While I enjoyed Sunday’s article on the Columbus Coalition for a Democratic Foreign Policy (Page 1), I was disappointed that the Tribune ignored the activism taking place in its own Chicago area.
On Feb. 27 at the Daley Center, approximately 1,000 individuals demonstrated against sanctions on Iraq. The following day, approximately 300 people marched for the same reason. The first rally was organized by the University of Chicago-based Iraq Anti-Sanctions Coalition and Save the Children of Iraq, a task force created by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. It was cosponsored by many other organizations with representation in the Chicago area.
The Iraq Anti-Sanctions Coalition was established by a group of University of Chicago students who wanted to draw attention to the suffering that sanctions inflict upon the Iraqi people. The sanctions deprive the Iraqi people of the means to buy food and medicine, along with everything else necessary for survival. As a result, more than 1.2 million Iraqis have died since the policy began; 30 percent of Iraqi children suffer from chronic malnutrition; and 4,500 Iraqi children die each month from hunger and disease because hospitals lack vaccines, antibiotics and basic medical equipment. I think that 1,000 people rallying to draw attention to this tragedy merited mention in your newspaper.
