John Farrell
Voices in The Wilderness
Chicago
October 1, 2003

Since recently returning from my three week stay in Iraq, I have been asked alot of questions by concerned US citizens. The questions about how bad the situation is in Iraq are simple to answer. All I have to do is repeat the frustrated words that many Iraqis said to me in the short time that I was there, “Where is this democracy that your country promised us?” “When will we have security, reliable electricity and clean water?” “When will there be self-determination for Iraqis?” “Did the US really care about our liberation or did they only come here to loot our country of its natural resources?”

The questions that I find most difficult to answer, however, are the ones concerning a US response to the occupation. As I spoke with Iraqis I discovered that there were many different opinions on the subject. Many people in the US, including family members of military personnel, are beginning to say, “Troops out Now!” Although I feel like proclaiming this phrase myself, I must admit that most Iraqis that I spoke with think that this is too simplistic to be regarded as a solution to the problem. Many people say that the US has created a mess in their country which needs to be addressed before any wholesale pullout of US troops takes place. The best way for this to happen is to promote true self-determination for Iraqis. With this in mind, “Elections for Iraqis Now!” might be a better mantra to adopt. In the meantime, the former director of the United Nations (UN) Oil for Food program in Iraq, Denis Halliday, cautions against the proposed plan for the UN to send international troops to Iraq under US control, suggesting that a much better option would be for the US to be completely replaced by a force that is administered by the UN. So far the only Democratic candidate for president who has advocated for this as a solution to the problems in Iraq is Dennis Kucinich.

Baghdad, Iraq
John Farrell
Voices in The Wilderness

Here in Iraq there is so much to learn that I feel overwhelmed. There are so many things that I do not understand about this place, which is just one reminder to me of how much the United States government does not understand about this place and about ordinary Iraqis. I read that Donald Rumsfeld was in Iraq today, telling US troops that their work here, while difficult, is succeeding and will continue to succeed. From where I sit, looking out at Karrada Dakhil street from this Internet Cafe in the cool of the evening (that is, when the cool of temperature below 100 degrees)it could very well be the case that everyone is happy and content here. The Iraqis that I have met are very resilient and are used to enduring great calamity and hardship, not to mention corrupt government officials. However, when you talk with people and more importantly when you listen to people, then you get a different opinion of what’s going on here under US occupation.

So here’s my suggestion to Donald Rumsfeld while he is here in Iraq. Mr. Donald, leave the comfort of the former Republican Palace, where Iraqis were not allowed to go freely under Saddam and where they still are not allowed to go freely under the Coalition Provisional Authority (unless accompanied by a foreigner), and take a ride around Baghdad in a taxi cab. Hail one of the rickety cabs, the ones painted white and orange, not the cabs that someone at a hotel would call for you. Take an interpreter with you, and introduce yourself as someone from the United States. Don’t tell them that you are Donald Rumsfeld. For the full effect, take a cab during the hottest part of the day, anytime from 10 am to 5 pm, when temperatures inside these tin boxes on wheels can easily reach a stuffy 130 degrees Fahrenheit. I guarantee you that you will get a different view of the situation than you are getting from the safety of your squadron of helicopters, cruising overhead.

Baghdad, Iraq
John Farrell
Voices in The Wilderness

A strong, male voice singing crisp Arabic woke me in the pre-dawn hour of August 26, calling the city of Baghdad to prayer. According to my housemates, though, I must have slept through an incredible clash of gunfire, helicopters and tanks that night; I am such a heavy sleeper that I don’t hear tanks and APC’s rolling down our street at night or gun battles happening just around the corner. Maybe I would be a little more nervous here if those sounds did keep me up at night, but in fact I do hear those noises often enough while I am awake that they have become commonplace. I am not startled now unless the gunfire is almost right outside our window. At the same time, however, these are not the only sounds that I hear in Baghdad. I also hear the welcoming words of Salaam Alaikum, or “Peace be with you,” wherever I go. It’s the most common greeting that I hear from Iraqis.

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.

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.