Free Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a good hearted medical doctor, whose organization, Help the Needy, provided badly needed medical supplies and food to Iraqi children, over half a million of whom died under the age of 5 due to the draconian sanctions our country inflicted on Iraq, while oil company executives who out and out broke the law by trading billions of $ with Saddam Hussein, remain unprosecuted.
The timeline below is composed of quotes and redactions from John Pilger's informative article about Dr. Rafil Dhafir, The political trial of a caring man and the end of justice in America, November 8, 2012:
Dr. Dhafir was set up by Republicans to propagandize war in Iraq. Republican politicians lied about his humanitarian organization aiding and abetting terrorism, which clearly it did not. Now that we have re-elected President Obama and a majority of Democrats to the U.S. Senate, there is no excuse not to free this cancer specialist who kindly tried to limit collateral damage caused by Iraqi sanctions by feeding and supplying medicine to children.
- [Dr. Dhafir] asked US officials if his humanitarian aid organization, Help the Needy, to Iraq was legal and was assured it was.
- On 26 February 2003, one month before the invasion, [Dr. Dhafir's] front door was smashed down, his wife had guns pointed at her head, and Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a prominent cancer specialist in Syracuse, New York, was arrested by federal agents and interrogated about the charity he had founded, Help the Needy.
- On the day of the arrest, Bush's attorney-general, John Ashcroft, announced that "funders of terrorism" had been caught.
- More than $2 million was raised for his surety and several people pledged their homes; yet he was refused bail six times.
- He was "offered" the prospect of a lesser sentence if he pleaded guilty and he refused on principle.
- For refusing, he was punished with added charges, including defrauding the Medicare system, a "crime" based on not having filled out claim forms correctly, and money laundering and tax evasion, inflated technicalities related to the charitable status of Help the Needy.
- The then Governor of New York, George Pataki described Dr. Dhafir and the supporters of Help the Needy as "terrorists living here in New York among us ... who are supporting and aiding and abetting those who would destroy our way of life and kill our friends and neighbours".
- Osama bin Laden, who not only had nothing to do with Dr. Dhafir, but nothing to do with Iraq, was mentioned during the trial, but the defense was not allowed to answer the heavy hints by the prosectution that Dr. Dhafir was aiding and abetting terrorism by striking terrorism from the procedings.
- Judge Norman Mordue sentenced [Dr. Dhafir] to 22 years in prison.
- US State Department breached its own sanctions to the tune of $10 billion.
- No executive of the oil companies that did billions of dollars of illegal business with Saddam Hussein during the embargo has been prosecuted.
Over half a million Iraqi children died as a result of the Iraqi sanctions. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and Saddam Hussein had no hand in 9/11. Dr. Dhafir was not a terrorist, nor did his organization give aid and comfort to terrorists.
Free Dr. Dhafir. Do the right thing. End this injustice now.
Below the embracing squiggles are actions you can take now to help Dr. Dhafir.