[Reader-list] Message from people of Fallujah

[Vivek Narayanan]

More to be depressed about, if you haven't seen it yet.

V.

Message from the people of Fallujah
Yahoo News Groups
Bristol Stop The War News - U.K
31st October 2004

This letter was sent by representatives of the people of Fallujah to the 
UN secretary general Kofi Annan

"IT IS more than evident that US forces are committing daily acts of 
genocide in Iraq. As we write, these crimes are being perpetrated 
against the city of Fallujah.

US war planes are launching their most powerful bombs against the 
civilian population, killing and wounding hundreds of innocent people. 
Their tanks are pounding the city with heavy artillery.

As you know, there is no military presence in the city. There have been 
no actions by the resistance in Fallujah in the last few weeks because 
negotiations are in progress between representatives of the city and the 
Allawi government.

The new bombardment by the US has begun while the people are fasting 
during the celebration of Ramadan. Now many of them are trapped in the 
ruins of their homes and cut off from any outside assistance.

On the night of 13 October a single US bombardment destroyed 50 houses 
and their inhabitants. Is this a crime of genocide or a lesson about US 
democracy? The US is committing acts of terror against the people of 
Fallujah
for only one reason to force them to accept the occupation.

Your excellency and the whole world know that the US and their allies 
have destroyed our country on the pretext of the threat of weapons of 
mass destruction.

Now, after their own mass destruction and the killing of thousands of 
civilians, they have admitted that they have not found any.

But they have said nothing about the crimes they have committed. The 
whole world is silent, and even the killing of Iraqi civilians is not 
condemned. Will the US be paying compensation, as it made Iraq do after 
the 1991 Gulf War?

We know that we live in a world of double standards. In Fallujah the US 
has created a new and shadowy target "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Al-Zarqawi is a new excuse to justify the USAs criminal actions. A year 
has passed since this new excuse was dreamed up, and every time they 
attack homes, mosques and restaurants, killing women and children, they 
say. We have launched a successful operation against al-Zarqawi.

They will never say they have killed him, because he does not exist. The 
people of Fallujah assure you that this person is not in the city, nor 
probably anywhere else in Iraq.

Many times the people of Fallujah have asked that if anyone sees 
al-Zarqawi they should kill him. We know now that he is nothing but a 
phantom created by the US.

Our representatives have repeatedly denounced kidnapping and killing of 
civilians. We have nothing to do with any group that acts in an inhumane 
manner.

We call on you and the leaders of the world to exert the greatest 
pressure on the Bush administration to end its crimes against Fallujah 
and pull its army back from the city.

When they left a while ago, the city had peace and tranquillity. There 
was no disorder in the city. The civil administration here functioned 
well, despite the lack of resources.

Our offence is simply that we did not welcome the forces of occupation. 
This is our right according to UN Charter, according to international 
law and according to the norms of humanity.

It is very urgent that you, along with other world leaders, intervene 
immediately to prevent another massacre.
We have tried to contact UN representatives in Iraq to ask them to do 
this but, as you know, they are sealed off in the maximum security Green 
Zone in Baghdad and we are not allowed access to them.

We want the UN to take a stand on the situation in Fallujah.

Best wishes, in the name of the people of Fallujah, the shura council of 
Fallujah, the trade union association,
the teachers union, and the council of tribal leaders "

Kassim Abdullsattar al-Jumaily: President
The Study Center of Human Rights & Democracy
On behalf of the people of Fallujah and for:
Al-Fallujah Shura Council
The Bar Association
The Teacher Union
Council of Tribes Leaders
The House of Fatwa and Religious Education
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