U.S. vets to rebuild Iraq water plants
By David
Sole
A group of U.S. veterans is leaving for Iraq the first
week in October. Their mission is one of peace and solidarity
with the Iraqi people, who have been the victims of U.S.
military and economic aggression for over 10 years. "Team
One," as the veterans' brigade is known, will help rebuild a
water treatment plant in southern Iraq.
The vets' visit comes as the U.S.-led United Nations
blockade has been eroding internationally. For the first time
in a decade, planes from Russia and France flew directly to
Baghdad in September. There are rumors that regularly
scheduled flights will resume.
The Iraq Water Project grew out of a tour of Baghdad's
water treatment plant during the historic Iraq Sanctions
Challenge led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
and the International Action Center in May 1998. Fredy
Champagne was one of the delegates who helped deliver
medicine to a children's hospital and toured the water plant.
Champagne is a Vietnam-era veteran and member of the board of
directors of Veterans for Peace.
Champagne and the other delegates learned that water
treatment facilities, pumping stations and underground pipes
in Baghdad and other areas sustained severe damage during the
U.S.-led Gulf War in 1991. Further, the sanctions prevent the
Iraqi government from importing pumps, pipes, replacement
parts and adequate chlorine to provide clean water.
Upon returning to the United States, Champagne and other
Vets for Peace members stepped up efforts to both expose the
crimes of U.S./UN sanctions and concretely aid the Iraqi
people. Their work resulted in the formation of the Iraq
Water Project, a plan to rebuild four fresh-water treatment
plants in an area of southern Iraq called Abul Khaseeb, a
suburb of Basrah. The plants serve a population of over
66,000 people.
While educating the U.S. public about the horrors
sanctions have caused the Iraqi people, especially by denying
them clean water, the Veterans for Peace have been raising
the money needed for the reconstruction of the facilities. In
this endeavor Vets for Peace is in a partnership with Life
for Relief and Development, the only relief organization that
has permission to conduct work inside Iraq from both the
Iraqi and U.S. governments.
Future trips by veterans' teams are planned to aid in
rebuilding three other water plants. Tax deductible donations
can be made to "Veterans for Peace-Iraq Water Project" and
sent to P.O. Box 532, Bayside, CA 95524.
This article is copyright under a Creative
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