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Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group
  PO Box 42456
  Portland, OR 97242
  (503) 236-3065t
  iraq@pjw.info
  http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.htmll


NEWS ITEM

For immediate release      March 19, 2013

            EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY, VISIBILITY ACTION
            TO MARK 10 YEARS SINCE INVASION OF IRAQ
               TODAY Tuesday, March 19, 2013
      3:30-5:30 PM: Visibility Action: "US Out of Iraq"
                 at SW Broadway & Morrison
     7 PM: Cathy Breen, Voices for Creative Nonviolence,
     "Eyewitness 10 Years Later: What Iraqis Are Saying"
      First Unitarian Church-Eliot Chapel 1011 SW 12th

Today, Tuesday, March 19 marks exactly 10 years since the US invasion of
Iraq, an ignoble anniversary to be marked by two events for peace in
Portland. The first is a visibility action, "US Out of Iraq!" to be held
at the corner of SW Broadway and Morrison from 3:30 to 5:30 PM. The second
will feature Cathy Breen of Voices for Creative Nonviolence who spent six
weeks in Iraq in October and November 2012, speaking on "Eyewitness 10
Years Later: What Iraqis Are Saying." Ms. Breen will speak at 7 PM in the
Eliot Chapel at First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th in downtown Portland.

Cathy Breen lives and works at one of the Catholic Worker houses of
hospitality in NY City. Her solo visit to Iraq was her first in nine years
and brought stories of the conditions of the country after being invaded,
occupied and wracked with violence. She will present photos and stories to
bring the humanity of ordinary Iraqis to the audience.

Breen went to Iraq in Fall of 2002 with Voices in the Wilderness as part
of the Iraq Peace Team, staying for over five months including through the
"Shock and Awe" bombing campaign led by the U.S. She returned to Iraq in
late 2003 for another three month visit. Since 2006, she has spent time in
Jordan and Syria witnessing and advocating for Iraqi refugees of the
aftermath of the US invasion. (Some of her writings can be found at
<http://vcnv.org/category/writings-by-cathy-breen>.)

Breen will be present for the visibility action, along with Pastor Mark
Knutson of Augustana Lutheran Church, who engaged in a civil disobedience
action at the Portland Federal Building on the very afternoon the Iraq
invasion occurred in 2003.

Portlanders spoke out strongly when at least 30,000(*1) marched downtown
just days before the war started. Since that time, the country's economic
downturn, in no small part caused by the US' 
.4 trillion military
interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan,(*2) more and more people are
struggling to stay afloat financially, diverting attention away from US
foreign policy.

Information being assessed at this important 10 year marker includes the
continued U.S. presence in Iraq (including the world's largest
embassy[*3]), the ambivalence of the Iraqi people after a decade of
carnage(*4), and the legacy of warfare in the form of Depleted
Uranium.(*5) ***A fact sheet relating information on these and other
topics created by the Peace and Justice Works (PJW) Iraq Affinity Group
has been posted on line at <http://www.pjw.info/iraq10YLnews.pdf>.***

Both events are free and open to the public, and coordinated by the PJW
Iraq Affinity Group. The Visibility Action is cosponsored by Veterans for
Peace Chapter 72 and Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom-Portland. Ms. Breen's visit is funded in part by PJW's Ruth Holt
Memorial Peace Journey Fund, and is cosponsored by the First Unitarian
Church Peace Action Group, American Friends Service Committee and Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom-Portland. Ms. Breen will also
be speaking in Eugene, OR on Wednesday, March 20, and at various sites in
Seattle from Thursday, March 21 through Saturday, March 23. For other
events around the 10 year anniversary of the 2003 US invasion visit the
PJW website at http://www.pjw.info. For more information or to get
involved contact PJW at 503-236-3065 or iraq @ pjw.info.

Event flyers:
Flyer (both events)
   http://www.pjw.info/iraq_10yl_flyer.pdf
Flyer (talk only)
   http://www.pjw.info/iraq_10yl_breen_flyer.pdf
1/4 page flyer (talk only)
   http://www.pjw.info/iraq_10yl_breen_flyer4up.pdf

--*1. New York Times, March 16, 2003, "THREATS AND RESPONSES: DISSENT;
Tens of Thousands March Against Iraq War";
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/national/16PROT.html?ex=1048829958&ei=1&en=0b5fdf1a4de906c8
--*2. http://costofwar.com
--*3. Associated Press, December 17, 2012, "1 year later: U.S.-Iraq ties
still evolving";
http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2012/12/ap-us-iraq-ties-still-evolving-year-after-wars-end-121712/
--*4. The Guardian, March 9, 2013, "Saddam's statue: the bitter regrets of
Iraq's sledgehammer man";
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/09/saddam-hussein-statue-kadom-al-jabourir-sledgehammer
--*5. The Guardian, March 3, 2013. "Iraq's depleted uranium clean-up to cost
$30m as contamination spreads"'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/06/iraq-depleted-uranium-clean-up-contamination-spreads

(March 14 version of this news release, which does not include the link
to the fact sheet, is available as PDF at
<http://www.pjw.info/iraq10YLnews.pdf>)
 

Peace and Justice Works (PJW) has been actively educating and demonstrating for peace since 1992. PJW promotes non-violent conflict resolution on local, national and international levels. Iraq Affinity Group, addressing the U.S. invasion/occupation, meets monthly, usually second Tuesdays. Portland Copwatch, focusing on police accountability, usually meets first Mondays. Other issues include former Yugoslovia, School of the Americas. General meetings 3-4 time a year.