Fw: Iraq -- Humanitarian Workers' Deaths Remind FCNL of Costs of U.S. War and Occupation

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Volk"
To: "Miriam Vieni"
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 10:19 AM
Subject: Iraq -- Humanitarian Workers' Deaths Remind FCNL of Costs of U.S.
War and Occupation

The violent death of humanitarian aid workers Marla Ruzicka and Faiz
Ali Salim in a suicide bombing in Iraq this past weekend struck many of
us with grief because she has been a regular visitor to the FCNL office
in Washington. The organization she founded, the Campaign for Innocent
Victims of Conflict (CIVIC), plays an important role in working to
obtain U.S. government recognition of and financial support for the
survivors of civilians killed or injured in armed conflict. We saw
first-hand her commitment to the Iraqi people because FCNL played a
small role in supporting Marla's work as she began her project by
serving as the fiscal agent for some of those donating to her projects.

Her death, and the death of her Iraqi colleague, Faiz Ali Salim (the
father of a 2-month-old child), remind all of us of the violence that
is continuing unabated in Iraq. Press reports suggest that at least 17
other Iraqis and 3 U.S. troops were killed on the same day as Marla and
Faiz. Some reports suggest that most Iraqi deaths are simply uncounted.
The U.S. military has refused since the start of the war to count Iraqi
casualties.

Marla wouldn't stand for it. She fearlessly stood with the Iraqi's who
had not voice, no power, no prospect of justice. She told me,
"Joe, when I looked into their eyes, I just couldn't walk away and
do nothing." Marla did something. She went straight to the U.S.
authorities in Iraq and grabbed them by their epaulets and said,
"You have a responsibility, and I'm not going to let go until you
do something." She just wouldn't let the survivors of violent
conflict go unnoticed, and she wouldn't allow the authorities to claim
they didn't know what happened to individual people. She informed them
face to face. And her Iraqi colleague Faiz exercised extraordinary
courage in taking her where she needed to go, despite the terrible
risks.

The headlines in the United States focus on the political dynamics and
the negotiations to form the new government. Deaths are usually
mentioned only if they are the deaths of U.S. nationals. But the
reality for many Iraqis is that the situation on the ground is getting
worse, not better, day by day (the FCNL Washington Newsletter that
should be arriving in your mailboxes this week includes a personal
account of what conditions on-the-ground in Iraq are like today).

The story of on-the-ground conditions in Iraq, however, is still not
getting through to your elected leaders in Washington. This week,
probably either late Tuesday or Wednesday, the U.S. Senate will almost
certainly vote to approve tens of billions of dollars in additional
funding for the war and occupation of Iraq. More and more senators are
telling us that they believe the FCNL proposal that the Congress
declare that the U.S. has no imperial intentions in Iraq is an
important way to advance the debate on U.S. policy for Iraq. But we are
still a long way from winning passage of an amendment affirming that it
is the U.S. intention to withdraw all military troops and bases from
Iraq.

I'm including at the bottom of this email links to the web site for
Marla's group, CIVIC, and to a very good statement released by Senator
Patrick Leahy, who was a strong supporter of Marla's work. Here at
FCNL we will continue to honor the work of Marla and the tens of
thousands of others who have died in the Iraq war and occupation by
continuing to press Congress to declare that the U.S. has no imperial
ambitions in Iraq. As I go into congressional offices, I'll stop
outside the door to silently remind myself - Marla, presente - before
I go inside to engage congressional staff and members of Congress.

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
FCNL

For more information about the FCNL Iraq campaign go to www.fcnl.org/iraq

For more information about Marla's group Civic, go to
www.civicworldwide.org/

To read Senator Leahy's statement on Marla's death go to
http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/OVSKEPGUWX/HRRNEPGVCT/

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Friends Committee on National Legislation
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fcnl@fcnl.org * www.fcnl.org
phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330

We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
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We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled
We seek an earth restored.

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