[mobglob-discuss] Fw: From: Deacon dave Havard] War is over - Coming home !

[Paul Browning]

----- Original Message -----
From: <Tom_Childs at Douglas.BC.CA>
To: <pnbrown at vcn.bc.ca>
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2003 9:24 AM
Subject: [Fwd: From: Deacon dave Havard] War is over - Coming home !


> Paul, You may want to share this with the mobglob list.  Deacon Dave was
> part of the mobglob community before moving to the UK.  Regards,  Tom
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>   ----- Forwarded message: -----From: Deacon dave Havard
> <deacondave at onetel.com>
> Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2003 10:34:46 +0100
> Subject: War is over - Coming home !
> To: Barbara Yaffe  <byaffe at pacpress.southam.ca>,
>         Tom Childs  <childst at Douglas.BC.CA>,
>         Vancouver Sun  <sunletters at pacpress.southam.ca>
>
> Palm Sunday,  13th April 2003
> Letter to Friends and Family
>
> Dear friends and family,
>
> The war is over.  It is time to come home now.
>
> We finally got word from our team in Baghdad last night.
> They have decided to disband the Iraq Peace Team as they feel
> that its mandate is over now.  There is still almost no
> communication with the outside world and they are still not
> able to leave the hotel.  There are no Iraqi minders and the
> U.S. troops are not confining them but the streets are very
> dangerous and there is no sign that that situation will
> improve soon.  Most people will be leaving today.
>
> A small group of people with a lot of experience in Iraq will
> stay in Baghdad as Voices in the Wilderness; Kathy Kelly,
> Cynthia Bannis and Cathy Breen.  Ramzi will join them from
> Amman as soon as he is able to in order to set up an internet
> connection and hopefully begin an Independent Media Centre in
> Baghdad.
>
> Christian Peacemaker Teams are still hoping to get back into
> Baghdad but again only with experienced, trained people.
> They hope to make connections with church groups and re-
> establish ties with the families and friends they already
> have in Iraq.
>
> So I have booked a flight home to arrive at London Heathrow
> on Wednesday at 3.45pm.  I am tentatively thinking of taking
> the bus to Sheffield on Saturday in order to be at church for
> Easter Sunday.  It will be good to come home now.
>
> Of course for the Iraqi people the war is far from over.
> Conditions under occupation are far worse than under Saddam's
> regime.  I hope and pray that the situation will improve soon
> but I see no signs of that happening at the moment.  We in
> the peace movement will have to work hard to ensure that
> control of Iraq is given back to the Iraqi people very soon
> and particularly control of the oil and other resources.  Now
> more than ever Iraqi people need our support as they work to
> re-establish law and order in their land.
>
> Neville Watson arrived at the hotel last night from Baghdad
> on his way home to Australia.  It was wonderful to see him
> again and to hear his stories of life under occupation.  He
> reports that the peace movement is flourishing in Australia
> and that he is in great demand as a speaker and with media.
> I enclose a letter from Kathy Kelly that I thought was very
> moving.
>
> I come home with some sense of defeat that we were not able
> to stop this tragedy from unfolding, with a great grief for
> the continuing suffering of the Iraqi people, and with a
> sense of helplessness at how little I was able to do for
> them.  However I am very much looking forward to meeting you
> all again very soon and I do have great hopes for the future
> of the global peace and justice movement.
>
> I love you.  God bless you.
> In peace and hope,
> Dave
>
>
> Hello Friends, April 10, 2003
>
> Early this morning, Umm Zainab sat quietly in the Al Fanar
> lobby staring at
> the parade of tanks, APCs and Humvees that slowly rolled into
> position
> along Abu Nuwas Street.  Tears streamed down her face.  "I am
> very sad,"
> she told me.  "Never I thought this would happen to my
> country.  Now, I think,
> my sadness will never go away."
>
> Wanting to give Umm Zainab some quiet time, I took her two
> toddlers,
> Zainab and Miladh, outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh
> air.  Several
> soldiers stood guard not far from me and the children.  I
> wanted to bring the
> children over to them, to let them behold these tiny
> beauties.  But, no, too
> much of a risk-what if it would add to Umm Zaineb's
> pain?
>
> Eun Ha Yoo, our Korean Peace Team friend, unrolled a huge
> artwork
> created by a Korean artist, Chae Pyong Doh, and sweetly laid
> it out in the
> intersection just outside the Al Fanar.  As I write, Neville
> Watson and Cathy
> Breen are taking their turns sitting in the middle of it.
>
> A map of the world covers the top third; grieving victims of
> war fill the middle
> third;  piles of ugly weapons with various flags scattered
> over them bulge out
> of the bottom third.  Neville has set up his prayer stool and
> a small wooden
> cross where he sits.  Cathy is wearing her "War Is Not The
> Answer" t-shirt.
>
> At least a dozen soldiers have stopped to talk with us since
> we began the
> vigil at 3 this afternoon.  "OK, can you tell us your side of
> the story?" asked
> one young man.  "Can I sit there with you for awhile?" asked
> another.  Each
> of them has assured us that they didn't want to kill anyone.
> One young man
> said he was desperate for financial aid to care for his wife
> and child while
> struggling to complete college studies and work full time.
> He felt he could
> gain some respect in this world and also help his family by
> joining the
> Marines.  He's relieved that he was stationed at the rear of
> a line coming up
> from the south.  His role was to guard prisoners.  He didn't
> shoot anyone.
> But he saw US soldiers shoot at a civilian car with three
> passengers as it
> approached. The child in the car survived - both of his
> parents were
> immediately killed.  "They could have shot the tires," said
> the soldier.
> "Some just want to kill."
>
> One soldier offered earnest concern for us, saying "You're
> sitting in a
> dangerous place."  We smiled. "Thanks," I said, "But we've
> been in a
> dangerous place for the past three weeks."  He was
> puzzled.  "What do
> they mean," said a soldier standing next to him, "is that
> they've been here all
> through three weeks of bombing."
>
> "Do you try to put yourselves in our shoes?" asked one
> soldier after he'd
> respectfully listened to me explain major contradictions
> between US rhetoric
> and practice regarding Iraq.  "Well, yes," I said, "We try.
> We're taking the
> same risk as you by being here, and perhaps an even greater
> risk since
> we're unarmed and unprotected.  Actually, just now we're
> lucky not to be
> burdened by all that heavy gear."
>
> "Yeah," said the soldier, "It's really hot.  I don't have
> much of an appetite.  I
> just give away most of my rations, - give 'em to these
> people."
>
> Hassan, one of the shoeshine boys, came over to join us,
> carrying a ration
> packet.  He opened it, came across processed apple spread,
> and a few
> other curious items, then decided to donate it to us.  Now
> the flies have
> discovered it.
>
> It looks like we're on "lock-down" for a while longer.  Iraqi
> minders are gone,
> --US soldiers are here.  They're uncoiling barbed wire at the
> intersection.
> Anyone wanting to walk across the street is stopped,
> questioned and
> searched.  Since I began this letter, there have been four
> huge explosions
> nearby. Looting and burning continue, here in Baghdad.  I'm
> sick of
> war-disgusted to the point of nausea.  I think all of us at
> this intersection,
> residents of the Al Fanar, journalists in the Palestine Hotel
> next door, and
> soldiers on patrol, share the same queasy ill feeling.  The
> line, "War is the
> health of the state" makes no sense whatsoever here.
>
> With love,
>
> Kathy Kelly
>
>
> Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq:  http://www.prairienet.org/cpt/iraq.php
> Deacon Dave:   http://www.colehse.demon.co.uk/DeaconDave.htm
> http:/mysite.freeserve.com/st.marys.church/deacondave/index.html
> www.afsc.org
> http://homepage.mac.com/sosventures/PhotoAlbum19.html
> http://homepage.mac.com/sosventures/PhotoAlbum20.html
>
>
> To contact Deacon Dave:  deacondave at onetel.com
> Contact Person:  Steve Tozer-Loft,  0114-258-4382
steve at tozer-loft.fsnet.co.uk
> Fundraising:  Terri Amber,  0114-201-4465  terriamber at synergynet.co.uk
>
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> I shall not be offended !
>
>
> --