11 years have passed...


March 19, 2014

Dear Activist,

Every year I relive in my head the day the first bomb was dropped and felt the ground shake as if it was yesterday. The sounds of sirens still ringing in my ears and the beaming lights of an explosion near by breaking through the room. 11 years have passed since I last saw our home, and every year I think maybe next year it will be better and perhaps next year I will be back home, walking by the river Tigris and breathing in its breeze.

Every year I have the same dream, the same hope, and every year it gets harder and harder. Especially when the country is now ruled by blood-thirsty war lords who care more about how much they own in their bank accounts rather than how much they can work for their country.

It becomes harder when the only time you can see your country is through pictures and videos posted on the internet, or when you talk to your family and you don’t recognize them anymore. You don’t recognize the people, the country. Everything that you once knew is gone, and what is left is a shadow of a memory of a place called home. Now, I find myself living as a refugee in the United States.

On this day, I will always remember what it used to be living in Iraq, and I will always dream of the day my country is free and I will be home again sipping cardamom tea by the river Tigris.

Watch Farah tonight on livestream at 6pm PST as she moderates a panel remembering Iraq! Everyone is invited to participate in the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #Justice4Iraq. You can add a #Justice4Iraq support ribbon to your Facebook and Twitter avatar.

CODEPINK continues to provide a glimmer of hope in seeking accountability for the previous administrations crimes against Iraq. We are supporting the efforts of Iraq Witness in waging a lawsuit against key members of the Bush Administration: Bush, Cheney Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice and Powell. The good news is that the lawsuit will come before a judge in Federal Court on April 3 in San Francisco. You can count on us being there in full force!

Thank you for your efforts in making peace a living reality,
Farah Muhsin, CODEPINK organizer