By Dahr Jamail

Kidnapping has become the crime of choice amongst Iraqi criminal gangs. With 70% unemployment in “liberated” Iraq, crime is running rampant, with organized crime enjoying a free hand amidst the terrible security situation.

The families of the kidnapped are at times forced to pay up to several million dollars ransom—unless they want to receive pieces of their loved ones, or even their dead bodies.

While media attention has focused heavily on the kidnapping of Westerners, the kidnapping of Iraqis, in particular Iraqi women, is much more common.

As far back as July 2003, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that “the poor security situation in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities is causing women and girls to severely restrict their movements for fear of rape and abduction.”

“It will require us to be willing to take risks, major risks.”

Cliff Kindy, of the Christian Peacemaker Teams writes to us from Iraq about present and future war and OUR FUTURE without war. Cliff implores each of us to take “back the decisions that affect our lives.” Where will you start?

By Cliff Kindy, Christian Peacemaker Teams

Dear Friends, Family, and All Good People,

This morning, January 19, there were six explosions before 9AM. This is the fifth day that Baghdad has been without public water. Several days ago our landlady asked us to conserve water because the tanks on the roof are our only supply. These events are bad for the people of Iraq and all foreigners in Iraq, but another story probably has more damaging long-term significance for Iraq and the world. Check out Gwynne Dyer, Future Tense.

On January 17, Seymour Hersh posted an article titled “The Coming Wars” for the New Yorker Magazine. Hersh details the consolidation of intelligence analyses and the ensuing covert operations within the office of the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Hersh lists Algeria, Yemen, Syria, Malaysia, and Tunisia on the list of targets for those strategic efforts. Hersh makes clear that Iran is already being targeted by covert operations from this office, and that there is no congressional approval or oversight of this new policy.

I realize that half of the US population does not approve of present policy in Iraq and may not give their support to the developments in the above paragraph. I heard today that a BBC worldwide poll indicated that a vast majority of the global population feels the world is a much more dangerous place since the US invasion of Iraq. So. And?

I have just re-read A Man to Match His Mountains, about Badshah Khan, and A Force More Powerful, about the nonviolent movements that have shaped history in the past century. They depict the creative genius of unarmed people facing Nazi Germany, powerful dictators, overwhelming terror, massive empires, and brutal injustice; and successfully bringing the changes they intended. The stories show that the results depend on careful analysis, strategic planning, undergirding faith, and bold action. Changes came as a few people began to work for the changes they wanted and others joined them.

By Cliff Kindy, Christian Peacemaker Teams

There are eons of time compressed into the seconds of a crisis. It sounded as though several of them were attacking our hotel door that night. We were in an old hotel in the center of the city. Even though we came in after dark, those with an interest in foreigners must have spotted our entourage.

Earlier in the day we had safely covered the dangerous miles between Baghdad and Kerbala. Media regularly carries stories of attacks on the various routes that carry travelers between these two cities - kidnappings, murders, and beheadings. NGO security reports, U.S. Warden messages, and close friends advised extreme caution as we contemplated travel plans. Yes, there were carcasses of old burned out vehicles along the roadsides and Peggy counted 15 checkpoints, manned by Iraqi security. Four U.S. convoys passed us along the route. But we arrived without problems.