[amc] What You Did NOT Hear on "Meet the Press"

"Ray Gingerich" <RGINGERICH@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> · Mon, 6 Jan 2003 19:47:12 -0600

Dear Friends,

Watching "Meet the Press" last night, one might almost be hypnotized into
believing that attacking Iraq is a reasonable action for the USA. The
following reflections from Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) members shocked
me back to reality and energized me to continue to do whatever possible to
prevent an escalation (yes, this was an intentional choice of word) of our
War on Iraq.

Ray Gingerich

*************************************************************

Mind-Boggling
by Robert Leonetti
December 31, 2002

[The author, from Trinidad, CO, is a member of CPT's December 26-January 9
delegation to Iraq.  Others in the group are: Anne Albright (McPherson,
KS), Pat Basler (Webster, WI), Le Anne Clausen (Mason City, IA ),  Bill
Durland and Genie Durland (Cokedale, CO), Thomas Finger (Evanston,
IL),  Peggy Gish (Athens, OH), Sue Gray (Carbondale, CO), Charlie Jackson
(San Antonio, TX), Larry Kehler (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Cliff Kindy (North
Manchester, IN), Robert Leonetti (Trinidad, CO), Jim Loney (Priceville,
Ontario), Mary Ellen McDonagh (Chicago, IL), Anne Montgomery (New York,
NY), Michele Naar-Obed (Duluth, MN) and George Weber (Chesley, Ontario.)]

The experience has been mind-boggling.

The Christian Peacemaker Team delegation I am part of arrived in the heart
of downtown Baghdad late in the evening of December 29th. Our itinerary
since has been both educational and heart-wrenching. As I reflect on our
journey thus far, two things strike me: the suffering of the common people
of Iraq because of the sanctions, and the warmth with which I have been
accepted by the people I've encountered, even as my country prepares to
wage war against them.

Our agenda has included a variety of activities:
A presentation by Mr. Damacio A. Lopez ( Socorro, NM), at the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office. As the director of the
International Depleted Uranium Study Team, he reported on the pandemic
health problems in Iraq caused by the America's use of depleted uranium
(DU). The statistics he quoted are staggering-- 1.5 million Iraqis have
died since the beginning of the Gulf War because of related health
problems, 1/3 under the age of five. An additional 8,013 returning American
veterans have died from "Gulf War Syndrome" which is increasingly believed
to be a result of DU exposure.

A visit to the Ameriyah Shelter where 480 non-combatants (300 women, 100
children) were killed by two American heat-seeking missiles during the war.

A visit with an Iraqi family--Amal and Safa and their three children,
Abeer, Omar, and Ali. They are the most gracious and hospitable people I
have ever met. Once middle class, they are now mired (have been reduced to)
in poverty. Before the Gulf War, Amal earned $450 (American) a month as a
teacher. She quit her job recently because she was only earning $5 a month.
It was costing her more to travel to work than she was making. Their story
is typical of how the sanctions have devastated the Iraqi middle class.
Amal has turned to selling her oil paintings to supplement the family
income.

A visit to two paediatric hospitals. Doctors, unable to treat their young
patients because of the lack of medicine and equipment, can only stand by
helplessly and watch them perish. According to one doctor, 20-30 percent of
the children admitted will die. Another doctor told us that 750,000
children have died since the imposing of sanctions. The hospitals are
scenes of terrible suffering. The children of Iraq are dying of cancer,
congenital anomalies, immune-depressed disorders, cholera, typhoid,
tuberculosis, and radiation-related diseases--all directly related to
environmental pollutants from the war and the enforced collapse of the
Iraqi economy.

And yet they receive us graciously. They are the common people of Iraq.
They are the people who are suffering the most. They are the people who are
the most caring. They are the people who are dying.

It's all so mind-boggling.

*************************************************************

> A Walk in The Park
> by Pat Basler
>
> [The author, from Webster, WI, is a member of CPT's December 26-January 9
> delegation to Iraq.]
>
> It was late in the afternoon and I wanted to see the setting sun over the
> Tigris River. While walking in the park, which must have been beautiful
> before the war, I came upon a statue of an old Arab man sitting with one
> hand extended, holding a chalice. It looked like someone from the Bible.
> Nowhere could I find any writing in English to provide me a clue as to who
> the man was.
> As I left the park, I asked a man nearby if he knew any English and also
if
> he knew who was represented by this statue. His reply was that it was a
> famous Iraqi poet and the street bears his name.
>
> He asked me where I was from. I told him that I was from the United
States.
> He looked at me in a very different way, stepped back, and appeared to be
> very angry.
>
> This was a very tense moment, and I felt unwelcome for the first time
since
> I've been in Iraq. The CPT office had given me a handout sheet that
> explained in both English and Arabic who I am and what I am here for, the
> "Magic Sheet." The man took a long time to read and study the sheet, while
> I was waiting for the "magic" to happen.
>
> When the man finished reading the document, he looked at me. His anger had
> disappeared from his face, and he said, "Thank you for being here." He
went
> on to explain that his daughter had been exposed to D. U. (Depleted
> Uranium) used during the Gulf War. Because of the U.S.- U.N. sanctions,
she
> was unable to get the treatment needed to help her or at least prolong her
> life. She died a short time later.
>
> I told him how sorry I was, and that it was my tax dollars that helped
> bring about his daughter's death. It did not give me a good feeling to
know
> that I had a part in this death and many others that I do not know about.
>
> He again thanked me for being in Iraq and held out his hand in friendship.
> He told me to tell the American people that the people of Iraq want peace.
>
> The scene ended by me taking his hand and explaining to him that peace
will
> come when we meet like this, face-to-face in love.
>
> "Love is the warmth of the light."

***************************************************************

Claire Evans
Personnel and Delegation Coordinator
Christian Peacemaker Teams
PO Box 6508
Chicago, IL 60680
Tel: 773-277-0253; Fax: 773-277-0291

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
(Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.

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>
>
> Claire Evans
> Personnel and Delegation Coordinator
> Christian Peacemaker Teams
> PO Box 6508
> Chicago, IL 60680
> Tel: 773-277-0253; Fax: 773-277-0291
>
> Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
> (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
> membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Acpj mailing list
> Acpj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://zopyra.com/mailman/listinfo/acpj

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