Dispatches from the peacelines

Social justice news
April 2003

A battle of the church reform network stars?
American prison population surpasses 2 million
Congress urged to support lasting peace in Congo
CRS responds to humanitarian crisis in Iraq
Dispatches from the peacelines
VOTF meets with Francis Cardinal George

Dispatches from the peacelines
Members of Voices in the Wilderness Iraq peace team traveled to Baghad in March. According to a presse release issued at that time: "Americans in Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness' Iraq Peace Team are not human shields. Many have been furthering humanitarian efforts in Iraq since 1990. Their actions reflect a deep-seated commitment to the possibilities for nonviolent resolution, including an end to economic sanctions and inhumane U.S. foreign policy that endangers the security and well being of Americans and Iraqis worldwide.

"An attack on Iraqi civilians is an attack on the principles and responsibilities of the United States. Delegates stand as representatives of another America, grounded in the tradition of active nonviolent resistance."

Below are excerpts from Voices in the Wilderness e-correspondence from Iraq:

April 1, Kathy Kelly:

"Cathy Breen and I visited Amal at the home of her friends, having heard that her home had been further destroyed by ongoing bombing. She then took us to her house which faces the river, graced by a garden where flowers are blossoming. Picking our way through broken glass at the entrance, we entered what was once one of the most well appointed homes in Baghdad. The rooms are in disarray. Several walls are cracked, the windows are all shattered, and a thick layer of dust and grime covers the exposed furniture, books, carpets and floors.

"'It was my silly feeling,' Amal said matter-of-factly, 'that this will not happen. I did not move anything.' She emphasized several times that neighbors could have removed everything, in the past two days. 'The house is open. The whole area knows about it. But nobody moved anything.' Amal wasn’t in her home when the windows shattered and the doors were blown out. 'By chance, that night, I forgot my key and for that reason I stayed with my friends.' Ten minutes after we arrived at her home, the US began bombing. 'They are starting it again," sighed Amal. "We should go very quickly.'

"We rejoined Amal’s friends, two sisters who, like Amal, are elderly, scholarly, staunch, and furious. I first met them in the summer of 2002, when they invited me to tell a gathering of two dozen or so Iraqi friends about my experiences, in April 2001, inside the Jenin Camp, in the West Bank, just after Israeli troops had destroyed hundreds of homes in a civilian neighborhood, using overwhelming military force. Amal and her friends were deeply angered when I showed them enlarged pictures of homes in the Jenin Camp that were reduced to rubble. They said they’ve always felt intense grief for the Palestinians who’ve suffered under occupation. It was unthinkable, then, that Amal herself would become homeless and face life under occupation less than a year later.

"'It is so unfair,' said Amal. 'From the simplest people to the highest people, all have suffered.' Later that night, we learned that Voice of America radio had confirmed that an Iraqi military officer approached a U.S. military checkpoint in Iraq appearing to be a cab driver wishing to surrender. The driver detonated a load of explosives inside the cab, killing himself and four US soldiers.

"Amal has paid a high price for guessing wrongly about whether or not the US would wage a massive attack against Iraq. She didn’t bother to safeguard her impressive collection of valuable artwork, books, and other belongings. She and her friends aren’t guessing now. They are positive that US warmakers will pay a lethal and grisly price for any attempts to overtake and occupy Iraq. 'We will lose the battle, but the US is not the winner,' she vowed. 'The children talk about the monster coming. We will push back the monster, with our hands.'"

Message below are from March 24:

Kathy Kelly:

"General Tommy Franks described the bombing as a mosaic and we can understand that. We simply don't know the time of day when bombs are suddenly going to burst overhead. It continues to be horrifying when you think about what's happening ! to families, particularly now as members of the Iraq Peace Team have started to go to the hospitals and to the sites where family people have been harmed. We were utterly appalled when we heard that the Bush Administration is saying the war is a success because there have only been hundreds of casualties in spite of ... thousands of cruise missiles and bombs.

"But we now know of some of these so-called success stories and it can make you wonder what kind of perversity can be possessing the oval office and the defense planners. Some of our team members today, with Dr. April Hurley, encountered a family that was just rushing into a hospital after a bomb hit the picnic lunch they were having in front of their home. At least one child was killed, two others are in uncertain condition.

"And at both of the hospitals we visited today, doctors are working around the clock really trying their best to heal people and - if t! hey have minimal injuries - send them on their way so that they can make beds available for the many, many more casualties they expect to come. Particularly as there are reports of more massive bombings and a possible siege of Baghdad. "Meanwhile of course, we are very, very concerned for people of Basra on their third day without electricity and water [ed. note: we are hearing water service has been partially restored in Basra]. They cant survive without water.

"The air raid sirens are wailing. This has been a frequent daily and nightly event. We are all sleep-deprived. I continue to marvel at how well people handle themselves - from the youngest of children to the most seasoned of peace activists to the people who are new to war zones. And of course these many, many families that are no strangers to war."

Lisa Ndjeru:

"We get many phone calls from the media wanting to know casualty numbers and information about places hit. There's a lot of talk about precision. Are the Americans hitting precise targets? Are they keeping casualties to a minimum? It makes me very angry. Even if it were precision bombing, precision being that not a single civilian or home were hit, it still doesn't make this war legitimate.

"I don't know how were going to hold the American administration accountable. But it isn't that precise. We've gone to a hospital to see the civilian casualties. We've gone to visit bomb sites. There are civilian homes that are being hit. It makes me angry. I wonder how many people, little girls, little boys, mothers, fathers, grandparents do we need to see either dead or maimed in order to say this is wrong.

"I watched TV yesterday and I saw some American casualties, some prisoners of war and some dead, and it breaks my heart to see those young soldiers stripped! of their gear and their teams and their armaments and their weapons and their certainties, alone in the enemy camp. It shouldn't come to that."

Scott Kerr:

"The city has been engulfed in a thick black smoke caused by large ditches of oil fires. These smoke clouds are supposed to make it more difficult for missiles to hit their mark. There were also winds from the south today which brings a heavy dust covering. It seems like twilight everyday.

"We have all heard about 'shock and awe' but I can tell you that on the ground it feels a lot more like 'misery and terror.' For the last week people have not been working, there has been a very limited access to food, and other basic necessities. I would say that about 95 percent of the city is shut down."

Stewart Vriesinga:

"Most of the Iraqis we meet seem to remain calm in the face of bombing. They ask us, 'Why?' They ask us after ea! ch bomb, 'How many people do you think died in that one?' The question is rhetorical. We know that. We do not respond because there is really nothing to say.

"While the Iraqis continue to be friendly, many see the invasion as hostile, and there are many civilians with guns. Perhaps not state of the art guns, and perhaps not with any uniforms, but it seems clear that there are many people here who—in addition to the armed forces—are prepared to defend themselves from any invasion forces."

Thorne Anderson:

Note: Thorne Anderson and Jerry Zawada left Baghdad for Amman, Jordan yesterday. Having heard reports about everything from bombing to looting on the road connecting the two capitals. We were relieved to receive this update from Amman this afternoon:

"The trip from Baghdad was lonely and creepy. We saw burning oil pits, bombed and burned out cars on the side of the road, a couple of downed bridges, a destroyed roadside tea stand (the place we always stop on the trip to Baghdad from Amman), a destroyed ambulance abandoned down the embankment, a few routes hastily blocked with piles of rocks, etc.

"The Iraqi border crossing was surprisingly painless—Jerry and I had separate 'conversations' ('This is not an interview or an interrogation,' the man told me) with a Jordanian official on the border. UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) observers at the border told us that they had seen ZERO Iraqi refugees crossing into Jordan and were worried about that. Many young Iraqi men were being expelled from Jordan back into Iraq. They walk across the border into the empty dark desert with small bags slung over their shoulders."

To read more, visit http://iraqpeaceteam.org.

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