By Milan Rai

Blunder or conspiracy?

There are at least three possible accounts of the origins of the recent Najaf conflict. Uncovering the truth requires a close scrutiny of the behaviour of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, now feted as the peace-bringer of Najaf.

The standard Western media rendering is that (for some unknown reason) militant Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr decided to launch an uprising against the US occupation on 5 August

This flies in the face of the fact that, as the Financial Times reported, it was US forces that ‘went on the offensive’ against al-Sadr’s group, ‘breaking a two-month ceasefire with followers of Shia radical Moqtada al-Sadr’ by surrounding al-Sadr’s home in Kufa, next to Najaf, sparking an exchange fire with members of al-Sadr’s militia.’ (FT, 3 August, p. 9)

And this took place on 2 August, three days before the Mehdi Army assault on Najaf police station which is usually reported as the beginning of hostilities.

(Or Anything Else That Will Keep Us Occupied Until November 2)

By MIKE FERNER

Months ago when it looked like JFK-lite was going to get the Democrats’ nomination, some prescient pundit somewhere commented about Kerry’s combat medals, predicting the campaign would consist largely of arguments for and agin’ the veracity of his stories, the severity of his wounds, the claims and counter-claims of people “back in the day.”

Call me naïve, but I thought that was pretty darn skeptical. OK, I’m naïve and wrong.

It’s not that I’m uninterested in the Viet Nam war, or unimpressed with combat ribbons and purple hearts. I spent three years as a hospital corpsman during that war, taking care of hundreds of young men returning in pieces from Viet Nam and Cambodia. And they were supposedly the lucky ones who survived.

That’s why, despite my disinterest in John Kerry’s candidacy, I was at least glad to see that the general election campaign might well include an airing of many things Viet Nam that are particularly relevant today.

For example, were we veterans of that war really “defending freedom” and “helping the Vietnamese build a democracy?” Were we even (gasp) “serving our country?”

Or, as many of us raised on John Wayne movies in the 50’s and 60’s have come to find out the hard way, were we the young foot soldiers of empire, idealistic (some), unlucky (most) commoners sent off to fight another rich old man’s war, that BELIEVE IT OR NOT, MA! turns out to have been based on a thick web of lies?

by Greg Rollins

rebar begs
with concrete flowers
in a desert garden
tilled by rage

once dried by sanctions
such iron thickets
now bloom in bombed cities
where freedom has rained

sun soaked in dust
stubborn and bitter
the thickets will surrender
into brambles of rust

commentary

Destroyed buildings fleck the cities of Iraq; rebar grows out of the rubble and overruns the sidewalks, parking lots and roads. These ruined buildings are like the country. Once under the strains of economic sanctions where locals could not even bring in the simplest items to fix water pipes or the electricity, the nature of the ruined buildings resembles wild growth brought to life by the bombing campaign meant to free Iraq. Now people ignore the destroyed buildings as other nations ignore the country. Few see them and fewer are willing to clean them up. The remnants of buildings and country sit in the sun and dust, and rust together.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical violence-reduction program with roots in the historic peace churches. Teams of trained peace workers live in areas of lethal conflict around the world. CPT has been present in Iraq since October, 2002. To learn more about CPT, please visit www.cpt.org.
Photos of our projects may be viewed at www.cpt.org/gallery

By G. Simon Harak and Jim Haber
War Resisters League

There are at least two things the people of the United States don’t seem to know about the U.S. occupation of Iraq. One is the magnitude of the violence being wreaked on the people of Iraq by the U.S. occupation forces (alone or in conjunction with Iraqi troops). The other is the breadth and extent of Iraqi nonviolent resistance to the violence of the occupation.

by David Milne
Christian Peacemaker Teams

Eight lanes of traffic streamed toward Najaf. In cars and minivans, on buses and flatbed trucks, tens of thousands of men, young and old, sang and danced. As they passed the taxi carrying CPT’ers Peggy Gish, Greg Rollins, and David Milne, many smiled and waved “Hello”. Thousands more walked. They followed the path of the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani who had passed by not more than an hour ago.