Iraq after the Occupation

Christian Peacemaker Teams have issued a report on Iraq after the Occupation. Iraqis speak about the future of their country after the US military forces withdraw from combat missions.
This is an interesting report based on interviews with a variety of Iraqis that give their views on the future of their country.

As the US military seeks to wash its hands of Iraq, proclaiming victory and independence for the country it invaded in 2003, the truth is much more complex than the US narrative seeks to present. The contribution of the surge to a reduction in violence in Iraq is questionable. Opinions on the reliability of the Iraqi security forces, although not entirely negative, vary widely. Iraq faces an uncertain future, perhaps a success story of democracy, stability and reconciliation – but perhaps many more years of bloodshed, hatred and oppression.

The responsibility of the United States and its allies for this must not be ignored, as several respondents have clearly noted. However, CPT Iraq believes the United States cannot be solely held responsible for success or failure in Iraq. Many interviewees mentioned the responsibility of neighboring states, and of Iraqis themselves, ranging from top politicians to normal citizens. Much remains to be done that cannot be done by the United States, and will need to be shouldered by the Iraqi people.

Seven Years of War in Iraq

Peggy Gish from the Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq has summarised the situation after seven years of war.

After seven years of war, Iraqis live with:

- A society (other than the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region) broken from the invasion and occupation, with the loss of  civil society, and the deterioration of trust and cohesion necessary for a peaceful society. There has been some reconstruction, but most infrastructure remains un-repaired. There is still contaminated water, an average of four to six  hours a day of electricity, and inadequate medical care.

- Violence, killing and torture still the norm in the northern Iraqi Kurdish region because  the US, supplied and supported Saddam during the Anfal campaign (genocide against the Kurds).

- Deaths of an estimated million Iraqi civilians since 2003. (Sept. 2007 poll by  British polling agency, ORB)

- Continued economic crisis. Sixty-percent of the families rely on the food rations, which have been reduced. Unemployment is over 50%. Prices of food and fuel have increased, but not wages.

- Iraqis in control of prisons and "security" but with many innocent detainees forced,  through torture, to confess to acts of terror they did not commit. Iraqis often feel terrorized by Special Forces. Many Iraqis say that the ways of Saddam continue.

- Continued widespread anger and despair about the conditions of their lives.

- Decreased violence on the streets in central and southern Iraq, but without the deeper problems being resolved. Iraqis still live in daily fear of kidnapping or other violence. Many say the groups doing greater acts of terror have moved to areas such as  Mosul and Baqubah where higher rates of violence continue.

- Women subjected to increased violence and loss of personal rights and freedoms.

- Children growing up seeing violence and killing as the norm.

- A country polluted with radioactive depleted uranium from U.S. weaponry used in the 1991 and 2003 wars with Iraq, resulting in increased cancers and birth defects.

- A ratified constitution and current elections, but a government plagued with power struggles. Kurds in Kirkuk and other northern disputed areas are afraid of civil war between Arabs and Kurds.

- U.S. government still giving military intelligence to Turkish military planes to fly over Iraqi airspace and bomb civilians in villages along Iraq's northern borders, turning a blind eye to Turkish attempts to destabilize the Kurdish region, while using the actions of the armed resistance group, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) as their excuse. Turkish bombing and Iranian shelling across the borders cause destruction of hundreds of villages and displacement and disruption of thousands of residents' lives.

- An estimated 4.5 million Iraqis having fled their homes to other countries or as displaced persons in their own country, because of the hardship and dangers.

Though Iraqis suffered from brutal policies of Saddam's regime and US and UK interventionist policies before 2003, words cannot express the anguish that the Iraqi people have experienced in these last seven years of the continued war. Occupying forces have exacerbated ethnic conflicts and oppressive political forces in their country that will continue to cause suffering and hardship for generations.

http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2010/03/31/iraq-reflection-iraq-after-seven-years-war

Destruction of village life in northern Iraq

Christian Peacemaker Teams have released a report on the destruction of village life in northern Iraq up out of the line of sight of mainstream media according to Ekklesia.

Christian Peacemaker Teams, which intervenes nonviolently in situations of conflict and confrontation across the world, yesterday released a 54-page report detailing the destruction of northern Iraqi village life by Turkish and Iranian attacks over the past two years. CPT is calling for an end to this damage to civilian life.

This report documents the impact of an intermittent war waged on an isolated civilian population, the historical context in which the current warfare is occurring, and the international legal implications of decisions taken by various militaries engaged in acts of violence against a vulnerable civilian population in an already vulnerable and war-torn country.

For a full copy of the report go to http://www.cpt.org/files/CPT_Iraq_Bombing_Report.pdf

Theology, Easter, Baghdad

Peter Dula reflects on the meaning of theology and of Easter in the light of his time in Iraq:

During Holy Week of 2004 I was in Baghdad, where I worked as coordinator of the Iraq program for the Mennonite Central Committee. That was the week that the stupidity of the Iraq war became unavoidably obvious, at least outside the Beltway. On Palm Sunday, the day the people of Jerusalem took to the streets to welcome a messiah they did not comprehend any more than we do, thousands of Moqtada al-Sadr’s followers shut down central Baghdad’s streets, protesting the arrest of a top aide and the closing of al-Sadr’s newspaper.

Later that week-the week when we celebrate Christ’s triumph over death, and forgiveness over vengeance-the American military unleashed an assault on Fallujah in which 518 Iraqis were killed, including 237 women and children. In an Easter Sunday letter to the Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship I wrote: “Jesus has indeed risen even if it was a hell of a long time ago and even if there is no evidence of it in Baghdad.” At a church the night before, I had listened to a priest preach on a story from St. Ephraim, then announce the times for the next day’s Mass, adding an ominous caution: “Please go directly home. Do not linger and do not walk home in large groups.”

Peter's conclusion offers little comfort but a reminder of the reality that the path to the resurrection is not one goes anywhere except through Good Friday.

Why is it a theological failure, if it is, to say that “Jesus is risen even though it was a long time ago and there is no evidence of it in Baghdad”? What is theology? Say that theology calls us to remember the eschaton, to remember that the end times are not on their way but began at Golgotha two thousand years ago. Say that theology means negotiating the edges between celebrating the already and mourning the not-yet, and confessing that we rarely know which is which-and still less whether to mourn or to celebrate that ignorance. Say that theology means wondering if the church is a two-thousand-year-old dance before the empty tomb or a two-thousand-year-old funeral at the foot of the Cross. Say that doing theology means recovering a sense of the world as shot through with grace and beauty-and hoping that world looks like a garden in bloom, but fearing it looks like the lawn outside Peter and Paul Chaldean Catholic Church. Say, finally, that discipleship means inhabiting such contradictions; that theology itself dwells in them, as evoked in Hebrews 2:7-9:

"You made him for a little while lower than the angels, you crowned him with glory and honor, you placed all things in subjection under his feet. At present we do not yet see all things subjected to him; but we do see Jesus, who was for a little while made lower than the angels, is crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death."

We do see Jesus-the broken and bloody body of Christ-scattered across the margins of the American empire. If that is helpful, it may be because we know who Jesus is and what his death meant and can therefore get a handle on what senseless death means. But I doubt it. I also doubt we know what senseless death means and can therefore get a handle on what the Cross meant. If theology is helpful it is not because it allows us to say anything, but because it pushes us toward silence; it unveils our ignorance and makes it hurt.

For the full article see Commonweal, 28 March issue:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2183&var_recherche=Peter+dula

G K Chesterton captured something of this in the lines of his poem, "The Ballad of the White Horse" (I think):

I tell you naught for your comfort
Yea, naught for your desire
Save that the sky grows darker yet
And the sea rises higher

Iraq - after six years

Peggy Gish from the christian Peacemaker Team in northern Iraq provides the following summary of life in Iraq six years after the invasion - a summary which focuses on the realities of everyday life.


After six years of war, Iraqis are living with

The deaths of an estimated million Iraqi civilians. (See http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL3048857920080130)

A devastated society and infrastructure. Water is still contaminated. The average Iraqi has an average of four hours a day of electricity, and the poor have inadequate medical care.

Continuing economic crisis. Sixty percent of the families rely on the food rations, which have been reduced. Unemployment is over 50%. Prices of food and fuel have increased, but not wages.

Widespread anger and despair about their living conditions.

The threat of torture, coerced confessions, and false imprisonment. Iraqis are in control of prisons and "security," but Iraqis often feel terrorized by special-forces police, trained and equipped by U.S. personnel who also trained death squads in Latin America. Many Iraqis say that the ways of Saddam continue.

Never knowing when the terrorist attacks might begin again. Violence on the streets in Central and Southern Iraq has decreased in the past six months due to repressive control, but this control has not resolved deeper problems. Iraqis in these areas wonder if the lull in the violence is temporary and still live in fear. They believe those doing greater acts of terror have simply moved to other areas such as Mosul and Baqubah, where high rates of violence continue.

Increasing violence against women and the loss of women's rights and freedoms.

Their children growing up seeing violence and killing as the norm.

Pollution from the radioactive depleted uranium used in U.S. weaponry, which has caused cancers and birth defects.

Election fraud and the killings of candidates and elected officials. Irregularities in the most recent election left about 100,000 Kurdish Iraqis unable to vote. Kurds in Kirkuk and other northern disputed areas are afraid of civil war between Arabs and Kurds, because of election manipulations.

Turkish, Iranian, and Syrian attacks on Iraqi civilians. The U.S. government has allowed Turkish military planes to fly over Iraqi airspace and has given Turkey military "intelligence" to bomb Kurdish villages along Iraq's northern borders with Turkey and Iran, causing destruction of hundreds of villages and displacement of villagers.

The internal displacement of 4.5 million Iraqis who have fled their homes.

Forces telling Iraqis that only violence and surrendering their civil rights will bring them security.

Words cannot express the anguish that the Iraqi people have experienced in these last six years. Occupying forces have exacerbated ethnic conflicts and oppressive political forces in their country. The ongoing war has caused suffering and hardship that will probably continue for generations.

For further details on the CPT delegation in IRAQ see: http://www.cpt.org/

One part of Iraq where peace is absent...

While the level of violence in much of Iraq has thankfully declined the Kurds have not yet benefited. Kurdish villages in border areas are subject to bombing by Turkey, with the support of the United States, Iran and Syria. The following news report from the Christian Peacemaker Team in the area tells the story.

CPTnet
3 March 2009
IRAQ REFLECTION: Kurds feel abandoned and surrounded

by Michele Naar-Obed

Word is filtering throughout Iraq that the United States is starting to remove its military presence. The country is theoretically in the hands of Iraqis. However, the situation on the ground is chilling. Journalist Dahr Jamail writes "the capital city of the country is essentially in lock-down and prevailing conditions are indicative of a police state..." (See http://www.truthout.org/020309A). And, of course, the Kurds in the north are again experiencing feelings of fear and betrayal as they let go of the U.S. safety net.

While the recent election was touted as an example of democracy, over one million Kurds in the province of Diyala were not allowed to vote, costing them important political seats. Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission admits that voter fraud was rampant.

The new U.S.-backed leaders in Iraq have been levying threatening language the Kurdish region. When the Kurds turn to the U.S. for help, U.S. officials tell them to solve their own problems. A worse betrayal is the refusal of the U.S. to sanction Turkey for its ongoing bombing along Iraq's northern border. The U.S. has admitted to clearing air space inside Iraq for Turkey and providing "military intelligence" for strikes against the militant Kurdish Worker Party (PKK). Damning evidence that these attacks have caused extensive destruction for Kurdish civilians not associated with the PKK makes the U.S. complicit in violating their human rights.

While Turkey has done the most damage, Iran and Syria have also launched attacks. Iraq's central government has done little to protect the Kurds from hostile neighbors. Instead, they admonish the Kurds for their efforts at semi-autonomy because these efforts inspire the Kurds of Turkey, Iran, and Syria to exert independence. The Kurds thus feel completely surrounded by hostile forces. With feelings of nowhere to turn, some Kurds have found violent self-defense a more attractive option, and more may join PKK ranks if this situation continues.

In this atmosphere of fear and insecurity, CPT and Kurdish villagers are working with a UNHCR*-sponsored working protection group towards a return to homes the villagers fled from because of the bombings. While the villagers know CPT's accompaniment isn't a guarantee of safety, one said, "God will bless this plan, because it is for the good of our people."

Iraq as a Humanitarian Crisis

Much of the debate over the future of Iraq seems to be cast within a military frame of reference.

What receives only passing and occasional attention is the huge and ongoing humanitarian crisis. The Mennonite Central Committee reports that the Iraqi refugee population is the fastest growing refugee population and Iraqis are the third largest displaced population.

The United Nations has estimated the total number of displaced Iraqis to be more than 4.4 million people. About half of these are refugees who have fled Iraqi, while the other half is displaced within the borders of Iraq. The International Organization for Migration reports that there were 1.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq before the February 2006 Samarra mosque bombing. Since then, another 1.2 million have become internally displaced.

Internal displacement in Iraq slowed in 2007, due to improved security in limited areas, but also due to the homogenization of communities, with fewer people forced out. While there are reports of Iraqis now returning to their homes, the situation remains dire. MCC staff on the ground state that it is too early to say whether the alleged improved security represents a sustainable trend but that the human casualty rate is still far too high. Many refugees return to Iraq only to be internally displaced. Conditions in Iraq remain inadequate: there is a lack of access to food, health care, housing and education, which, often times, is stressed by the influx of IDPs.
http://thirdway.com/wv/?Page=3920|A+Silent+Crisis:+Internally+Displaced+Iraqis.

Iraq

The following comments from Simon Barrow's excellent blog Faith inSociety.

I am still workng out how to get the links to work - using the Safari browser seems to be part of the problem. Working on switching to Firefox

Doug


Monday, September 10, 2007
TURNING THE TIDE IN IRAQ?

Getting Iraq’s war surge to trickle towards peace (Ekklesia, 10 September 2007) Talk of the efficacy or otherwise of the US 'surge' is a smokescreen, says Simon Barrow. There is no long-term military solution to Iraq’s nightmare. But behind the scenes viable alternatives are being sought within civil society - and in conversation with those who have faced the uphill tasks of peace and justice in Ireland and South Africa.

The Daily Star in Lebanon adds: Ironically, Al-Qaeda in Iraq faces some of the same dilemmas as coalition forces in Iraq, though there is certainly no moral equivalency between the two. Both are driven by ideologies that are for the most part alien particularly to Sunni tribal sheikhs. Neither advocates of Western-style democracy nor the champions of strict Islamic orthodoxy offer an appealing vision for Iraq's future. Both sides are led by foreigners and viewed by a majority of Iraqis as occupiers, not liberators. Both are condemned for what is viewed by locals as the indiscriminate killing and brutalization of a civilian population caught in the crossfire of a conflict over which they have little say. Both are well financed and view Iraq as the battlefield for a global struggle that leaves no room for compromise.