CPTnet
December 11, 2004
IRAQ: U.S. soldiers invade CPT apartment and then stay for a visit
On December 10, 2004, CPTer Tom Fox was on the roof of Christian Peacemaker
Team's Baghdad apartment, enjoying the warm, sunny weather when he saw four
humvees parked in the street below. About ten neighborhood kids were
hanging out with the soldiers. When they looked up and saw Fox waving, the
soldiers waved back. Fox then took several pictures. A soldier in one of
the vehicles yelled, "Hey, you can't take pictures of our humvees!" Several
soldiers started moving towards the building.
Cliff Kindy and Sheila Provencher had just entered the building after
returning from a meeting. Five soldiers followed them to the door and
demanded entry. As Kindy went to open it, one soldier shouted angrily,
"Open the door! Open the door!" Kindy did so, and the soldier said, "Did
you take a picture? Give me the camera!"
Fox reached the door and said, "I've got it; it's upstairs. I'll get it
for you." The soldiers yelled that they would get it themselves. As they
tried to push inside, Provencher said, "Please stay here. We don't need
guns in the house." The soldiers were insistent, so Fox and Maxine Nash went
upstairs with them.
Kindy and Provencher stayed with the soldier at the door, whose unit leader
ordered him, "Don't let them lock the door behind us." The soldier said his
name Billy Smith; he was from Arkansas and had three children under the age
of ten. He told Kindy and Provencher that he hoped to return home in the
first quarter of 2005, but that these days soldiers do not know whether they
will be allowed to go home on schedule. He said he was a bit ashamed at his
unit's barging into the building, and thought the other soldiers had
overreacted.
Upstairs, Jeff (the unit leader) asked Fox for his I.D. After they had
talked for awhile, Jeff asked, "Why did you take pictures of us?" Fox said,
"I saw you down there playing with the kids and I thought it would be a good
thing to communicate that you do other things besides shoot people." Jeff
nodded, but noted, "We don't allow anybody to take pictures of our
humvees." Fox deleted the photos.
Jeff was surprised at CPT's presence. Fox said, "We keep a low profile."
Jeff, who said members of his unit were reservists with the 1st Airborne,
noted that Fox's comment was certainly true because he had no idea U.S.
citizens lived in the neighborhood. Nash briefly explained CPT's work,
especially in the area of human rights and Jeff said, "They sure need that
kind of work here."
The soldiers waiting outside radioed to Jeff that a political organization
with an office in the neighborhood had asked the soldiers to move on. The
soldiers declined an invitation from CPTers to stay for snacks and further
conversation, but they did take a CPT brochure with them.
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