bombed not only lives are lost. There is also a conviciton on the part of many parents that sending their children to school is not a safe option.

Then came the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) rulings that resulted in a) all Ba'athists being removed from thier government jobs. Almost all teachers were registered Ba'athists; an unstated requirement for employment, b) Salaries for teachers plummeted to about US$2/day forcing many to leave for other jobs or other countries, and c) a mass exodus of educators fueled by perceptions of dire futures and not to be under emphasized assassinations of educators. Many schools closed or became educationally ineffective child care centers.

In the last few years a great many students have left school to help their families earn money.

Althought the educational system is repairing itself, it is a painfully slow process. There is so much serious need in so many critical areas that Education is not high on the list of funding.

Is the United States reponsible for this mess? Sure, if you take the position "my country, my government, my war." Not, if you believe that Iraq should care for itself and "it's not our business to interfere." We find the latter view ludicrous in the face of what the US unleashed in Iraq.

So what can we do, as a nation, to help repair what we have broken?

Direct funding aid to Iraq's educational systems will go a long way to restoring Iraq to its former position as the intellectual and educational capital of the Arab world.

You can contact your representatives to ask that we, as a nation, begin to repair what we helped destroy. We can remove the troops, reduce expenses, and replace the expenditures with real aid to real people in real need.

 August 27, 2011, by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

References: IndexMundi,   CIA.gov,  IraqSolidaridad , WorldBank