The War on Iraq

Messages from Alan Slater, a Christian Peacemaker Teams Volunteer from Southwestern Ontario

Friday, March 03, 2006

SAMARRA REFLECTIONS, Saturday, March 4, 2006

Iraqis continue to mull over the bombing of the Shi'a shrine in Samarra ten days ago. That event has led to a series of bombings that has killed hundreds of people.  I was fortunate to be five minutes away from our local market when a car bomb exploded on the street in front of it, killing several people and injuring many more.

A couple of days ago I was visiting my neighbour Dawood. Here is his assessment of the Samarra bombing.

The shrine was destroyed by several bombs that were set all around the dome.  It is estimated that the setting of those bombs would have taken eight to ten hours.  Both American soldiers and Iraqi Interior Ministry forces were watching the shrine but they withdrew some hours before the blast destroyed the shrine. Two shrine guards were found alive, handcuffed within the ruble of the shrine.

Dawood concluded that American agents destroyed the shrine to create chaos in Iraq.  Forces within the Interior Ministry co-operated with the Americans. The violence unleashed by this bombing will be used by the Americans to continue occupying Iraq.

Dawood is convinced that all government departments, the police and the military are rife with spies for various parties and factions. The movements of political leaders are so well known that they can be killed at any time by their opponents.

Through all of this we continue to hear stories of Sunni and Shi'a people working together to protect each other and call for an end to the American occupation.

Love to all, Allan Slater

Sunday, February 26, 2006 12:52 AM

When is a brink a brink?

Dear All,

The last few days have been spent in virtual lock down here in Baghdad as curfew after curfew has been imposed to try to control the situation since the bombing of the Shi'a shrine in Samara on Wednesday.  Below I set forth some of my journal musings; the odd references in parantheses refer to the sounds I am hearing as I write.   The noise of Baghdad is defining in many ways of the experience of it. 

Friday, 4:35 am (jets and howling dogs)  I fell asleep in exhaustion last night.  On Wednesday, while doing a taped radio inverview with a friend and her son, our translator, we learned of the bombing of the shrine.  Then reports came in that there were other bombs and shooting in the streets of Baghdad.   As we talked, first trying to carry on with the interview, then breaking away to call various folks, we were still not too shaken; our neighborhood, after all, remained quiet.  The shattering of my own sense of calm came with a call from a Palestinian Team friend:  Baladiat, his neighborhood, was under gunfire attack by the Mehdi army.  

I can only speak with him through our translator, who said he could hear the gunfire over the phone.  The same friend called later to report that two mortars were dropped on Baladiat.  I have never felt more powerless or hopeless.   I saw the horror on the face of our translator (a young Palestinian himself) as we talked together, realizing that the gun battle was happening in the now and that our friend's call for help could not be answered by any rescue from us. 

Then [we learned] that a Catholic priest friend had been shot and was pinned down at the church by gunfire, unable to get to a hospital. . . he answered the phone himself . . .

We later learn that our priest friend was not actually shot, but that flying debris from gunfire had entered his leg.  He is at home recovering at present, but will probably go to have surgery in the coming week.  As with the Palestinians, we could talk with him while he was literally stuck in place, unable to move because of his injury and the gun battle outside. 

[A Team mate] left to get supplies for the coming days and found himself in front of a car that was then moved because it was thought to be a bomb -- we still don't know if it was.

The strange thing in retrospect is that when he returned and told us, he was quite matter of fact and we barely registered the remark; in such an atmosphere, if you aren't on the critically injured list, your near miss reports are of little interest.

It was dusk, just after sunset. Helicpoters flew round and round, circling the Green Zone.  I wanted to scream at them, but knew I could not -- there is danger even in a raised voice here.  So I . . . whispered my angry sad chant, 'Go home!  Go home!'

Thursday was spent in phone calls to Team friends to make sure everyone is all right.  Gun battles continued in the streets of some neighborhoods, but things generally quieted down.  To say it was generally quiet is not to ignore the reality, however, of intense violence; Friday and Saturday were more of the same:   general quiet and pockets of extraordinary violence.  Foreign Arabs held in jail in the south were taken from the jail and executed on the streets.  Mosques were invaded and destroyed.  A journalist was killed and shots were fired at others during her funeral.  Home invasions and executions are reported in various parts of Baghdad.  But there are also signs of peace and reconciliation and hope:   Shi'a and Sunni marched together in numerous locations, demonstrating solidarity.   Leaders of various factions on both sides have issued solidarity statements.   Ayatollah Sistani, the leading Shi'a cleric in Iraq, has called for peace and non-violence.  Various groups within Iraq, as well as surrounding nations, have pledged assistance to rebuild the shrine.  Sunni in Baghdad play the words of a Shi'a leader.  Shi'a and Sunni worship together. 

What wisdom about the situation do I have from here?  The truth is, not much.  What I can say is that if any commentator, politician, or theorist of any stripe pretends to know what is happening here, unless he/she is the perpetrator, they are speaking from ignorance or speculation.  The fact is that, from here, there is no clarity about what has happened, who lit this latest spark or why.  The question posed is always the same:  who profits from Iraq's descent into open, full-blown civil war?  The answer varies depending upon the person speaking.  But there is a keen sense that this is a brink moment in Iraq.  People who have been hopeful in the past are sad and resigned.  Leaders call again and again for peace, some of them, even as they openly foment something else entirely.  And in my own experience, the more a leader cries peace, the more likely war is.  Do I know which way this tidal moment will break?  I have no idea; like the rest of Iraq, for now, I sit and I wait and I pray.  I pray that one, if not all sides, let go of the rubber band which is Iraq, before it stretches beyond the breaking point.

Wednesday at dusk, I cried at the sky.  Friday at dusk, I sat with my team mate, Maxine, on the same roof, in quiet conversation.  A white dove with tan wings flew directly overhead (I remember because I looked up and then thought better of that, given the habits of birds).  It then circled back and came to rest on the ledge, where it sat and watched us for five minutes or so.  It did not startle when we spoke or fly off when we moved.  I truly thought I could have walked over to it and stood beside it without disturbing its vigil.  After a time, it simply and quietly left.  Maxine said that usually such things are a sign to us, but that it felt as if this bird was watching us, looking for a sign from us instead of being a sign to us.  If God was coming to us in the symbol of Peace seeking a sign or an answer, I wonder what the question is? 

May you be blessed with God's peace now and always,

Beth (a colleague of Alan Slater)

Friday, February 24, 2006 7:35 PM

CURFEW, February 25, 2006

You may know that Baghdad was under a day time curfew on Friday, February 24.   Our neighbours told us that it was imposed to prevent large crowds from gathering at mosques. People were prevented from moving between communities, especially in cars.

At first we were a bit apprehensive about venturing out, not knowing what sort of curfew enforcement might be in place. It was a beautiful spring day without the normal pall of pollution.  From the roof we could see that our neighbours were enjoying the sun out on our street.  I walked down to join in a conversation with our friend Omar and four other neighbours.  They were discussing the various points of view being expressed about the recent violence.  I am sure they were worried but they were in a jovial mood, talking about who might be benefiting from all the violence.

I walked on down to our main street.  It is normally jammed with cars.  There were almost none to be seen.  Most shops were closed.  The mood could only be described as festive. People were strolling with babes in arms and toddlers at their sides.  Groups of people were chatting.  The actual street had been taken over by boys playing soccer and boys careening by on their bicycles equipped with radios blasting out loud music.

The spirit of these people never ceases to amaze me.  They are able to summon up the hope and courage to face each day as it comes.  When they are handed even one day of blessed relief from the chaos and violence they sure know how to make the most of it.

Love to all, Allan Slater

Thursday, February 16, 2006

YARMOUK UNIVERSITY

Some stories never seem to end.  You may remember my story from last year about Yarmouk University in Ba'quba.  The university was bombed by the US Army and Air Force in June of 2004.  An Iraqi Canadian who was here assisting in the development of the university was gunned down by the resistance as a US collaborator because he went to the Ba'quba army base so many times seeking compensation.

The university put up $200,000US of their own money right away to rebuild so students could return in September.  Much more damage was done.  The US Army eventually hired a contractor for $348,000US to do more work.  They also hired a relative of the contractor to over-see the work.  The contractor informed the university that they had received $250,000US to do the work.  I think you can see where this story is heading.  The work has not been done to the satisfaction of the University.  The university was never told the true value of the contract by the military.  The military has not made any commitment to repay the university for the original $200,000US that was spent.  There is more. Signatures from people who claim to represent the university but have no signing authority have emerged in army documents.  Some of them may be forged.

For the last two months representatives from the university have sent emails and delivered requests for a meeting with army officials to the gates of the army base.  They have received no replies to questions asked and they have been denied access to the army base five times.  They have always been told to come back on another day, only to be denied access again on that day.

Finally, on February 15 Beth Pyles and I accompanied university representatives to the army base at Ba'quba. Beth is an American.  It soon became apparent that she could have access to the base, and so could I because Canada was close enough.  Suddenly without explanation, as we stood contemplating our next steps, we were all allowed into the base.

The soldier who took us into the base had emigrated from Serbia to America.  One of the university officials had studied in Yugoslavia for several years.  They struck up an immediate comradeship conversing in Serb.  How strange to be on an American army base in an Arabic speaking country with two people talking Serb without any translation.

Beth is a former lawyer so she was able to keep all the strands of this story separated.  The army captain wanted to hire a so-called independent engineer to assess the quality of the work with no input from the university.  In the end Beth was able to make the captain understand that the army would have to work with university representatives in assessing the quality of the work.  The captain agreed to set up another meeting with university officials within one week.  We await the next chapter of this story.

Love to all, Allan

PRAYER, FEBRUARY 10, 2006

Bruce Small is a United Church minister and a recipient of these reflections from Baghdad.  He has asked me to comment on this question.  How do I believe that prayer has worked for me?

Prayers are communications with God.  When we pray for other people God transmits those prayers.  Good, loving thoughts about another person may not be strictly prayers but those thoughts also reach that other person.  Baghdad is a dangerous, chaotic place.  Each future minute stands starkly in front of us, totally beyond our control.  It is those thoughts and prayers that make this work in Iraq possible.

Your thoughts and prayers arrive constantly in so many ways. I suddenly feel calm when my normal impulse would be quick over reaction.  Stresses melt away and deep, slow breathing returns without any conscious thoughts on my part.  I feel surrounded by your power of kindness and love.  It is an awesome power.  We must all pray that it will be used wisely.

I have lived a full life without major difficulties.  It is this experience in Iraq that has helped me learn the importance of praying and thinking about the wellbeing of others.  I am only beginning to understand how I communicate with God.  But I am convinced that in some of those sleepless nights when my mind is filled with fear and doubt that God is speaking.  A sleepless night does not mean that I will waken tired in the morning.  In fact, I might face the new day with renewed clarity and vigor.

God has brought me here.  By your thoughts and prayers God sustains me.

Love to all, Allan Slater

SATIRE, FEBRUARY 7, 2006

As I was flying into Iraq from Jordan I was talking with an Iraqi man.  He told me that a Greek philosopher once said, that in times of war parents bury there children, but in times of peace children bury their parents.  He also told me

a grim joke that I have heard again several times.  The student is gone from Iraq and now the master has come.  I do not want to under estimate your understanding of this situation but this refers to the fact that the violence, terror and torture is far worse under George W Bush than it was under Saddam Hussein.  It also says that much of the power that Hussein had came from United States.

Here is another story that is now being told here in Iraq. It has a Biblical sound to it.  I will leave the interpretation up to you.

A man took his family to live in a village far from his home.  He and his family strove to establish good relationships in the village.  The residents of the village appreciated their efforts so everything was working out very well.

There was just one problem.  The family had brought one rooster that crowed very loudly day and night.  It kept all of the village people awake.  So the villagers complained to the newcomers.  The man did not want to make trouble so he killed the rooster.

The next night the noise of roosters in the village was terrible.  Hundreds of roosters were crowing.  Then the people in the village realized that that one strong rooster's crowing had kept all the other roosters quiet.

Love to all, Allan

VISITING FRIENDS, February 4, 2006

Today I had a little time to visit my old neighbour Ibrahim.  He has two small farms just outside Baghdad.  Normally he grows barley on them during this winter season.  There is enough rain here during the winter to grow the crop.  The barley produces two harvests.  Just before heading it is cut for hay which is sold to local livestock owners.  Then the barley keeps growing until it heads out and produces seed. Unfortunately the security situation is so bad now that Ibrahim cannot even visit his farms much less plant barley.

So now Ibrahim has sold his old farm truck.  It was not running too well anyway.  He goes to the stock exchange which is located near here on Mondays and Wednesdays.  He is not a broker but individuals can buy and sell on this exchange.  I am not very clear just what shares are being traded other than banks.  At the moment this exchange is only open to Iraqis.  Ibrahim says the share prices are falling but he is continuing to buy.  He hopes that the impending announcement of the new coalition government will bring better times to Iraq.

I hope so much that Ibrahim is correct.  I sense that even he is becoming depressed.  He laments the fact that he is only occupied for two days in the week.  His eyes are failing with cataracts.  He asks me to visit during the day when the light is good.  He is an avid reader in Arabic and English but he is now having difficulty reading.  I pray every day for better times and cataract surgery for my friend Ibrahim.  

Love, Allan

UNFRIENDLY FIRE, February 2, 2006

Thanks Bev, for the heads up on the shooting of the Canadian

car in the Green Zone.  Last night we had some electricity just before I went to bed at 10:30 so I was able to read that email.  Usually I leave the light on in my bed room before going to sleep.  Then at two or three in the morning the lights actually come on when we get power from the grid. That is my signal to get up and send and receive email.

Last night I went to bed with that information already received.  Then at 12:45 AM when we were all asleep in pitch darkness with no electricity the phone rang.  With four of our friends missing and all of us having families thousands of miles away we have to answer a call like this.  It is extremely upsetting and frightening.  The call turned out to be one from a Toronto Star reporter asking for the phone number of one of the Canadian diplomats in the Green Zone. She had been unable to get the number from Canadian Government sources in Canada.  We would not give out the number even if we had it.  This is a plea to all of the people on my media list to please remember that we live in a stressful and dangerous situation.  Please do not add to it by calling like that.  Thanks.

We read the complete account of the shooting from CTV and the Globe and Mail.  I am very concerned that Canadian Government political leaders seem to be saying that they will accept the American investigation into the incident. This is far from an independent investigation.  But this flawed investigation is all we will get.  It will show that some Canadian embassy employees are at least partly to blame.  Very likely some Canadians will lose their jobs or be demoted because some poorly trained American soldier made a mistake that narrowly missed killing people.  The American Army can prevent these dangerous and terrifying occurrences. The Canadian Government should demand that.  Anything less is an unacceptable solution in which the victim is blamed for the attacks of a bully.       

Love to all, Allan.

NEIGHBOURHOOD LIFE, February 1, 2006

Our oven does not work, never has worked during my times in Baghdad.  Anita, who was cooking supper, had chosen to have roast chicken.  The two of us walked to the end of our block on to the main street in our community to purchase cooked chicken from a man who operates a gas fired rotisserie on the sidewalk.  The new moon was just rising above TigrisRiver.

We were both heartened by the vibrancy of the community. Shops and businesses open late in Iraq and many stay open well into the evening.  The power grid was not providing any electricity but small generators were running to provide somewhat subdued lighting, almost a party like glow.  The sidewalks were full of people shopping or just standing around chatting.  Three young boys on bicycles stopped to ask if we were from Americy and try out their few words of

English.  I tried my Arabic on them which always brings howls of laughter.  Always in the background one can hear the screams of sirens or the incessant vibration of helicopters.

One of our very good friends who visits regularly says that Iraqis need to hear bombs and sirens.  Too much silence is to be feared much like the calm before the storm.  Life, hope and laughter still prevail.     

Love to all, Allan

CHURCHES, January 31, 2006

Several churches were bombed last Sunday including several in our neighbourhood.  Some of our team members were on their way to church when I heard first news of the bombings. The wife of our driver phoned to let us know.  We have not heard that there were any injuries in any of these attacks although two of the bombings took place in Kirkuk so we do not know much about that.

We live in a neighbourhood where Christian and Muslim have lived together for many years.  All are concerned.  One Christian businessman we deal with regularly expressed great concern.  He would like to emigrate to Canada.

It appears that this flurry of church bombings has been caused by a very anti Muslim cartoon that appeared in a Danish newspaper a few months ago.  Denmark is seen as a Christian country.  Neither the Danish government nor Christian Churches have made strong statements against the content of this cartoon so the issue has continued to see the here.

Love, Allan 

January 28, 2006

Yes we have seen the pictures on Al Jazeera. We are so grateful that as of January 21 our friends, Tom, Jim Norman and Harmeet are alive.  We feel our prayers have been answered.  We continue to hope and pray for their release.  

Love Allan 

Rockets on the Roof, January 27, 2006

Yesterday a rocket fell short of the green zone and splashed into the Tigris River a few hundred metres from our apartment.  That made quite a bang and we could smell the cordite instantly so we knew it was close.

A few months ago a rocket actually hit the apartment.  We were on the roof after this attack taking a look. Almost all buildings here have flat roofs where people slept during the heat of summer in more peaceful times. Our landlord showed me the damage from the direct hit.  The rocket had hit water storage tanks on the roof so those were destroyed.  Several thousand litres of water covered the roof.  The tanks had to be replaced.  Tiles on the roof had to be replaced along with steel railings around the edge.

I was amazed that there had been no structural damage.  The small amount of water that leaked through only discoloured the paint on the ceiling of the upper floor.  The landlord

explained that the roof is constructed with limestone and steel re-enforced concrete, about two metres thick.  This was not originally for bomb protection but as a heat sink to keep the building cool in summer and warm in winter.  The whole building, which is over thirty years old, is supported by steel re-enforced concrete beams almost a metre square.

Most amazing was the attitude of our landlord to all of this.  He had been sitting enjoying an afternoon rest in his apartment when the rocket hit.  He knew something had happened very near but had no idea it was his own building until he saw his own chairs and TV dishes going by his window, answering the call of gravity.  All of the damage was repaired within two weeks.  The roof is now much more pleasant with new tiles and railing.  Our landlord did not offer one word of complaint in the whole telling of the story.

He did have a word of advice for the armed resistance.  The rockets have been hidden too long in the sand.  They have deteriorated to the point of being very short range and inaccurate.   Our landlord seems to take pride in being able to overcome difficulties with a grin on his face.  He is an inspiration.  

Love, Allan

Very early January 25, 2006

I arrived in Baghdad about noon on Tuesday.  I will say right off the top that there is no more news on our four friends who have been detained. On the way in from the airport I noticed that the streets were a bit cleaner.  People were working at that.  I suspect these jobs are very low paying but it was, at least a positive change.  On the other hand I still saw trucks loaded with newly manufactured concrete barriers moving along the roads.  Still the main reconstruction seems to be increasing the area of army installations.  There is no more electricity and is quite clear now that nothing is being done to rectify that situation.

Many old friends just happened to drop in today so in that respect it has been a happy day.  This evening our landlords joined us for supper.  They have two children who will be graduating from university this year.  Both have done extremely well and both will be leaving Iraq.  There is literally nothing now to keep them here.   The father knows
things are deteriorating in Iraq but he still manages to keep busy with various business interests.  The mother sees no hope.  She is well educated but she cannot leave the house to visit friends or go for a walk.  Now that her children will be leaving she is losing all hope for Iraq. She gave some concrete examples of why she thinks there will be no change.  Security workers are making up to $1000 per day so why should they want law and order.  The Americans are getting the Iraqi oil without paying for it so why would they want to leave.  So that is a little about day one in Baghdad.    

Love and Thanks,
Allan Slater

January 15, 2006

"Are you crazy?" Heather Rivers-Harron, a reporter for the Woodstock Sentinel-Review asked me a few days ago. Heather is a good journalist. It was a good question asked out of a genuine concern. I do not think I answered the question well at the time but I have given it some thought since.

Am I crazy to be heading back to Iraq on January 20? I am not crazy enough to think that my presence in Iraq will miraculously bring peace to Iraqis, get young American soldiers home to their loved ones and free our four missing comrades. But war is crazy. People who have experienced the chaos and trauma of war can be driven crazy. Journalists speak with political leaders who contemplate war. Citizens write letters to political leaders who contemplate war. In a quiet respectful tone, we need to ask those people who start wars, are you crazy?

I am returning to Iraq for two months. Norman Kember, Harmeet Sooden, Tom Fox and Jim Loney are still missing. Team members who have been present in Iraq through these difficulties need a break. I will be replacing Greg Rollins from Vancouver who will be back in Canada about January 23. We believe our friends will be released. They will come home to our apartment in Baghdad where we have lived for several years. Fellow CPT volunteers will be there to welcome them home.

We choose to live outside the protected walls of the green zone with the people of Iraq so we can experience some of their realities. We did not wish for the experience of having four people detained. But that is the reality of Iraq. Tens of thousands of ordinary Iraqis have been arrested in violent raids and detained in US operated prisons. The secrecy surrounding the whole situation leads us to believe the detainees are being denied any reasonable due process by the US government.

Please, I am asking for your thoughts and prayers:

For all the detainees in Iraq,

For our missing comrades,

For my family, of whom I ask so much,

And for CPT volunteers in Iraq.

Those thoughts and prayers make our work possible.

Thanks so much, Allan Slater