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| Operation Desert Haven |
A group of citizens based in Birmingham, UK have come together to create Operation Desert Haven.
Operation Desert Haven has both a short term and a long term focus. In the long term Operation Desert Haven wishes to see non-combatants left out of violent confrontations.
Non-combatants have often been the victims of violent conflicts. Over two thousand Birmingham residents died in the bombing of Birmingham in the second world war. Twenty-one more were killed in the Birmingham Pub Bombings in 1974. In recent years violence in the World Trade Centre, Afghanistan, Bali, Palestine, Israel, The Balkans, Kashmir, Moscow and Chechnya have all seen non-combatants killed at the hands of fighters.
If we are to move to a world in which there is less conflict and violence then the first step has to be to make all possible efforts to take non-combatants out of the fighting.
The first place where an important difference can be made to take the world in a different direction is Iraq. A war is not totally certain in Iraq, but it has to be seen as very likely. There are 22 million people living in Iraq. There may be an army of 1 Million, but that means there are 21 million non-combatants in Iraq.
Operation Desert Haven sees its first key priority as protecting the civilians in Iraq. It is working with people from the Iraqi refugee communities and others to put together plans which save civilian lives.
One of Operation Desert Haven’s objectives is the reason for its name. The creation of Desert Havens which are areas which the US/UK agree not to attack would enable the civilians to get away from the fighting without having to leave the country.
It is true that such proposals are open to abuse. They may even delay the progress of any action. However, we believe it is important that the US and UK put some effort into protecting civilians even if it delays their war strategy.
The world needs to start going down a different path. The US and UK governments have the choice as to the path they wish to take. Operation Desert Haven is calling for a strategy to protect non-combatants throughout the world starting in Iraq.
Statement ODH 9th November 2002.
If you would wish further information about ODH please add yourself to the mailing list by clicking
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