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"We need medicine." This was the plea of Sajah Mohammed with her
three-year old son who suffers from leukemia. According to Iraqi
doctors, only 40 percent of requested medicines are delivered to Iraq
through the Oil for Food program. And many medicines are second rate or
need refrigeration—which cannot be guaranteed because of frequent
electrical outages. Photo by David Radcliff
 Click to Enlarge 
Take the Peace Pledge Campaign for the People of Iraq Education for Peace in Iraq Center |
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A Message to the Church from On Earth Peace March 20, 2003 "As Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." Luke 19:41-42 In this time of war, On Earth Peace grieves the suffering and pain on all sides, and the loss of life, the lives of Iraqis and our own sons and daughters. We pray for all the people of the world who are affected by war that they might find God's comfort and peace. We pray for the leaders of the world that they might seek God's wisdom in their decisions. Read on...
CPT Iraq Team: June 3, 2003 On May 30, the team met with an Iraqi woman whose husband and son were arrested in Baghdad by U.S. forces on May 15. She has no idea where they are being held. The next day, they accompanied her to meet US army Lt. Col. Stuart Gordon who said that all arrestees' names are in a computer but it was broken down for the day. They returned on June 1, but Gordon was absent and no other U.S. personnel would answer their questions. The International Committee for the Red Cross said that they are visiting prisoners, both military and civilian. On May 30 the team visited the Al-Wathba Water Treatment Plant which serves twelve hospitals and fifteen percent of the population of Baghdad. CPT had maintained a presence at the plant during the bombing. Staff have kept the plant operating throughout this period. No bombs fell in the area and they and their families are fine. Spare parts are increasingly hard to get. U.S. troops drop by occasionally and gave the workers one $20 payment for the past three months' work. On June 2, the team witnessed a demonstration outside the U.S. administration offices in the Republican Palace by up to 10,000 former Iraqi army officers protesting their exclusion from hiring for the new but smaller, reconstituted Iraqi army. Paul Bremer, the head of the US administration, responded at a briefing attended by CPT, "We will not be blackmailed into providing jobs." When someone pressed him about the apparent lack of weapons of mass destruction, he said, "It is hard to believe that Saddam would inflict twelve years of suffering on his people without having something to hide." The team said seventy to eight percent of shops are now open in Baghdad. But Sister Bushra at the Catholic Maternity Hospital says women in labour are still afraid to come out at night to deliver their babies. Street children are more prevalent than before the bombing. The team says that US soldiers are not very visible on the streets and mostly stay in their own encampments. A former member of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) now working in Baghdad recognized the CPTers on the street from their red hats. Maureen Jack met with students at Baghdad University who said, "We need to find and use our voices. We were so used to saying what Saddam's government wanted to hear, that we are still doing the same with the US." The team met a family whose relative recently died in Canada. The family of the deceased wanted to return his body to Iraq for burial, but cannot do so because there is no government in Iraq with whom the family or Canadian authorities can make arrangements. ----------------------------------------------- Doug Pritchard Canada Coordinator Christian Peacemaker Teams Tel (416) 423-5525 Fax (416) 423-9213 |