Military Families Call for End to Iraq Occupation and Return Home of U.S. Troops

Interview with Susan Schuman, Military Families Speak Out, conducted by Scott Harris

Even as President Bush and Paul Bremer, the U.S administrator in Baghdad, talk optimistically about the progress being made in stabilizing Iraq, new guerrilla attacks on American forces and other targets there have escalated. A truck bomb driven into Baghdad's Canal Hotel on Aug. 19 destroyed the United Nation's headquarters, killing the top U.N. diplomat in Iraq. Another truck bomb destroyed the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad earlier in the month.

These attacks, along with a string of other assaults on Iraq's oil, water and electric power infrastructure, point to a new pattern of economic sabotage and strikes at civilian targets. Meanwhile, guerrilla forces, thought to be remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime or Islamic nationalists, continue to attack U.S. troops, with the death toll exceeding more than 260 soldiers since president Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq on March 20. The deepening conflict has also claimed the lives of increasing numbers of Iraqi civilians and other noncombatants. An award-winning cameraman for Reuters, Mazen Dana, was shot and killed by U.S. troops Aug. 18 in what the Pentagon described as "another tragic incident."

With the danger growing for U.S. troops in Iraq, some family members of military personnel stationed there have begun publicly calling for an end to the occupation and a speedy return of American forces. Susan Schuman of the group Military Families Speak Out has a son in the Massachusetts National guard deployed in Northern Iraq. She recently helped launch a national campaign with a coalition of veterans and peace groups called "Bring Them Home Now." She spoke with Between The Lines' Scott Harris about the goals of the campaign and the hardships and demoralization she believes are plaguing American troops serving in Iraq.

Visit Military Families Speak Out at www.mfso.org and the Bring Them Home Now campaign at www.bringhomenow.org

Related links:

"Massive Explosion at U.N. Headquarters in Iraq," www.truthout.org, Aug. 18, 2003, CBS video in RealVideo (needs RealOne Player), and "At Least 14 Are Killed in Bombing of U.N. Headquarters in Baghdad, " by Dexter Filkins and Richard A. Oppel Jr., The New York Times, Aug. 19, 2003

Campaign Wants U.S. Troops Home From Iraq," by Elizabeth Wolfe, The Associated Press, Aug. 13, 2003

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