"Troops Home Fast" Hunger Strikers Demand a Quick Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Iraq

Interview with Diane Wilson, hunger strike activist, conducted by Scott Harris

On July 4, Code Pink Women for Peace and Gold Star Families launched a hunger strike dubbed, "Troops Home Fast." Organizers of the fast are demanding that all U.S. troops be withdrawn from Iraq, no permanent bases be established there and a commitment from the U.S. to fund the reconstruction of Iraq using Iraqi workers. A group of long-term fasters, including antiwar activists Cindy Sheehan, Dick Gregory and Daniel Ellsberg are conducting their fast in front of the White House in the nation's capital. Organizers of the fast say that the hunger strike will continue through Sept. 21, International Peace Day, when activists will engage in a week of nonviolent civil disobedience against the war.

Members of Congress including Reps. Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, Lynn Woolsey and Cynthia McKinney have expressed support for the hunger strike. By mid-July, more than 4,000 people had signed on to conduct their own solidarity fasts in the U.S. and in 22 other nations.

Among the fasters at the White House is Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation Texas Gulf Coast shrimper, mother of five and since 1989, one of the nation's most effective grassroots environmental activists. Wilson, a co-founder of Code Pink Women for Peace and author, has conducted seven previous hunger strikes and visited Iraq before the war. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Wilson, who was in the 15th day of a water-only fast about the power of hunger strikes and the overall objectives of the "Troops Home Fast."

Diane Wilson is author of the book, "An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas." Get more information on the hunger strike by visiting the group's website at www.troopshomefast.com

Related links:

* "Diane Wilson's Troops Home Fast," Podcasts of a daily hunger strike.

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