Falluja: An Ongoing Disaster: an Interview with The Families for Peace Humanitarian Aid Delegation

A delegation of military family members whose sons died while fighting in the Iraq war traveled to Jordan from December 27, 2004 to January 4, 2005. The Families for Peace Humanitarian Aid Delegation delivered $600,000 worth of humanitarian supplies for refugees from the U.S. attack on Falluja. Dynamic speaks with Hany Khalil of United for Peace and Justice, who participated in the delegation.

by: Keren Wheeler

A delegation of military family members whose sons died while fighting in the Iraq war traveled to Jordan from December 27, 2004 to January 4, 2005. The Families for Peace Humanitarian Aid Delegation delivered $600,000 worth of humanitarian supplies for refugees from the U.S. attack on Falluja. Dynamic speaks with Hany Khalil of United for Peace and Justice, who participated in the delegation.

Dynamic: Tell us about the trip – Who went with you? Why was it important to go to Jordan at this time?

HK: In response to the devastation of the city of Falluja in Iraq by the US military in November, more than 200,000 Fallujans fled the city and are now refugees spread out all across Iraq. The refugees are suffering, without heat, homes to stay in, or medicine.
So we organized a humanitarian aid delegation to bring medical supplies, blankets and other supplies, and funds to Jordan, to send to the refugees within Iraq.

We were also there to hear the stories of Iraqis, who came and joined us in Jordan to tell us what their lives are like in Iraq under the US occupation. We want to bring that information back to people here in the US so they have a more accurate picture of what's going on, since they're not getting that from the US media.

The Families for Peace Humanitarian Aid Delegation was organized by Code Pink and Global Exchange, which are member groups of United for Peace and Justice. The core of the delegation was military families who had lost their children in Iraq – US soldiers who had been killed there. One mother in the delegation had lost her son, a firefighter who died in the World Trade Center. She's a member of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. The presence of these family members was a central part of our mission and a very unique phenomenon.

Dynamic: What actually happened in Falluja? We saw a lot of talking heads on the news in November claiming that since many civilians had fled the area, the US military should be free to indiscriminately bomb the city.

HK: There's no question that hundreds of thousands of people left. But that's not an indication that it was a safe operation! We're talking about 200,000 people that were displaced from their homes in a country of 20 million. A proportional amount out of the US population would be something like two million people: half the city of Houston, or an entire borough in New York City being driven out of their homes and made homeless in a matter of weeks.

It’s an outrageous myth that civilians weren’t killed in the attack! It’s difficult to tell exactly how many civilians were killed, because the US basically decreed that doctors could not talk to the media. There’s an attempt to cover it up.

We spoke with several Iraqi journalists who had gone into Falluja to see what happened firsthand. They shared with us their stories and also their photos of what happened. Something on the order of 75% of Falluja has become uninhabitable: buildings and homes have been completely destroyed.

We saw pictures of burned bodies, of whole families that were killed. Some of the worst pictures were of people, children and adults, whose corpses had been laying the streets for days, because the US military didn’t let anyone in to the city to remove and bury the dead. Dogs had come along and eaten the flesh off their bones. The pictures were truly horrendous to look at. You can view these pictures at Dahr Jamail’s blog: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/

The current situation in Falluja is that people don't have access to water and electricity. As late as December, when the military was supposed to be letting refugees back into Falluja, the authorities were telling people not to drink the water or eat any food in their refrigerators. We're not sure why, but there is some speculation that it's because some kind of chemical weapons were used that may have contaminated the water and food.

Many Iraqis when they did try to go back in found that their homes were destroyed and the city was a disaster zone with no water, no electricity, and no health services. It's an ongoing disaster. And that's why the medical aid we brought was so appreciated by the Iraqis.

Dynamic: Did the Iraqi public know about your delegation? Are Iraqis surprised to meet Americans who are against the war?

HK: Our delegation attracted a lot of attention from the Arab media, so Fallujans heard that we were in Jordan to bring them medical aid, and to show that we don't stand with the Bush administration, and that we don't support the destruction of their city. Our delegation took a stand against the US occupation of Iraq, as well as US support for Israel and for the numerous repressive governments in the Middle East.

People in the Middle East aren't used to seeing Americans who oppose US foreign policy in the region. So it was intriguing and very important for people in the Arab world to see American families who actually lost their children in this war saying that they think the war is wrong, and that their kids as well as the Iraqis were victims of this horrendous drive to build an empire.

After a week of meeting with Iraqis, Jordanians, and Palestinians, I think we succeeded in communicating the seriousness of our commitment to ending this war. We were in fact willing to take risks to do that, like organizing a demonstration in Jordan calling for an end to the occupation.

It’s coming to light now that when the US military or the CIA needs to avoid being hit with lawsuits for violating the Geneva Conventions, they ‘outsource’ torture to other countries. The top two countries doing our torturing for us are Egypt, where my family comes from, and Jordan. It’s fascinating that these US-supported undemocratic regimes are engaged in this, and all the while the US is claiming that they’re bringing democracy to the Arab world!