Cultivating Peace
DOV in Australia

IN SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE OF IRAQ

The war in Iraq was opposed by the churches of the NCCA
many of whose members joined in protests and prayers for peace.

A number of Australian Christians also went to Iraq
to be alongside the Iraqi people.

Here is the story of one Australian, the Revd Neville Watson

(as first told in Western Impact, newspaper of the Uniting Church in Western Australia)

'I went to Iraq because where you stand is what you see,' explained Revd Neville Watson on his return from three months in Baghdad.

Neville Watson with the remains of tanks from the first Gulf War
in an a area still affected by depleted uranium

Sitting at his dining table at home and surrounded by his family, Neville admits trying to help others understand his need to respond to the call of the Spirit was difficult;  'but my 10 year old granddaughter could understand when she wrote, "My granddad is there to comfort the Iraqi people while the Americans bomb them".'

Neville was with a group of peace activists, Voices in the Wilderness, led by an American, Kathy Kelly. Kathy and Neville had worked together previously during the 1991 Gulf War.

The people in the group varied. At different times delegations of up to 15 people joined them.  When the war started the group was reduced to 12 because they did not want to add to the burdens of the Iraqi people.

The group was completely independent  - financially and from government.  

Apart from Neville, all the group were American and he found it fascinating that Americans were moving relatively freely around a country about to be bombed and invaded by their own nation.

Not all the team members were deeply spiritual - this was Neville's role for them all. His normal routine includes rising at 2.00am for a time of contemplation.  Kathy once remarked how comforting it was to know Neville was awake at 3.00am and praying for them.

Shock and awe

An American forewarned the group the night the bombing began.  For Neville the bombing - designed to shock and awe - is one of the most significant facets of the war.

'The fact the bombing was shocking is beyond doubt,' says Neville. 'Corpses, horribly mutilated by blast and fire, littered hospital corridors, while dismembered and badly injured children lay in its beds.  Distraught mothers identified their children in the morgue, and death and destruction were everywhere. The aim of the bombing was accomplished - the people were in shock and feared for their lives.

'The word awe is one used by all major religions and is defined as a feeling of respect. The religion of terrorists is based on violence.  Violence is regarded as the way, the truth and the life.  It is believed peace comes through violence. And violence is the ultimate solution.  From their earliest days children are indoctrinated into this belief.  It is the dominant motif of cartoons, comics, film and TV. The USA is the world headquarters of those who hold violence in awe.  It possesses the greatest number of weapons of mass destruction and it has used them more often and with more deadly effect than any other nation on earth.'

American sensitivity

Despite this national characteristic, Neville was quite staggered by the sensitivity displayed by individual members of the American troops. 

When troops arrived Neville had hoped to stand in front of a tank with a sign WAR = TERROR.  But when he found modern tanks travel at more than 50 kms an hour he abandoned the idea.  Instead, he stood for five hours on the balcony of his hotel holding his sign.

One US soldier asked about Neville and his sign.  Neville refused to come down to speak to him but sent some of his writings for him to read.  The message came back, 'Tell the old git we admire and agree with him. I haven't killed anyone. I've made it seem my gun has jammed or I have fired high.'

One tank commander admitted to having sleepless nights because he had made a bad decision which he knew had killed people.  But he said, 'Don't blame the kids under my command. They - and I - are just doing as we are told.'

Neville had some very interesting conversations with the troops and with only one exception every American soldier said he joined to get an education.

'This speaks volumes,' says Neville, 'for a society where only wealth or enlistment in the army can give you the means to get a tertiary education.'

Realities

When the bombing began, whoever could, got out of Baghdad.  Unfortunately that did not always guarantee safety.

One couple, married only six days earlier, fled to a farmhouse outside the city.  A rocket went through the ceiling killing five and injuring eight people. 

The protesters had brought medicines with them contrary to US sanctions.  Neville was shocked to see these just jumbled together and being handed out with little regard to their potency. He volunteered to take charge and became the pharmacist setting up a dispensary in his room and giving medicines out on the prescriptions of the doctor, another member of the peace group.

Telling the story

Part of the work of the peace team was to get out to the world the degree of suffering borne by the Iraqi people.   They were contributing material to two websites, one of which was averaging 250,000 hits a day.

'The statue incident is a classic example of the media providing what people want to see,' comments Neville.' I was only 300 metres from where that incident took place. There were only about 40 people in the square and we found out by asking them, they all came from Saddam City, a suburb of Baghdad, about five kilometres away. They were therefore a 'rent-a-crowd'.

'Footage supporting the Americans was welcomed, and I don't mind that,' adds Neville. 'I just wish they would show a more balanced picture. For example, troops opened fire on an anti-American protest in Mosul where ten were killed and 100 injured, but no footage of that was broadcast.'

Neville does not call the conflict a war, but a massacre.  'The Iraqis had no air force and any equipment they had was old,' he said.  'Outside where I was there were 36 tanks and armoured personnel carriers lined up.  The Iraqis were going to lose from the start.'

Aftereffects of 1991

The Iraqi people are still suffering from the 1991 Gulf War.  Their experience then when a basement shelter was bombed made them fearful of seeking shelter in the basements of their homes.  This probably added to the number of casualties.

The US imposed sanctions have made it difficult for Iraqis to restore their water and sewerage systems, so clean drinking water is a problem.  For non-Iraqis it was essential for them to drink only bottled water.

Celebrating communion just before leaving Iraq, Neville used water instead of wine as a better indicator of the suffering of the Iraqi people over the last ten years. 

The future

Asked about the future now for Iraq, Neville said, 'Saddam was a cruel tyrant who had to go at some time, but there are models for getting rid of dictators apart from bombing.

'The difficulty now is the country is divided. The Shi'ites are planning on civil disobedience. The Sunni have been in power under Saddam and are used to it.  They will not give it up easily. Then there are the Kurds.

'These three factions make it difficult.  Because of the brutality of Saddam, those who have suffered will pay repudiation.  There will be revenge killings with civil
war for many years as corruption works its way out.

'The US troops could have prevented the wholesale looting if they had wanted to. A single tank at the entrance would have stopped the museum being looted.  The only place guarded was the oil ministry.

'The US leadership hasn't a clue. They don't know the Iraqi culture. As occupiers, they must take responsibility for what happens.  As much as they are running for the basins now, they can't wash their hands.

'The Six Day War in 1967 between Israel and Palestine is still going on. Similarly, this war in Iraq my be over but it will still be being fought in 2015.'