US Veterans to go to Iraq to 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
organization 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 organization based in Washington, DC that holds 81 chapters
nationwide as
well as several international affiliations. It is an accredited NGO
(Non-Governmental Organization) 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
aftereffects 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-Viet
Nam,
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 organization. Life is the only relief organization
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 Viet Nam veteran. In 1988, Mr. Champagne created a similar
but
larger program in 1988 called the Veterans -
Viet Nam Restoration Project (VVRP). The VVRP provided American
veterans and
others with opportunities to return to Viet Nam for humanitarian
service. The
VVRP operate(d) under the premise that returning to Viet Nam, 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, longtime 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
<mailto:mjcarley@aol.com>mjcarley@aol.com  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
<http://www.veteransforpeace.org>www.veteransforpeace.org
Founder, Veterans - Viet Nam Restoration Project
<http://www.monitor.net/~jwtmls/v/>http://www.monitor.net/~jwtmls/v/

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