A Citizen's Response to War and Militarism

No More Victims (NMV) is a grassroots organization that connects American communities with war-injured Iraqi children and their families. Community participants band together to learn how the child was injured, assess the child's current situation, and work to meet the most pressing needs of the child and family.

Through these community projects, children have received life-changing medical treatment in Los Angeles, Houston, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Greenville, South Carolina. High school and college students have raised funds to deliver wheel chairs, medical equipment, generators, space heaters, educational supplies, in-home tutoring and other forms of relief to Iraqi families with war-injured children. Students have sent medical supplies to hospitals and clinics.

NMV has also arranged for children to receive medical treatment in Jordan and Syria sponsored by community groups in the United States. Iraqi doctors displaced by the war and occupation have performed surgery and provided prosthetic and rehabilitative services to injured Iraqi children. In addition to care for the children, these projects generate income for displaced doctors who have become refugees as a result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

How We Work

NMV has three basic ways of working: evacuation for treatment in the United States; advocacy projects, which provide medical care and other forms of material relief; and the provision of medical supplies to Iraqi hospitals and clinics. These projects connect American individuals, communities and groups with Iraqi children, families, hospitals and caregivers. This can begin to forge bonds of sympathy and solidarity between civil society in the United States and civil society in Iraq. Given the magnitude of the human tragedy that the invasion and occupation have caused, these efforts should be greatly multiplied.

Evacuation and treatment in the United States: We identify children injured as a direct result of U.S. military assault and seek medical sponsorships for them in the United States. These are intense, long-term projects that require substantial funding and the dedicated efforts of a core group of 5 - 10 people as well as a larger group of occasional volunteers.

Advocacy and in-country assistance: We connect American communities with children who have been injured by U.S. forces, and facilitate assistance to the child and his or her family. For these projects, we focus on Iraqi children whose injuries do not make them suitable candidates for treatment in the United States. Their injuries are either beyond any medical remedy (such as cases of paralysis or permanent blindness), or have healed as much as can be expected. Advocacy projects are well suited to high school, college and smaller community groups. We provide the child's medical report, photo, and a summary of the facts regarding the military operation that injured the child. The organizers then develop a list of questions for the child and his or her family. We secure answers to those questions, and participants prepare a needs' assessment based upon the answers. The group then goes to work to meet the most pressing needs of the child and family.

Advocacy projects also secure treatment for children in Jordan and other countries. Nora Mohammad, for example, who lost an eye when U.S. forces opened fire on a passenger vehicle, received surgical and prosthetic services in Amman. A community group in Chico, CA sponsored her care. We're also sponsoring care for Naba, a seven-year-old girl who was hit by two bullets when U.S. forces opened fire on a passenger vehicle. Her father and brother died in the assault.

Provision of medical supplies: According to a recent Oxfam Report, after nearly five years of occupation, 90% of Iraq's hospitals lack even the most basic medical and surgical supplies. We work to deliver urgently needed supplies to Iraqi clinics and hospitals. We purchase the supplies directly from an importer at prices significantly below wholesale. These purchases are fully receipted through the importer to the receiving clinic or hospital. Whenever possible, we obtain photographs of delivery and end-user testimonials. Although the volume of supplies we've delivered has to date been modest, we have a proven processes for delivering much more.

These three working methods make it possible for American communities to contribute in a meaningful way to the health and well being of victims of aggression. We urge you to get involved.

Cole Miller is the Founding Director of No More Victims. A freelance writer, Miller co-created and produced the environmentally focused radio series Isla Earth, which took top honors in the News Bureau category of the 2008 Los Angeles Press Club's 50th Annual Journalism Awards. Miller travels frequently to the Middle East, and manages the day-to-day operations of NMV. He has appeared on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, and his work has been profiled by People Magazine and many other publications. [Pictured here with Mustafa Ghazwan (left) and Mustafa Abed (right).]

As National Community Coordinator for NMV, Ann Miller works closely with communities across the country to help them form local NMV chapters and facilitate their projects. She’s currently employed as an Outreach Worker with a research project focused on the prevention of child abuse and neglect; and has a background working with special needs children. A long-time peace activist, she also co-founded a non-profit interfaith service group for teens, and has written articles about No More Victims’ children that have been published in both local and national publications.