CPTnet
19 March 2013
IRAQ: Ten years of lamentation,
partnering and action
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| Najaf, Iraq: Woman seeks information on a disappeared familiy member |
Ten years after the U.S. invasion
of Iraq, Christian Peacemaker Teams, together with uncounted Iraqi families, laments the carnage
that continues to echo from that moment.
Reports sent before, during and after the invasion brought rare, non-embedded perspectives
that helped earn CPT a reputation for reliable, independent
reporting, broad partnering and bold action.
Here are some views of CPT’s peacemaking
work at the time of the invasion.
War
report from team in Baghdad
– the first report from the Iraq team after the invasion began, 20 March
You can read Iraq team releases of that period here (navigate through
time at page bottom).
Here are a few selections (dates are all 2003):
Final
thoughts – 19 March, 7pm “I mourn
for all the people who will soon die.
But I delight in the beauty of everything around
me, and bask in the fellowship of my precious friends here – both the Iraqis and internationals….”
Letter from
Cliff Kindy – 19 March – report
on a visit with the papal nuncio
Christian
Peacemaker Team statement to U.S. and Iraqi governments – 17 March
A
letter to the churches in Canada and the United States from the Christian
Peacemaker Team in Baghdad – 15 March
“From prayer
and fasting find the strength to stop paying for war. From joy in discipleship, hold fast to the evangelistic
boldness to invite soldiers and corporate
technocrats to abandon their posts…. Live in Easter hope.”
Spiritual
sacrifices and the Iraq war – 21 March from the Aboriginal Justice Team – “The idea for the
CPT shelter was born out of concern over the escalating threat of war in Iraq,
over the conspicuous connections between that war and oil, and over the team’s
reliance on oil to heat the trailer that housed them.”
Canadian
CPTer denied entry to USA, questioned by FBI – 14 March – “…immigration officers claimed that the CPT
newsletters, printed in Chicago…, were ‘anti-American.’ “
Caught – 19 March – CPT delegation member John Barber records his interaction with an Iraqi hotel clerk.
“My family is here in Baghdad. My father, my brothers.
Do you know I go home each night and I just sit. I only think of one thing:
‘What am I to do? War is coming, What am I to do?’ ” ….
I look deeply into his eyes. Days, months, years, in this
trap. “Why this war?” he asks. I cannot answer. I want to console
him, but I cannot. I want to hold him like my child, and tell him it will be
all right, but it will not be all right.
“Thank you and your friends
for being here, you have good hearts”, he says. He puts his hand over his
heart–a common gesture here in Iraq. It is a reminder for me. For a moment we
stand across from each other, holding our hearts, holding our anguish. We both
begin to cry.
