Welcome to the Iraq Peace Team website
Since September 2002, seasoned nonviolent activists have been on the ground in Iraq working in tandem with those in the United States and the world who seek to prevent a U.S. attack on Iraq. Initiated by Voices in the Wilderness, Iraq Peace Team will remain in Iraq in the event of an attack with these intentions:
- We will live among the Iraqi people during any aggression directed at them, including continued economic sanctions.
- We will use our presence and non-violent actions to witness, understand and expose the situation of both the civilian population of Iraq and highlight the importance of facilities such as water purification plants that are critical to daily life.
- We will report on our experiences in Iraq through this website, our support teams, and all who will listen.
Iraq Peace Team is not affiliated with Human Shield projects. Though we hope to remain in Iraq in the event of an attack, we don't consider ourselves “human shields." IPT exists to stand in solidarity with the peoples of Iraq. Voices in the Wilderness refuses to incorporate military language or ideas to describe the peace witness of IPT members.
Please check in often and get involved in whatever way you can. Your voice is needed to say “No!” to continued US attacks on Iraq.
IPT/Voices in the Wilderness contact info:
Tel: (773) 784-8065 Fax: (773) 784-8837
e-mail: info@vitw.org
What's New:
April 30, 2003
IPT Update: Where is Madame Cynthia? by Kathy Kelly
Cynthia, a 72 year old librarian from Vernon, New York, has spent decades working for peace. Her work has taken her to beleagured communities in Central America and Haiti. With Voices in the Wilderness she has joined forty day fasts, spent many nights in New York City jails, and helped lead delegations to break the economic sanctions. This was her first time living in a war zone. Without fail, she flinched at each explosion. “What are we going to do?” I whispered to Cathy after the first day of the war. “Cynthia's liable to have a heart attack.” Cynthia's heartbeat is strong as ever, but yes, each blast struck her in the deep heart's core. Mortars, anti-aircraft, cluster bombs, land mines, cruise missiles, Massive Ordnance Air Bombs, the roar of C-130 transports, JDAMs, Rocket Propelled Grenades, --each and every one of the murderous, ugly attacks on human decency ripped into her mind and heart and she visibly cringed. She is the bravest woman I know.
April 18, 2003
IPT Update: Heavy and Hopeless
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."News from Baghdad: we learned just a few hours ago that following a meeting between IPT members and representatives of the US Military’s Civil Operations Center (CMOC), all Voices in the Wilderness members are banned from the Palestine Hotel, home not only to CMOC but also the international press corps.
April 15, 2003
The Latest IPT Updates:
Call to Action on Tax Day
Currently, the US government is spending $1.1 billion daily to finance its war on Iraq... Monstrous amounts of dollars which could reinvigorate our ailing health, housing, and school systems are instead diverted to increase the profits of defense corporations and simultaneously destroy life. As federal support for education programs are slashed and more and more young people are told by military recruiters that the best way they can get a college education is to enlist, the spirit of our society takes a beating.
Do You Try to Put Yourselves in Our Shoes?
It looks like we're on "lock-down" for a while longer. Iraqi minders are gone, --US soldiers are here. They're uncoiling barbed wire at the intersection. Anyone wanting to walk across the street is stopped, questioned and searched. Since I began this letter, there have been four huge explosions nearby. Looting and burning continue, here in Baghdad. I'm sick of war-disgusted to the point of nausea. I think all of us at this intersection, residents of the Al Fanar, journalists in the Palestine Hotel next door, and soldiers on patrol, share the same queasy ill feeling. The line, "War is the health of the state" makes no sense whatsoever here.
April 11, 2003
IPT Press Release: “The Picture From The Red Crosses Office in Baghdad… Can Be Summed Up In Two Words: Anarchy and Chaos.”
Mary Trotochaud of Voices in The Wilderness attended today's daily U.N. Press Briefing at the Intercontinental Hotel in Amman, Jordan.
April 1, 2003
IPT Update: Another Team Arrives Safely in Amman
Last night we received word that 13 members of our team in Baghdad would be leaving Iraq. We woke up this morning to CNN reports that a convoy of as many as 20 'human shields' leaving Iraq for Jordan were attacked by US missiles. This brief note is to let you all know that the reports are false. The story was first reported by Iraqi State radio and picked up by the BBC. At the height of panic, a call came in from the Jordan border: our team was safe and headed for Amman.
March 31, 2003
IPT Update: The Monster is Coming
"Amal has paid a high price for guessing wrongly about whether or not the US would wage a massive attack against Iraq. She didn’t bother to safeguard her impressive collection of valuable artwork, books, and other belongings. She and her friends aren’t guessing now. They are positive that US warmakers will pay a lethal and grisly price for any attempts to overtake and occupy Iraq. 'We will lose the battle, but the US is not the winner,' she vowed. 'The children talk about the monster coming. We will push back the monster, with our hands.'"
March 28, 2003
IPT Update: "Left to the little ones"
"It must not be thought ... that the Peace Team is simply about on-site reporting. There are all too many of those kind of reporters around. Their task is to report what they see so that their corporate masters can decide what others should see. With a few exceptions they are interested only in sound bites and superficial selective reporting. It is left to the 'little ones' like Voices in the Wilderness and the Iraq Peace Team to report it as it is. War remains for us the prime cause of human suffering, not only in acts done but in budgets spent. The initial cost of waging this war was set yesterday at 74 billion dollars and this is the down payment. We see war as stupid. There is nothing on this planet that does more to create human misery than war." More IPT updates...
March 27, 2003
Call to Action from Iraq: How We Can Stop the US War on Iraq
Many US Americans are working to end the war. Many seek to increase their resistance, to up the ante. April 15th -- income tax day -- could not come at a more opportune time. Tax resistance, if perpetrated on a wide scale, could end the war. Read more...
Priest Returns to Chicago after Witnessing War in Baghdad
Fr. Jerry Zawada returns to the United States tonight after 6 weeks in Iraq with the peace initiative Iraq Peace Team. Zawada was witness to the first few days of the US-led military bombardment of Baghdad as well as the militarized areas between Baghdad and Amman. See press release.
March 24, 2003
Americans in Iraq Speaking Against War
 This smoke-filled skyline shows the Al Fanar hotel, on the banks of the Tigris river in Baghdad where many IPT members are currently staying.
photo from Al Jazeera
Voices in the Wilderness’ 27 Iraq Peace Team (IPT) members are continuing independent reporting from downtown locations in Baghdad where they remain to help Iraqi citizens as they struggle to survive through bombardment and invasion. Our press release.
March 19, 2003
4603 Days of Sanctions May Be Ending - New Phase of War Crime Poised to Begin
At 3:00PM today, Wednesday, March 19 the Iraq Peace Team will hold a solemn procession in Baghdad to mark the likely end of 4603 days of sanctions and to lament the likely beginning of an accelerated stage in the U.S. war on Iraq. Our press release.
March 18, 2003
Americans with Iraq Peace Team Will Remain in Iraq to Witness
Dozens of American citizens and other internationals commit to remain in Iraq, despite the threat of a US attack. They continue to support and help Iraqi citizens who, through no fault of their own, face imminent attack in an illegal US-led war. Our press release.
March 12, 2003
UN Evacuates From Iraq, Peaceworkers Vow to Stay
 From its tent encampment across the road from the Canal Hotel UN Compound, IPT, with deep regret, bid farewell to departing United Nations staff. While weapons inspectors and UN senior staff remain in Baghdad, the vast majority of international staff were involuntarily evacuated by the UN from Iraq on Wednesday. The Team posted signs saying, "Farewell UN. Please advise: Who will protect Iraq's children?" As UN vehicles departed, the Team lined the road bearing enlarged photos of Iraqi children and civilians. More...
March 9, 2003
Major Iraq Peace Team Site Overhaul
We have stripped the IPT site of everything not directly related to the operations and orgainizing of IPT. For background and news & analysis please visit the Voices in the Wilderness site and ElectronicIraq.net.
March 3, 2003
Iraq Peace Team's call to STOP the Iraq war before it escalates to “Shock and Awe”
February 25, 2003
Iraq Peace Team members travel to Demilitarized Zone along the Iraq-Kuwait border to establish a Peace Tent:
"It is half-past the eleventh hour to preserve peace and avert unimaginable suffering," said Charlie Liteky, 72, a Viet Nam Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, from San Francisco. "With all our hearts we hope that our messages to the 90,000 American troops waiting in Kuwait and to American peace activists back home can help prevent a war."
February 13, 2003
Vietnam Vet leaves with next Iraq Peace Team delegation. See the press release.
February 2, 2003
IPT responds to President's State of the Union Address:
What's New Archive
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