For today: the dark valley- report from Fallujah
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For Thou art with me.
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23: 4
Dear Friends,
We, the peacemakers, are entering a dark valley. The warmongers wasted no time after the election to let slip their dogs on Fallujah. If we stand with the people of Fallujah, we may be accused of sympathizing with terrorists. Yet what else can we do?
I am doubly sad as I continue to observe Ramadan, knowing that very few of you, my fellow peacemakers, responded to my plea to join me in this Muslim observance. If you had, perhaps things would be different in Iraq today.
We the people have so much more power these days. In a week, we've turned a certain victory for Bush into a disputed election. The momentum is on for a recount in Ohio and a much closer look at Florida. Kerry, reportedly, is reconsidering his concession. Maybe the bastards won't get away with it, for once.
But the post-election furor is distracting us from the massacre currently taking place in Fallujah. Opposition to participation in the slaughter is running high in England, but here in America, we seem oblivious to the new horrors being committed in our name.
I'm not saying we should quit contesting the election. Even if Bush remains pResident, we must deny him legitimacy as much as possible, and lay the groundwork now for impeachment.
But we must fight on two fronts, at home and abroad. The only crime of the people of Fallujah is to want to determine the fate of their country, without interference from the US and its puppet Allawi. Just as we are fighting for freedom and justice in the US, so they are fighting as patriots.
God is with us, the peacemakers, as we walk through this dark valley. Jesus gave us a special blessing in Matthew 5: 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God". Jesus never blessed the warmongers, but constantly berated the rulers for hypocrisy.
Let us lean on Him, allow His rod and staff to comfort us. His rod stands for self-discipline, for keeping focused and nonviolent. His staff stands for courage, the strength to tell the truth no matter where it leads. Let us call for a stop to the massacre in Fallujah, now.
In the name of the Prince of Peace, Carol Wolman
'Scores of civilians' killed in Falluja
by Reuters- Tuesday 09 November 2004 7:51 PM GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/813419D5-CC95-4505-9367-05140111C618.htm
Residents say scores of civilians have been killed
Muhammad Abbud said he watched his nine-year-old son bleed to death
at their Falluja home, unable to take him to hospital as fighting
raged in the streets and bombs rained down on the Iraqi city.
In the midst of a US onslaught and hemmed in by a round-the-clock
curfew, he said he had little choice but to bury his eldest son,
Ghaith, in the garden.
"My son got shrapnel in his stomach when our house was hit at dawn,
but we couldn't take him for treatment," said Abbud, a teacher. "We
buried him in the garden because it was too dangerous to go out. We
did not know how long the fighting would last."
Residents say scores of civilians have been killed or wounded in 24
hours of fighting since US-led forces pushed deep into the city on
Monday evening.
Doctors said people brought in at least 15 dead civilians at the main
clinic in Falluja on Monday. By Tuesday, there were no clinics open,
residents said, and no way to count casualties.
Medical supplies low
US and Iraqi forces seized control of the city's main hospital,
across the Euphrates river from Falluja proper, hours before the
onslaught began.
US forces have been steadily moving deeper into the city
Overnight US bombardments hit a clinic inside the Sunni Muslim city,
killing doctors, nurses and patients, residents said. US military
authorities denied the reports.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said troops detained 38
fighters entrenched at Falluja hospital and accused doctors there of
exaggerating civilian casualties.
Sami al-Jumaili, a doctor at Falluja hospital, said the city was
running out of medical supplies.
"There is not a single surgeon in Falluja. We had one ambulance hit
by US fire and a doctor wounded. There are scores of injured
civilians in their homes who we can't move," he said by telephone
from a house where he had gone to help the wounded.
"A 13-year-old child just died in my hands."
ICRC voices concern
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday
that it was extremely worried about the fate of people wounded in the
battle for control of the Iraqi city of Falluja.
"The ICRC urges the belligerents to ensure that all those in need of
such care - whether friend or foe - be given access to medical
facilities and that medical personnel and vehicles can function
without hindrance at all times," a statement said.
The organisation said it was "deeply concerned about reports that the
injured cannot receive adequate medical care".
Families flee
Weekend air raids destroyed a clinic funded by an Islamic relief
organisation in the centre of Falluja and a nearby warehouse used to
store medical supplies, witnesses said.
Residents say there is no power and food supplies are running low
Many families fled the city of 300,000 long before the offensive
began. An official from a Sunni Muslim group with links to some
fighters in Falluja said on Monday only about 60,000 people remained.
Residents say they have no power and are using kerosene lamps at
night. They say they keep to ground floors for safety. Food shops
have been closed for six days.
"My kids are hysterical with fear," said Farhan Salih. "They are
traumatised by the sound but there is nowhere to take them."
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday he did not
foresee large numbers of civilian casualties in the assault, saying
US forces were disciplined and precise.
Those words were of little comfort to the Abbud family, sitting in a
house damaged by the bomb that killed their child.
"We just bandaged his stomach and gave him water, but he was losing a
lot of blood. He died this afternoon," said Abbud.
Reuters
By
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/813419D5-CC95-4505-9367-05140111C618.htm
Residents say scores of civilians have been killed
Muhammad Abbud said he watched his nine-year-old son bleed to death
at their Falluja home, unable to take him to hospital as fighting
raged in the streets and bombs rained down on the Iraqi city.
In the midst of a US onslaught and hemmed in by a round-the-clock
curfew, he said he had little choice but to bury his eldest son,
Ghaith, in the garden.
"My son got shrapnel in his stomach when our house was hit at dawn,
but we couldn't take him for treatment," said Abbud, a teacher. "We
buried him in the garden because it was too dangerous to go out. We
did not know how long the fighting would last."
Residents say scores of civilians have been killed or wounded in 24
hours of fighting since US-led forces pushed deep into the city on
Monday evening.
Doctors said people brought in at least 15 dead civilians at the main
clinic in Falluja on Monday. By Tuesday, there were no clinics open,
residents said, and no way to count casualties.
Medical supplies low
US and Iraqi forces seized control of the city's main hospital,
across the Euphrates river from Falluja proper, hours before the
onslaught began.
US forces have been steadily moving deeper into the city
Overnight US bombardments hit a clinic inside the Sunni Muslim city,
killing doctors, nurses and patients, residents said. US military
authorities denied the reports.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said troops detained 38
fighters entrenched at Falluja hospital and accused doctors there of
exaggerating civilian casualties.
Sami al-Jumaili, a doctor at Falluja hospital, said the city was
running out of medical supplies.
"There is not a single surgeon in Falluja. We had one ambulance hit
by US fire and a doctor wounded. There are scores of injured
civilians in their homes who we can't move," he said by telephone
from a house where he had gone to help the wounded.
"A 13-year-old child just died in my hands."
ICRC voices concern
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday
that it was extremely worried about the fate of people wounded in the
battle for control of the Iraqi city of Falluja.
"The ICRC urges the belligerents to ensure that all those in need of
such care - whether friend or foe - be given access to medical
facilities and that medical personnel and vehicles can function
without hindrance at all times," a statement said.
The organisation said it was "deeply concerned about reports that the
injured cannot receive adequate medical care".
Families flee
Weekend air raids destroyed a clinic funded by an Islamic relief
organisation in the centre of Falluja and a nearby warehouse used to
store medical supplies, witnesses said.
Residents say there is no power and food supplies are running low
Many families fled the city of 300,000 long before the offensive
began. An official from a Sunni Muslim group with links to some
fighters in Falluja said on Monday only about 60,000 people remained.
Residents say they have no power and are using kerosene lamps at
night. They say they keep to ground floors for safety. Food shops
have been closed for six days.
"My kids are hysterical with fear," said Farhan Salih. "They are
traumatised by the sound but there is nowhere to take them."
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday he did not
foresee large numbers of civilian casualties in the assault, saying
US forces were disciplined and precise.
Those words were of little comfort to the Abbud family, sitting in a
house damaged by the bomb that killed their child.
"We just bandaged his stomach and gave him water, but he was losing a
lot of blood. He died this afternoon," said Abbud.
Reuters
By
You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/813419D5-CC95-4505-9367-05140111C618.htm
posted by carol wolman @ 5:50 AM
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