The daily barrage of statistics from Iraq can be numbing and impersonal.  On November 15th, we invite you to hear from people who have been impacted by the war on an intimate level.  Their stories serve to remind us of the heavy burden this war has placed on our community at home, and of the urgency in finding a peaceful solution to this conflict.

Noon - 1PM Lecture by Aidan Delgado
HSW-301
513 Parnassus Avenue
free lunch

7 - 9:30 PM Panel Discussion
Cole Hall
513 Parnassus Avenue

About the speakers:
Aidan Delgado will speak about his experiences in applying for Conscientious Objector status while serving as a soldier in Iraq and at Abu Ghraib prison. He will show slides depicting some of the violence and brutality that pervaded the Army and discuss the morality of war from a Buddhist perspective. His intends to bring home the reality of war to citizens here in the U.S., so that they can make an informed moral decision about whether to consent to this war. Aidan Delgado is a peace activist, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the author of "The Sutras of Abu Ghraib: Notes from a Conscientious Objector."

Eli PaintedCrow, a mother and grandmother, is a veteran of 22 years in the US Army.  She is currently working with the Women of Color Resource Center in Berkeley for peace and helping other female veterans of the Iraq War. She will speak about the challenges we currently face as a community and a country, and offer some personal insights about what is presently missing in the movement that is working so hard to promote change.  As she deals with her own PTSD and the effects of war on her life, she shares with us her thoughts “from the place in my heart and the wound that I continue to heal as I speak to those hearts that can hear me.”

Javad Razani’s son Omead, a medic in the US Army, was 19 when he was killed in Iraq.  Dr. Razani will share his experiences raising an Iranian-American family, the trauma his family has experienced with this event, and his pride in his son, “Doc Razani,” who was trained to treat any and all casualties, regardless of the nationality of the injured.  He will also share his despair when his family learned of the stop-loss laws which kept his son in the military after the family thought his service was “complete.”  Dr. Razani’s current focus is on preventing future war with Iran and in countering extremist views.  He will present his opposition to war with Iran as a physician and as a father concerned about the potential for a draft.

Steve Edwards is a veteran of the US National Guard.  In 2004, while stationed in Iraq, a road side bomb exploded next to his vehicle resulting in head and neck injuries.  Sargent Edwards will describe the overwhelming effect of these injuries on his return to civilian life, and the effect on his wife and daughter.  He will also share the difficulties he encountered in receiving care through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and his experiences joining a group of veterans with PTSD in a class action lawsuit against the VA. 

Michael Adams will moderate the discussion.  Mr. Adams is director of the UCSF Office of Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, and Diversity.  His family continues to feel the impact of having three of four brothers, as well as his extended family, serve in the Vietnam War.