Texans for Peace Blog Iraq Trip 3 (and prior trip 2)

2009-05-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Two U.S. Marines and one sailor were killed Thursday while conducting combat operations in Fallajah yesterday (Thursday), bring to 18 the number of US troops killed in April. At least 356 Iraqis died in April due to the conflict.

Also on Thursday, the Iraq war formally ended for British forces as they handed control of Basra to U.S. commanders and prepared to ship out most of its remaining 4,000 troops. A U.S. flag was raised over the base outside the southern city. From Basra to Baquba, basic services, electricity, sewage treatment and clean water are in short supply, while corrupt officials and political elites survives only with the protection of US firepower. Gordon Brown claimed yesterday that the wreckage of blood-drenched Iraq was a "success story". General, Petreaus still has no exit strategy for the U.S. Turkish jet hit Iraq's mountainous region on Wednesday and Thursday. The new raids came a day after a powerful bomb blast, blamed on the PKK, killed nine soldiers in Diyarbakır province in Southeast Turkey and the separatists shot dead a soldier near the town of Şemdinli, close to the border with Iraq.

On Friday, two brothers were killed in a pre-dawn military raid in Tikrit. Security was tightened in Tikrit after hundreds of angry mourners — some firing weapons into the air — took to the streets to protest the killings. The demonstrators shouted "Down with America!"

2009-04-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note on the names of some of the local groups in Iraq who are involved in the fighting:

The Army of Abu Bakr al Sadiq, The Brigade of the 20th Revolution, Al Qaeda in Iraq, The Iraqi Islamic Army, The Army of Mujahudeen, Ansar al Sunna, Kurdistan Brigades, Mahdi Army, Hizbollah paramiltaries, the Badr Brigade, The Islamic Front for Resistance, The Army of Rashadeen, The Army of the Brothers of Mohammed.

Each group has different goals and tactics. Many are concentrated on fighting the foreign occuption. A few are both involved in fighting and in politics. Some work together.

The result is a very muddy picture of the fighting - one that can only be partially cleared after all occupation militaries, foreign contractors and clandestine groups from outside leave the country.

It's been more than 6 years and despite Washington's protestations of "success" many things in Iraq are still very worrisome and large-scale violence could erupt at any time. Recent escalations in attacks, throughout many parts of the country, are one indication that more and more people are frustrated with the current situation.

2009-04-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

Sitting with the team back at the home in Suli, listening to "Dust in the Wind" and reflecting on this country and its wars.

While our team was in Halabja today, meeting with survivors of the 1988 massacre in that area, there were more than 118 casualties throughout Iraq.

Two car bombs tore through crowded areas of Sadr City in Baghdad on, killing at least 45 people and wounding more than 60 others. Bloodstained pavement and twisted heaps of metal from the cars greeted witnesses. Saadi Rashid, 35, said he had just bought some new clothes for his children at a nearby store when the blast went off, sending shrapnel piercing through his shoulder and his leg. "I saw my blood covering the clothes that I had planned to take to my kids," he said. Also in Baghdad, a roadside bomb struck a minibus, killing five and wounding three more.

Elsewhere in Iraq, U.S. troops opened fire in Riyadh near Kirkuk after they said they were ambushed. Two civilians were killed and one injured when the Americans opened fire. The military says that they were attacked by several people with grenades and guns. In the al-Karama district of Mosul, police found the body of a beheaded girl. In the eastern Mosul neighbourhood of al-Mathna, 'unknown gunmen' fatally shot a police officer in his house.

2009-04-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

Christians in the Kirkuk area have been urged not to flee after 4 killings in recent days. "The main objective of these crimes is to create chaos and promote strife and divisions among the people of Kirkuk. I call on Christians not to be jarred by these crimes and to stay in Kirkuk. We are sons of this city," sail Luis Sacko, the city's Chaldean archbishop.

Iraq's Christians are currently believed to number around 750,000 and many have already joined the nearly 5 million Iraqi refugees scattered within, and outside, of Iraq since the 2003 invasion and occupation.

2009-04-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Two homes of Christians living in Kirkuk were stormed by gunmen today. In one, a woman was killed and another injured.

In other news: In the other one man was shot dead and his brother and father were wounded. In Mosul, three people were killed in drive-by shootings. A policeman was killed by a roadside bomb in the al-Dora section of Baghdad.

About Kirkuk: Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad, is the capital of Tamim province, which is also know as Kirkuk province. Kirkuk sits atop one of Iraq's key oil producing fields. The Kirkuk fields contain about 13 percent of Iraq's proven reserves. U.S. officials believe the province could contain 4 percent of the world's oil reserves. The city lies just outside the largely autonomous Kurdistan region, which is predominantly Kurdish. Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen make up Kirkuk's three main ethnic groups. The city is also home to Chaldean Catholic Christians and other minorities. Thousands of Arab families moved to Kirkuk in the 1970s and 1980s under former President Saddam Hussein's "Arabisation" policy, which involved the expulsion of thousands of Kurds and Turkmen. Kurds consider Kirkuk their ancient capital and want it to become part of Kurdistan. Kurdish moves to integrate Kirkuk with Kurdistan have caused concerns in neighboring Turkey, which fears Iraq's Kurds will turn Kirkuk into the capital of a new state, possibly fuelling separatism among its own sizable Kurdish population. US, Turkish, Iraqi central government, and KRG officials appear to be working feaverishly in the background to come up with some sort of "deal" over the city. Iraq and Syria plan to help repair the Kirkuk-Banias pipeline. The 1000- mile pipeline, which extends from Iraq's northern oil fields at Kirkuk to Banias where Syria has a refinery, has been closed since the US-led invasion of 2003.

2009-04-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Back in Suli from a 4-day trip to about a dozen villages along Iraq's border with Turkey and Iran (more to follow on this trip).

Today's news from Iraq: U.S. troops once again are violating the security agreement and conducting raids on Iraqi homes - and in one case killing and local chief and his wife. U.S. forces on Sunday conducted a raid in Kut, without informing the central government or even the local police chief. This "crime" (according the Prime Minister Maliki) was conducted in the middle of the night and in which the U.S. military said it targeted the financier of Shiite militia factions believed to be backed by the Iranians. Two persons dead, six arrested. On Saturday, US and Iraqi forces raided homes in Fallujah.

One US soldier was killed and two injured in an attack in Kirkuk on Saturday. Seven pilgrims on their way to Samarra were wounded when gunmen opened fire at their mini-bus near Balad. In Mosul, two Iraqi soldiers were killed when gunmen attacked their checkpoint and an off-duty police man was killed in another incident.

At least 60 people were killed and 125 were wounded in twin suicide attacks at the mosque in Baghdad's Kadhimiya neighbourhood on Friday. There were killings in Sinjar, Jalawla and Mosul as well.

In other news, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday. She said Iraq is "on the right track".

2009-04-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

I will likely not be able to add to the blog for the next several days. We will be visiting villages along with border region of Turkey and Iraq to gather evidence of military incursions of those countries and bombings of these villages. Among the villages that we will visit include: Kani SPi, Shaqlaw, Barzan, Zharwa, Kak Haiji, Choman, Sheladze, Kani Mase, Yekmala, and Merkegia. According to reports, not only have villages been bombed with cluster bombs, but approaches to them have been bombed as well, their lands seeded with mines, and Turkish military bases have been built on the Iraqi side all in an attempt to keep Kurdish villages from returning to their lands inside Iraq - all clear violations of international human rights.

2009-04-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) submitted a report Wednesday on the disputed territories in northern Iraq. The report didn't offer any solutions to the dispute between Baghdad and KRG officials, but rather called for local measures to address each of the areas. The KRG president, Masoud Barzani, met with U.S. president Obama last week in which they discussed security, Turkey and the role of the Iraqi national government.

2009-04-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Five people were killed and at least 15 injuured by a suicided bomber inside a mosque in Dhuluiya, 45 miles north of Baghdad, yesterday. In Mosul, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in a crowded market wounded eight people, including a policeman. A suicide car bomber attacked a security checkpoint run by Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Zummar, near Mosul. Also in Zummar, a Kurdish Peshmerga leader escaped death when a bomb in a parked car exploded near his convoy. In Kirkuk, gunmen in a car kidnapped a judge while he was heading to his office. A bomb on Tuesday killed a policeman and wounded three others when it struck their patrol in the Amiriya district of western Baghdad.

2009-04-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Asking around, the Iraqis apparently aren't much impressed with the new Ambassador, Hill. They do say that he should be better than Bremer - but that's not saying much.

2009-04-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Halliburton is at it again: The company's CEO, David Lesar, is "looking forward" to oil drilling in Iraq. "We're having discussions with any large number of (international oil companies) about their ongoing discussions with the Iraqi government about starting operations there," Lesar said in an earnings call yesterday. Oil for blood anyone?

2009-04-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

It is very interesting being with this international group and being an American in the minority this time. Of the permanent team, 2 are from the US, 1 from Canada and 1 from Taiwan.

2009-04-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

The Sunday election of Iyad al-Samarrai as the speaker of the Iraqi Parliament could create some challenges for Iraq. Iraq has been without a president of the Legislature the prior speaker stepped down in December. With Iraq struggling to form provincial governments in the wake of the January elections and political turmoil simmering the challenge for the new speaker is to overcome ethinic-political divides while moving the country forward in such areas as rebuilding and oil/gas leases. Resolving the jurisdictional fight over oil-rich Kirkuk and the various disputed territories near Kurdistan will also be high on the agenda. A constitutional committee on Kirkuk that was supposed to help resolve this dispute has failed to meet a March 31 deadline, causing political tensions in the region to accelerate. With the Kurdish provinces preparing for provincial elections in May (at this point) there are worries that inattention or lack of resolution in Baghdad could turn this into widespread conflict.

2009-04-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Kurdish people comprise 40 million across Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria (More than half live in in Turkey) and have been repressed by various governments for centuries. Three of Iraq's governorates (states) - Dahuk, Irbil, and Sulaymaniyah - make up Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurds have a unique language and culture and, as a regional CULTURAL group, many different religions as well. Most Iraqi Kurds that we have met claim to be Kurds first with their other local identity (Iraqi, Christian, Muslim, etc.) second....creating both obvious challenges and less obvious opportunities.

We're meeting with all types of Iraqi Kurds to better understand the situation in this part of the country and also to document international human rights violations - particularly the shelling of entire villages by the Turkish and Iranian government with apparently full complicity by the U.S.

NOTE: Spellings. There can be multiple spellings for a city or area in Arabic (ie. Dohuk, Dahuk, Duhok). Additionally, Kurdish names for these places may be entirely different (i.e. Irbil, Erbil = Hawler) so you will see me use various spellings.

Here is a good link for more general information about Iraqi Kurdistan: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/kurdistan-iraq.htm

2009-04-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

The US has opened a new prison at Chamchamal, south of Suleimaniya, that can hold 3,000 detainees (despite claims by Washington that the US has no intention of staying in Iraq). The US Corps of Engineers built the 27-million-dollar facility "to make it a modern correctional facility that complies with both international and US Coalition requirements for the humane treatment of inmates," the military said said. The new jail was constructed to hold 2,000 medium security inmates and 1,000 high security inmates and will have a staff of 1,200, including a large force of guards. There is already another federal prison, Fort Suze, 15 miles northwest of Suleimaniya, housing 1,500 detainees, among them 260 foreigners. Most inmates there are accused of "terrorism" and illegal entry to Iraq.

2009-04-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Our international delegation of 6 (2 UK, 1 USA, 1 Indian, 1 Chezk, 1 CAN) will join the the 4 persons with the ground team of CPT in Suleimaninya today after spending a day in Amman, Jordan visiting with Iraqis living here. In Iraq news: 8 US soldiers were injured in a bomb attack in Baqouba. The Iraqi parliament elected a new speaker after a 4-month delay. Mortars hit the Green Zone in Baghdad. There were assorted deaths from the war in Mosul and Baghdad.

2009-04-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

I'll be headed back to Iraq on my 4th trip soon and will try to use this blog while on the road.

2007-05-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

The following story, and many more, can be found at:

http://www.texansforpeace.org/IRAQ/Stories.htm

Invisible Iraqis - by Charlie Jackson

(published in Truthout.org May 01, 2007)

Against a sensual and elegant backdrop of marble and lush carpets, impeccably-attired men and women talk business in a room overlooking the fairy-tale lights of the city. The clink of ice in sparkling glasses, the splashing of scotch, and the fizz of soda mix with the talk and the muted laughter. The setting? Not Paris, or even Chicago or Dallas. This is the Le Royal Hotel in uptown Amman, where wealthy Jordanians, Iraqis, and Americans come to deal.

photos by Peggy Kelsey

Downtown, however, near the al-Husseini mosque and Roman ruins of the ancient city of Philadelphia, a very different picture unfolds, one of grinding poverty, fear, and desperation. Off a narrow alley in a room without windows, lives one of the many poor refugee families from Iraq. Like those who have fled to Damascus, and elsewhere, this family is in search of relief and an escape from the unrelenting violence.

"Mohammed" (not his real name) brought his family to Amman to find medical care for his son, and a life removed from the violence of Baghdad. In is prior life, he earned his living as a truck driver, but here in the city, he and his four children, ranging from 3 to 11, spend their time inside the windowless room so they won't be arrested as illegal refugees.

"Riya", his wife, spends her day sitting on the sidewalks of the old souk (marketplace) selling cigarettes, lighters, and trinkets. She has a pleasant smile for each customer, but must stand vigilant to ensure she isn't arrested, or has her goods confiscated by the police. She wonders if anyone cares about her little family.

This family of six arrived four months ago from the Sadr City district of Baghdad to seek medical help for their son, Haider, whose leg and back were severely burned in 2004 after a Katusha rocket landed near their home. He still needs extensive medical treatment, as well as plastic surgery.

Since there was no hope for obtaining assistance in Iraq - all international aid organizations have fled the country - they saw Jordan as a new chance for their son. But so far, that has not proven to be the case. They receive some economic aid from Caritas, a Catholic social agency, but still struggle to pay their sixty-five-dollar monthly rent and buy food. Medical care is out of the question, whether for their son, or their other children, now suffering from malnutrition and from the respiratory problems caused by the damp, moldy walls of the apartment.

If they don't find a solution, they fear they will have to return to
Baghdad. "If I can't get help here," Mohammed says, " I would rather return to Sadr City, where at least my children can see the sun."

The plight of this family is shared by an estimated 750,000 refugees (The Hashemite Kingdom insists that they be called "guests")who have fled to Jordan, according to the United Nations. During the past four years, four to five million Iraqis have become displaced persons, either as refugees in neighboring countries, or in Iraq itself. It is estimated that the humanitarian crisis is growing by 50,000 people per month.

Iraqis of substantial means meet at the Le Royal to discuss the latest news from Washington and oil politics of Iraq. Their families shop in the new Mecca Mall across town and buy coffee at Starbucks. In many ways, these few are little different from powerbrokers in the U.S. capital.

They have the means to avoid the unpleasantness of the occupation of Iraq.

Meanwhile, the true victims of war go unnoticed and ignored. They are invisible Iraqis.

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This story, and other projects of Texans for Peace, are geared towards documenting the effects of - and bringing an end to - the war and occupation in Iraq. Charlie Jackson has visited Iraq three times on peace delegations and is the founder of Texans for Peace.

Other projects include the Women's Business Center of Baghdad (WBCB) and End the War in Iraq Daily News

2007-04-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 23. 2007

During the past week we have been visiting Iraqi refugee families (the Jordanian government prefers the term "guests") of all types throughout the city of Amman. The families have crossed a broad spectrum of classes, religions and ethnicities. Some have been in Amman for many years while others most recently fled the violence in Iraq.

Each has a story to tell (stories and photos to come later). To see more from Jordan, visit Belinda Subraman's weblog http://belindasubraman.livejournal.com/ or Dhar Jamail and Tom Engelhardt from Syria http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=10857

However, one thing they all say in common is that the U.S. not only caused the current crisis, but that it will continue to worsen every day that "coalition" troops remain in Iraq. All say that the U.S. should leave before it is too late, that is before Baghdad becomes completely like Beirut and Mogadishu during the civil wars in those cities....or worse.

Iraqis are beginning to lose hope that the American government has any intelligent people at all and fear that the occupation and war will continue to the point that President Bush will one day ask "Are there any Iraqis still left in Iraq?" (a current Iraqi joke about the refugee crisis).

Estimates of the number of Iraqis who have fled, internally and externally range from 4-5 million. In the U.S. this would be the equivalent of 40 million or more. The estimate is that each much brings 50,000 more refugees and 6-8,000 new dead and injured.

Nice legacy for Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice-Congress-et al.

2007-04-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

Monday April 23, 2007

Our delegation has been all over Amman during the past week, meeting with a wide spectrum of Iraqi refugees - all social classes and religions. Some have been in Jordan for many years while others for only a short while. And while each story is unique, there are several things they share in common.

They are all struggling with the effects of war, not being able to travel or enjoy the rights of a "free" people. Their lives, and those of their children have been turned upside down and an entire generation may end up going without proper schooling. Many have lost all hope for any sort of positive outcome of the war and others say they no longer plan to return to Iraq. ALL say that the US should leave NOW (if not yesterday).

Soon I will be writing up the invidual stories and providing a glimpse into the lives of these families (once I have had time to process everything).

Before then, please read other dispatches such as those of Belinda Subramaniam (in Amman) http://belindasubraman.livejournal.com/ or Dahr Jamail (currently in Syria) http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=10857

Charlie Jackson

2007-04-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

19-April, 2007

We spent our first full day in Amman, visiting with Iraqi families who are now refugees in Jordan and visiting a small school project that has been set up to teach art for elementary. The situation for many of the Iraqi families, mostly middle-class, that we met today is dire. Although each had different perspectives on Iraq and the difficulties they have faced, some appear next to hopeless.

The hopelessness doesn't come so much from a lack of improvement in Iraq, itself. Rather it comes from a realization that they can't return to their own country, but aren't allowed anywhere else in the world....and they will end up scraping by illegally in Jordan. It's like a scene from Kafka's "In der Strafkolonie" (In the Penal Colony).

In beautiful Jordan, for many the flowers have lost their color and the springtime sky doesn't exit....they're heads are so bowed.

IN IRAQ - Yesterday (18-April) at least 312 people were killed and 302 wounded as several bombs struck Baghdad. one truck bomb killed 140 people and wounded 150 more in the mostly Shi’ite Sadriya neighborhood. A second bomb killed 41 and wounded 76 in Sadr City. In Karrada, the third bomb killed 11 and wounded 13 more. Two were killed and eight wounded in a checkpoint bombing in Saidiya. And, a bomb in a mini-bus in Risafi killed four and wounded six people. One American soldier died on Tuesday of non-battle releated injuries.

Today (19-April) 3 GIs, 2 Britons, and 46 Iraqis were killed and another 62 injured. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Iraq's Green Zone, declaring ""I'm sympathetic with some of the challenges that they (Iraqis) face." "But," he said, "the clock is ticking." Gates wants the oil law passed (since when was that a DoD issue?)

2007-04-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Texan - Iraqi Delegation

Texans travel to Middle East on “Peace Delegation”

AUSTIN, TX – April 14, 2007 – This week, four Texans will travel to the Middle East to meet with Iraqi women and families as part of a peace delegation. On April 17, the delegation will begin a two-week visit to Jordan where they will meet with Iraqi refugees, international agencies and humanitarian organizations.

The purpose of this trip is to build bridges between Texans and Iraqis while gaining a better understanding of the impacts of the war on Iraq and the refugee situation in Jordan. The trip is part of ongoing efforts by Texans for Peace to educate individuals and groups about the war in Iraq.

During this trip, the Texas delegation will be visiting with Iraqi families in their homes and refugee centers. Delegates also plan to meet with officials of the United National Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) on Iraq, CARE International, the Jordan Women’s Union, and the Catholic Church of Jordan … among other organizations.

The delegation includes:

Peggy Kelsey, Austin - Peggy is a professional photographer from Austin and founder of the Afghan Women's Project. Peggy first traveled to Afghanistan after a year abroad at Pahlavi University in Shiraz, Iran. In the fall of 2003, Peggy traveled to war-torn Afghanistan to meet more women and record their stories. She returned with portraits and stories of 40 women. In addition to her travels to the Middle East, Peggy spent two years in Mozambique. She is married to a professional pilot and active in peace issues and travels widely giving presentations and exhibitions. Her professional website is: http://www.kelseys.net/

Carla Mercado, San Antonio - Carla is a registered nurse and former school teacher who volunteers with several local projects including the St. Peter and St. Joseph Home for Children and Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation. Carla has also been an active volunteer with Camp Casey in Crawford and the March for Women’s Lives in Washington. She is particularly interested in healthcare and education of children and employment opportunities for women.

Belinda Subramanian, El Paso - Belinda is a professional author and registered nurse. She has published several books under the VERGIN PRESS imprint, including Voces Fronterizas and The Gulf War: Many Perspectives. She began her writing career as publisher of Gypsy Literary Magazine in the 1980’s. Belinda also published an indy e-zine and produces a syndicated talk show through iTunes, VI Radio and Net Talk. Her professional website is http://belinda_subraman.podomatic.com

Charlie Jackson, Austin - Charlie is an international technology consultant and volunteer/founder of Texans for Peace. He has been active in global peace and justice issues and has traveled to Iraq on three occasions in addition to visits to Bosnia and Guatemala. Charlie has served on local, regional, and statewide boards and works for many causes including: economic justice, education, the rights of women and minorities, alternative energy and the environment, and peacemaking.

Upon return to Texas, these individuals will be able to give presentations about the current impacts of the crisis in Iraq and affects upon Iraqi refugees. Additionally, the delegates will bring back specific ideas and information – from humanitarian to business needs – that other Texans can get involved in.

This trip is a continuation of the Women's Business Center of Baghdad (WBCB) initiative that was begun in early 2004 with a goal to assist Iraqi women and professionals to organize, finance, and operate their business even while the war continued. Due to the worsening conditions in Iraq, many of these women now reside in Amman as they attempt to provide for their families. http://www.acceleros.com/WBCB

2006-09-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

Karl and Muqtada
by charlie jackson
http://www.opednews.com

Sometimes I feel like Forest Gump. This year I've had the opportunity to meet two of history's henchmen in my travels to end the War of Iraq: Karl Rove and Muqtada al-Sadr. Both are well known for their expertise in the art of political manipulation and each could be the other's doppelganger. They are charismatic and lust for power. Neither possesses strong physical features or a college degree. They have risen to prominence in their respective countries but hold diametric views on the issue of the continued occupation of Iraq. Rove says the U.S. must remain in Iraq as part of the global war on terrorism. Al-Sadr demands an immediate withdraw of all coalition forces. Al-Sadr, a cleric-cum-politician is heir to a powerful Shi'ia clerical dynasty with a history of helping the poor of Iraq. His father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, urged Shi'ia and Sunnis to worship together and called for religious freedoms before he was assassinated in 1999 (assumedly by Saddam's agents). Sadr's followers hold thirty parliament seats and control several ministries. But, since the beginning of the war al-Sadr has shown a definite lack of gratitude for "liberation" and has sent his Medhi Army to battle U.S. forces on numerous occasions. Karl Rove rose from humble beginnings to become the White House Chief of Staff through winning strategies that combined religious fundamentalism, tax cuts, and executive activism. He became the brain behind George W. Bush's rise in politics after moving his political consultancy to Texas (what Southerners call "carpetbagging") in the 1970's. Known as an aggressive campaigner, Rove helps fashion American policy and indirectly commands U.S. involvement in Iraq. I met Muqtada al-Sadr at his headquarters in Najaf last September with a team of skeptical human rights workers. This was my third trip to Iraq during the war. On every occasion, I attempt to better understand the complex factors that stand in the way of resolving this conflict while meeting the various players. We were escorted into his compound with cameras rolling and al-Sadr launched into a prepared speech about the rights of Iraqis for self-determination. Our faces showed negative reaction to his hyperbole so he quickly cut the campaign rhetoric to talk directly with us. We sat and discussed the upcoming elections, war and reconstruction, the role of religion in civic affairs, and human rights. I was particularly taken by Sadr's concern for terrorism and his interest in American views. But he also stressed that while Islam is a religion of peace, his militia was prepared to "oust the foreign occupation" if things didn't improve. Dinner with Karl Rove last week was similar (except the tea was iced). I listened to Rove at a fundraiser in Austin in a room full of Republican faithful while my antiwar activist friends chanted outside the ballroom doors. Karl opined on national security, the upcoming elections and Iraq. "If Democrats want to frame this year's election around who's stronger on national security, that will be a debate we want, a debate we should have...," said Rove.Rove acclaimed the "goal of victory" in Iraq and derided proponents of peace. Most attendees appeared to agree with his framing of "national security" as a means to win political power, but a surprising number remained pensively silent throughout. I was struck by how much Karl's words were like those of Muqtada. Sadr and Rove are geographically thousands of miles apart, but both capture the political zeitgeist of their respective nations. Each is absolutely certain of "victory" (whatever that means) and a protagonist of ideological combat. Both are ringleaders of America's first major war of the 21st century. Their ideas, like a box of mixed chocolates, are occasionally sugary, sometimes bitter, and .... frequently nuts.

2006-07-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

2006-07-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Editorial - Celebrating Independence from Texas to Iraq (July 4, 2006)

July 4th is a time of celebrating American independence and our participation in a country that is a beacon of liberty and freedom to the world. By the stroke of pen, Liberty was born and the United States announced to the world that it was a free nation. Through acts of selflessness and courage, freedoms have been achieved and expanded during the past 230 years.

Today citizens and non-citizens alike one more in Texas, as throughout the U.S., will commemorate the inalienable rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Families will cook hamburgers and fajitas, in backyards and parks. Crowds will flock to favorite beaches, watering-holes, and East Texas pines. Politicians will opine of the "sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform". Fireworks will illumine the night sky.

This will all take place in a country where people of differing races, faiths, and political viewpoints live side by side in relative peace and prosperity.

But in Iraq, real bombs will be bursting in the air; the blessing of liberty not yet achieved.

Iraqi parents, like us, work to instill in their children basic values that should sound familiar to Texans: freedom, opportunity, security, and responsibility. But they find their country torn apart by warring forces and occupied by foreigners who refuse to leave.

"Things are bad, very bad," said one friend recently in Baghdad. "There is a curfew now, nobody leaves their houses after 7 or 8pm. There is nothing we can do." "The dead are just numbers now....14 bodies here, 20 bodies there, another 16 here." He stated that as bad as things were during the years of U.N. sanctions, violence and unemployment have increased and infrastructure deteriorated faster during the past three years.

Another English-speaking friend wrote, "I've been listening to debate - mostly from pro-war politicians - and the naïveté they reveal is astounding. As long as foreign troops are in Iraq, resistance or 'insurgency' will continue. Why is that SO difficult to understand? How is that concept a foreign one?"

The framers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence were men and women of integrity willing to suffer all for freedom. They lived in relative security but valued liberty more as they fought to rid their land of a despotic ruler with the world's greatest military at his disposal.

Two hundred years later the table has turned. In 2006 America is burning towns and destroying the lives of civilians, depriving people of trial by jury, exempting troops from murder, and plundering the treasury of another people. Other malignant foreign forces set bombs and rain mortars down on unsuspecting residents, but their numbers are small compared to the 128,000 GIs stationed there. Citizens on both sides of the world - parents, teachers, religious and business leaders - watch in chagrin as the blood of the nations' youth are squandered on a senseless and immoral war.

Americans are faced with a dilemma. On one hand, supporters of U.S. military intervention argue that we cannot withdraw until the security situation is stable. On the other, violence increases every month that we remain. War apologists like to use the phrase "cut-and-run" to denigrate those who call for withdrawal, but wiser heads know when to "fold'em" and walk away.

During the past three years, more than 20,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed or injured in Iraq; estimates of Iraqi dead and injured range from 50,000 to more than 100,000. While President Bush calls such sacrifices "noble" the White House still does not have clear objectives and will not say when the war might end.

Instead of preserving our Constitution, GIs find themselves writing one for Iraq. Old Glory languishes while troops are sent to protect a flag of red, white, and black with green Arabic script.

Iraqis demand freedom, on their terms not ours.

A January 2006 poll by the Center for International Studies at Maryland found that 70% of Iraqis - of all religious and ethnic groups - favor setting a timeline for U.S. withdrawal, 35% "within six months". Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presented a plan that called for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces.

It's time for the U.S. to give Iraq its independence and to let Iraqis build a nation of their own. If we believe in Democracy, we must begin our exodus from Iraq and end this war now.
Freedom and liberty demand it!

Peace, Charlie

Charlie Jackson, is a sixth-generation Texas bid'nessman and founder of Texans for Peace
http://www.texansforpeace.org and http://www.texansforpeace.org/endthewar