A concerned Blue Star Mother was told by a spokeswoman for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) that Waxman “did not intend to assist insurgents” in Iraq when he provided a diplomatic letter in December 2004 to Code Pink’s parent organization Global Exchange. However, Waxman apparently made no effort to ensure the reported $100,000 in cash and $500,000 in humanitarian aid was not delivered to terrorists, even after Code Pink and Global Exchange co-founder Medea Benjamin bragged at the time that the aid was intended for families of the “other side” in Fallujah. (Top Democrat fundraiser and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans was also involved in giving aid to the “other side”.)
The admission came in an e-mail colloquy between Beverly Perlson and Waxman staffer Lisa Pinto in 2007. Perlson was seeking a copy of Waxman’s letter, which Pinto provided.
Perlson is the mother of a soldier who has served four tours of duty in the war on terror. She is founder of the pro-troops group The Band of Mothers.
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:24 PM
Subject: Congressman Waxman
Dear Ms. Perlson,
Thank you for taking the time to contact Congressman Waxman.
In 2004, Congressman Waxman did supply a letter to some of his constituents who were traveling abroad. His constituents reported to him that they were bringing needed medical supplies to refugee families, not insurgents. Congressman Waxman certainly did not intend to assist insurgents who had been killing and attacking our troops. In fact, he continues to vote to fund the war and to provide our soldiers with the necessary equipment and weapons they need.
Thank you for taking the time to inquire about the facts of this situation and thank you for the sacrifice your family is making toward the war.
Lisa Pinto
District Director
Congressman Henry A. Waxman
***
From: Beverly Perlson
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:29 PM
To: Pinto, Lisa
Subject: Re: Congressman Waxman
Dear Ms. Pinto,
Thank you for your reply.
Has Congressman Waxman ascertained whether the letter he provided was misused to provide aid to insurgents. Surely, you can understand why this is so important to me as my son serves his 4th deployment in the war on terror.
I await your response and thank you for your attention to his matter.
***
From: Pinto, Lisa
To: Beverly Perlson
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 2:44 PM
Subject: RE: Congressman Waxman
Ms. Perlson,
We do not know what the final outcome was.
Lisa
***
The 2007 movie Meeting Resistance, which was filmed in Iraq around the same time that Code Pink was sending aid to the families of the terrorists in Fallujah, documented how the families of the “other side” in Iraq acted as couriers for the terrorists, information which surely would have been known on Capitol Hill in 2004.
IRAQI WOMAN: [translated] When I leave the house to go and bring the weapons, I feel very happy. Very, very happy. But when I am actually carrying it, I’m very worried about the weapons and about myself. So I have these two feelings at the same time. I am facilitating a mission. I have done this job many, many times. Yes, now there is a kind of fear, because of the many house searches.
Even before I had the children, my husband was a good citizen, a patriot, a fighter. And for twenty-nine years, I have been his wife. So even if I didn’t have this patriotic instinct through our life together, this patriotic sentiment would have been created inside me. The whole family is patriotic. And how could I be so deviant when I am the one who married a Fedayeen?
Code Pink’s position on Operation Iraqi Freedom was quite clear in late 2004 when Waxman provided his letter. The group had visited Baghdad in February 2003 as guests of their fellow socialist, Saddam Hussein, where they lobbied the world to keep the state sponsor of terrorism in power. After the liberation, Code Pink set up Occupation Watch in Baghdad to undermine America’s efforts to establish peace, stability and freedom in Iraq.
In September 2004, Code Pink participated in and endorsed the Beirut communique, which supported “the right of the people of Iraq and Palestine to resist the occupations” and called for “the unconditional withdrawal of US and “coalition” forces from Iraq.”
Waxman was not the only Democrat to send a letter for Code Pink’s ‘Fallujah aid’. According to a report by Islam Online published January 4, 2005, (and mysteriously removed this past week) diplomatic letters were also provided to Code Pink/Global Exchange by Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA), Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH).
Big Government first reported about the letters last year in an expose about the ties between Jodie Evans and President Barack Obama. Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson wrote last Friday at Big Peace about Waxman’s letter.
In 2009, Democrats Sen. John Kerry (MA) and Rep. Sonny Carson (IN) provided similar letters for Code Pink’s delivery of aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza.