Dr. Katrin Michael is from Northern Iraq; she joined the Kurdish-based Iraqi resistance movement in 1982 to fight against Saddam Hussein’s regime. A victim of chemical bombings by Saddam’s forces, she fled Iraq in 1988. "As a woman who wages peace, and who has lived through war, I appeal to all people, but especially women and peace activists, to support American actions to remove Saddam Hussein. After twenty-six years of resistance activities against Saddam, I have come to the conclusion that only support from outside Iraq can bring an end to the nightmare of his rule. "I have experienced first hand the ravages Saddam Hussein's wars against the Iraqi people. He is one of the world's most brutal and violent tyrants in power. He does not hesitate to have young girls arrested, as I was at the age of fourteen merely because I joined the Iraqi Women's League. Throughout the 1980s and as recently as 1998, Saddam experimented with chemical and biological weapons in massive bombing campaigns against civilian populations in Northern and Southern Iraq. I was caught in one of these bombing campaigns, and watched people die around me. I continue to suffer to this day from lung, nerve and eye damage caused by these weapons. "No one in Iraq is immune from Saddam's brutality… but women's groups in the West should know that Saddam specifically targets women as part of his broader policies of intimidation. A commonly used form of torture is to bring in detainee's female relative, preferably his wife, daughter or mother, and gang rape her in front him. How many men can bear to subject their female relatives to such brutality? Iraqis in exile receive videotapes of their female relatives in Iraq being raped. Is it any surprise that Iraqi scientists refuse to speak to weapons inspectors?" A Kurd from Northern Iraq, Kanar Sarraj worked with a humanitarian organization in the early 1990s, assisting the victims of Saddam Hussein. She was evacuated to the United States in 1996. "Those who question the need to remove Saddam fail to grasp that he is a danger to the whole world. They worry about the casualties of a war – but what about the people that Saddam arbitrarily executes to terrorize the population? They worry about the refugees created by war – but what about the millions of refugees from Saddam’s ethnic cleansing campaigns? They worry about the humanitarian consequences of war – but what about the consequences of Saddam’s forced starvation policies? "These protestors claim to stand for peace, but there can never be peace unless people stand up against tyrants like Saddam."

=================================== Gee, I guess I've been living under a bunch of false assumptions. 1) I thought Saddam was "rid of" for some time now? If so, why would you write all that in support of doing something that had already been done? And, do you now propose the US invade Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and all other governments where people have been suppressed by government sanctioned torture and violence? 2) I thought that we've lost thousands of troops, for no reason (even after Saddam was removed), since "Mission Accomplished?" 3) The fact that a protester, even Dr. Katrin Michael, decries crimes committed by the government of her country is NOT a prima facie reason for another country to attack, invade and occupy said country. If it were, what country do I go to with my complaints of war crimes and other breaches of duty committed by the Bush/Cheney Repugnants? 4) Instead of giving Dr. Katrin Michael's complaints from 1988, I wonder how she feels about her fellow Kurd's current attempts to split from "their country" and take the oil wealth with them. Isn't that something that Dr. Katrin Michael and her acolytes should protest today?