Here is a report from Michele Naar-Obed, who recently returned from Iraq with a Christian Peacemaker Team:
I have recently returned from a two week fact finding delegation in Iraq with the Christian Peacemaker Teams. CPT has maintained a continuous presence in Iraq since October 2002. The main office is located in Chicago IL (www.cpt.org).
Our delegation consisted of 6 US citizens and 1 citizen of the UK. Half of our delegation, of which I was a part, was based in a residential neighborhood in Baghdad. The other half stayed in Kerbala. Although it was quite difficult and dangerous to move around Baghdad, our group was able to meet with quite a few Iraqis as we tried to get a broad understanding of events and life in Iraq.
The topic of most concern during our stay was the November 2004 invasion of Fallujah. We interviewed a young Iraqi man who was in Fallujah City during the Nov. invasion, survived and was then taken into US custody for over 2 months. He was finally released after it was determined he was not part of the “insurgency”.
He reported seeing numerous examples of human rights abuses starting with the fact that men between the ages of 16 and 50 were not allowed to leave Fallujah when residents were told to evacuate. He told us about execution style killing of civilians by US soldiers, killing of women and children carrying white flags, and dead bodies with massive burns and unusual injuries indicating the use of white phosphorus (napalm) and other chemical weapons.
Similar reports on Fallujah were given by 2 Iraqi Human Rights workers, and a representative of the Muslim Scholars Board who had received information directly from Fallujan citizens during the invasion. We were told that the Muslim Scholars Board representitives tried to hold press conferences during that time but were silenced and sometimes slandered.
We were also told that about 75% of the city’s infrastructure was destroyed. At present, there is no piped water available and the water that is being brought in by government sources is inadequatly chlorinated. There are no functioning hospitals and the closest medical aid station is outside the city limits. In order to leave and re-enter the city, residents go through numerous check points which can take up to 6 hours. There is a military base in the city of Fallujah and Iraqis are often intimidated and humiliated by the soldiers. There is pretty much across the board hatred for Americans at this time.
Additionally, we spoke with 2 UN representatives who confirmed all of these reports. One representative told us that they have spent weeks negotiating with the multinational forces to get access into Fallujah to begin investigation and documentation but have so far been denied.
Without a full investigation, abuses such as these are likely to continue and spread. In fact, while we were collecting information on Fallujah, we learned that “Operation River Blitz” was going on in the city of Ramadi and its surrounding villages along the Euphrates River. At present, there has been a media black out on this operation, but the UN representative told us that “spin off” was beginning to occur. Residents of this area have begun to flee and talk about what is happening..
Our soldiers are paying a hefty price. The ones who make it back are coming home severely damaged from carrying out orders they believe are immoral and in some cases, illegal. As one Marine who was in Fallujah summed it “you have to be psycho to kill like we do”. Many who refuse to follow orders or try to escape are hunted down and treated like criminals when the real criminals are the ones in the Pentagon who create these policies.
On the positive side, we met representatives from grassroots Iraqi based organizations who believe in the power of nonviolence. Some of them were involved in serious negotiations with the multinational forces that led to the diversion of further violence. It seems there are many from all sides of this conflict, ours included, who are quite skilled in diplomacy as we learned that negotiation and diplomatic solutions have been employed behind closed doors routinely. We met with the fledgling Muslim Peacemaker Teams and Women’s Will, both rooted in the teachings of nonviolence.The UN, whose work of diplomacy and nation building is often overlooked and underestimated, is slowly regaining the trust of the Iraqi people. They are steadily persevering on a course they hope will soon disentangle Iraq from foreign occupation.
The war and daily violence is taking its toll on everyone. For ten days I learned what it was like to worry that the vehicle I was in could be blown up. I stiffened when our driver got near a military convoy. Soldiers have been known to shoot at cars that get too close. The possibility of kidnapping was real and it changed to way we related to people causing even more stress on the fragile bonds of human friendship. The longer this cycle of violence continues, the more fear, distrust and despair will deepen.
This administration has put in a request for another $81 billion to fund the war. I’d like to propose we use that money to train our young people in diplomacy and negotiation and utilize nonviolent means to solving conflict. Worldwide democracy and freedom may actually have a chance despite Mr. Bush’s policies.
This is Michele Naar-Obed ‘s third trip to Iraq since December 2002. She is a member of the Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker in Duluth, MN and has been involved in the peace movement for over 13 years. She has participated in numerous acts of nonviolent resistance to militarism including 2 “plowshare actions” resulting in over 3 years of incarceration.
