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Christian Peacemakers in Iraq |
| Since the release of three members of the Christian
Peacemakers team in Iraq after months of captivity, a lengthy conversation
has gone on between two Presbyterians with rather different backgrounds and
views. Some of the notes are long, but we believe this discussion offers a
helpful example to two differing views of the Iraq war, efforts to work for
peace in the midst of the war, and much more.
The most recent of the notes is just below this introductory note.
You can scroll down to follow the path back to the beginning, or
click here for the beginning of the story,
and work your way back up the page.
If you have thoughts about the concerns and convictions expressed here,
we welcome your notes, and will share them here unless they become too
hostile and personal.
Just send a
note!
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| From Beth Pyles to Earl Tilford,
April 10, 2006
Dear Professor Tilford,
Thank you for your response to my e-mail. Although it is often difficult
to talk across divides, I continue to believe it is important, crucial, that
we do so, not so much for conversion from one side to another, but because
in our encounter, we will each be changed. God's Holy Spirit is at work in
each of us; thus I owe you the honor and duty to listen.
On the issue of gratitude, I must confess that I remain a bit mystified
by the degree of anger CPT's release generated in many people, particularly
Christians. CPT did say thank you. Norman Kember, Jim Loney, Harmeet Sooden
and their families said thank you. That we did not do it promptly enough,
often enough, quickly enough or freely enough (without any caveats) seems to
really reflect an underlying issue: that CPT does not agree with the mission
is really what has sparked the furor, it seems to me; else, there would have
been a bit of grace extended to three men who were just released from almost
four months of captivity and to the people who were also working tirelessly
for their release within CPT. You also castigate CPT for using the word
'release' to refer to the freedom of Jim, Norman and Harmeet; but in its own
press releases, that is what the British forces said, that the men had been
'released'. I suspect the original point sticks: there is anger at CPT for
opposing the presence of United States and other forces in Iraq. That is a
fair disagreement. And if the way we speak leaves you believing that it is
our agenda to denigrate our troops rather than to recall us to our highest
best selves, then we have not spoken well.
I have always understood that in challenging my country, I am challenging
myself. For you and I agree on one thing: 'I' (and all other citizens of the
United States) sent our troops to Iraq. There is no 'us' and 'them' in what
we do, what I do, in Iraq. As a citizen of the United States, I am every
soldier. And we agree that the stakes are high in Iraq. I submit that the
battle is not for territory or ideology, but for our souls. To paraphrase
Jesus, the test of character is not how we treat the people we love and who
love us, but how we treat our enemies. And based upon what I have seen, I
fear it is a test we are failing before God.
You may well be right that many detainees in Iraq 'deserve detention'.
CPT does not address itself to the merits of the holding of anyone in Iraq;
rather, it addresses itself to conditions of confinement and due process: to
the belief that no one should be subjected to torture or abuse while
detained or held incommunicado for months or years without any resort to
even minimal due process, for due process is the means we have to assure
that those holding prisoners do not abuse them and that people are not
detained for improper purposes.
The International Red Cross, the recognized international agency for
assuring humane conditions of confinement, has been denied access to certain
detention facilities run by the United States in Iraq (see recent New
York Times article on the subject). Abuse of detainees is a real phenomenon
and it is not acceptable, no matter the crime. Jesus said when asked, when
did we visit you? "When I was in prison."
How do we separate the obligation to hold people accountable for their
misconduct from the temptation to mistreat them because of their own
mistreatment of others? How do we hold ourselves accountable to refrain from
the abuse of power? I hold no perfect answer to these questions, but I do
believe that bringing what happens behind closed doors out into the light of
day is a good first step. Perhaps a second one is to not assume that
everyone who is detained deserves to be. And perhaps the third (maybe it
should be the first) is to recall the Golden Rule; for I know for a
certainty that no matter what I do in my life, I always hope for mercy. And
I believe that mercy enacted is one of the most transformative powers on
earth, as well as being that which God requires of me (Micah 6.8).
Every Sunday we are told in one form or another that if we got what we
deserve from God, we would be in big trouble indeed, but are then reminded
of the Gospel promise: Christ died for us that we might live. Which brings
us full circle around to the subject of gratitude: my gratitude about my own
salvation is so great that I must share it, albeit imperfectly, with others.
That I did not deserve this gracious gift moves me to share it with others,
regardless of their merit, for like Paul, I know the state of my own heart
and I am the greatest of sinners. Perhaps there are detainees who 'deserve'
all the abuse we can heap upon them. But how can I, who was so graciously
rescued from divine retribution, not withhold my own retribution? Even more
importantly, how can I abuse a monster without becoming a monster myself?
About whether Iraq is or is not on the brink of civil war, what I said in
my reflection was that no one at that moment was in a position to know which
way things would go, least of all me. I did also point to signs of hope,
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.
But when you say that there has not been violence in the aftermath of the
shrine bombing, this is mistaken. It is difficult to know whether the
ensuing violence is simply a continuation of what has already been happening
or whether it is an escalation. But the fact is that a small minority of
largely unknown perpetrators are continuing to engage in the slaughter of
innocent people, Shi'a and Sunni. I view the question of whether Iraq is or
is not in civil war to be largely irrelevant. In the summer of 2005, the
Christian Science Monitor reported that Iraq at that time was already in
civil war (August 22, 2005). Regardless of what we call it, Iraq is a place
of great instability and violence.
I must confess that I was most surprised at your assertion that crime is
not necessarily a corollary to war. I take it as such a given that when I
read what you wrote, I spent some time in on-line research, asking myself,
am I just wrong about this? The reason that I take it as a given is colored
by my own view of violence: it seems impossible to me that we who train our
children that it is wrong to hit or to kill, when asking them to set aside
those ingrained beliefs to participate in a war, should expect that the
lifting of the restraint against violence would not bleed into the lifting
of restraint in other areas of life. By this, I do not mean to say that
everyone who is a soldier is a criminal. Rather I am trying to say that when
restraints are lifted against violence in a society, that violence will play
itself out in a myriad of predictable, if criminal ways. But back to the
question of whether my own presuppositions are right. The World Bank
introduces its study of violence in war and in crime this way:
Violence is a key reason for the broadening chasm between developed and
developing countries. It has created fundamentally different expectations
of social and political life in North and South. Young people in several
poor countries are now being socialized in social systems created by war.
These systems give rise to greater poverty and inequality, which in turn
increase crime and violence. (The Economics of Civil Wars, Crime
and Violence,
www.worldbank.org )
But the World Bank is addressing itself to the long view. I am speaking
about the criminal activity in the context of war as it is happening. You
point out that crime did not explode in the United States during Viet Nam or
other wars. With the exception of the Civil War, none of these wars were
fought on our soil (the attack on Pearl Harbor being the exception). I am
speaking to a country that is the locus for war, to the place and time where
the violence is actually happening.
In Congo and surrounding countries, which have been embroiled in violence
for years, rape is such a common phenomenon that it has become an enormous
social problem: women who have been raped are expelled from their families
and have no other resources for their support.
In fact, rape during war, particularly of detained women, has become such
a common phenomenon that it is being treated as an international war crime
in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Colombia has been embroiled in a form of civil war for four decades;
kidnapping and drug trafficking are boom industries there.
In Afghanistan, the opium trade has been resurrected by its war lords.
But in my research, what I was surprised to find is a paper documenting
that civilian violent crime rates increased in the United States during the
Viet Nam years and at other times we were involved in violent conflicts
around the world. It would appear that the thought that our wars have no
impact on the crime rates even at home is ill-founded:
The trauma caused by war is indescribable and often times over looked
as a cause of civilian violent crimes. Archer and Gartner in their article
"Violent Acts and Violent Times: A Comparative Approach to Postwar
Homicide Rates" (1976) lay out three perspectives on the link between war
and crime: social organization, economic factors, and the legitimization
of violence.
The data reveals a relationship between war and a civilian male crime
rate. War and media exposure to war have an impact on people committing
violent acts. Data from the years 1960-2000, that focused on the years
around the Vietnam War, the Iran Hostage situation, and the Persian Gulf
War all show a period of increased violent crimes in the United States.
During the Vietnam War, the murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate
in the United States more than doubled.
From Infantryman to Inmate: A Historical-Comparative Analysis of the
Impact of War on U. S. Civilian Crime Rates , by Jennifer Concannon.
[To read her paper,
click here, then scroll down to Jen Concannon's photo, and click on
paper or powerpoint, as you choose.]
You note that comments made by Iraqis (I presume on CPT's
web site) were mostly negative and that these Iraqis were mostly Sunni. If
you are referring to the CPT article, I wrote the article and know all of
the people referred to in it. The young business woman is Shi'a; the woman
who looked with hope to the invasion but now wishes we never came is
Christian; the Palestinian woman is Sunni; the engineer educated in
the United States is Muslim, but I don't recall whether he is Shi'a or Sunni
(he is the brother-in-law of the Shi'a business woman); the retired
gentleman working in economics is, I believe (but do not know for certain),
Shi'a. These were simply people we know who live in our neighborhood (which
is predominantly Shi'a). But what is striking to me is that you reminded me
first (and rightly so) of all the positive work being done between Shi'a and
Sunni in Iraq, but in the next breath, dismiss any Sunni complaints as
simply motivated by a loss of power of an oppressive minority formerly in
power. These are their statements, not mine. And frankly, I was surprised at
many of them. And most of all, I was surprised by their agreement about the
United States' current role, given their diversity of opinion about the
initial invasion. All that these Iraqis share in common is their status as
civilians.
You say that CPT earns your disdain because it has an
agenda that is 'negative'. Professor Tilford, I truly do not know how to
respond to this, because I do not understand the accusation. CPT is founded
on the principle of non-violent participation in places of conflict. We do
not go where we have not been invited by local groups willing to work with
us. In Iraq, CPT works with Iraqi groups, including a sister organization,
Muslim Peacemaker Teams. Time after time we are thanked for our work, even
though it feels to us as if we do very little. Time after time we are told
to come back to the United States and tell their stories, the stories they
cannot tell for themselves.
If I have learned anything in Iraq, it is to avoid
ideology, for life is lived by real, breathing human beings and ideology
tries to be the master rather than the servant, subjugating and sacrificing
human beings to its larger cause. People like me who claim to work for peace
are often accused of being idealogues; it is perhaps a fair criticism. But
when you say we are to be disdained because we are 'negative', what I hear
is an effort to speak from the macro level; but life is lived on the micro
level. Pastorally, no minister or elder worth their salt would say to a
grieving parent whose child has died that the death was for the greater
glory of God. There is a time to mourn, the author of Ecclesiastes wisely
tells us. And in the time of mourning, it is important that the reality
which occasioned the mourning be named. Reality must be acknowledged, even a
negative one. Thus we cannot reduce Iraq and its people as simply being 'a
theater in this war'.
You say, "I have no doubt you saw a lot in Iraq. What you
say you saw simply does not accord with what thousands of returning US
military personnel are telling us about what is going on in Iraq. Try
looking for the positive. . ." I suspect we have come to the underlying
problem in our effort to communicate with each other: for you, I am simply
not a reliable source, as belied by your statement about what "you say you
saw". You and I have never met; of course you have no reason to simply take
what I say on faith. Of course you should question and challenge what I say.
But I suspect you haven't met the "thousands" of soldiers either. I have met
many of them in Iraq. A sergeant told me that she hates the 'support the
troops' yellow ribbons because she interprets that as 'support our troops to
death' by encouraging them to remain in Iraq and be killed. She told me
about her own burdened heart as she stood watch over departing convoys,
wondering which boys would not return. Soldiers talk openly to me about
their feelings about the war itself (some positive, some negative), about
their questions about Iraqi people, what they're like, what they think
(soldiers do not often encounter Iraqi civilians as they only travel outside
of their military bases in armed convoys which may not be approached for
fear of bombing, thus they do not know what Iraqis think). Mostly they tell
me about their lives, their hopes and dreams for when they get home, their
past that they left behind, their problems back home.
As for the positive, I see it in the smiling faces of
Iraqi children at play. I hear it in the voices of mothers calling their
children home for supper. I feel it in the hospitality given to me, a
privileged stranger in their midst, taken in, fed, clothed, loved without
question. But the symphony that is the backdrop to such transcendent beauty
is made up of the phone calls a 9-year-old girl must make daily from our
phone to her grandmother to make sure she hasn't been bombed (her
neighborhood is notoriously violent), in helicopters overhead, in the thud
of mortars, in the cacophony of bullets, in the calls for help from friends
whose neighborhoods are being invaded, of the tears and cries of women whose
children are no more.
As a side note, I am interested to know the source for the
claim that the detainee identified by British troops as the source for their
information as to the location of my colleagues was released. I had not
heard this, nor the claim that he was thus in a position to warn the
kidnappers to leave. All I know is that their captors were gone when the
troops came. That might invite the speculation that they were warned, but
there are other explanations as well, and as to these circumstances, it
seems important not to speculate. So I would appreciate it if you could let
me know where you read/heard that the detainee had been released.
Finally, in all of this I ask myself what is at stake for
me, for you. I cannot, of course, answer for you. For myself, the communion
of saints is my refuge. I have no expectation that there will not be
conflict there and in fact believe that our conflicts can be healthy and
illuminating. But when I receive the anger of my fellow believers, I want to
struggle with it, to understand its source, to seek reconciliation. To that
end, I must rely on you to help me understand what is at stake for you, to
understand what Christ-like submission might look like in conversations like
ours. If you want to keep talking, I'm happy to. If you want to bring this
discussion to a close, agreeing to disagree, I accept that as well. Perhaps
it is the best we can do. I wonder why that feels like a defeat?
Yours in Christ,
Beth Pyles
PS A personal note to keep my
presbytery happy and me honest: I'm still a candidate for the ministry, so
have yet to earn the honorific 'Reverend'.
|
| Earl Tilford responds to Beth
Pyles -- April 9, 2006
Dear Reverend Pyles:
If I "pierced your heart with anger, sadness and fear" I apologize. That
certainly was not my intent.
The message that my friend Doug King posted was sent to the headquarters
of the Christian Peacemakers Team with a copy to my friend Doug in hopes
that he would post something acknowledging the role the military played in
recovering your colleagues in Baghdad. My friend Doug's response was that he
did not appreciate people (me) telling him what to post on the Witherspoon
website. In all fairness to Doug, he has posted most of what I have sent to
him and all of it has been diametrically opposed to the progressive agenda
of the Witherspoon Society. He contacted me to see if I would object to his
posting my note. I replied that he could and suggested he post a different
version, one that was posted by Presbyweb. He also made note of my
professional and religious affiliations, which I did not include in my
admittedly angry message to the Christian Peacemakers Team for the reason
that I was writing as a private citizen.
I also want to acknowledge that each of the three men who were rescued
did, upon returning home, express their gratitude to the British and
American soldiers who secured their release. Furthermore, I also acknowledge
that in an addendum the Christian Peacemakers Team also expressed a rather
muted form of appreciation while also expressing their concern for detainees
(many of whom totally deserve detention) in the custody of US, Coalition and
Iraqi authorities. Believe it or not, the US, Coalition and Iraqi
authorities are also concerned about the health and well-being of their
detainees.
Before I address your correctives, let me state again my disdain for the
original press release made by CPT. It called the recovery of your three
colleagues a "release" and then, without either acknowledging the role
played by the British and American armed force or thanking them for their
efforts, nonetheless used the announcement of the rescue of these men to
restate their contentions that Operation Iraqi Freedom constitutes in
illegal and immoral war and to express their concern for the treatment being
given to detainees. It was, by the way, a detainee who revealed the
information that led to the recovery of your colleagues. He was rewarded
with his freedom and the criminals who kidnapped your friends and murdered
Tom Fox were warned to vacate their location.
Let me also restate my disdain for the kind of reporting that CPT has
engaged in from Iraq. For example, in messages you sent after the bombing of
the mosque in late February, you intimated that Iraq was on the "brink" of
civil war. That was not the case. The Iraqi security forces, supported by US
and Coalition troops, clamped down on potential violence, Iraqi Sunnis and
Shiites alike called for calm and the Iraqi people did not let themselves be
provoked into the kind of violence you seemed to anticipate. Furthermore,
the comments recently posted by Iraqis were overwhelmingly if not totally
negative. It should not escape anyone's notice that a majority of those
comments were made by Sunnis …the
minority which was favored by the Saddam regime and who constitute the bulk
of the insurgency. I do appreciate the work you and your colleagues do when
it alleviates suffering among Iraqis. I also admire your courage. That does
not change the fact that the term "useful idiots" applies. That you are
willing to be "fools for Christ" also is commendable. Please understand,
however, that foolishness in the name of Christ may still qualify as
foolishness.
Now, to your correctives.
Kidnapping is a booming business in Iraq.
But countries at war do not "routinely" emerge into lawlessness. The United
States is at war and it is no more or less lawless than it was on September
10, 2001. The US did not lapse into lawlessness during the Vietnam War nor
in any other war in which it has engaged, though there has been opposition
to all wars. In the American Civil War the most notable example of
lawlessness during the war was the draft riots that occurred in New York
City in July 1863. Some of the Union forces recently victorious at
Gettysburg had to be used to keep white New Yorkers from killing blacks for
whom those whites had no desire to be thrown into the meat grinder. It is
not the US occupation of Iraq that is causing the lawlessness and violence
in Iraq. Violence stems from three sources: Sunni insurgents, many of whom
were former members of the Republican Guard and Saddam Fedayeen along with
others who fear the implications of a Shiite dominated future Iraqi
government; terrorist who have invaded Iraq from throughout the Muslim
world, to include Bosnia and Chechnya, at the behest of Iran and Syria, and
criminals who see opportunity in the chaos they themselves foster. Certainly
things would be different if Saddam had remained in power…or
if, alternatively…Iraq
was occupied by a force resembling the Nazis in Poland. I would submit that
CPT reports contribute to this violence by encouraging the lawless elements
with the hope that the American public will buy what you are saying and
compel an early withdrawal. If that helicopter you so ardently wished would
"go home" did go home, Iraq would truly descend into chaos.
Second, you asked why I do not indict contractors and journalist who
travel to Iraq and are kidnapped. I do indict those journalists who from the
relative comfort and safety of the Baghdad Green Zone publish reports that
come to them from Iraqi stringers who by now understand they are more apt to
be paid for bad news rather than good. I also commend those journalists who,
like New York Post reporter Ralph Peters get out in the countryside to
report on the progress being made in Iraq. I also commend the contractors
who are risking their lives to build a new Iraq, a prosperous and free Iraq.
I would submit that the CPT has an agenda in Iraq that is negative and that
is fully deserving of disdain. You also asked, "For that matter, why do we
not attack the troops themselves for being there?" You do. Constantly. They
are targets …selflessly
so. You know who sent them there? You did. You and the rest of the American
people. Maybe leaders you did not vote for made the decision, but
nonetheless it was a legally made decision and all your carping does not
change that. That is the "yardstick" by which we determine the legitimacy of
this or any other war and yes, there are good reasons for fighting for life
and liberty.
The Iraqi people are a testament to this. They have voted in
extraordinary numbers. They continue to sign up for military service even
though recruitment centers are targets for attack. The men and women who
serve in administrative positions with the new government are marked for
death, yet they serve anyway. They are a people who deserve our support and
they are going to continue to get that support.
I have no quarrel with CPT's policy on not negotiating with kidnappers or
hostage takers. I am angry that CPT is in Iraq to denigrate the efforts of
this nation and its military and that in doing so some of its people get
into trouble. Whether you want them to make an effort to ensure your safety
or not, the beauty of the US military is that they will do so anyway. No one
asked Christ to die for their salvation either.
I have no doubt you saw a lot in Iraq. What you say you saw simply does
not accord with what thousands of returning US military personnel are
telling us about what is going on in Iraq. Try looking for the positive and
quit relying on sources like
www.iraqbodycount.org.
Your repetition of their contention "that for every civilian killed by
insurgents or terrorists, four have been killed by the United States/mujlti-national
forces" is an example of useful idiocy. It is also wrong and by repeating
statements like that you and your colleagues are contributing to a
lengthening of this war and a prolongation of the suffering.
War ultimately is a test of wills, not just fire on targets. Wars are won
when the enemy knows it has been defeated. This war is going to go on for a
very, very long time. Iraq is simply a theater in this war. It may be that
the war soon will extend into Iran and Syria. I certainly do not expect
people who are traditionally opposed to all wars to be very happy with that
reality, but it is a reality. If we lose this war, it will not be Iraq that
is the loser. If al Qaeda has its way, your great grandchildren and mine
will be part of a world-wide Islamic Caliphate. That may seem preposterous
to you, but it made enough sense to nineteen Muslims so that they murdered
over 3,000 innocent people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on
September 11, 2001. I would submit that the CPT is doing a disservice in
that regard.
Ultimately it is war that offends you. It should. War is a very offensive
and horrible thing. Statements like "Look out Warmongers, here we come" (See
the CPT website) certainly miss the point.
Nevertheless, I do commend you for your courage. I apologize if my words
and my expressions of "utmost disdain" aimed at the people who neglected to
thank the American and British armed forces for rescuing three CPT members
but also did not refrain from attacking the motives and conduct of those
forces in announcing the "release" of those men offended you. They remain
ungracious in their idiocy, with "idiocy" being defined as the remark
attributed to Lenin about the usefulness of kindhearted but also easily
manipulated people: folks like Paul Robeson in the 1930s and William Sloan
Coffin during the Vietnam War and a certain Presbyterian leader who claims
there is religious freedom in Cuba. Nevertheless, you are a stand up woman
with a great deal of courage, both physical and moral, and for that I
commend you and offer my apology.
Very Respectfully,
Earl H. Tilford
|
| More from Christian Peacemaker Teams –
Beth Pyles, back from Baghdad, responds to criticism from Prof. Tilford
[4-8-06]
Beth Pyles, a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams who
recently returned from Baghdad, recently sent us a thoughtful response to
the sharp critique of the work of CPT, from Prof. Earl
Tilford, a Presbyterian elder, a retired military officer, and
professor at Grove City College.
In her cover note she says of her commentary: "I
know it's long, but there was much to respond to. Thank you for all your
good work."
We're happy to share it with you here.
Dear Professor Tilford,
I just read your letter to Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) on the
Witherspoon Society's web page this morning. I confess to you that your
words have pierced my heart with anger, sadness and fear. The anger and
fear, I release to God's Holy Spirit as best I am able. The sadness lingers,
for I find it heartbreaking that the body of Christ should be so divided.
That you have only the 'utmost disdain' for me and my colleagues is
wounding; you are my brother. That the pejorative 'useful idiots' you find
to be 'too kind a descriptive' for us is breathtaking in the rage these
words express. I beg you to reconsider if not your anger, at least your way
of expressing it.
But I must say that your assertion of facts begs for a few correctives.
You state that the time spent 'searching for and then rescuing' Harmeet,
Jim and Norman 'could have been spent stopping the terror attacks . . .
thousands of Iraqis may be dead because of the Christian Peacemaker Teams!'
My four colleagues, of course, are not the only ones to be kidnapped in
Iraq. Estimates are that two to ten Iraqis are kidnapped every day somewhere
in Iraq. Western targets receive the most press, but the fact is that
kidnapping is a boom 'industry' in Iraq now, emerging in the chaos that is
war. This is a new post-invasion phenomena in Iraq. To what do we attribute
this, if not to the context of the lawlessness that routinely emerges in a
nation at war? Surely context is relevant to any discussion of events? I
posit this in response to your dismissal of CPT's remark that the context of
the United States' occupation of Iraq must be considered in determining why
things are happening as they are. US military experts within the Pentagon
have been saying almost from the outset that the 'victory' in Iraq, if
victory is to be had, must be a political rather than military solution.
Secondly, I would ask why you do not indict the many contractors and
journalists who travel to Iraq and are kidnapped for distracting the
soldiers from their work of 'stopping terror attacks'? For that matter, why
do we not attack the troops themselves for being there? Even when they are
benign, they themselves are targets for so much violence that mostly kills
innocent civilians. By what yardstick do we measure to determine that one
person's presence is legitimate, worth the risk of life and liberty, yet
another's is not?
CPT has a policy remarkably similar to that of President Bush when it
comes to hostage situations: do not negotiate for us; do not rescue us;
expend no resources on us; endanger no lives for us. That position was
communicated clearly to those in authority in the Green Zone in the
immediate aftermath of the kidnapping. You are angry with the diversion of
resources and the risks imposed, but do not ask at whose behest the
resources were diverted or the risks imposed. Perhaps you will say I am
naive; perhaps I am. I can only cite to you a recent interview with a
British military expert (the operation that freed my colleagues was a
British-led one) who, vehemently disagreeing with CPT, nevertheless said
that CPT most emphatically did not endanger the lives of military personnel
and that CPT had every right to be in Iraq doing its work.
I confess I was most surprised by your statement, "Have your team members
look around Iraq. Unless they are so blinded by ideology they will see a
country struggling – and succeeding – against forces determined to return
that nation to the slavery of totalitarian rule and the darkness of
religious oppression."
"Have your team members look around Iraq." Professor Tilford, in my
four short months in Iraq, I have lived in Baghdad, traveled to Nejef and
Karbala, to the Syrian border and the Jordanian border with busloads of
fleeing Palestinians, to Baquba, and to Balad to spend three days at
Anaconda Air Force Base in an unsuccessful attempt to accompany Tom Fox's
remains home. My team mates have traveled to Fallujah, to Basra, to Talafur,
to Babylon. In our work we visit electric power plants, water treatment
facilities, the Ministry of Interior (Iraq's national police force), the
Ministry of Defense, prisons run by multi-national forces and by Iraqi army
and police. We visit people in their homes. We work with Iraqi
non-governmental organizations. By default we have become the eyes and ears
for the International Red Cross and Amnesty International, because they have
withdrawn from Iraq due to the level of violence there. We meet with
religious leaders, Christian, Sunni and Shi'a.
Everywhere we go, we "look around Iraq". We live there. Every day we get
a phone call from a Team friend who reads Iraqi newspapers and translates
the news into English for us. And the news is not good.
How I pray that you are right and I am wrong; that Iraq is succeeding in
remaking itself into a place of safety, security and freedom, a place of
love. But I must tell what I see, what I hear. And it is a very different
story. We all know, because we hear the stories every day, of the violence
of car and suicide bombs, of insurgents and IED's. These are all too real.
But what is also real that we do not hear about is the violence that rests
squarely on our shoulders, we citizens of the United States:
Infrastructure is worse now than at the time of the invasion in all but
one category. There is less electricity. Potable water in Baghdad is
virtually non-existent. (Source: NYT, Feb. '06)
Estimates are that from 40-70% of the people of Baghdad have hepatitis
from the drinking water
Unemployment is sky-high (as a side note, Kellog, Brown and Root pays its
contract employees $3,000 -$10,000 per month plus benefits to do the same
work as soldiers who are paid much less. Iraqi laborers working for the MNF
are paid $1 per hour)
According to
www.iraqbodycount.org , for
every civilian killed by insurgents or terrorists, four have been killed by
the United States/multi-national forces Crime, particularly murder, has
increased dramatically. In the summer of 2005, there were more than 1,000
bodies in the Baghdad morgue (which does not handle deaths associated with
car or suicide bombs or battles) in one month. That was double the deaths in
New York City (with 2million more people) for one year and more than
quadruple the worst month under Saddam Hussein. (Christian Science Monitor,
8/05) a water treatment facility in Baquba was recently touted as a
Coalition success. When Gen. Chiarelli visited it, however, he found that
the facility had been built, but that no pipes had been run from the
facility to connect the water to any home. (Stars and Stripes, 3/06)
Palestinians have been a brunt of increasing violence in Iraq. The details
are horrific, but what is noteworthy as citizens of the United States is
that until the time I left (this may have changed since then), the United
States took the position that it had no responsibility for their safety and
that this oppressed group had to rely upon the very government which is
oppressing it for its safety (the Iraqi provisional government). Military
strategy, aimed at protecting the maximum number of its own soldiers, aerial
bombs homes of suspected terrorists or insurgents, killing everyone inside.
Iraqis often live together in large extended families with lots of children.
Children are being killed in these bombings. Abdul Hakim, the young man
featured in recent Pittsburgh media for coming to Pittsburgh for facial
reconstruction after half his face was literally torn away, is just one
example of the many children who have been killed, maimed and injured by us.
You may indict me for being an idiot or a fool, but please do not indict
me for not looking.
The real question of violence and harm being occasioned by CPT's presence
in Iraq, a question we revisit every day, is whether someone will be harmed
simply for associating with us: will they be killed? Taken into detention?
Kidnapped with us? These are real concerns that focus on the civilians of
Iraq who truly have no choice about the violence which embroils their
country. In striving to answer this question, we routinely consult with
those Iraqis we know. It is their voice we seek, as it is their country,
their future.
In response to the question of whether our continued presence is a
positive or negative force, an Iraqi, a Christian priest friend has said, "I
would feel bad if something happened to you, but I would be angry if you
disappear. If you care for us just in the good times, I will forget you. If
you take care of us in the bad times, I will remember you. You die when you
do nothing, but live when you do something. Everyone dies, but not everyone
lives." Referring to Tom Fox, he added, "When we lost our friend, the
suffering is hard, but it gives us courage. When they bombed my church, it
didn't weaken us; it made us strong. Iraq's recovery may take ten years or
more. But we can't wait until the tragedy is over to work, laugh, and hope."
Professor Tilford, this is what we in CPT do in Iraq: we work, we laugh,
(and we cry) and we hope. And as best we are able, we try to enact God's
kingdom. In this we fail more often than we succeed. In the words of a
Christian pop song, we fall down, we get up; we fall down, we get up.
If I have failed in my duties as a citizen of the kingdom of God, please
show me how. Repentance is my privilege as well as my duty and humility is
my perpetual struggle. I do not have all the answers; indeed, all I seem to
have are questions.
Struggling to be faithful,
Your sister in Christ,
Beth Pyles
If you'd like to add your comment, to
be shared here, just
send a note!
|
| More from Christian Peacemaker Teams –
Beth Pyles writes after returning from Baghdad
[3-27-06]
and a critic tells what’s wrong with their actions
Beth Pyles, a Presbyterian member of the Christian
Peacemaker Team in Iraq, returned to the States last week, and sent this
note to friends last Saturday, March 25.
In part she responds to those who have been criticizing
the DPT efforts; we post here one such note, which
was sent by Dr. Earl Tilford, a Presbyterian elder, a retired military
officer, and professor at Grove City College, to CPT, with a copy to us.
Dear All,
It is early Saturday morning and I am safely home in West
Virginia. I arrived back Tuesday evening and learned early Thursday morning
of the release of Jim Loney, Harmeet Sooden and Norman Kember. It is a
bittersweet hallelujah moment to know they are safe even as we continue to
mourn for Tom Fox.
I left Baghdad last Saturday by bus along with another
CPT'er and a group of Palestinians seeking to leave Iraq for their safety.
The decision to go this way was difficult as the road is dangerous and it
felt like abandonment to leave our team mates behind so soon in the wake of
Tom's death. But we have worked long with the Palestinian community in
Baghdad and know the dangers they face there are very real. Going with them
seemed the right thing to do.
Exodus looks very different in the 21st century than it
did for Moses and his people all those centuries ago; but the cost of
leaving behind the felt security of the known (even when the known is
dreadful) is the same. Like the wandering Jews of Exodus, these Palestinians
face an unwelcome reception wherever they go. No fire and smoke leads them,
no clear voice emerges to tell them the right direction. Yet they go because
they must; they go in hopes not for themselves, but for their children.
And now, 88 Palestinians (42 of them young children) sit
on the Iraqi side of the Iraq/Jordanian border, wanted by no one. Please
keep them and the remaining Palestinians of Iraq in your prayers: that they
may find a place to call home, a place of safety and peace and prosperity;
that their children may grow up in a world untainted by the violence of war
and bombs, killing and death. Pray that the nations of the world may be
moved by their plight and offer them sanctuary.
And as you pray for them and remember joyfully the release
of Jim and Harmeet and Norman, please remember the many thousands, even
millions, in Iraq who continue to be held in captivity: in the captivity of
detention without due process, in the captivity of uncertainty about the
lives of loved ones who have been disappeared, in the captivity of the
hostage taken from family and friends (during the two months following the
kidnapping of my colleagues, over 350 Iraqis were kidnapped), and in
captivity to the fear and dread of living in the chaos and brutality of war
and violence.
Please also pray for CPT and for all Christians,
especially in the United States, but certainly throughout the world. What
has developed since the release of our colleagues and friends is a series of
e-mails filled with hatred and anger sent to the Team mates I left behind in
Baghdad. These e-mails generally come from other Christians in the US who
support the war in Iraq and thus are angry with CPT's opposition.
[See below.]
I understand that reasonable minds can and do differ on
these issues so important to our time. And I can to a certain extent, even
understand the anger. I do not understand the hatred within the community of
believers. It breaks my heart.
And so I offer a sort of 'apology' for CPT for those who
may themselves have such feelings. There seems to be some thought that CPT
advances the cause of the enemies of the United States by opposing the war
in Iraq. In Iraq, CPT does not advocate for violence by anyone and in fact,
opposes violence everywhere by everybody.
With whom do we meet? Usually, with ordinary Iraqis,
law-abiding folk trying to live their lives as best they can in an untenable
situation. We do sometimes meet with people who harbor ill will towards the
United States. And we listen. We also meet with soldiers, with police men,
with multi-national forces. And we listen. And we urge what we hope is the
better way, the way of non-violent resolution of problems. Of humane and
just treatment for everyone. Of peace and reconciliation.
I ask myself the question, is there anyone with whom I
would not meet? And I remember the Jesus of the New Testament, the man as a
Christian I try to follow. And I ask of him the same question, is there
anyone with whom you would not meet? And I remember the indictment lodged
against him in his day that he spent time in the company of the unsuitable,
the unfit, the unclean, the 'enemies' of his own faith, his own country (I
particularly think of the Roman centurion and the Samaritan woman, to name
but two).
I'm sorry if this sounds preachy; that is genuinely not my
intent. I had the rare privilege for a CPT'er to spend time with American
soldiers while waiting to see if I would be allowed to accompany Tom's
remains home. And I learned that soldiers, like the rest of us, have many
different points of view. I learned that one soldier resents the 'support
the troops' ribbons on cars at home, feeling that they are saying, 'support
the troops to death', by insisting that she and her fellow soldiers remain
in Iraq. I learned that soldiers struggle with the right and wrong of
killing more acutely perhaps than anyone else. I learned that they come from
all sorts of families and homes, some broken, some abuse-ridden, some happy,
some very sad. I learned that they take their duties seriously. I learned
that they are being threatened with court martial if they speak against the
war or in opposition to President Bush's policies in Iraq. I learned of
their own sadness at viewing so much death and destruction, as I helped them
catalogue Tom's belongings, a routine chore they must do with each body sent
home. I learned that they are kind and silly, informed and ignorant, for and
against the war, and all anxious for home.
For those who think that CPT ruins the morale of our
troops, all I can say is that the troops I spent time with, from Anaconda
Air Force Base to standing at check points, were merely happy to talk with
someone from home, to hear about our work, to learn what we know from living
and working with Iraqis, and to share something of their own stories with a
friendly ear, even an ear they knew disagrees with the mission.
And so I close with the request that you pray for the
soldiers: that they never be asked or required to do anything with which
they cannot live; that they come home safe, that they come home soon; that
we at home open our hearts to hear their stories; that all that we do be
directed toward bringing about that day when they need study war no more.
For my fellow believers, let us pray for ourselves: that
our hearts be melted, that our anger be overcome with love, that we always
be mindful of Jesus' answer to the question, 'who is your neighbor?', that
we claim the truth that love of enemy does not mean hatred of brother or
sister.
And finally, for me, please pray that I find the humility
to genuinely hear the pain and anger of my fellow believers who feel
betrayed by my actions. I continue to be a work in progress.
Tired, but safe; happy and sad; in peace and inner
conflict,
Beth, back from Baghdad
|
| A Presbyterian professor and elder
calls the CPT members "ungracious idiots"
From: Tilford, Earl H
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 7:31 AM
To: 'peacemakers@cpt.org'
Subject: Ungracious Idiots
Lenin spoke of "Useful Idiots"…those well-meaning and good-hearted people
in the West who, believing mankind is essentially good, will readily support
the Bolshevik's declared goals of creating a secular utopia while ignoring
the reality of the terror Lenin believed essential to the revolutionary
process. The Christian Peacemaker Team shows us how prescient Lenin really
was concerning the nature of useful idiots. Just as Lenin and his successor
Josef Stalin cleverly exploited useful idiots in the West while an estimated
twenty million Russians were slaughtered or worked to death during
collectivization and industrialization, today's terrorists and their
supporters throughout the radical Islamic world are exploiting you and your
cohorts in Iraq and elsewhere.
I am appalled that in the wake of heroic efforts of men of the US Special
Forces and British Special Air Services--men who truly understand that the
essence of love is the willingness to risk one's life for the innocent--your
team expressed only the tired old cant of "illegal occupation". Your
ungraciousness is beyond all comprehension. It is beyond decency.
The efforts of the US and Coalition forces to save the lives of men who
themselves demean this nation's objectives in Iraq, our struggle to bring
freedom, peace and stability to that country, is truly amazing. The time our
forces spent searching for and then rescuing these men could have been spent
stopping the terror attacks that claim hundreds of innocent Iraqi lives
every week. It is not unreasonable to assert that over the past four months
thousands of Iraqis may be dead because of the Christian Peacemakers Team!
And many more Americans will die because terrorists will take heart at your
continued carping about "illegal occupation". Furthermore, had it not been
for information obtained from a detainee, those men quite possibly would
have shared Tom Fox's fate. Have your team members look around Iraq. Unless
they are so blinded by ideology they will see a country struggling--and
succeeding--against forces determined to return that nation to the slavery
of totalitarian rule and the darkness of religious oppression.
The Christian Peacemakers Team has covered itself in shame. The term
"useful idiots" is too kind a descriptive for CPT. Ungracious Idiots fits
far better.
With Utmost Disdain,
Earl H. Tilford, Jr., PhD
Grove City, PA |
| On
the release of 3 members of the Christian
Peacemaker Team in Iraq CPT
Statement: CPTers Released
23 March 2006 [posted here3-24-06]
Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh
Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad.
Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the
expectation of their return to their loved ones and community.
Together we have endured uncertainty, hope, fear, grief and now joy during
the four months since they were abducted in Baghdad.
We rejoice in the return of Harmeet Sooden. He has been willing to put his
life on the line to promote justice in Iraq and Palestine as a young man
newly committed to active peacemaking.
We rejoice in the return of Jim Loney. He has cared for the marginalized and
oppressed since childhood, and his gentle, passionate spirit has been an
inspiration to people near and far.
We rejoice in the return of Norman Kember. He is a faithful man, an elder
and mentor to many in his 50 years of peacemaking, a man prepared to pay the
cost.
We remember with tears Tom Fox, whose body was found in Baghdad on March 9,
2006, after three months of captivity with his fellow peacemakers. We had
longed for the day when all four men would be released together. Our
gladness today is made bittersweet by the fact that Tom is not alive to join
in the celebration. However, we are confident that his spirit is very much
present in each reunion.
Harmeet, Jim and Norman and Tom were in Iraq to learn of the struggles
facing the people in that country. They went, motivated by a passion for
justice and peace to live out a nonviolent alternative in a nation wracked
by armed conflict. They knew that their only protection was in the power of
the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers. We believe
that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root
cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and
suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.
Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our
enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to
our friends and sorrow to their families. In the spirit of the prophetic
nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we
refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance. We give thanks for the
compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained their
spirits over the past months. We pray for strength and courage for ourselves
so that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and
peace.
Throughout these difficult months, we have been heartened by messages of
concern for our four colleagues from all over the world. We have been
especially moved by the gracious outpouring of support from Muslim brothers
and sisters in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. That support
continues to come to us day after day. We pray that Christians throughout
the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for respect for the
human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally by
the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.
During these past months, we have tasted of the pain that has been the daily
bread of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Why have our loved ones been
taken? Where are they being held? Under what conditions? How are they? Will
they be released? When?
With Tom ’s death,
we felt the grief of losing a beloved friend. Today, we rejoice in the
release of our friends Harmeet, Jim and Norman. We continue to pray for a
swift and joyful homecoming for the many Iraqis and internationals who long
to be reunited with their families. We renew our commitment to work for an
end to the war and the occupation of Iraq as a way to continue the witness
of Tom Fox. We trust in God’s
compassionate love to show us the way.
Living through the many emotions of this day, we remain committed to the
words of Jim Loney, who wrote:
"With God’s abiding
kindness, we will love even our enemies.
With the love of Christ, we will resist all evil.
With God’s unending
faithfulness, we will work to build the beloved community."
|
| Beth Pyles, a
Presbyterian member of the Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq, returned to
the U.S. from Iraq a couple days before the three surviving CPT hostages
were released [3-24-06] Christian
Peacemaker Team member Beth Pyles returned from Iraq a couple days before
the three surviving hostages were released.
In December 2005 she began her assignment in Amman, Jordan doing the
press work necessitated by the kidnappings. She moved to Baghdad mid-January
2006. She and other team members have documented human rights abuses of
Iraqi detainees and continued building relationships with the Muslim
Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. The team has also sought to provide an
alternative, grassroots view of the current civil strife touched off by the
bombing of the Shi’a Muslim shrine in Samarra.
This assignment was a second stint for Pyles, who also worked with CPT in
Iraq September-October 2005. At that time she worked with Palestinians in
Iraq who had been targeted for physical abuse and random detention. She also
accompanied some of them as they sought to escape Iraq and cross into Syria.
Pyles practiced law for twenty-two years in Parkersburg, WV, before
attending seminary in Princeton, NJ, from which she graduated in May, 2005.
She is seeking a call with the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA); a prospective
employer recently interviewed her over the phone in Baghdad.
|
Christian Peacemaker Teams respond to
the death of Peacemaker Tom Fox in Iraq
[3-13-06]
Tom Fox was one of four
Christian Peacemaker Team members kidnapped in Baghdad in November.
The other three were recently shown alive on Al Jazeera TV. The Gospel
reading for March 12, 2006 is Mark 8.31-38, Jesus’ prediction of his own
death and his call to disciples to take up their cross and follow. Here is
a genuine example of one who did just that.
Thanks to Witherspooner Arch Taylor
Death of Peacemaker Tom Fox: Christian Peacemaker Teams' Response
Saturday 11 March 2006
In grief we tremble before God who wraps us with compassion. The death of
our beloved colleague and friend pierces us with pain. Tom Fox's body was
found in Baghdad yesterday.
Christian Peacemaker Teams extends our deep and heartfelt condolences to
the family and community of Tom Fox, with whom we have traveled so closely
in these days of crisis.
We mourn the loss of Tom Fox who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm
opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone.
We renew our plea for the safe release of Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney and
Norman Kember. Each of our teammates has responded to Jesus' prophetic call
to live out a nonviolent alternative to the cycle of violence and revenge.
In response to Tom's passing, we ask that everyone set aside inclinations
to vilify or demonize others, no matter what they have done. In Tom's own
words: "We reject violence to punish anyone. We ask that there be no
retaliation on relatives or property. We forgive those who consider us their
enemies. We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening
nonviolently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can
contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation."
Even as we grieve the loss of our beloved colleague, we stand in the
light of his strong witness to the power of love and the courage of
nonviolence. That light reveals the way out of fear and grief and war.
Through these days of crisis, Christian Peacemaker Teams has been
surrounded and upheld by a great outpouring of compassion: messages of
support, acts of mercy, prayers, and public actions offered by the most
senior religious councils and by school children, by political leaders and
by those organizing for justice and human rights, by friends in distant
nations and by strangers near at hand. These words and actions sustain us.
While one of our teammates is lost to us, the strength of this outpouring is
not lost to God's movement for just peace among all peoples.
At the forefront of that support are strong and courageous actions from
Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world for which we are profoundly
grateful. Their graciousness inspires us to continue working for the day
when Christians speak up as boldly for the human rights of thousands Iraqis
still detained illegally by the United States and United Kingdom.
Such an outpouring of action for justice and peace would be a fitting
memorial for Tom. Let us all join our voices on behalf of those who continue
to suffer under occupation, whose loved ones have been killed or are
missing, and in so doing may we hasten the day when both those who are
wrongly detained and those who bear arms will return safely to their homes.
In such a peace we will find solace for our grief.
Despite the tragedy of this day, we remain committed to put into practice
these words of Jim Loney: "With the waging of war, we will not comply. With
the help of God's grace, we will struggle for justice. With God's abiding
kindness, we will love even our enemies." We continue in hope for Jim,
Harmeet and Norman's safe return home safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Christian who fought war
with the selfless courage of the truly nonviolent"
R J Eskow, writing for the
Huffington Post, offers a thoughtful memorial to Tom Fox. He begins:
The body of Tom Fox was found today
in Iraq. Fox, a Christian who fought war with the selfless courage of the
truly nonviolent, was murdered by his kidnappers. He lived and worked for
peace in obscurity. He'll get his moment in the spotlight now.
The mainstream media paid scant attention to the kidnapping of Fox and his
fellow Christian Peacekeepers while he lived, giving it far less attention
than the abductions of civilian employees. We wondered ... whether that had
anything to do with the fact that these witnesses for peace challenged two
pet media objectives: to paint all religionists as conservative, and to
avoid drawing attention to the questions of conscience that trouble this
war. (When was the last time you saw pictures of wounded Iraqi children?)
...
The rest of
his essay >>
Thanks to Witherspooner Betty Hale
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