Daily information from Michele's fast and vigil

Vigil conditions	War events
Sunday, 11 May 2003 Mothers Day Fast day 56 Michele concludes her fast.	Michele and her friends reluctantly concluded their fast today. Michele writes, "We chose Mother's Day to conclude our vigil in honor of the original intent of its creator; Julia Ward-Howe, who advocated tirelessly for recognition of 'Mother's Day for Peace' in 1870. The original Mother's Day proclamation can be found at http://www.mothersdayforpeace.org."
Sorry, no data available for 1 May to 10 May
Thursday, 1 May 2003 May Day Fast day 45 Michele maintains her fast.	President Bush announces the so-called end to major combat operations. 139 "coalition" soldiers killed so far (mostly Americans). An unknown number of Iraqis have been killed, but best estimates put the number in the low tens of thousands (including civilian and military deaths).
Sorry, no data available for 20 April to 1 May
Saturday, 19 April 2003 Holy Saturday Fast day 33 Michele maintains her fast.	Civil unrest in settles somewhat. Tens of thousands demonstrate in the streets of Baghdad for the US to leave Iraq.
Friday, 18 April 2003 Good Friday Fast day 32 56° (high), 40° (low), 48° F. (avg.) trace of rain Michele maintains her fast.	The webmaster took some "time off" from the war for the last several days. It was just too depressing.
Thursday, 17 April 2003 Maundy (Holy) Thursday Fast day 31 57° (high), 42° (low), 50° F. (avg.) 0.04 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Wednesday, 16 April 2003 Fast day 30 60° (high), 43° (low), 52° F. (avg.) 0.12 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Tuesday, 15 April 2003 Tax Day Fast day 29 57° (high), 43° (low), 50° F. (avg.) 0.07 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Monday, 14 April 2003 Fast day 28 56° (high), 40° (low), 48° F. (avg.) 0.11 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Sunday, 13 April 2003 Palm Sunday Fast day 27 59° (high), 40° (low), 50° F. (avg.) 0.08 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Saturday, 12 April 2003 Fast day 26 62° (high), 46° (low), 54° F. (avg.) 1.22 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Friday, 11 April 2003 Fast day 25 65° (high), 48° (low), 57° F. (avg.) 0.29 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Thursday, 10 April 2003 Fast day 24 59° (high), 49° (low), 54° F. (avg.) 0.20 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Wednesday, 9 April 2003 Fast day 23 61° (high), 44° (low), 53° F. (avg.) 0.03 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.
Tuesday, 8 April 2003 Fast day 22 68° (high), 42° (low), 55° F. (avg.) 0.09 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	U.S. forces kill two journalists by shelling the Hotel Rashid in Baghdad, which is home to more than 100 journalists. Fighting continues in Baghdad.
Monday, 7 April 2003 Fast day 21 - Michele's journal 62° (high), 43° (low), 53° F. (avg.) 0.10 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	U.S. forces take presidential palace in Baghdad, say they are there to stay. A-10 Warthog shot down over Baghdad.
Sunday, 6 April 2003 Fast day 20 55° (high), 39° (low), 47° F. (avg.) 0.04 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	American forces make a foray into downtown Baghdad as a "show of force", killing 1000-3000 Iraqis before retreating back to the airport.
Saturday, 5 April 2003 Fast day 19 47° (high), 38° (low), 43° F. (avg.) 0.28 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	More of the same. Still no chemical or biological weapons found.
Friday, 4 April 2003 Fast day 18 51° (high), 39° (low), 45° F. (avg.) 0.24 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	American forces secure the airport outside Baghdad. US forces found to be using cluster munitions against Iraqi towns. President Bush authorizes use of tear gas in Iraq. American journalist Michael Kelly killed in motor vehicle accident at airport outside Baghdad. CIA questions evidence of Syrian war materiel. More Iraqi civilian deaths at a US checkpoint.
Thursday, 3 April 2003 Fast day 17 - Michael Nolley's journal 48° (high), 37° (low), 43° F. (avg.) 0.32 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	US forces take the airport outside of Baghdad. Bush administration says that Baghdad might be encircled and cut off, then an "interim" government set up--without taking Baghdad. 83 Iraqis, both civilians and soldiers, reported killed in US rocket attack on village of Furat.
Wednesday, 2 April 2003 Fast day 16 - Michele's journal 50° (high), 37° (low), 44° F. (avg.) 0.30 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	An American F/A-18 Hornet shot down by a surface-to-air missile--unclear whether missile was Iraqi or American. A Blackhawk helicopter was also lost over Iraq. Still no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Tuesday, 1 April 2003 Fast day 15 53° (high), 42° (low), 48° F. (avg.) 0.19 in. rain Michele maintains her fast, but spends the night at home. Others keep vigil through the night at the Capitol.	Another Iraqi civilian killed (and one seriously injured) when they fail to stop for a US checkpoint. More bombings in Baghdad. Peter Arnett hired by the Daily Mirror in London. Iraqi civilian deaths exceed 500 now. One US POW rescued. First UN aid shipment arrives. Battle for Karbala.
Monday, 31 March 2003 Fast day 14 - Michele's journal 59° (high), 50° (low), 55° F. (avg.) 0.05 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	More of the same news from the last three days. Mary Paladino's letter about the assault and menacing of Michele and supporters early Sunday morning (newspaper article). Journalist Peter Arnett fired for giving an interview on Iraqi TV. Secretary of State Powell tells Syria to back off. US forces advance into Baghdad's "red zone". Americans leaving Baghdad report hospital bombed in small town in western Iraq. Seven (10?) Iraqi women and children in a van killed at checkpoint when they didn't stop. Reporter Geraldo Rivera kicked out of Iraq for disclosing operational information on a live broadcast.
Sunday, 30 March 2003 Fast day 13 69° (high), 40° (low), 55° F. (avg.) 0.00 in. rain Michele maintains her fast. Michele and three others assaulted and menaced by group of drunken men at 0400 hours.	More of the same news from the last two days. Most telephone service in Baghdad destroyed.
Saturday, 29 March 2003 Fast day 12 - Michele's journal 74° (high), 42° (low), 58° F. (avg.) 0.00 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	Reports that the ground advance may be delayed, air campaign ratcheted up. American supply lines stretched and threatened by constant guerilla attacks. Lead US soldiers on short rations. Saudi Arabia and Turkey close airspace to cruise missiles due to errant missile strikes on their territories. Airstrikes continue. Criticism of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's war planning grows more intense. Iraqi suicide bomber kills five US soldiers in Iraq.
Friday, 28 March 2003 Fast day 11 60° (high), 38° (low), 49° F. (avg.) 0.00 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld warns Syria and Iran to stay out of conflict. Missile, possibly American, hits Kuwait shopping mall, but no injuries. Airstrikes on Baghdad, Basra continue--58 civilians reported killed in Baghdad. Wounded US soldiers report being surprised at resistance, say they were told to expect little. Al-Jazeera website accessible from US again. Rumfeld says no ceasefire. Total of 16 Americans killed in action. Unknown number of Iraqi soldiers (perhaps 1,000). About 300 Iraqi civilians killed.
Thursday, 27 March 2003 Fast day 10 - Michele's journal 53° (high), 39° (low), 46° F. (avg.) 0.06 in. rain Michele changes her fast to no food or water from sunrise to sunset.	Iraqi television hit again. Airstrikes on Baghdad continue. Humanitarian aid begins to be distributed in small quantities in southern Iraq. 1000 US paratroopers dropped into northern Iraq safely. War planning begins getting negative press coverage, including from many retired generals. Polls indicate that most Americans now believe war will take months. Al-Jazeera website still offline from the United States. ACLU files class-action suit against DC police for false arrest. Pentagon orders 120,000 additional troops to Iraq over the next month.
Wednesday, 26 March 2003 Fast day 9 - Michele's journal 55° (high), 38° (low), 47° F. (avg.) 0.14 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	Iraqi television knocked out several times--International Federation of Journalists says act may be breach of Geneva Convention. Airstrikes on Baghdad continue--missile kills 14 civilians in residential area. Fighting continues in Basra. Arabic-language satellite TV station al-Jazeera expelled from NY Stock Exchange, website attacked.
Tuesday, 25 March 2003 Fast day 8 - no journal entry today 57° (high), 45° (low), 51° F. (avg.) 0.06 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	Continued stiff resistance outside Baghdad. Reports of civil unrest in Basra. Reports of hundreds of Iraqi deaths in battle near Najaf. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld claims that Iraqi broadcast of American POWs and dead soldiers violates the Geneva Convention, but says nothing about the same actions by the United States. American troops near Baghdad take a rest day, experiencing exhaustion.
Monday, 24 March 2003 Fast day 7 - Michele's journal 53° F. (high), 29° F. (low), 41° F. (avg.) 0.07 in. rain Michele maintains her fast, but spends Sunday night (her seventh* sleeping outdoors in minimal shelter) at home. Others maintain vigil on the capitol steps.*	Saddam Hussein addresses Iraqi people on television. US forces engage Republican Guard unit outside Baghdad, meet stiff resistance. Reports of accidental cruise missile hits and airspace incursions into Iran yesterday. Two errant missiles strike rural Turkey. US Apache helicopter downed near Baghdad, crew captured. Syrian bus with refugees struck by American missile in western Iraq. President Bush asks Congress for $75 billion to cover the costs of the war. Says that will cover about a month of warfare.
Sunday, 23 March 2003 Fast day 6 - Michele's journal 51° F. (high), 37° F. (low), 46° F. (avg.) 0.18 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	"Shock and awe" continues. First American POWs taken. More American combat casualties. Basra still besieged. American forces continue to advance toward Baghdad. American forces airlifted into northern Iraq. Iraqi guerilla warfare in Umm Qasr. Civil strife, including Iraqi looting, reported in southern Iraq in wake of US advance. US government claims its forces are to "liberate, not occupy" as explanation for not maintaining order in the wake of the column racing to Baghdad. Worldwide protests continue on a still smaller scale, including at the Academy Awards ceremony.
Saturday, 22 March 2003 Fast day 5 - Michele's journal 54° F. (high), 43° F. (low), 51° F. (avg.) 0.52 in. rain Michele maintains her fast. Says she is feeling no hunger pangs. Her cheeks are reddened from the chilly nights.	"Shock and awe" continues. Basra besieged. US forces race toward Baghdad, are about halfway there. Two British Navy helicopters collide over the Persian Gulf, seven British and one American dead. Thirteen US soldiers hurt, one killed in apparent fratricidal grenade attack in Kuwait -- one US soldier arrested. One British aircraft reported missing. Conflicting reports of Iraqi civilian casualties in Basra and Baghdad, but at least 250 so far. Worldwide protests continue on a somewhat smaller scale. Michele begins collecting food to give away to the needy (you are welcome to bring by your food donations).
Friday, 21 March 2003 Fast day 4 - Michele's journal 54° F. (high), 45° F. (low), 50° F. (avg.) 0.38 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	"Shock and awe" begins in Baghdad, with 1000 cruise missiles and an additional 1000 bombing sorties. Iraqi port city of Umm Qasr is taken, and about 600 Iraqi soldiers surrender. City of Basra surrounded. Turkey grants over-flight rights to US forces. Turkish troops reportedly cross [later refuted] into northern Iraq "to control Kurdish refugee flows". First two US combat deaths reported. Twelve other US and British troops killed in non-combat helicopter crash. Worldwide protests continue on a somewhat smaller scale. France, Germany, and Russia say attacks are violation of UN charter.
Thursday, 20 March 2003 Fast day 3 - Michele's journal 58° F. (high), 46° F. (low), 52° F. (avg.) 0.04 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	Iraq responds with missile and artillery fire against Kuwait and US troops along the border. US Marines cross the Kuwaiti border into Iraq. More air raids in Baghdad, setting parts of the city afire. Speculation begins that Saddam may have been killed. Millions protest the war around the world. More than 1,000 people arrested in San Francisco for civil disobedience.
Wednesday, 19 March 2003 Fast day 2 - no journal entry 51° F. (high), 40° F. (low), 46° F. (avg.) 0.25 in. rain Michele maintains her fast.	1700 PST: President Bush's deadline expires. Later in the evening, US forces launch a few dozen cruise missiles in an apparently opportunistic attempt to decapitate the Iraqi leadership based on recent intelligence.
Tuesday, 18 March 2003 Fast day 1 - no journal entry 60° F. (high), 38° F. (low), 49° F. (avg.) trace of rain Michele maintains her fast.	The world waits. Nearly 300,000 mostly-American troops are in the Persian Gulf region, including about a very small contingent of combat troops from Australia and a somewhat larger force from Great Britain.
Monday, 17 March 2003 Fast day 0 - no journal entry 55° F. (high), 33° F. (low), 44° F. (avg.) 0.01 in. rain Michele begins her fast at sunrise.	1700 PST: In his "Moment of Truth" speech, President Bush gives Saddam 48 hours to leave Iraq or face invasion by the United States, Great Britain, and Australia. Many people in the United States celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Michele's Journal

Vigil conditions

War events