Couldn't resist sending some more 'nonsense'.
Devorah
From: "Yigal Arens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Alef" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 5:44 AM
Subject: [Alef] Baghdad Update
> For those curious about what some, um, *real* human shields have to say.
>
> Yigal
>
>
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > Today we received a flood of phone and email updates from our people
> > in Baghdad. On most everybody's mind is the looming siege on Iraq's
> > capitol. What follows is a collection of excerpts from today's >
updates:
> >
> > April Hurley:
> >
> > "I'm at the al Fanar Hotel right now. Baghdad is still being bombed.
> > We were bombed as recently as fifteen minutes ago. It rattled all the
> > windows and shook the walls. It was a series of explosions, but that
> > seems to have passed. I don't know where the bomb hit, but it was not
> > too far from here, apparently."
> >
> > Kathy Kelly:
> >
> > "General Tommy Franks described the bombing as a mosaic and we can
> > understand that. We simply don't know the time of day when bombs are
> > suddenly going to burst overhead. It continues to be horrifying when
> > you think about what's happening to families, particularly now as
> > members of the Iraq Peace Team have started to go to the hospitals and
> > to the sites where family people have been harmed. We were utterly
> > appalled when we heard that the Bush Administration is saying the war
> > is a success because there have only been hundreds of casualties in
> > spite of ... thousands of cruise missiles and bombs.
> >
> > "But we now know of some of these so-called success stories and it can
> > make you wonder what kind of perversity can be possessing the oval
> > office and the defense planners. Some of our team members today, with
> > Dr. April Hurley, encountered a family that was just rushing into a
> > hospital after a bomb hit the picnic lunch they were having in front
> > of their home. At least one child was killed, two others are in
> > uncertain condition.
> >
> > "And at both of the hospitals we visited today, doctors are working
> > around the clock really trying their best to heal people and - if they
> > have minimal injuries - send them on their way so that they can make
> > beds available for the many, many more casualties they expect to come.
> > Particularly as there are reports of more massive bombings and a
> > possible siege of Baghdad.
> >
> > "Meanwhile of course, we are very, very concerned for people of Basra
> > on their third day without electricity and water [ed. note: we are
> > hearing water service has been partially restored in Basra]. They cant
> > survive without water.
> >
> > "The air raid sirens are wailing. This has been a frequent daily and
> > nightly event. We are all sleep-deprived. I continue to marvel at how
> > well people handle themselves - from the youngest of children to the
> > most seasoned of peace activists to the people who are new to war
> > zones. And of course these many, many families that are no strangers
> > to war."
> >
> > Lisa Ndjeru:
> >
> > "We get many phone calls from the media wanting to know casualty
> > numbers and information about places hit. There's a lot of talk about
> > precision. Are the Americans hitting precise targets? Are they keeping
> > casualties to a minimum? It makes me very angry. Even if it were
> > precision bombing, precision being that not a single civilian or home
> > were hit, it still doesn't make this war legitimate.
> >
> > "I don't know how were going to hold the American administration
> > accountable. But it isn't that precise. We've gone to a hospital to
> > see the civilian casualties. We've gone to visit bomb sites. There are
> > civilian homes that are being hit. It makes me angry. I wonder how
> > many people, little girls, little boys, mothers, fathers, grandparents
> > do we need to see either dead or maimed in order to say this is wrong.
> >
> > "I watched TV yesterday and I saw some American casualties, some
> > prisoners of war and some dead, and it breaks my heart to see those
> > young soldiers stripped of their gear and their teams and their
> > armaments and their weapons and their certainties, alone in the enemy
> > camp. It shouldn't come to that."
> >
> > Scott Kerr:
> >
> > "The city has been engulfed in a thick black smoke caused by large
> > ditches of oil fires. These smoke clouds are supposed to make it more
> > difficult for missiles to hit their mark. There were also winds from
> > the south today which brings a heavy dust covering. It seems like
> > twilight everyday.
> >
> > "We have all heard about 'shock and awe' but I can tell you that on
> > the ground it feels a lot more like 'misery and terror'. For the last
> > week people have not been working, there has been a very limited
> > access to food, and other basic necessities. I would say that about 95
> > percent of the city is shut down."
> >
> > Stewart Vriesinga:
> >
> > "Most of the Iraqis we meet seem to remain calm in the face of
> > bombing. They ask us, 'Why?' They ask us after each bomb, 'How many
> > people do you think died in that one?' The question is rhetorical. We
> > know that. We do not respond because there is really nothing to say.
> >
> > "While the Iraqis continue to be friendly, many see the invasion as
> > hostile, and there are many civilians with guns. Perhaps not state of
> > the art guns, and perhaps not with any uniforms, but it seems clear
> > that there are many people here who - in addition to the armed forces
> > - are prepared to defend themselves from any invasion forces."
> >
> > Thorne Anderson:
> >
> > Note: Thorne Anderson and Jerry Zawada left Baghdad for Amman, Jordan
> > yesterday. Having heard reports about everything from bombing to
> > looting on the road connecting the two capitals. We were relieved to
> > receive this update from Amman this afternoon:
> >
> > "The trip from Baghdad was lonely and creepy . We saw burning oil
> > pits, bombed and burned out cars on the side of the road, a couple of
> > downed bridges, a destroyed roadside tea stand (the place we always
> > stop on the trip to Baghdad from Amman), a destroyed ambulance
> > abandoned down the embankment, a few routes hastily blocked with piles
> > of rocks, etc.
> >
> > "The Iraqi border crossing was surprisingly painless - Jerry and I had
> > separate 'conversations' ('This is not an interview or an
> > interrogation,' the man told me) with a Jordanian official on the
> > border. UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) observers
> > at the border told us that they had seen ZERO Iraqi refugees crossing
> > into Jordan and were worried about that. Many young Iraqi men were
> > being expelled from Jordan back into Iraq. They walk across the border
> > into the empty dark desert with small bags slung over their >
shoulders."
> >
> > To read more, visit http://iraqpeaceteam.org.
> >
> > Today we also received the first in a series of reports and
> > photographs from Baghdad's emergency rooms. The first of those
> > reports, written by physician April Hurley, can be seen at:
> >
> > http://electronicIraq.net/news/394.shtml
> >
> > Some of the pictures are quite graphic. Our decision to share the
> > images is an urgent attempt to show the real face of war at a time
> > when so much of what we see is antiseptic and distant.
> >
> > Thanks to all of you who have called or emailed us with words of
> > support. It means a lot to all of us - from Chicago to Baghdad - to
> > know people are listening...and acting!
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Jeff Guntzel, for Voices in the Wilderness
>
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