CINDY SHEEHAN
Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, is currently in Washington, D.C., and will be participating in a vigil with other members of Gold Star Families for Peace in front of the White House this week. She said today: “Mahatma Gandhi stated: ‘Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the State becomes lawless and corrupt.’ Throughout this week we will be fasting for the length of the vigil in solidarity with the hardships that Americans and Iraqis are enduring on a daily basis. … Every day at 6 p.m. we will have a ‘die-in.’ We will ask everyone who is present at 6 p.m. to lie down and represent a dead soldier.”
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MELANIE HOUSE
MIMI EVANS
House, of Simi Valley, Calif., is a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. Her husband, Petty Officer 3rd Class John D. House, was killed in Iraq early this year. He never saw his baby son.

Evans, of West Barnstable, Mass., is a member of Military Families Speak Out. Her son is a U.S. Marine and was deployed to Iraq in August 2005. He is expecting his first child in April 2006. House and Evans are among the many military family members — some of whom have had their loved ones killed in Iraq, some awaiting their return — from around the country available for interviews.

[Hundreds of related events are happening around the country today; see American Friends Service Committee’s website for a complete list.] More Information
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SEAN O’NEILL
CAMILO MEJIA
O’Neill is a decorated Marine who was twice deployed to Iraq. A member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, he said today: “I hope that this milestone marks the point when the American people realize the U.S. military is not going to stop the violence in Iraq, and they instead start demanding a political solution to this problem.”

Mejia is an Iraq combat veteran who served a year in prison for refusing to return to the war in Iraq. He is also a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He said today: “The clock has stopped ticking for 2,000 Americans in Iraq, and once again there is a … reason for people to pay closer attention to the human cost of a lie, but for how long this time? Should we only count by each thousand? Perhaps it’s time for the American public to realize that each death counts, American, Iraqi, or otherwise. Perhaps it’s time for us to keep counting until the war stops. In all our idleness and complacency that’s the least we owe to the families of those fallen for this lie; God knows their suffering never ends.”
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KATHY KELLY
Co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Kelly said today: “From now until Oct. 28, in locations across the U.S. and the U.K., bells will toll in remembrance of the more than 100,000 Iraqis who have died as a consequence of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. In 100 locations listed at Iraq Mortality, participants in the ‘100,000 Rings’ campaign will ring a bell once a minute, for 1,000 minutes, to express grief and condolence for every life lost as a result of the U.S. bombing, invasion and occupation of Iraq.” Kelly is author of the book Other Lands Have Dreams and the recent article “For Whom They Toll.”
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MILAN RAI
Rai is author of the book War Plan Iraq and the recent article “Iraq Mortality,” which examines the various major studies on the subject and concludes that “When we take account of the different categories being measured by the United Nations Development Program’s Iraqi Living Conditions Survey, the Lancet study, and the Iraq Body Count reported death toll, and the different time periods that they measure, the three estimates seem to be mutually reinforcing rather than mutually contradictory.”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167