Last fall my nephew Danny was sent into combat in Iraq . He is there now. A tall and gentle young man in the reserves, he has been accompanying Iraqi foot patrols in Fallujah and Mosul . A couple of weeks ago a mortar round blew a hole in his foot. He is recuperating at […]
Writings related to ‘Iraq’
A Gesture
April 11th, 2003
COLORADO The feelings generated in us by this war are not easy to hold. For months so many of us worked to stop the war from happening, feeling a great communal determination and newfound solidarity, at the same time feeling dread of the imminent violence, and anxiety for the long-term hatreds it will feed. And […]
Topics: Iraq, Peace, Prayer, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
What About Saddam?
March 7th, 2003
COLORADO A couple of days after we got back from Iraq we were on a Denver “drive time” AM radio program speaking about our experiences. It was a call-in show, and the telephone lines were full, about equally divided between people who thought we were saints and people who thought we were traitors. One man […]
Topics: Iraq, Non-violence, Peace, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
Shock and Awe
February 24th, 2003
AMMAN, JORDAN Last week my Iraqi friend Fais told me how he used to take his son fishing. “I liked to sit there doing nothing, I liked just to watch the river go by. But we don’t go anymore. No one relaxes now. We’re only nervous about the war coming.” Yesterday morning Fais and I […]
Topics: Iraq, Non-violence, Peace, Prayer, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
The People Yes!
February 16th, 2003
BAGHDAD, IRAQ It is Sunday, the day after the massive international peace demonstrations. We here in Baghdad are so heartened by this historic event. Thank you world! It felt like a great prayer, a shout, an uprising sweeping across the land, a call for sanity against the insane accumulation of weapons and the war-making heritage […]
Topics: Bearing Witness, Iraq, Peace, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
To End the Scourge of War
February 12th, 2003
BAGHDAD, IRAQ A wonderful thing happened this morning at our vigil in a field across from U.N. headquarters here in Baghdad. We’ve made an encampment there with an open-sided tent and several large banners that read LET THE INSPECTIONS CONTINUE and INSPECTIONS YES, INVASION NO and LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH. There are TV […]
Topics: Iraq, Non-violence, Peace, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
Dark Night of the Soul
February 10th, 2003
BAGHDAD, IRAQ But we, like sentries, are obliged to stand In starless nights, and wait the ‘pointed hours. – John Dryden Elias has been busy for the past days making banners, getting tents and setting up sites for a series of actions the Iraq Peace Team will initiate during the coming week. In contrast to […]
Topics: Bearing Witness, Iraq, Peace, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
If Only I Had Wings to Fly
February 9th, 2003
BAGHDAD, IRAQ I woke up at 5:30 this morning to go out to the U.N. headquarters on the outskirts of Baghdad with my friend Mohamed, an Iraqi driver and helper-with-all-things. He and I spent the last few days preparing an encampment for the Iraq Peace Team across the road from the U.N. We were expecting […]
Topics: Bearing Witness, Interfaith, Iraq, Peace, Prayer
Posted in: Letters from the Road
In Iraq with Colin Powell
February 6th, 2003
BAGHDAD, IRAQ We arrived in Baghdad three days ago. It is good to be back, though it seems strange to say that. There is something about being here now that is extraordinarily heartfelt. “Baghdad is a realistic city,” said Khaled, the Yemeni doctoral student we visited yesterday. “It is a city of real sadness. I […]
Topics: Iraq, Peace, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
Back to Baghdad
January 30th, 2003
AMMAN, JORDAN Today we write from a small hotel in Amman, Jordan, waiting for our visas which will enable us to return to Iraq. The newspapers we have just finished reading announce “America Targets Iraq!” and recount the number of soldiers and tonnage of munitions destined for the country across the border. So why then […]
Topics: Bearing Witness, Interfaith, Iraq, Prayer, Social Action
Posted in: Letters from the Road
