Baghdad, Iraq
John Farrell
Voices in The Wilderness

1. Move around without fear. This is one of the biggest concerns. I talked to someone yesterday who said that he and his family have given up on expecting anything from Bush except security. If the US could only provide security then that would be a start. Women are especially at risk of rape and murder, and often don’t go out at night even in large groups. Many say that if the country were truly safe then Iraqis wouldn’t need any help to begin to establish their own systems of governance; they could do this on their own. The US has shown itself to not able to provide security, though, and the 11 pm curfew means that people really can’t travel freely in the evenings or go to visit a family’s home unless they decide to stay there for the evening. Iraqis can’t get passports yet, and even if they get permission to leave the country they are often afraid that if they do so they will not be allowed back into Iraq.

2. Work for a living. While Iraqis are continually accused by US troops of being thieves or “Ali Babas,” the US soldiers’ new word for thief, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed in Iraq, reaching 60% by many estimates. Many people blame the incidence of thievery on the criminals that Saddam Hussein released from prison just months before the war, while others blame the obvious lack of employment. In truth, however, it seems that most people are taking their situation of unemployment with great dignity. As aid agencies such as Oxfam continue to pull out of Iraq, along with UN officials, the situation will likely get worse as it gets more difficult to get food rations. It is hard to get an exact unemployment figure, though, because there are really few organizations working in Iraq that are able to do the sort of broad-range studies necessary to determine this. Most NGO’s in Iraq are so scared for their lives that they are unwilling to go door to door or to have any interaction with Iraqi people. Even Iraqis are afraid to go out.

By Cathy Breen
Voices in the Wilderness
Baghdad

My fifth day back in Baghdad. So much is happening here. Reconnecting with so many friends and hearing their stories, the constant flow of people coming and going and all of the visits and first impressions make it a real challenge to try and carve out a space here to digest and reflect. Some of us were “just sitting around the kitchen table” in the early morning hours yesterday, when Michael Birmingham shared some thoughts that became for me and others a truly deep reflection.

Is it important for Voices to be in Iraq at this time, and if so why and in what capacity? was the topic of discussion. Is it important enough to risk one’s life for?

Michael was beaten up on the street since his return to Iraq after the occupation. He said that afterwards he was “absolutely petrified going out on the street.” He knew it was perfectly right to be scared, to feel fear, and he said “You do learn to live with it. Is our fear of dying so bad that it makes this (being here) not worth doing?”

Agence France Presse
August 28, 2003 Thursday
SECTION: International News
BAGHDAD, Aug 28

Two activists from the “Voices in the Wilderness” group were thrown out of a press conference in Baghdad Thursday by the top US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez.

The two demonstrators unveiled a poster, which read “The Killing Continues”, as they asked about a family of four Iraqis allegedly killed by US soldiers at a checkpoint in Baghdad August 7. They were immediately escorted out by US soldiers.

Voices in the Wilderness, a US-based group, was active over the last decade in protesting against the UN-enforced trade sanctions on Iraq, which were repealed only in May after the US-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.

By Cathy Breen
Voices in the Wilderness
Baghdad

Three day ago four of us from Voices in the Wilderness were met in Amman, Jordan and driven into Baghdad by our dear friend Sattar. After crossing the impressive expansive desert and not too far from the city of Baghdad, we left the main highway to go through Ramadi, as this particular stretch of highway is known for robberies and Sattar wanted to avoid it. It was midday and the sun was hot. We saw people laying bricks, unarmed traffic police in white shirts and blue pants directing traffic, a garbage truck, and small fields here and there newly plowed. People were out and about and small shops and market stalls were opened. I felt heartened at these signs that life is returning to normal. I found out later that many military officers live in this area and they had agreed before the conflict not to fight the coalition forces.

Baghdad, Iraq
John Farrell
Voices in The Wilderness

I traveled with Voices in the Wilderness members Kathy Kelly, Cathy Breen and Ed Kinane to Iraq this past Sunday to visit the Voices in the Wilderness team in Baghdad and to listen to old friends and new acquaintances in Iraq express their opinions and concerns about the current US/UK occupation of Iraq. There are many concerns. One of our goals is to convey the concerns of some of these Iraqi people to the international community both in Iraq and abroad, so that the world may advocate more clearly for justice and peace in Iraq and the US/UK presence may be held accountable for its failures and abuses of power.

The raw pain that people are experiencing in this place, however, is significant, and I have noticed it in even the very brief encounters that I have had with Iraqi people.

Very early Sunday morning, as we burned up the kilometers of the eastern Jordanian desert in our big Suburban taxi, a strikingly red crescent moon ascended over the eastern sky slowly dripped its blood onto the emerging sunrise of the Iraqi horizon. We cleared Iraqi customs just in time to watch the ominous flaming disk lift off for its daily assault of the countryside.