"I don't know what to say anymore. I'm a Kurd from Iraq. I'm a refugee from Iraq. I knew when they bombed in 1998 that it was the start of invading Iraq. I do not support this war at all. My family is still there.
"What are these children going to grow up to be?
"There were 30 years under the dictatorship of Saddam, brought by the CIA to Iraq. Then 13 years with no food. Then the bombs. Now they're destroying Iraq by dividing them. They want to provoke a civil war. They are turning neighbors against neighbors. It's not just about oil, in my opinion. They want to control all of Asia."
Nadje Al-Ali is a writer/researcher specializing in women in the Middle East. She is a founding member of Act Together: Women's Action on Iraq and mother of a three-year-old daughter. She is currently living in the UK and working on a book about women in Iraq. She said:
"Iraqis have not just suffered for three years. At least 5,000 children per month died according to UNICEF under 13 years of sanctions. And prior to that the regime was backed by the US.
"Bush has said he will bring women rights in Iraq.
"I was on National Public Radio, and Charlotte Ponticelli from the State Department said Iraqi women were not allowed to go to university.
"You don't have to create these lies to show that it was a dictatorship! We know it was a dictatorship!
"But Iraqi women were the most well educated in the Middle East. There was free child care and free transportation. Which countries do this? Not your country.
"Women are suffering. Everyone is scared, but if a woman is kidnapped - and most middle-class families have had a member kidnapped) she can be sexually molested or raped. A lot of families keep their women folk inside. This was not the case before.
"On August 6, 1990, the crime against humanity - the sanctions - began. The economy was devastated, and women were the first sent home."
Gael Murphy thanked the women who had spoken, and the crowd at Busboys and Poets gave extended applause. Gael recognized the many women from Global Exchange and CODE PINK who had traveled to DC to be with the Iraqi women. And she reminded the crowd that two Iraqi women had been denied visas, because the US had killed their families (the US State Department now argues that they would have no reason to return to Iraq and so cannot be permitted to visit the US).
"Another woman," Gael said, "a doctor, has been sitting in Amman for a week, waiting for her goddamned approval to come through. Know that about your State Department!"
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey with microphone.
"Lynn has helped us get the visas," Murphy said, turning to Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, the sole Congress Member in the room.
Woolsey rose and said: "Standing up here with these beautiful women who have done so much and sacrificed so much, I feel inept.
"What are these children going to grow up to be?
"There were 30 years under the dictatorship of Saddam, brought by the CIA to Iraq. Then 13 years with no food. Then the bombs. Now they're destroying Iraq by dividing them. They want to provoke a civil war. They are turning neighbors against neighbors. It's not just about oil, in my opinion. They want to control all of Asia."
Nadje Al-Ali is a writer/researcher specializing in women in the Middle East. She is a founding member of Act Together: Women's Action on Iraq and mother of a three-year-old daughter. She is currently living in the UK and working on a book about women in Iraq. She said:
"Bush has said he will bring women rights in Iraq.
"I was on National Public Radio, and Charlotte Ponticelli from the State Department said Iraqi women were not allowed to go to university.
"You don't have to create these lies to show that it was a dictatorship! We know it was a dictatorship!
"But Iraqi women were the most well educated in the Middle East. There was free child care and free transportation. Which countries do this? Not your country.
"Women are suffering. Everyone is scared, but if a woman is kidnapped - and most middle-class families have had a member kidnapped) she can be sexually molested or raped. A lot of families keep their women folk inside. This was not the case before.
"On August 6, 1990, the crime against humanity - the sanctions - began. The economy was devastated, and women were the first sent home."
Gael Murphy thanked the women who had spoken, and the crowd at Busboys and Poets gave extended applause. Gael recognized the many women from Global Exchange and CODE PINK who had traveled to DC to be with the Iraqi women. And she reminded the crowd that two Iraqi women had been denied visas, because the US had killed their families (the US State Department now argues that they would have no reason to return to Iraq and so cannot be permitted to visit the US).
"Another woman," Gael said, "a doctor, has been sitting in Amman for a week, waiting for her goddamned approval to come through. Know that about your State Department!"
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey with microphone.
"Lynn has helped us get the visas," Murphy said, turning to Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, the sole Congress Member in the room.
Woolsey rose and said: "Standing up here with these beautiful women who have done so much and sacrificed so much, I feel inept.
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