Iraqi Political Analyst to Speak in Juneau Monday, April 27th

"Beyond Occupation: The Future of US-Iraq Relations"

7:00 pm at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center, 

350 Whittier Street in downtown Juneau

Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi political analyst for the American Friends Service Committee, will travel to Alaska to speak about the American occupation in Iraq.  Jarrar’s speaking tour is a joint effort by local organizers from four communities. The Juneau People for Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace Chapter 100, and Northern Light United Church Mission Committee are sponsoring his visit to Juneau. He will also speak in Haines, Anchorage, and Fairbanks.

Raed Jarrar was born and raised in Iraq. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in architecture from the University of Baghdad and a Master's Degree in post war reconstruction from the University of Jordan. While he was in grad school in Jordan, Jarrar’s close friend Salam Pax started a blog to stay in touch with him. “Where is Raed” became the most widely read blog originating from Iraq during the war. Pax described events from Baghdad and Raed contributed from Jordan.

After returning to Iraq in 2004, Jarrar worked as the country director of CIVIC, the only door-to-door Iraqi casualties survey. He then founded Emaar (Arabic for “reconstruction”), an Iraqi grassroots organization that operated in 10 Iraqi cities. It provided aid to Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs). Emaar delivered medicine and food as well as helped initiate micro-enterprise projects for IDPs. Additionally, Emaar engaged in political advocacy on behalf of displaced populations. During this time Jarrar posted eyewitness stories and opinions on the blog “Raed in the Middle” where he continues to provide valuable insights on the humanitarian and political status of Iraq.

In 2005 Jarrar moved to the United States. He is currently the Iraq consultant to the American Friends Service Committee based in Washington, D.C. Last year he leaked and translated the only publicly accessible draft of the US-Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA), which formally addressed withdrawal of US troops. It was a document that proved to be vital to congressional hearings and in public debate across America. With Jarrar’s assistance, the AFSC was able to arrange two Iraqi parliamentary delegations to participate in official congressional briefings about the SoFA.

He (together with the American Civil Liberties Union) recently won a settlement from JetBlue in the case involving the TSA and the airline's refusal to allow Mr. Jarrar to board a plane at John F. Kennedy Airport until he agreed to cover his t-shirt, which read "We Will Not Be Silent" in English and Arabic script. See details at: http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/jarrar.html and http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/38225prs20090105.html

For more information about Mr. Jarrar go to http://www.afsc.org/ht/d/ContentDetails/i/2891

And for more information on the SoFA and the president's plan to end the Iraq Occupation see the American Friends Service Committee’s Statement at http://www.afsc.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/76010/pid/450

Author Dahr Jamail to Speak in Juneau, Monday, March 10, 2008

Former Alaskan Dahr Jamail is scheduled to speak here Monday, March 10th as part of his speaking tour including Fairbanks and Anchorage. Since speaking here in March 2005 Dahr has released his book -- Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq --
We will ask him to give us his understanding and analysis of the current situation of the "facts on the ground" based on his experiences and his ongoing reporting in cooperation with Iraqi journalists and ordinary citizens.

Where: Egan Lecture Hall, University of Alaska Southeast
When: 7 pm
SAVE THE DATE

Eyes Wide Open Exhibit in Juneau April 7-9, 2008

A coalition of Juneau organizations is working to bring the American Friends Service Committee's exhibit of boots of Alaskan and Alaska-based soldiers boots killed in Iraq to Juneau this coming April 7-9th. The exhibit is a smaller version of an exhibit that has been displayed in cities across the country. It also includes a collection of civilian shoes representing the thousands of Iraqi men, women and children who have been caught in the cross-fire.

The Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Alaska exhibit is a respectful memorial to soldiers and all the victims of war. We hope that the simplicity of the exhibit will honor those who have given their lives, and make the true costs of this war more real to Americans for whom the war is so far away.

If you would like to volunteer to help in the planning or during the days when the exhibit is displayed, or if an organization you are involved with would like to be a co-host, please contact Amy Paige, 586-4409

UN Security Council Must Listen to Iraq's People and Parliament -- Take Action!

United for Peace and Justice Action Alert
November 20th, 2007

Anytime between now and the end of this year, the UN Security Council will be asked to consider a re-authorization of the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq. The background and details about this is included in the memo below, which is being sent to anti-war organizations around the world. United for Peace and Justice has signed on to this letter because we believe it is important to keep the pressure on the U.S. government from all angles.

We are asking that folks here in the U.S. take part in this effort by making two calls:

1) Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Call the U.S. Mission to the UN at 212-415-4000. Send faxes to 212-415-4443. (Khalilzad was the United States Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.)

2) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Call her office at 202-647-5290, and/or the switchboard at the U.S. Dept of State: 202-647-4000.

Let them know that you do not support a re-authorization of the occupation of Iraq. It is time to end this war and occupation; it is time to bring all of the troops and contractors home!

Peace,

Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator, UFPJ

UAS to Host Iraqi Judge on the Reconstruction of Iraq

Friday, October 12th 7:00 pm UAS Egan Library
Judge Zuhair Jumma Bash Al-Maliki, Legal Advisor of Finance and Rule of Law Issues in Iraq

Juneau, Alaska - October 08, 2007 -

The UAS Evening at Egan Lecture Series will host Judge Zuhair Jumma Bash Al-Maliki, Legal Advisor of Finance and Rule of Law Issues in Iraq. Judge Zuhair is a cornerstone of the post-Saddam Iraqi legal system. He served as an Investigative Judge with the Central Criminal Courts of Iraq beginning shortly after the invasion and was elevated to Chief Judge by Paul Bremer in 2004.

The lecture will be held in the UAS Egan Library on Fri, Oct. 12 at 7 pm as part of the University’s fall lecture series. The lectures are free and open to the public. This is Judge Zuhair’s only stop in Alaska.

Judge Zuhair was born and raised in Baghdad. He attended Baghdad University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. From 1988 until 1999 Judge Zuhair worked successively as a translator for the United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observation Group, a Foreign Relations Administrator for the Arab Union Scientific Research Council, and as an Administrator for the Arab Federation Food Industry. After careers in both government and private industry, Judge Zuhair returned to Baghdad University to attend law school.

In 2004, he gained international attention by issuing an arrest warrant for several government officials suspected of corruption, including Prime Ministerial candidate Ahmed Chalabi. Despite several assassination attempts and public smear campaigns, his colleagues said he never compromised his ideals. He asserts that the Iraqi legal system must be built upon an ethical legal foundation beholding only to the rule of law.

Continuing Discussion about Next Steps to Peace

We had a valuable discussion last Thursday, but are still seeking broader input to the conversation about what Juneau and Alaskans can do to heighten popular awareness of the costs of war and occupation and the need to bring the troops and contractors home. We expect to schedule several community meetings in the coming weeks, and to moderate a discussion and call-in show on KTOO's PeaceTalk program on May 21st at 7:00 pm.
You are invited to share your thoughts by commenting to this post, by attending the up-coming community meetings and calling in during PeaceTalk on Monday, May 21st.

Regional Implications of the Iraq War
Chris Toensing | March 27, 2007 | Foreign Policy In Focus
Editor: Erik Leaver, Institute for Policy Studies

President George W. Bush’s vision for the Iraq War was nothing if not expansive. Liberal democracy and popular sovereignty were to supplant tyranny not only in Baghdad, but in nearby capitals as well. And the force of U.S. arms would not be needed to accomplish the latter missions. As Bush asserted to eager applause at the American Enterprise Institute on February 25, 2003, “a new regime in Iraq would serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom for other nations in the region.” Democracy, the war party believed, would be contagious.
Read complete article

Give Us Some Real Political Leaders

Inter Press Service
Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Mar 15 (IPS) - Many Iraqis are now looking to local political leadership to fill wide gaps in a fractured government that is failing to provide security and basic needs.

"Iraqis feel lost amongst too many political currents that blew their country away with their narrow sectarian and personal interests," Mohammad Jaafar, a Baghdad-based politician formerly involved in the interim government told IPS.

"I am ashamed to say that I am or even was an Iraqi politician after all the damage to our country that we caused. It is entirely our fault and there is no question about that."

Many politicians feel similarly. Read story on Dahr Jamail's website

Op-Ed Contributor
New York Times

Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?

By ANTONIA JUHASZ

Published: March 13, 2007

San Francisco

TODAY more than three-quarters of the world’s oil is owned and controlled by governments. It wasn’t always this way.

Until about 35 years ago, the world’s oil was largely in the hands of seven corporations based in the United States and Europe. Those seven have since merged into four: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP. They are among the world’s largest and most powerful financial empires. But ever since they lost their exclusive control of the oil to the governments, the companies have been trying to get it back. Click here to read full article.