Americans Give Blood in Baghdad as US Congress Votes on War
Voices in the Wilderness/Iraq Peace Team
October 9, 2002

BAGHDAD, 8 OCT - American peaceworkers with the "Iraq Peace Team" will donate blood at the U.S. Interest Section at the Polish embassy on Wednesday, October 9^th. The activists, along with local Iraqis they know, will gather in front of the embassy at 6pm to donate the blood to a mobile unit of the Baghdad Blood Bank, for use in local hospitals and clinics. The United States has maintained an interests section at the Polish embassy since cutting off all diplomatic relations with Iraq 12 years ago.

"We have to begin to reach out to one another. The security of the American people cannot depend on the insecurity of all other peoples. That’s a recipe for disaster," said Iraq Peace Team member Ramzi Kysia.

The Iraq Peace Team is a project of Voices in the Wilderness, a Chicago-based campaign to end the sanctions and stop the war. Dozens of American peaceworkers are taking up residence in Iraq in order to prevent another massive, U.S. bombing campaign and invasion. According to UN sources, the destruction of Iraq’s civilian infrastructure, alongside years of economic sanctions, have killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis over the last 12 years. UNICEF warns that another war could result in country-wide famine.

Despite overwhelming, worldwide opposition, as well as growing opposition among Americans, Congress is nearing a vote that will give George Bush the authorization to start a war. Iraq Peace Team members hope that their actions will help spur debate in the U.S. about the consequences of another war. Henry Williamson, a Vietnam veteran and paramedic from Charleston, South Carolina, said "We offer this blood in the hope of peace and as a statement to the American people. Of all the Iraqis I’ve met and talked to in the streets, I’ve found nobody who wants this war. 23 million people here are asking why Americans wants this war. Human life is precious. We should give blood, not spill it."

Iraq Peace Team is a project of Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to end the sanctions on Iraq. The goal is to place hundreds of international activists in major Iraqi cities before and during another attack. Activists will document and report on the humanitarian consequences a new war would have on ordinary people living in Iraq.