Amman, Jordan
August 3, 2007
Governments and Non-Governmental Organizations may seem to be transfixed, almost mesmerized, by the mounting humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq. But, since 2003, an admirable group of NGOs, including Oxfam, has steadily tried to address humanitarian needs through collecting and organizing data, establishing priorities, responding to emergencies, and working out ways to deliver food, medicine, and clean water to some of the neediest areas in Iraq.
Although it isn’t ideal, these groups have generally relied on “remote management,” primarily from Jordan, working with anonymous human rights and relief workers, primarily Iraqis, inside of Iraq. From their experience, they are able to identify problems which could be solved, they believe, given the political will of the U.S. government, the Iraqi government, other foreign governments, and the United Nations. The report strongly urges each of these groups to accept critiques of their current programs and to greatly increase efforts to deliver emergency assistance to impoverished and displaced Iraqis.
They’ve particularly urged the Iraqi government to decentralize the distribution of aid.
There are seven huge warehouses in Baghdad. The Iraqi government requires relief groups to deliver all incoming food and medical aid to these central warehouses for quality control followed by coordinated distribution. In theory this could work, but Iraqi government ministries such as the Ministries of Trade and of Labor and Societal Affairs, haven’t been functioning well enough to actually allow for delivery, leaving desperately needed food and medicine piling up inside the warehouses.
Distribution problems are numerous. Consider road closures and curfews; rampant corruption, unpredictable outbreaks of violence, and constant turnover of personnel either fleeing the country or simply unable to make it to work. These are chiefly dilemmas involved in a centralized distribution system.
In calling for decentralized delivery of relief and assistance, the Oxfam/NCCI report (PDF) is backed up by examples of projects which they’ve been able to maintain in spite of the current legal framework for NGOs operating in Iraq.
The report also calls on the U.S. and Britain to provide technical and financial assistance to Iraqi ministries to implement the policy changes it recommends.
Here is a metaphor that might help people far away from Iraq to grasp the culpability of those who have taken up residence and employment within the Green Zone, the well fortified and relatively comfortable area of Baghdad which is “home base” for U.S. administrators and professional charged with coordinating reconstruction and development in Iraq and, presumably, being responsible to address the mounting humanitarian catastrophe.
Imagine that a local school is run by professionals, from outside the area, who live and work in the school as teachers and administrators. Imagine that the staff lives in a luxurious part of the school, with steady access to air conditioning, food, water, entertainment, and security. Very few of the professionals and staff speak the same language as the students. Classes do not regularly function because parts of the school are under attack and it is too dangerous for students to attend class. What’s more, many of the students have been drinking poisoned water and don’t get sufficient food. They become sick, and have nobody to help them. But the professionals inside the school are passive, —they eat their meals, collect their paychecks, occasionally step outside of their quarters, but only if accompanied by heavily armed guards, and they develop amongst themselves an atmosphere of denial regarding the terrible conditions afflicting the students. Now, imagine that outside of the school, concerned groups were trying every means possible to get into the school and to assure that the children would get clean water, food and emergency health care. The outsiders were also developing lesson plans, buying books and supplies, grading papers, and alerting the wider community to the problems within the school.
You’d be rooting for those outside the school and those risking their lives to enter the school. You’d call for investigators, for people who could compile a list of critiques and charges, make recommendations, and do everything possible to save the children and change the appalling setup. You’d also want the professionals who lived in that school to respond, when charged, with reasons as to why they ignored the children’s needs and why people outside of the school were so frustrated in their efforts to help these children.
The United States waged a war of choice against Iraq and, after invading and occupying, the U.S. was unprepared to cope with meeting basic needs of people or to halt the spiraling violence which the U.S. planners claim they couldn’t anticipate.
Relative to the many thousands of people who worked in the Green Zone, who were paid handsomely, and whose efforts have never been adequate to meet humanitarian needs of Iraqis, I think it’s fair to ask for accountability. But I don’t expect that will happen. So, let’s go to the next square. Could the U.S. stop delivering bombs and bullets that exacerbate this miserable situation.
Consider this July 14th 2007 AP report: “The US Air Force and Navy dropped 437 bombs and missiles in Iraq in the first 6 months of this year. In June, bombs dropped at a rate of more than 5 a day. Hundreds of civilians were killed, but neither the Air Force nor Navy has divulged the number.”
During the August recesses, constituents of U.S Senators and Representatives can and should go the local offices of elected reps to demand that they stop funding war in Iraq. There are plenty of documents that supply details about the grievous mishandling of U.S. wealth and productivity in the service of an illegal and immoral war. The latest Oxfam/NCCI report (PDF), pointing to the humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq should be placed alongside detailed reports of U.S. expenditures for and use of expensive weapons and innumerable rounds of ammunition. See, Iraq and Afghanistan Supplemental Spending 2008, and Iraq War Funding, 2008: Questions & Answers.
In Colorado, peace activist Carolyn Bninski entered the offices of Representative Mark Udall, repeatedly, bringing him and his staff reports from and about Iraq. She also carried long lists naming people who had died in Iraq. She read aloud the names of Iraqis and the names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
Her actions were among 320 “Occupation Project,” visits to offices of elected representatives since the campaign began on February 5, 2007. Activists who risked arrest have faced trials in numerous states, and there have been several welcome acquittals.
Last week, a Colorado judge sentenced Carolyn to one year in prison for this action, and a $1,000 fine. She is ordered to serve one month of the sentence with the remainder of the sentence suspended, provided she doesn’t break the law again.
The judge said it troubled him greatly to pronounce this sentence. I hope that he will have a chance, this August, to meet with his elected representatives. I hope he’ll take time to read, carefully, the Oxfam/NCCI report (PDF), and that this report leads him to examine the reports of the Special Inspector General for Iraq, a U.S. government report that castigate U.S. officials and companies for failing to account for funds designated for reconstruction in Iraq. Certain companies and contractors also failed to complete numerous projects for which money had already been allocated. I hope the judge will find time to just sit with even a few pages giving sparse details about individuals, — children, teenagers, parents, young adults, who have died in Iraq. Perhaps he could take just a little time to whisper the names aloud to himself, Iraqi names and American names.
These are “facts of the case” which belong on the desks of government officials in the U.S. as well as in Iraq. Inspired by activists like Carolyn Bninski, Voices for Creative Nonviolence hopes many more people will visit elected representatives during a new round of “The Occupation Project” which will begin on August 6th.
