June 25, 1998

Chicago--Eight years of U.S. supported U.N. economic sanctions against Iraq have prompted five members of the Voices in the Wilderness campaign to travel to Iraq in deliberate and public violation of U.S. law. The thirteenth delegation will depart Chicago on Monday, June 29, 1998, in defiance of a U.S. State Department travel ban and Treasury Office regulations which prohibit Americans from engaging in any transactions related to travel to and within Iraq, and include penalties of 12 years in prison and over $1 million in fines.

Asked about the State Department travel ban, delegation member Andrea Crouse stated "democracy is based on information and our delegations return with crucial information about civilian suffering they've witnessed in Iraq. The travel ban is anti-democratic, because it prevents people from seeing the consequences of U.S. policies and evaluating these policies for themselves."

Recent allegations of Iraq's purported development of VX nerve gas-- prior to the 1991 Gulf War -- draws attention from economic sanctions, which remain the uncontested weapon of mass destruction in Iraq today. Delegation member Steve Jacobs stated that sanctions "have already killed nearly a million people and, according to UNICEF, continue to claim the lives of over 4,500 children each month." Calling for an end to sanctions, Jacobs added, "This policy is silent yet deadly warfare. It is a crime against humanity, for it makes innocent civilians the main victims of a siege enforced by military might"

Members of the campaign advocate nonviolence as a means for social change and oppose the development, storage and use - in any country - of weapons of mass destruction, be they nuclear, chemical, biological or economic.

Delegation members include: Jeff Stack, a freelance journalist from Columbia, MO; Alan Pogue, photo journalist from Austin, TX; Rick McDowell , who has traveled to Iraq 5 times since August, 1996, from Atlanta, GA; Andrea Crouse, a student activist and Catholic worker from Duluth; and Stephen Jacobs, a registered nurse from Columbia, MO.

Flight Information:

LV Chicago Royal Jordanian FL 264 9:00pm AR Amman 6/30 6:30pm LV Amman RJ FL 263 12:20pm AR Chicago 7:00pm

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Voices in the Wilderness A Campaign to End the US/UN Economic Sanctions Against the People of Iraq
1460 West Carmen Ave. Chicago, IL 60640
ph:773-784-8065; f: 773-784-8837
email: kkelly@igc.apc.org