US Veterans to go to Iraq to Help Rebuild Water Treatment Facilities

United States military Veterans will go to Iraq to help rebuild water treatment facilities that were either destroyed by U.S. and British bombers, or rendered inoperable by the allies-led economic sanctions.

Veterans for Peace, Inc., a non-profit educational and humanitarian organisation with a long record of accomplishments since its creation in 1985, is proud to launch The Iraq Water Project. Veterans for Peace, Inc. is an organisation based in Washington, DC that holds 81 chapters nation-wide as well as several international affiliations. It is an accredited NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) with the United Nations through their Department of Public Information.

Waterborne diseases account for most of the child fatalities caused by sanctions (at least 4,000 per month under the age of 5 years old). Under The Iraq Water Project, Veterans for Peace (VFP) will restore water-cleansing capabilities and provide 10 years of maintenance to four water-treatment facilities located in a suburb of Basrah (a major city in the Southeast) called Abul Khaseeb. This area has been ravaged by 2 wars, sanctions, and ongoing bombings. Furthermore, it has been virtually poisoned by the after-effects of depleted uranium weapons and ammunition use. The population in the region that will be serviced by The Iraq Water Project totals between 65,000-70,000 people. Funds to be raised for repair are between $110,000-$125,000.

In an unprecedented effort to further expose the devastating effects of US-led sanctions on Iraq, two teams of former US service people - Vietnam, Korean War, and WW II veterans, as well as many Gulf War veterans - will enter Iraq. They then will physically help rebuild these four water facilities.

It is the intent of The Iraq Water Project for the public to see US service veterans working alongside Iraqi engineers. The first team of veterans is scheduled to depart the US on October 2.

The Iraq Water Project is a partnership with Life for Relief and Development, another non-profit organisation. Life is the only relief organisation to have dual permission from both the Iraqi government and the US Treasury Department, to do relief work in Iraq. It is they who will work out the logistics inside Iraq.

The project is led by Co-Chairperson Fredy Champagne; VFP Board of Directors member and Vietnam veteran. In 1988, Mr. Champagne created a similar but larger program in 1988 called the Veterans - Vietnam Restoration Project (VVRP). The VVRP provided American veterans and others with opportunities to return to Vietnam for humanitarian service.

The VVRP operate(d) under the premise that returning to Vietnam, working directly on community projects and returning to former war zones where they served, helps veterans heal the legacy of war.

The other Co-Chairperson is Edilith Eckart, long-time noted peace activist and recent winner of Physicians for Social Responsibility's "Broad Street Pump" award. Ms. Eckart has been a long-standing member of VFP's Board of Directors. She now devotes most of her energies to The Iraq Water Project.

The Project Coordinator for The Iraq Water Project is accomplished New York City Playwright Michael John Carley. Mr. Carley is also VFP's United Nations NGO Representative, for whom he has worked in Bosnia and Iraq, among others, since 1991. Michael John Carley [email protected] Phone: 718.398.5839
Contacts:

Fredy Champagne, Co-Chair, Iraq Water Project, P O Box 532,
Bayside, CA. 95524 Ph/Fax 707.943.1874
Member, Veterans for Peace, Inc. Board of Directors
www.veteransforpeace.org
Founder, Veterans - Vietnam Restoration Project
http://www.monitor.net/~jwtmls/v/