of Iraq!
We give our blood to the people of Iraq, who have
endured twelve years of "the most pervasive sanctions
ever imposed on a nation in the history of mankind"
and are today being devastated by an unthinkable,
atrocious war.
We give our blood to Ariane, Mariam, and hundreds of
children like them in Iraq who are surviving on water,
too weak to eat, whose little bodies are fighting a
different kind of war: a war against deadly leukemia
or blood cancer, caused by the use of depleted uranium
in the 88,500 tons of ammunition used by the US and
its allies to bomb Iraq in 1991.
We give our blood to the women of Iraq, whose stories
lie buried under the rubble of the war-torn country;
women who are forced to watch their children sicken
and die before their eyes, who are risking back-street
abortions or abandoning their new-born babies because
there is no food to feed them, who are turning to
prostitution as the only way out, whose bodies are
breeding reproductive tract cancers and malformed
babies, and who now, despite the war, must find new
ways of sustaining life, finding food and water,
looking after the sick, the wounded, and the dying.
We give our blood to the starving millions whose blood
is being spilled in Iraq by Bush and Blair ostensibly
to save them from dictatorship and terrorism, in a war
where fully armed aggressors disarmed their victim
first, a war that is accompanied shockingly by
promises of humanitarian aid for the thousands it is
killing and maiming everyday.
Blood, the very substance of life, which keeps us
alive so long as it flows in our veins, is being
ruthlessly shed through the war in Iraq even as
thousands of Iraqis knock on hospital doors for a few
bottles of blood that could mean the difference
between life and death for the wounded and the ailing.
It is sheer folly to imagine that any of us is safe as
long as the Iraqi people suffer.
The effects of uranium radiation, present everywhere
in the food, water and air, devastating the Iraqi
people today is not confined to their bodies alone.
The life cycle of all living beings, our
interconnected water resources, and the unfettered
movement of goods in the free market, ensure that
right at this moment, radiation is reaching not only
us in India, but also, the people in the United States
and Britain; indeed, people everywhere.
A tremendous anger is building up around the world
against the world's so-called super-powers, in
reality, the street corner bullies of today's global
village. The anger against the shocking violence
unleashed against the people of Iraq in defiance of
every existing code of conduct, will find expression
in vengeful ways with frightening regularity in times
to come. In every country, freedom and innocent lives
will be the primary casualties in the spiraling wave
of violence.
Neither Bush nor Blair have the right to decide who
will rule Iraq, that right belongs to the Iraqi people
alone. So long as Bush and Blair are the
self-appointed policemen of this world, bombing, and
shedding blood at will, democracy and human rights
everywhere, lie in peril.
By donating blood in the name of the people of Iraq,
this is our message to them: "You are not alone. The
precious blood you shed today is not just yours; it
diminishes all of us. When you suffer, the collective
human race suffers. When you are unsafe, we are all
unsafe.
The freedom you lose today is the loss of our
collective freedom."
Such are the consequences of the war and the
decade-long devastation of public infrastructure that
the blood we collect in the name of the women, men and
children of Iraq may not reach them. However, if it
reaches needy people in our own country, our act of
donating blood will not be in vain.
We call upon all concerned and peace-loving people to
participate in the anti-war blood donation program to
express solidarity with the Iraqi people.
Venue: Future Focus, Opposite Chandrika Hotel,
Cunningham Road, Bangalore, India.
Date: Saturday, April 05, 2003
Time: 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Organised by: Manasa Mahila Sangathane
For more details, contact us at
manasapathrike@yahoo.co.in 
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