by Joie Grandbois
The Cost of War:
The cost we see - Newspaper stories of families mourning for dead husbands, wives, children or parents. Each night the TV news tells us the number of US troops killed that day.
The cost we don't see - the wounded and disfigured soldiers in military hospitals; the unknown number of dead Iraqi civilians and coalition contractors; Iraqi people's lack of food and access to clean water; the loss of human and civil rights; the loss of services here at home because we no longer have the money to pay for them.
THE MONEY:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - President Dwight D. Eisenhower
$148,000,000,000 (that's 148 BILLION dollars) has been spent on the war in Iraq - Maine's share of that is $425,000,000. What else could the United States (and Maine) have done with that much money?+
-Paid for 19,000,000 children to attend one year of Head Start (56,207 in Maine)
-Insured 88,000,000 children for one year (254,111 in Maine)
-Hired 2,500,000 additional public school teachers for one year (7,354 in Maine)
-Provided 7,000,000 college students with the money to cover four years of their education (20,742 in Maine)
-Built 1,324,000 housing units (3,821 in Maine)
-Fully funded global anti-hunger efforts for 6 years
-Fully funded world AIDS programs for 14 years
-Insured that every child in the world had basic immunizations for 49 years
+ figures as of 11/29/2004
The war in Iraq is just the beginning - we spend more on war than any other country in the world. In 2004 we will have spent $399 BILLION and the requested amount for 2005 is $420 BILLION - we are a country with an economy addicted to war and military industry.
THE HUMAN COST:
Military
-US Military Dead - 1,235 (6 from Maine)
-Other Iraq Coalition Dead - 176
-US Wounded in Action - 8,458
Civilians
We dont do body counts - General Tommy Franks, US Central Command
-Iraq Coalition Contractors (missing or dead) - 190
-Iraqi citizens - 14,563 - 100,000*
A word on the Iraqi death count - Sources vary on estimated deaths of Iraqi citizens. Iraq Body Count, a website that tracks deaths reported by journalists from around the world, places the reported deaths at 14,563 - 16,742, but state that they suspect the actual count is much higher. A study done by several doctors from the US and Iraq and recently published in the British medical journal The Lancet, puts the count at over 100,000. The US Military does not keep a count of civilian casualties.
THE HUMAN RIGHTS COST:
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice" -Martin Luther King Jr.
Reports of acts that violate international human rights laws and treaties are widespread in Iraq, though few instances are actively investigated. The Bush administration and Coalition Provisional Authority talk a lot of the past actions of Saddam Hussein but have given little acknowledgement to current human rights violations.
Prisoners are not being treated within the guidelines of the Geneva Convention that states that prisoners of war must at all times be treated humanely
Instances of rape and the abuse of women by extremist groups are on the increase, there is no court system in place to prosecute perpetrators
There is no adequate police force to ensure the safety of the Iraqi people - organized crime is on the rise
Iraqi civilians are subject to random searches of their homes and person by coalition authorities.
Human rights organizations report that there is a humanitarian crisis looming in Iraq. The lack of food, clean water, housing, medicine and electricity all contribute to the growing crisis. The situation is only made worse due to international aid groups pulling out of Iraq because they do not feel they can carry out their humanitarian work in safety.
Here at home those that speak out against the war are often labeled unpatriotic. The US press has willingly censors itself by not showing pictures of the coffins of dead soldiers, not reporting Iraqi civilian casualties and under reporting protests by US citizens.
How to change the world:
But what can we do? First we need to be informed. Then we need to know how to take action on local and national levels. We also need to know how to get in touch with other people who are working towards similar goals.
-Talk to your family, friends and neighbors tell them of the cost of war and encourage them to speak out about it.
-Volunteer with your local peace and human rights groups
-Take part in a vigil or help to leaflet to spread the word to the public
-Help a soldier by sending a book, care package or an email let them know that we want them to come home safe and healthy.
-Write or call your congressional representatives - the more of us speaking out the more powerful our voice becomes.
-Donate or volunteer with your local food bank, soup kitchen or shelter that may have lost funding.
-Speak out with your wallet - boycott companies that are profiting from the war in Iraq.
-Support a sustainable economy in Maine and the United States
Resources:
Local Groups and Event information (Maine)
The Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice
Peace Action Maine - Phone: 207-772-0680
The People's Free Space - Phone: 207-879-2699
Maine Veteran's for Peace - Phone: 207-293-2580
Soldier aid
Operation AC, Inc/Adopt-a-Soldier - buys boots, and other supplies for troops through donations
Congressional Reps:
Senator Susan Collins - http://collins.senate.gov/ - (202) 224-2523
Senator Olympia Snow - http://snowe.senate.gov/ - (800) 432-1599 (in Maine) or (202) 224-5344
Congressman Tom Allen - http://tomallen.house.gov/ - 202-225-6116
Congressman Mike Michaud - http://michaud.house.gov/ - 202-225-6306
Boycott
Other Volunteer Options
Sustainable Economy
Sustainable Communities Network
Sources for this leaflet:
Websites:
The Organization of Womens Freedom in Iraq
Online Articles:
Print:
Roberts, Les, et al., Gilbert Burnham "Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: cluster sample survey" The Lancet 364 (20 Nov. 2004): 1857-1864
Text is copyright 2005 © Joie Grandbois (distributing this link is welcome, reposting is not permitted)