This communication, “On the detention of Dr. Huda S. Ammash,” needs to be seen. All that's been in the media points to Dr. Huda Ammash being involved in biological atrocities, when, according to this email I got, her crime was be critical of the U.S. for using biologically hazardous materials in the Gulf War. The ring of truth to this is enhanced by South End Press, which is signatory to it, being a supra admirable source of publications by progressive authors.

One saving grace of the perpetration of such lies by our government is that they aren't subtle. Everybody can see what's going o­n. It continues to be amazing to me how much people are swallowing without rebelling. But, tides turn fast when some peak is reached. All of a sudden it is too much. Here's an except of a favorite piece of mine, o­n how photosynthesis works (in my files — can't give you the reference), with a parallel to how accumulated knowledge works to create sudden shifts:

The controlling process in photosynthesis begins at the atomic level, with the nucleus of the atom and its electron ring. Each orbit around the nucleus of an atom has a variety of potential energy levels at which electrons can move and still remain in orbit. If the electrons exceed the energy limits of their orbits, they are forced to leave — to move into an orbit further from the nucleus and therefore an orbit which requires more energy to complete. This movement is the famous quantum leap which we have been using for years to describe an exponential increase in energy required to move from o­ne plane to another. Knowledge, among other things, seems to operate according to this principle — you can acquire vast amounts of knowledge and still remain o­n the same plane, but there comes a point where the cumulative knowledge in your head — the cumulative creative energy you're trying to deal with — requires a leap into another plane. o­nce you've made that first leap, you realize that, while knowledge is a cumulative process, it is not a progressive phenomenon. You do not move from plane to plane in a smooth, harmonious progression merely by storing up knowledge. You move from level to level, but always within the same orbit or plane, until you reach a point where you can no longer contain the creative energy you have been accumulating and remain within the same plane. So you make the quantum leap. And find yourself starting all over again, gathering energy o­n another level, always with successive levels above you, levels which are accessible o­nly through the accumulation of vast amounts of knowledge, until o­nce again the leap is within your ability.

—–Original Message—–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 7th, 2003
CONTACT: Alexander Dwinell [alexander@southendpress.org]

On the detention of Dr. Huda S. Ammash

The U.S. publishers of Dr. Huda S. Ammash assert that there may be political motivations for her detention o­n Monday, May 5 in Baghdad by the U.S. military o­n allegations that she oversaw Iraq's purported development of biological weapons. Dr. Ammash, Dean of Baghdad University, is the author of “Toxic Pollution, the Gulf War, and Sanctions,” a peer reviewed research paper published in _Iraq Under Siege_ (South End Press, 2002) an anthology that examined the effects of the Gulf War and sanctions o­n Iraq.

United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) spokesperson Hiro Ueki has confirmed to South End Press that based o­n earlier research “UNMOVIC did not single Dr. Ammash out for interviews because UNMOVIC did not have clear evidence to link Dr. Ammash to BW [biological weapons] programs” when visiting Baghdad University o­n January 13th, 2003.

“We are outraged at the U.S.'s extra-legal detention of Dr. Ammash and its plans to interrogate her. We demand that Dr. Ammash be released immediately,” said co-publisher Alexander Dwinell. “The U.S. government is trying to silence Dr. Ammash's outspoken criticism of the U.S. role in causing cancers and other illnesses in Iraq through its own use of biologically hazardous weapons such as radioactive deleted uranium.”

Dr. Ammash, an environmental biologist and professor at Baghdad University, received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. She has earned international respect for her publications, particularly her documentation of the rise in cancers among Iraqi children and war veterans since the Gulf War. In _Iraq Under Siege_ she writes: “Iraqi death rates have increased significantly, with cancer representing a significant cause of mortality, especially in the south and among children.”

When visited in Baghdad by a group of NGO representatives and former UN officials in January 2003, Dr. Ammash stated: “People here bear every respect for Western people and Western civilization. We respect your technological accomplishments and your values..Yet hatred is being manufactured by some to engineer a clash of civilizations.”

Dr. Ammash's other publications include: “Impact of Gulf War Pollution in the Spread of Infectious Diseases in Iraq,” (Soli Al-Mondo, Rome, 1999), and “Electromagnetic, Chemical, and Microbial Pollution Resulting from War and Embargo, and Its Impact o­n the Environment and Health,” (Journal of the[Iraqi] Academy of Science, 1997).

South End Press
7 Brookline Street #1, Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 547-4002 Fax: (617) 547-1333
www.southendpress.org

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