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Vets, Poet, Iraqi, Mother of a Soldier, Giant Puppets Decry Human Cost of War
Here's the advisory for today's press conference at the peace-in at Rep. Doris Matsui's office.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Contact: Cres Vellucci, Sacramento Coalition to End the War, 916/996-9170
ATTN: Assignment Desk
Vets, Poet, Iraqi, Mother of a Soldier, Giant
Puppets Decry Human Cost of War - Iraqi
and American - at Tuesday War Protest
SACRAMENTO – With giant puppets of mourning women looming behind them and
displays of American and Iraqi casualties nearby, speakers will address how
the horror of the Iraq war impacts the people of Iraq and their loved ones
Tuesday, March 6, 10:15 a.m. at the Federal Building (501 I Street).
It's the first such demonstration here focusing primarily on Iraqi casualties.
Inside the Federal Building, a sit-in goes into its 9th consecutive week.
Peace-in members are asking that Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, publicly
commit to voting against any more funding for the war, including voting
against President Bush's supplemental request for another $100 billion for
2007. The House is expected to vote on the request next week.
"I think of Fadila, a widow with four children, whose husband was killed in
Baghdad," said Ukiah Poet Laureate David Smith Ferri who met with Iraqi
refugees in December, 2006. Ferri quoted Fadila as saying: "My husband is
dead because of your government. You couldn't have made my life any worse."
"I hate this war," said Zohreh Whitaker, a Sacramento mother whose 33-year
old son is serving in Iraq. "We have lost nearly 3200 men and women in
the U.S. military and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis. We must stop the occupation and bring the troops home now."
Whitaker is a member of the national organization Military Families Speak
Out.
"The American people want the war ended and the Iraqi people want the U.S.
military to leave their country," said Iraqi-American Samira Alqazzaz.
"It is unthinkable that Congress is even considering giving Bush more
money for this war."
Iraq war veteran Jeremy McLaughlin, who served as a hospital medic in the
Navy in 2003, will also speak. McLaughlin is a member of Iraq Veterans
Against the War, which on March 1 sent a letter to Congress stating:
"Voting more funds for this war would be abandoning our troops. It would
leave them with the possibility of joining the over 3,160 who have died as
a result of a war that should never have started, or the tens of thousands
who have been wounded physically, psychologically, or both."
-30-
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Contact: Cres Vellucci, Sacramento Coalition to End the War, 916/996-9170
ATTN: Assignment Desk
Vets, Poet, Iraqi, Mother of a Soldier, Giant
Puppets Decry Human Cost of War - Iraqi
and American - at Tuesday War Protest
SACRAMENTO – With giant puppets of mourning women looming behind them and
displays of American and Iraqi casualties nearby, speakers will address how
the horror of the Iraq war impacts the people of Iraq and their loved ones
Tuesday, March 6, 10:15 a.m. at the Federal Building (501 I Street).
It's the first such demonstration here focusing primarily on Iraqi casualties.
Inside the Federal Building, a sit-in goes into its 9th consecutive week.
Peace-in members are asking that Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, publicly
commit to voting against any more funding for the war, including voting
against President Bush's supplemental request for another $100 billion for
2007. The House is expected to vote on the request next week.
"I think of Fadila, a widow with four children, whose husband was killed in
Baghdad," said Ukiah Poet Laureate David Smith Ferri who met with Iraqi
refugees in December, 2006. Ferri quoted Fadila as saying: "My husband is
dead because of your government. You couldn't have made my life any worse."
"I hate this war," said Zohreh Whitaker, a Sacramento mother whose 33-year
old son is serving in Iraq. "We have lost nearly 3200 men and women in
the U.S. military and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis. We must stop the occupation and bring the troops home now."
Whitaker is a member of the national organization Military Families Speak
Out.
"The American people want the war ended and the Iraqi people want the U.S.
military to leave their country," said Iraqi-American Samira Alqazzaz.
"It is unthinkable that Congress is even considering giving Bush more
money for this war."
Iraq war veteran Jeremy McLaughlin, who served as a hospital medic in the
Navy in 2003, will also speak. McLaughlin is a member of Iraq Veterans
Against the War, which on March 1 sent a letter to Congress stating:
"Voting more funds for this war would be abandoning our troops. It would
leave them with the possibility of joining the over 3,160 who have died as
a result of a war that should never have started, or the tens of thousands
who have been wounded physically, psychologically, or both."
-30-
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Iraq War: Counting the Cost
Stewart A. Alexander
Views and News
March 31, 2007
The U.S. has just entered into the fifth year of the Iraq War and the cost has escalated far beyond the original estimates of the Bush Administration and U.S. military experts. Prior to the invasion, March 19, 2003, it was anticipated that the major conflict would have been accomplished in less than six months.
Now more than four years later the U.S. is entrenched in a civil war that has cost the lives of more than 3,200 Americans and more than 24,000 have been reported wounded by official reports.
The Iraqi casualties reveal another grim reminder of the disastrous human cost and the effects of the Iraq Civil War. Updated figures reveal the situation is far worst than what is being reported on American television or in American newspapers.
The post invasion Iraqi death toll is now estimated to be as high as 1,000,000, far higher than the previous estimate of 655,000; this is according to recent scientific data. Over 5,000,000 Iraqis have been hurt or wounded. Recent figures indicate the refugee numbers have climbed from 2,700,000 to over 3,900,000 and the refugee crisis is broadly impacting the entire region of the Middle East.
Some estimates indicate the cost to rebuild Iraq will exceed $1 trillion; however as the civil war continues this number could be off by a much wider margin.
Presently the U.S. Congress is working on legislation to provide the Bush Administration the supplemental military funding, over $100 billion, to continue a civil war that is not supported by the majority of Americans.
The cost to finance the Iraq Civil War has thrown the U.S. into the grips of a recession which is affecting every working class family across America. Working class families and veterans have to sacrifice vital services for the U.S. government to cover the escalating cost of the war.
Families, that have loss loves ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, are not receiving a decent compensation from the U.S. government to continue with their lives and to raise their children; instead Congress continues to fund the devastation and their pork barrel projects here in the U.S.
Presently Congress is borrowing the U.S. further into debt to continue the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cost to occupy these two countries is creating a dangerous situation for the U.S. in the event of a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina that claimed over 1,700 victims and devastated entire communities; and today the U.S. is not prepared for such emergencies.
The U.S. Congress has been setting timetables for troop withdrawals and to end the occupation in Iraq; however these timetables are extended too far and have been set to accomplish the political goals for the Democrats and the Republicans in 2008.
It is time for the U.S. Congress to cut funding for a policy that has only produced failing results. Congress should only provide the necessary funds to bring American troops back home; a sum far short of $100 billion.
A majority of Americans are opposed to the supplemental military funding in Congress because the funds will only increase the deaths and bloodshed of innocent people and American troops; funds that will further disrupt the peace in the Middle East and the entire world.
For more information search the Web for Stewart A. Alexander; Troop Withdrawal Timetables Divide Democrats; Democrats Waffling on Iraq War; Alexander: PFP Setting Tone for 2008.
http://www.salt-g.com
stewartalexander4paf [at] ca.rr.com
http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/5305
Stewart A. Alexander
Views and News
March 31, 2007
The U.S. has just entered into the fifth year of the Iraq War and the cost has escalated far beyond the original estimates of the Bush Administration and U.S. military experts. Prior to the invasion, March 19, 2003, it was anticipated that the major conflict would have been accomplished in less than six months.
Now more than four years later the U.S. is entrenched in a civil war that has cost the lives of more than 3,200 Americans and more than 24,000 have been reported wounded by official reports.
The Iraqi casualties reveal another grim reminder of the disastrous human cost and the effects of the Iraq Civil War. Updated figures reveal the situation is far worst than what is being reported on American television or in American newspapers.
The post invasion Iraqi death toll is now estimated to be as high as 1,000,000, far higher than the previous estimate of 655,000; this is according to recent scientific data. Over 5,000,000 Iraqis have been hurt or wounded. Recent figures indicate the refugee numbers have climbed from 2,700,000 to over 3,900,000 and the refugee crisis is broadly impacting the entire region of the Middle East.
Some estimates indicate the cost to rebuild Iraq will exceed $1 trillion; however as the civil war continues this number could be off by a much wider margin.
Presently the U.S. Congress is working on legislation to provide the Bush Administration the supplemental military funding, over $100 billion, to continue a civil war that is not supported by the majority of Americans.
The cost to finance the Iraq Civil War has thrown the U.S. into the grips of a recession which is affecting every working class family across America. Working class families and veterans have to sacrifice vital services for the U.S. government to cover the escalating cost of the war.
Families, that have loss loves ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, are not receiving a decent compensation from the U.S. government to continue with their lives and to raise their children; instead Congress continues to fund the devastation and their pork barrel projects here in the U.S.
Presently Congress is borrowing the U.S. further into debt to continue the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cost to occupy these two countries is creating a dangerous situation for the U.S. in the event of a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina that claimed over 1,700 victims and devastated entire communities; and today the U.S. is not prepared for such emergencies.
The U.S. Congress has been setting timetables for troop withdrawals and to end the occupation in Iraq; however these timetables are extended too far and have been set to accomplish the political goals for the Democrats and the Republicans in 2008.
It is time for the U.S. Congress to cut funding for a policy that has only produced failing results. Congress should only provide the necessary funds to bring American troops back home; a sum far short of $100 billion.
A majority of Americans are opposed to the supplemental military funding in Congress because the funds will only increase the deaths and bloodshed of innocent people and American troops; funds that will further disrupt the peace in the Middle East and the entire world.
For more information search the Web for Stewart A. Alexander; Troop Withdrawal Timetables Divide Democrats; Democrats Waffling on Iraq War; Alexander: PFP Setting Tone for 2008.
http://www.salt-g.com
stewartalexander4paf [at] ca.rr.com
http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/5305
For more information:
http://www.salt-g.com
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