Why a Campaign?

Since August 6, 1990, the Iraqi population has lived under international economic sanctions. The sanctions, originally imposed to force Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, have so far resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths among civilians, mainly children under the age of five. The sanctions are considered the most comprehensive economic blockade imposed on a nation-state in modern history. The Fellowship of Reconciliation says that "the time has come to stop the killing of Iraqi children, and to lift the sanctions now."

Today, vast areas of the country have no potable water. A lack of basic pharmaceuticals, ambulances, X-ray machines and other vital supplies have decimated the entire Iraqi health care infrastructure, which previously was modern and effective. Education, once excellent, now suffers under the weight of the embargo, with desks, books, and other items in short supply. Malnutrition has skyrocketed and children are dying from the most curable of diseases. Two pounds of meat cost more than a teacher earns in one month and Iraqis are selling everything from household furniture to family heirlooms just to survive. Isolated and disheartened, an entire generation is growing up under complete (and preventable) deprivation.

What is the Campaign of Conscience?

In 1999, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the American Friends Service Committee launched the Campaign of Conscience as a nonviolent initiative to help end sanctions on Iraq. The Campaign of Conscience has identified a range of items urgently needed by the Iraqi people: both humanitarian assistance and equipment desperately needed to rebuild the civilian infrastructure ravaged by wars and over a decade of sanctions.

In June of 2000, we applied for the requisite U.S. Treasury Department licenses to ship four gas chlorinators (water purifiers) to Iraq, but they were not granted. Although shipping humanitarian aid to Iraqi citizens without licenses is considered a violation of U.S. law, we sent the gas chlorinators to the Islamic Relief Association in Amman, Jordan on October 3, 2000 with a license still pending from the Treasury Department. The water purifiers have now arrived in Baghdad; each accompanied by one year’s supply of chlorine gas.  One purifier has been installed and three await installation. Each gas chlorinator is capable of purifying one million gallons of water each day.

All participants were asked to sign statements that their contributions to the Campaign will be used toward the purchase of items, which could have been shipped without licenses. By signing the form, the participant asserted her/his knowledge that contributions for items shipped without licenses may be considered a violation of the law.

Currently the CoC’s Water Project in Iraq is considered to be a legal humanitarian operation conducted through the Life for Relief & Development; a US based Islamic charity organization which is licensed from the US government, the United Nations and the government of Iraq. However, there is a possibility, at any point in time, that the US government will decide to criminalize the operation by refusing to renew the license of the Life for Relief & Development - all organizations and individuals participating in the Campaign of Conscience should be aware of possible consequences. They must weigh the possible legal consequences of action against the moral consequences of inaction, factoring in the poignant appeal made by Mairead Corrigan Maguire, 1976 Nobel Peace laureate from Northern Ireland:

"In fifty years, the next generation will ask:
'What were you doing when the children of Iraq were dying?'"

From CoC to the Iraq Peace Pledge

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington D.C., the Bush Administration waged a global war against what it labeled as “terrorist organizations” and the “states sponsoring them”.  Topping the list of these so-called rogue states was Iraq, a country already torn apart by years of economic sanctions and two major wars in the past two decades.

In response to the threat of military operation against Iraq, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, joined by the American Friends Service Committee and Voices in the Wilderness, proposes an all-out national and international effort to prevent this escalation. As phase III of the Campaign of Conscience, we suggested an immediate and pro-active Peace Pledge project co-sponsored by the major national peace organizations and faith communities. This effort to prevent an all-out war on Iraq was soon joined by over a dozen peace organizations nationwide and thousands of concerned citizens both from the US and overseas.

Although the Fellowship of Reconciliation still collects money for the Water Project and continues to work with AFSC on providing Iraqi civilians with purified water, currently the focus of the FOR’s Iraq program is on mobilizing the American public to prevent another deadly war between Iraq and US.