Earlier today, my soldier son called from his R & R and said, "Hi, mom. I told you so."
My reply: "Huh? What about?" I had no idea what he was talking about.
"The Iraqis. I told you that they hate Americans being in their country - and that the insurgent and terrorist groups don't care who you are or what your motives are for being there. They'll kidnap and kill you just for being American. Several people from that Christian Peacemaker Group that you wanted to go to Iraq with last year were kidnapped today. They'll probably be killed in a few days."
Last year, I had looked into going to Iraq to see "how things really are." I didn't want to do "the Green zone," but wanted to see "the real Iraq."
My first thought was that I could parlay may position as an academic to go for a few weeks - but alas, universities in Iraq stopped having Western professors come visit because we tend to attract bombs.
Next, I looked into humanitarian and NGO opportunities. I discovered that there were very few of them, despite the supposed "success" that we were enjoying in Iraq. Bremer had just left the country. Iraq was "free."
One of the groups that I seriously considered joining in Iraq were the Christian Peacemaker Teams. No, I'm not a bible thumper or a missionary type - and this group isn't comprised of those sorts of people. Here's a bit of info about the organization:
The Christian Peacemaker Teams initiated a long-term presence in Iraq in October 2002, six months before the beginning of the U.S. led invasion in March of 2003. The primary focus of the team for eighteen months following the invasion was documenting and focusing attention on the issue of detainee abuses and basic legal and human rights being denied them. Issues related to detainees remain but the current focus of the team has expanded to include efforts to end occupation and militarization of the country and to foster nonviolent and just alternatives for a free and independent Iraq.
CPT in Iraq: Shifting Sands for Peacemakers
In its short history, the CPT team in Iraq has responded to the drumbeat of war, the "shock and awe" bombing of Baghdad, and the ongoing U.S. occupation. Each shift in circumstance has called for peace-makers to shift focus as well.
October 2002
Stop the War - the team and successive delegations sought to:
support the UN Weapons Inspection Program as an alternative to war
expose the injustice and deaths from the US-led economic sanctions
put a human face on Iraq, helping people in the U.S. understand that Saddam Hussein was not the only person living in Iraq
March/April 2003
Shock & Awe - CPTers stayed in Baghdad in order to:
stand alongside Iraqi families
provide an alternative voice to the reporters "embedded" with Coalition forces
use their bodies to protect critical civilian infra-structure such as water treatment facilities, electrical plants, and hospitals.
April/May 2003
Aftermath of the Bombing - team members traveled and worked to:
draw attention to the huge and under-reported problem of unexploded ordnance;
raise an alternative perspective on the invasion based on interviews with Iraqi friends.
June 2003- September 2004
Ongoing Occupation - responding to persistent reports from families of Iraqi detainees, CPTers initiated efforts to:
document abuse of detainees by Coalition forces
assist Iraqis in gaining access to loved ones in detention
launch the Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign asking churches to advocate on behalf of Iraqi detainees
support a variety of new and old Iraqi human rights groups which suddenly found themselves with space and freedom to operate
October - December 2004
Continuing Occupation - a rash of kidnapping foreign aid workers compelled the team to severely curtail its size and visibility. Iraqi partners, while acknowledging the potential danger CPT's presence posed to them, encouraged the team to remain in Baghdad.
January 2005 - Present
Persisting Occupation - though travel remains treacherous and insurgent attacks continue on a daily basis, team members have ventured forth in response to urging from Iraqi human rights workers in Karbala.
CPT's persevering presence and establishment of trusting relationships throughout the shifting sands of circumstance laid the groundwork for today's exciting partnership with Iraqis committed to forming a "Muslim Peace Team."
The group offered the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Iraq, living with Iraqis. My son and husband had a fit when I brought up the subject - especially the son. It was around that time that Margaret Hassan, the CARE worker who had dual Iraqi/UK citizenship and who had devoted decades of her life to the Iraqi people was kidnapped and killed. My son said, "Mom, if they'll do that to Ms. Hassan, they'll kill anyone."
I've been on the mailing list for CPT weekly reports, and have read their moving accounts of life in Iraq. Recently, one of the teams wrote about how things are going in Fallujah now:
Falluja, One Year Later
by Doug Pritchard
Nov. 9, 2005
Christian Peacemaker Teams visited the city of Falluja again on Nov. 8th. This day marked the first anniversary of a major U.S. assault on the city. In that attack, the largely Sunni population of 300,000 was expelled, its industrial base and services destroyed, and one-third of its homes were flattened. What has happened since?
The city is now surrounded by a tight network of checkpoints controlled by U.S. forces and Shi'a members of the Iraqi Army. No one is allowed in without an identification card issued by the U.S. Marines, or other permission. Even with such permission it took 75 minutes for us to enter. These checkpoints are choking economic life in the city, doubling prices for basic foodstuffs, and cutting off surrounding villages from Falluja's markets, services, and hospital. The people say that they are living in a prison.
Our first visit was to a sheikh who heads a major mosque. He said that most of the population has returned to the city centre, but those who live further out cannot because their homes were the most damaged. Power is only available downtown, and only for a few hours in the middle of the night. The majority of the population is still unemployed since the city's factories have not been rebuilt. The economic situation is so desperate that the limited reconstruction funds are being consumed by the immediate needs for food and material aid. Schools are mostly open, but three schools and the Ministry of Education offices are still being occupied by U.S. forces. As we spoke to the sheikh, members of the U.S. forces and the Iraqi Army swept up the street searching homes and threatened to blow-up our driver's car which was parked outside the mosque noting that insurgents often use cars such as his for car bombs. Several days before, Iraqi Army troops blew up a teacher's car and on this day he had come to the mosque just before we arrived, weeping. The sheikh offered to start a collection to raise the $5,000 US needed to replace his car. The sheikh said that when they complained, the U.S. forces said, "Talk to the Iraqi Army." When they talk to the Iraqi Army, they say, "You are all children of Saddam."
We then met with the manager of a popular downtown restaurant. He described the violence that is growing in the city. For example, in September 2005, there was an explosion in the street near his restaurant. On arrival, the Iraqi Army sprayed his restaurant and the neighbouring businesses with machine-gun fire. A few days later he found a sign on his door saying that anyone who sold goods to the U.S. forces or the Iraqi Army would be beheaded. He said that he felt caught between two enemies. When he refused to serve the Iraqi Army, they detained him for several hours, but a friendly policeman secured his release. He said that on Nov. 1, after another explosion near his restaurant, several children ran away from the danger, and three were shot dead by the Iraqi Army. On the same day, the Iraqi Army set up a new roadblock. An old man drove up the street, became confused by the roadblock, began driving away, and was shot dead by the Iraqi Army. On Nov. 6, U.S. forces broke into and commandeered his uncle's house to set up a sniper post. As they searched the house, they found his $10,000 US in savings and confiscated it as "the proceeds of terrorism." On the same day, his cousin was passing through the checkpoints into Falluja. The Iraqi Army found his wages of $200 US in his pocket and confiscated it.
Our final visit was to the only hospital in Falluja. They are operating, but are very short of modern equipment like incubators, anaethesia machines, and electrical generators. They said that U.S. officials have repeatedly promised aid, but so far have only supplied blankets and a few kerosene heaters. The staff said that the number of violent deaths is increasing, and now averages 100 to 200 per month.
One man visiting the sheikh challenged us by saying, "If I come and smash everything in your house and take all your money, and then I do the same to all your neighbours, what would you do to me?"
I remember another moving account that I read a few months ago from one of the CPT reports:
IRAQ REFLECTION: Too much
by Sheila Provencher
The air was heavy today (May 12)--cloudy, oppressive, humid, weather rare for Baghdad. Yesterday, Wednesday, seventy-one people died in car bombs in at least three cities.
Can you imagine what it is like, every time you set out in a car across the city to wonder if you will return? What it is like to drive down Sadoon Street and see two overturned and burned-out cars in front of ruined
storefronts ravaged by the explosions? What it is like to be sitting in the Royal Jordanian Airlines office at the Palestine Hotel complex and you hear the ripping sound of the bombs and then you see the smoke about a half-mile away?
I don't run to the bombsite because I can't do anything. I just sit there and wonder how many people are dead, and pray for them, and for the people who set the bombs, and at the same time I feel glad that it wasn't me there
on the street. Your mind does these things. "Thank God it wasn't me." But it was someone.
I held my breath driving in a taxi with Amira and the kids today. A wedding party rode in several cars ahead of us, with young men leaning out of the cars firing guns in celebration. The police got nervous finally and stopped
one of the cars and searched it.
It's too much. There have been too many gunshots, too many tanks rolling by in Amira's mother's neighborhood, too many sounds of target practice from the nearby American base mixed with the sound of kids laughing in the
backyard playing with newly-hatched ducklings and bleating sheep.
Even more common now than tanks and humvees, are pickup trucks full of Iraqi National Guard soldiers, or Iraqi Police, who drive around randomly waving automatic weapons at cars and people. The atmosphere feels more and
more like that of a police state.
It is insane. Every day I feel "I have to get out of here." The only way I've found to respond to the fear is to sit still, breathe, and go deep, deep, at least once per day. I try to remember that we are all together,
really, and that my individual death would not stop this mysterious, beautiful Oneness that holds us. We all ARE. When I remember that, in my body and soul, then I can hear little Huda's singing again even as I see her looking out the taxi window at the wreckage. I can imagine the sound of a young soldier's baby laughing, even though he is thousands of miles away. I can be breathlessly grateful that I am here to follow what I believe, that
RISKING friendship and common ground is the only lasting way to reach beyond the violence that surrounds us.
"Al Hamdu l'Allah," Iraqis say all the time. "Thanks be to God," for everything. I wish that we could all really see God's Oneness, and be free.
It was with a sad and heavy heart that I went to the CPT website tonight to see if I could find out more about the kidnappings of these noble people. After reading more details, I felt compelled to post a diary in their honor - and to ask all of you to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Here are the details that are reported now:
CPT confirmed on 29 November that the four human rights workers missing in Baghdad on 26 November are associated with our organization.
Update on Missing Persons in Iraq
Wednesday, 30 November 2005, 1:00 am, Baghdad, Iraq
BAGHDAD: We were very saddened to see the images of our loved ones on Al Jazeera television recently. We were disturbed by seeing the video and believe that repeated showing of it will endanger the lives of our friends. We are deeply disturbed by their abduction. We pray that those who hold them will be merciful and that they will be released soon. We want so much to see their faces in our home again, and we want them to know how much we love them, how much we miss them, and how anxious and concerned we are by what is happening to them.
We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people. Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has worked for the rights of Iraqi prisoners who have been illegally detained and abused by the U.S. government. We were the first people to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S. forces, long before the western media admitted what was happening at Abu Ghraib. We are some of the few internationals left in Iraq who are telling the truth about what is happening to the Iraqi people We hope that we can continue to do this work and we pray for the speedy release of our beloved teammates.
We can confirm the identities of those who are being held as follows:
Tom Fox, age 54, is from Clearbrook, Virginia and is a dedicated father of two children. For the past two years, Mr. Fox has worked with CPT in partnership with Iraqi human rights organizations to promote peace. Mr. Fox has been faithful in the observance of Quaker practice for 22 years. While in Iraq, he sought a more complete understanding of Islamic cultural richness. He is committed to telling the truth to U.S. citizens about the horrors of war and its effects on ordinary Iraqi civilians and families as a result of U.S. policies and practices. Mr. Fox is an accomplished musician. He plays the bass clarinet and the recorder and he loves to cook. He has also worked as a professional grocer. Mr. Fox devotes much of his time to working with children. He has served as an adult leader of youth programs and worked at a Quaker camp for youth. He has facilitated young people's participation in opposing war and violence. Mr. Fox is a quiet and peaceful man, respectful of everyone, who believes that "there is that of God in every person" which is why work for peace is so important to him.
Norman Kember, age 74, is from London, England. He and his wife of 45 years have two married daughters and a 3-year old grandson. He has been a pacifist all his life beginning with his work in a hospital instead of National Service at age 18. Before his retirement he was a professor teaching medical students at St Bartholemew's Hospital in London. He is well known as a peace activist, and has been involved in several peace groups. For the past 10 years he has volunteered with a local program providing free food to the homeless. He likes walking, birdwatching, and writing humorous songs and sketches. In his younger days he enjoyed mountaineering.
James Loney, 41, is a community worker from Toronto, Canada. He has been a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams since August 2000, and is currently the Program Coordinator for CPT Canada. On previous visits to Iraq, his work focused on taking testimonies from families of detainees for CPT's report on detainee abuse, and making recommendations for securing basic legal rights. James was leading the November 2005 delegation in Iraq when he went missing. James is a peace activist, writer, trained mediator, and works actively with two Toronto community conflict resolution services. He has spent many years working to provide housing and support for homeless people. In a personal statement from James to CPT, he writes: "I believe that our actions as a people of peace must be an expression of hope for everyone. My hope in practising non-violence is that I can be a conduit for the transformative power of God's love acting upon me as much as I hope it will act upon others around me."
Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32 is a Canadian electrical engineer. He is studying for a masters degree in English literature inAuckland University in New Zealand to prepare for a teaching career. He enjoys art, is active in squash and worked part time as a local squash coach. His family describes him as peaceful and fun-loving and he is known to be passionate about the plight of the underprivileged around the globe. He works tirelessly in his spare time to educate and help others.
Statement of Conviction
In a "Statement of Conviction," the long-term Team members stated that they "are aware of the many risks both Iraqis and internationals currently face," and affirmed that the risks did not outweigh their purpose in remaining. They express the hope that "in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening non-violently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation."
CPT does not advocate the use of violent force to save lives of its workers should they be kidnapped, held hostage, or caught in the middle of a conflict situation.
Christian Peacemaker Teams has been present in Iraq since October 2002, providing first-hand, independent reports from the region, working with detainees of both United States and Iraqi forces, and training others in non-violent intervention and human rights documentation. Iraqi friends and human rights workers have welcomed the team as a nonviolent, independent presence and asked that the team tell the their stories. CPT teams host regular delegations of committed peace and human rights activists to conflict zones, who join teams in working with civilians to document abuses and develop nonviolent alternatives to armed conflict. The CPT Iraq Team has hosted a total of 120 people on sixteen delegations over the last three years.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is a violence reduction program. Teams of trained peacemakers work in areas of lethal conflict around the world. In addition to the Iraq Team, teams of CPT workers are currently serving in Barrancabermeja, Colombia; Hebron and At-Tuwani, Palestine; Kenora, Ontario, Canada; and on the Mexico-United States border.
It is so infuriating that we have a crusader in the White House who imagines himself to be on a "mission from God," and that truly God-fearing and honorable people will suffer for Bush's sins.