by Donna Mulhearn
(Donna was in Iraq prior to, during and after the US invasion of Iraq. She is from Australia and recently returned to Baghdad. Click here to read Donna’s prior writings from Iraq.)

Friends,

At any given moment, the atmosphere of Baghdad provides a heavy blend of competing noises. Having to yell at the person sitting on the lounge next to you is often necessary in order to be heard. The concept of some ‘peace and quiet’ and ‘a good sleep’ has long been forgotten. Headaches are normal.

Here’s a sample of the cocktail of sounds that make up the noise of Baghdad:

by Kathy Kelly

In the past year, several groups have asked me to facilitate retreats for people who want to further explore nonviolence. At the retreats, I ask volunteers to role-play situations likely to generate discussion about challenges people face when involved in peace activism. One of the most reliably difficult scenarios stages a spouse raising with his or her partner a decision to become a war tax refuser and stop paying federal income tax.

In one such scene, an anguished husband implored his wife to understand his reasons for stopping payment of federal income tax. “How could you do this to our children?” she asked. “And why didn’t you think of this before you became a father?” The husband responded, “Honey, I just want to do something for peace,” to which the wife blurted out, “At Christmas?!” The room filled with laughter. Cut! Point well taken.

Last night, after spending Thanksgiving Day with family, my mother and I groaned over TV news clips that anticipated today’s shopping binge. Many progressives refuse to participate in the orgy of shopping that accompanies the Christmas season. But what about the appropriations for weaponry that are so hard to eliminate from our personal budgets?

by George Capaccio

Imagine what life would be like
if everyone reacted the way I have.
The churches, mosques, and temples
would all be full from dawn to dusk
with people praying for guidance,
praying for light,
for a way out of this darkness,
an end to this slaughter,

praying for God to come through smoke and fire,
cries of the wounded and dying,
hatred and fear flowing like blood
on the battlefield,
to gather up all this horror in His radiant arms
and with one godlike breath
blow it out
that we might see each other again
as His children, one and all.

Cliff Kindy, Christian Peacemaker Teams
Cliff Kindy Iraq Blog

Dear Friends, Family, and All Good People,

I trust you to keep up with the news, but I suspect that much that happens here in Iraq escapes the notice of the newsmakers in other places. So I want to start by sharing some of the daily events.

Not so daily is the announced release yesterday of our colleague and friend Theresa, a Polish Iraqi who has worked in justice issues! A photo on a Yahoo News item showed her at a press conference in Poland. CPT Iraq held a memorial service and sent out a release this week for Margaret, another kidnappee. Last night two of us were at a church with her family for her memorial mass.

Man collecting soap from relief organization at mosque. (Dahr Jamail)

Dahr Jamail

“Doctors in Fallujah are reporting there are patients in the hospital there who were forced out by the Americans,” said Mehdi Abdulla, a 33 year-old ambulance driver at a hospital in Baghdad, “Some doctors there told me they had a major operation going, but the soldiers took the doctors away and left the patient to die.” He looks at the ground, then away to the distance.

Honking cars fill the chaotic street outside the hospital where they’d just received brand new desks. The empty boxes are strewn about outside. Um Mohammed, a doctor at the hospital sat behind her old, wooden desk. “How can I take a new desk when there are patients dying because we don’t have medicine for them,” she asked while holding her hands in the air, “They should build a lift so patients who can’t walk can be taken to surgery, and instead we have these new desks!” Her eyes were piercing with fire, while yet another layer of frustration is folded into her work.