September 5, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

I have never met Dr. Dhafir and I cannot read his mind. But I suspect his reasons for civil disobedience were similar to mine. During the 90's the United States waged an intentional, genocidal assault against the 25 million innocent Iraqi civilians, especially targeting the most vulnerable of their society - the infants and the elderly.

In 1990, prior to the sanctions, the Defense Intelligence Agency did a study (DIA filename: 511rept.91), declassified in 1995, in which they determined that within six months of imposing sanctions, Iraq's water-treatment facilities would be degraded to the point where there would be outbreaks, "if not epidemics," of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhus, and dysentery.

Instead of waiting six months however for the sanctions to take hold, the US military waited only two and then hastened the process by bombing nearly every water-treatment facility in Iraq.

The US military views targets such as water systems, roads, or hospitals, as "COG's," Centers of Gravity (Air Force Doctrine Document 2-1.2). By striking the most crucial civilian infrastructure, they reason, you quickly destroy civil society. (Never mind that those targeted in Iraq had no say in their government, or that when the Iraqi people revolted against Saddam Hussein in 1991 we turned the other way.)

The intentional poisoning of Iraq's drinking water followed by 13 years of sanctions, which prohibited the importation of even simple diarrhea medicines, fulfilled the DIA's prediction. According to Unicef, more than 500,000 children under the age of 5 - (over 1,000,000 Iraqis total) died as a direct result of the sanctions, as planned.

The sanctions have been called a WMD by some, germ warfare by others. As a judge you must know that to militarily target civilian infrastructure violates Geneva Convention Article 54 and is therefore a war crime. To pass laws that prohibit sick children from receiving medicine is likewise unconscionable. I can only assume that as a doctor who's taken the Hippocratic Oath and a man of Iraqi decent, Dr. Dhafir, when confronted with the agonizing deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi babies, obeyed a higher law than that of the US'.

Given that at least thirteen humanitarian organizations openly violated the sanctions in Iraq, and given that 57 corporations, including Halliburton and Exxonmobil, violated sanctions in other countries - for profit rather than humanitarian reasons, why is Dr. Rafil Dhafir the only person ever to be criminally charged? Is it because he's Arab and Muslim?

Why aren't we trying the real criminals in this case? Why are so many others, myself included, allowed to walk free while Dr. Dhafir faces over 250 years in prison? Please, Judge Mordue, throw this case out.

Respectfully,

Douglas Johnson
Louisville, Kentucky 40205

Subject: in Defense of Dr. Dhafir

Judge Norman A. Mordue

Dear Judge Mordue,

I am a retired college teacher and I joined an organization, Voices in the Wilderness, in bringing toys and medicines to Iraq before this last war. I had been in Iraq in 1990 when our assignment, with the Fellowoship of Reconciliation, was to work for the release of hostages then being held by Saddam Hussein. We were able to bring 4 of those U.S. citizens home.

When this current war was gaining momentum and we saw the devastating effects of the years of sanctions on the lives of innocent Iraqis, many of us joined the efforts Voices had been making for years in trying to help lessen the suffering and death there.

I understand, now, that our government is charging Dr. Rahfil Dahfir, an oncologist who workes in Syracuse, N.Y.for sending humanitarian aid to civilians, just as we have done.

Dr. Dahfir has been held without bail since his arrest on Feb. 26, 2003.

He is both an Iraqi and a Muslim and has worked for years to help and heal others. He has been singled out for this prosecution and faces a possible 265 years in prison. He is the only person in the U.S. to be charged criminally for provinding humanitarian aid to the Iraqis.

I want to support Dr. Dahfir and his efforts both here in the U.S. and in Iraq to alleviate human suffering , and I ask that as he comes to appear before you , that you open your own heart to this terrible situation that has taken the lives of so many of our own service people and thousands of Iraqi, and to speak to the injustice of this situation by your own actions in this case.

Your decision in this case may help, at least in part, to redeem the justice system, our Constitution , and our nation¹s integrity in the face of the the abuses of both the Patriot Act and the situations that have come to light in the prisons in Iraq , Afganistan and Guantanmo.

I thank you for reading this letter.

Sincerely,

Lynn MacMichael

Wawona, Yosemite National Park, California

San Francisco, Ca.

August 23, 2004

Re: Dr. Rafil Dhafir

To: Judge Norman Mordue

Sir,

As a member of Voices in the Wilderness (traveled to Iraq), I aware that many people felt that the sanctions against Iraq were immoral and cruel for the Iraqi people and many sent humanitarian aid to civilians there.

Why is Dr. Dhafir being singled out for prosecution? Please release him from prison and protect from further punishment. Providing care to the sick and needy is a virtue not a crime. Thanks you,

Elizabeth Boardman

Syracuse, NY 13204

September 9, 2004

Dear Judge Mordue,

I count myself among the many Central New Yorkers who provided financial support for medical supplies and humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq during the U.S.-led economic sanctions against Iraq.

The chilling figures from the United Nations about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi, particularly children, who died because of the lack of basic medical supplies and clean drinking water during the sanctions will long be remembered.

For the children of Iraq,

Paul Frazier

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