121 Contact

June 26 2009 Neda dies, Iraq cries, Michael Jackson rides the news.

OK. Forget about Michael for a minute. A beautiful young woman named Neda was photographed as she died in Tehran and the world cried for her. There are thousands of Nedas in Iraq [ArabWomanBlues]. Every day Iraqis die and no one seems to care. Hundreds of innocents died just this past week alone! Violence in Iraq is again on the rise and the children, women, and men continue to pay the price for the destabilization the U.S. has produced.

Death squads have returned to Basra [Iraq Solidarity]. Innocent (until found guilty) prisoners in Iraqi prisons are still tortured and denied basic rights [McClatachy]. Militant religious leaders are given broad freedoms to spread divisive hate messages on state-run TV. Gangs have returned to the streets of Baghdad and with them have come an increase in street crime and kidnappings for ransom.

While some Baghdad neighborhoods have begun a more peaceful period, most are in the throws of a chaotic return to lawlessness. Electricity is still delivered in 2 or 3 hour blocks [NYTimes] and the water situation is bad for some 70% of the country. Baghdad and Fallujah are seeing a significant rise in insurgent resistance [DahrJamail] activity with at least 30 U.S. soldiers killed in the last 2 months. This is the highest count since last September.

And where is the outrage? We are front-page sympathetic to Iran's troubles, though we had little to do with them. We are front-page attuned to every nuance of a rock singer's death (I do admit he was one of The Major Stars of his time). But where are we with respect to Iraq? Why aren't there mass demonstrations against our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (another quagmire Obama refuses to look at objectively)? We've already wasted 4,316 of our bravest and loyal troops in Iraq. Where are the street protests against this outrageous cost? Cost? Where is the cry about wasting trillions in Iraq while we suffer a lack of funds for health care, education, and the general welfare of the nation?

We are burying our heads in the sands of media. We are ignoring our tremendous responsibility to the people of Iraq.

Yeah, I spend a lot of ink on the widows, but I never forget that the lives of all Iraqis have been horribly changed for generations to come by the U.S. occupation. And the lives of all Americans, too.
b

June 25 2009 Iran, Iraq, Iran, forget Iraq

We haven't posted in a while. The 'uptick of violence' (oh, my god, what a truth-hiding phrase) in Baghdad and other cities, has knocked me down. Sometimes things seem so hopeless. So I let my thoughts turn to Iran, guided by a media that wishes so strongly to reduce Iraq to a short crawl at the bottom of the screen...

I think the failure of the Iranian protest can be directly linked, though not entirely, to those demonstrators who resorted to violence.

A rock against the gun rarely wins. Peaceful actions have at least the assurance of international sympathy and support, and the real possibility of winning.

And now the few who turned violent are what the media focuses on. Even the media referenced below. Not so much the words, but the images that are repeated are those of burning buildings, cars, rock-throwers, etc. Measure the seconds shown of these acts against the seconds showing  peaceful activism and you'll see what I mean.

Yes, the media does show the violent reaction of the government. Violence is what feeds our media. Too sad.

And in all of this who still cares about the Iraqis? Who is supporting our efforts to help the widows? All it takes is a few dollars to make a big difference. How quickly focus can shift away from the old wounds to the new.

 Many tears today. Many we know are in great trouble in Iraq and the support we get for them is so slight. Today one of our dearest sold her bedroom furniture -even the kids' room. Too many tears.

Sorry for the raving. I'm having a hard, frustrating day.
b

[When you read of an Iraqi officer killed in the line of duty, military or police, think of his family.

Employment as an officer is dangerous, of course. Why take such a job? "For my family. What else can I do to support them?" Most of these men leave behind widows and children who then struggle in a cultural and social atmosphere that makes it almost impossible for them to maintain even a rudimentary financial existence.]

June 18 2009 Iraq Unbearable Lightness of Memory

We were watching The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I was drifting into thoughts of yesterday's meeting with Attorney General Holder and thinking of how the elephant in the room was the secret bits that he could not speak of clearly; the decisions to hold certain people indefinitely because we have to trust the government and we have to believe they are acting outside the law in our best interests. I know this will leave a trail that the pseudo-Muslim terrorists will exploit to recruit more young people to attack innocents.

And then that great scene when the tanks quake the building and their searchlights blind whoever looks at their advancing down those narrow streets and the roar of their engines and the sudden change in the film from a romantic comedy to an earthquake of fear...

And Noonie was unable to watch any more. Her tears blinded her and her sobs left her deaf to the film.

"I can see the tanks that came to my neighborhood. I can hear them and smell the smoke of them and feel the house and the ground of them. This morning I cried at the graduation. The 8th graders were so happy; so excited. I loved to see them like this after all their hard work, but I could only think of Baghdad and the students there and how they suffered. You robbed us of our joy."

And the pain continues. I told Holder that we, the nine-eleven families were not the only victims of 9/11. The innocent Iraqis are also victims. They suffer because of the lies that were fed to the American people. They continue to suffer because of the hell we have unleashed.
[Heavy Metal release of pain in Baghdad]

We are now investigating ways to help the tens of thousands of war widows and the uncounted orphans. We'll keep you informed.

It wasn't what you'd call a good day in Iraq, the forgotten hell. Media is focused on Iran today.

Reported Security incidents June 18, 2009:

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi servicemen on Wednesday killed a suicide bomber before he could blow himself up in the capital Baghdad, according to an official statement. “A force from the 24 th Brigade, 6 th Division killed a terrorist wearing an explosive belt before he could detonate himself in al-Uwaisat area, Abu Ghraib sector,” read a statement released by Baghdad’s Operations Command (BOC) and received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The force has successfully managed to defuse the explosive belt, the statement noted.

Iraqi security forces shot dead two suicide bombers during a raid on insurgents' hideouts in west of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said on Wednesday. Early in the morning, Iraqi security forces surrounded the Uwaisat district in Abu Ghraib area, some 20 km west of the city, Baghdad operations command said in a statement. During the operation, the troops were attacked by a suicide bomber who tried to blow up his explosive-belt, but they shot him dead along with another insurgent wearing explosive-belt, the statement said.

#2: A huge fire engulfed the building of the Iraqi Ministry of Health in central Baghdad on Thursday, an Interior Ministry source said. Firefighters are battling the huge fire which started around 1:00 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) at the sixth story of the 11-story building in Bab al-Muadham area, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. There is no immediate confirmation about burns or deaths and only 18 people were hospitalized for being chocked by the heavy smoke, the source said. He said preliminary police investigation believes the fire might be the result of an electric short-circuit.

#3: One mortar shell hit the fortified Green Zone, central Baghdad, with no report on casualties, said a police source.

Around 9 a.m. mortar shells hit the green zone in downtown Baghdad. No news about casualties had been reported

Diyala Prv:
#1: Iraqi Police found six unidentified bodies in Azraq al Kshkool village, 45 km to the east of Baquba Wednesday. The bodies were found in several locations, all had evidence of several gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

Saadiya:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded on Thursday morning near the convoy of Ahmad Thamer al-Zarkoshi, mayor of the town of Saadiyah, some 120 km northeast of Baghdad, wounding Zarkoshi and five of his bodyguards, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Three pedestrians were also wounded by the blast that damaged two of the convoy's vehicles, the source said.

“Zarkoushi is in critical condition,” he noted. This is the fourth attempt on Zarkoushi’s life in two years.

#2: Also in the town (Saadiya), another roadside bomb struck the car of an Iraqi Army officer, wounding him and two of his sons who were in the car, the source added.

Muqdadiyah:
#1: Separately, two Iraqi soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb explosion in the town of Maqdadiyah, 100 km northeast of Baghdad, and two more civilians were wounded by a bomb explosion in a village east of the capital city of Baquba, he said.

Jalawlaa:
#1: Two civilians on Wednesday were wounded in an explosive charge blast that occurred in Jalawlaa district, according to a local source. “An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in front of a barbershop in Suz area, downtown Jalawlaa (30 km southwest of Khanaqin), injuring two civilians and causing damage to several nearby stores,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Wassit Prv:
#1: A Wassit University employee who killed a female student earlier today has died in hospital after shooting himself, a local medic said on Wednesday. “The employee shot himself in the head after he had opened fire on a female student,” the medic told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “A medical team has tried to save the employee’s life, but to no avail…,” the medic noted, adding that the injury has destroyed his brain cells.Earlier today, an employee from the engineering department in Wassit University killed a student in the 3rd grade of the Faculty of Science with his personal pistol.

#2: A policeman was killed on Thursday by a fellow cop in northern Wassit, a police source said. “A policeman from the civil defense department in al-Nuaamaniya district, north of Kut, opened fire on his fellow cop, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians on Wednesday when it targeted a police patrol in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles), north of Baghdad, police said.

Mosul:
#1: Two policemen were fatally shot in two separate gun battles with insurgents in the east of the city, police told the German Press Agency dpa, without giving details.

#2: In a third firefight, in the Yarmuk neighbourhood of western Mosul, Iraqi soldiers killed one insurgent and arrested five others after coming under attack, police said.

#3: On Wednesday, a woman was killed during clashes between gunmen and police forces in al-Saa area, downtown Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The woman, who happened to be at the scene of the clashes, died in hospital from her wounds,” the source noted.

#4: Wednesday “Meanwhile, a policeman was wounded when a gunman fired at him in Ghazi St., downtown Mosul,” according to the same source.

#5: Two simultaneous explosions caused material damage to a number of stores in central Mosul, according to a security source. “Two explosive charges went off simultaneously late Wednesday (June 17) in al-Sergkhana region in central Mosul, causing material damage to five stores,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He gave no more details.

#6: Gunmen in a speeding car shot dead a civilian in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#7: A soldier accidentally killed another soldier when his rifle went off by mistake in eastern Mosul, north of Baghdad, police said.

#8: One Iraqi soldier was injured by a roadside bomb that targeted a patrol of the Iraqi army in al Arabi neighborhood in north Mosul on Thursday morning.

June 17 2009 New York Times - as if Harith al-Obaidi was the only news from Iraq.

I got a chance to speak to Attorney General Holder yesterday...about Guantanamo. I was with a group of people who all lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. It was, of course, an emotional meeting. Old pain, fears, and anger flared again as we tried to make sense of what the Guantanamo detainees are treated and how they should be dealt with. many seemed willing to suspend basic morality because they felt, "why should these terrorists have any rights?"

Whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'. Even the Attorney General conceded that among the 250 remaining prisoners there may be some that are totally innocent of crimes against U.S. Trials will have to determine their fate.

We did not talk of the other victims of 9/11: the Iraqi people. It wasn't that kind of meeting.

While Harith al=Obaidi made news in America, the daily terror that assaults Iraqis did not gain a mention. Our soldiers and innocent Iraqis are still being killed each day. The trauma persists, and the widows and orphans created by our intervention into their lives continue to struggle for sustenance.

I guess I fault the Times repeatedly because it's the one paper I read in hard copy, and because when I was younger I thought that it contained all the news I needed. I let it shape my opinions on many things, and I am sure it shapes the opinions of many today. Too bad. There is so much more news out there that is not covered. And so little time to digest it all.

I'm tired now. Got in late last night. But this afternoon I'll get a chance to spend some time with my granddaughter Maxanne, and that will lighten my day.

(Oh, and we got a new bunch of student writers from Iraq. It always feels good when we make these connections between US and Iraqi students. I know it's a small thing, but this one-to-one contact is important to me, and experience has shown it's important to the students, too.)

Y'all have a nice day now,
b

 

Reported Security incidents June 16, 2009:
Baghdad:
#1: Monday Four civilians were injured by a roadside bomb in Karrada neighborhood in downtown Baghdad on Monday afternoon.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded a U.S. soldier on patrol in northeast Baghdad, a U.S. military statement said, adding that one U.S. Humvee vehicle was damaged in the explosion.

[this child was killed on June 6 in an attack by unknowns on Shi'a civilians]
Samawa:
#1: An improvised explosive device (IED) on Tuesday targeted a U.S. convoy in Muthanna province, but no casualties were reported, according to a local security source. “A roadside explosive device detonated at the southern entrance of Samawa city while a U.S. convoy of four vehicles was passing the location,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. No casualties or damage resulted, the source noted. “The U.S. soldiers fired randomly at nearby civilian vehicles, but no casualties were reported,” the source added.

Al Rashad:
#1: Two civilians have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Kirkuk city, a local police chief said on Tuesday. “A group of gunmen kidnapped two civilians near al-Sud village of al-Rashad district (35 km southwest of Kirkuk city),” Brig. Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.The motivations behind the kidnap remain unknown, the official said.

Kirkuk:
#1: One civilian was killed and five were wounded on Monday in a sticky bomb explosion in central Kirkuk, a source from the joint coordination center said. “A bomb stuck to a vehicle went off in front of the Kirkuk province’s building in central Kirkuk, killing a civilian and injuring five,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, giving no more details.

#2: One civilian on Tuesday was killed inside his store in downtown Kirkuk city, according to a local source. “On Tuesday morning, unknown men killed a civilian with a sharp instrument inside his store on al-Jumhouriya St., downtown Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The victim was the only agent for Cork Telecom,” the source noted.

Mosul:
#1: Judge Mohammad Najem, head of Mosul's Criminal Investigation Court, survived with wounds a roadside bomb explosion near his car in northern Mosul on Monday night, the source said. The blast wounded two of Najem's aides who were with him in the car during the attack, the source added.

#2: Two gunmen were arrested Monday while attempting to launch two Katyusha rockets at an Iraqi military base in northern Mosul, a military source said. “A force from the 3rd brigade of the Quick Response Department (QRD) managed on Monday (June 15) to arrest two gunmen in al-Arabi neighborhood in northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The force seized also the two rockets,” he noted. “The rockets were prepared to be launched at al-Kindi base in northern Mosul, used by the 2nd division of the Iraqi army,” he also said.

#3: A civilian and a woman were wounded Tuesday by U.S. forces random fire in eastern Mosul, a medical source said. “One civilian and a woman were wounded when U.S. forces opened fire randomly in al-Adl neighborhood in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The two were in a bus when the forces opened fire on them,” he added. “The woman is a Mosul University employee,” he noted.

#4: Four people including a policeman were injured by a roadside bomb in Bab alTob area in downtown Mosul city on Tuesday afternoon.

Tal Afar:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Monday blew up a store in Talafar district in northwest of Mosul, the local police chief said. “Unknown gunmen planted a number of bombs inside a store in al-Muthanna neighborhood in north of Talafar, northwest of Mosul,” Colonel Ali Hadi Ubeid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A kidnapped cop was killed on Monday in northern Ramadi, a media source said. “Police forces found on Monday night (June 15) a body of a policeman one hour after being kidnapped in front of his house in al-Jarayshi village in northern Ramadi,” Major Raheem Zebn told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

June 13 2009 I remember Baghdad

Well, lately I was thinking of it will be two years soon, away from Baghdad. And my brain is not washed yet of the memories of everything in Baghdad. The streets, the trees, the sun in Baghdad is different from here. The breeze, the scenes, the children.

I thought that time will wash memories and make you forget some sightseeing in your eyes, some scenes, but I was wrong. I walk here and look at some places and sometimes I intend to look at different, diverse scenes to have a new sight from my old sight, but it's there. It's connected to everything.

I can't forget anything about Baghdad-even the smell ...especially the famous, juicy Iraqi burtoqal...a taste I miss and cannot seem to get here.
I can feel and touch and see how minutes live in time. My day dreams are Baghdad. My sleeping dreams are Baghdad. It's Baghdad. Though the horrible, sad scenes stick in your mind more than the beautiful. The beautiful scenes nourish your soul, but they pass quickly. The bad scenes leave scars in your heart, spirit, and imagination. And whenever you pass with the memories you can feel the bruises of these scars, unlike the beautiful moments.

The beautiful moments are flat and soft and don't wound  your spirit. For this reason when you remember the beautiful moments you relax; you enjoy it; you have have sighs for these moments.

Once I traveled with my brother to one of the provinces. I was looking for a high salary job and it was about 3 or 4 hours by car. The driver put a cassette in the player. The music was so loud. Me and my brother were sitting next to the speaker and we wanted to tell him, but he was so excited by the loud music, and so happy, we felt embarrassed to say, "Hey, we are passengers. You should take care of us." So we said nothing.

The journey was long. We talked of our childhood. We talked of poetry. My brother loves poetry, especially the mystic poetry and he memorized a lot of poems that glorify Allah and the creation. And we talked about that. I remember the moments when he explained the poems. He was infatuated with the words. He put them in a very beatiful way. He added his own poetic touch to the poems he recited.

On the return trip we talked of family things, criticized friends, and saw many funny scenes. There was a very fat person getting into a car. He wore a white dishdasha. The sun touched his face and it was dark with color. We pitied him because it was very hot at that time. He was sweating, and his movements were slow. He could hardly get into this car because he was sooo fat! My brother said, "I feel sorry for such a man who has such problems for his weight."

After one hour we saw this man in the road asking for a ride because his car broke down. There was only one seat in our car, but this man was of three or four people! My brother was so happy to help him. He came and sat next to my  brother and my brother squeezed me over to one-half chair. I asked my brother, "Do you still pity him?", and in truth I pitied myself, stuck there right next to the speaker It was so very loud.

My brother asked the driver to turn the music down, and he did. But after a while the he turned it up again. I had to put my folder up against the speaker. The whole trip we made fun of ourselves. My brother was very tired and he fell asleep and started to snore. It was very loud. the music from one side, and my brother from the other! I wished it would stop.

But now I wish I can hear his snoring again.
n

June 11 2009 Iraq's 5 million orphans: You can help!

5 million orphans, about 15% of the Iraqi population consists of orphans. About 5 million of these children have little or no support other than the kindness of neighborhoods, mosques, and families. There are about 15 government orphanages housing around 500.
[click to enlarge]
The trauma of losing their parents is often compounded by the fact many witnessed their deaths. Six years of carnage have left many of them with serious sleep disorder, PTSD, depression and anxiety disorder, social phobia, and an inability to function successfully.

[See the video from Al Jazeera on URUKNET]
As people return to their homes many children who have occupied them illegally are forced into the streets. Some 5 million are now homeless, making do in night-by-night shelters in abandoned buildings, alleys, and the like. Garbage collection is one of their major occupations. Living day by day they seek sustenance, shelter, and safety.

Decades of problems will follow. Thos social services burden will persist. The current burden is beyond what the government is capable of handling, and don't forget: Al Qaida in Iraq finds these children good recruit candidates since having no family makes them amenable to offers of membership in the larger family of Al Qaida.

                                                        YOU CAN HELP
                                         BY SUPPORTING THESE ORGANIZATIONS

International Rescue Committee has several programs for orphans and students in Iraq.

UNICEF's work in Iraq includes health and nutrition programs for young children and mothers along with water and sanitation, psycho-social care, and early learning. UNICEF supports a program for the reintegration of street children and children deprived of caregivers in Baghdad -0 including orphans and runaways. See complete information about how to contribute to UNICEF's work in Iraq at www.unicefusa.org/iraq.
Or you can call them directly at 1-800-4-UNICEF.
Or write them at:
U.S. Fund for UNICEF
333 E. 38th St., 6th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10016

No More Victims is an independent non-profit organization that works with children in Iraq.

Childhood Care and Sponsorship Organization in Iraq also works with children in Iraq.

USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State and does some work with Iraqi orphans.

JUNE 8 2009 Iraq Summer and Electricity, and the return of the resistance.

from the McClatchy blog:

Summer season used to be a lovely season in iraq because we used to have electricity for 24 hours a day.  Iraqi families used to gather each afternoon and eat the chilled watermelon. We also used to sleep on the roof of the houses only for one month or less especially in May when the weather is so nice and a little bit cold.  Yesterday night, I decided to return back in time and sleep my current summer nights as my ancestors used to...For the first time since the start of summer, I could sleep for full seven hours without the need to wake up to turn on the small generator of the family.

    Nowadays, many Iraqi families have no choice but to sleep on the roof of their houses because of the useless promises of the ministry of the electricity...they have electricity for less than 10 hours a day.

from Jamail's Mideast Dispatches:

At least 20 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq in May, the most since last September, along with more than 50 wounded. Iraqi casualties are, as usual - and in both categories - at least ten times that number...In early April I wrote a column for this website that illustrated how ongoing Iraqi government and US military attacks against the Sahwa, coupled with broken promises of the Sahwa being incorporated into the government security apparatus or given civilian jobs, would likely lead to an exodus from the Sahwa and a return to the resistance...the slaughter and suffering that is being caused by the US occupation of Iraq... the death and suffering that is causing the Iraqi Resistance to once again form, gain strength, and prepare to resume full operations.

June 6 2009 NYTimes echoes Pentagon Lies re: Guantanamo prisoner releases

This piece was triggered by Isabel Macdonald's May 27 piece, NYT's Pentagon Propaganda: Misleading Report on Guantnamo and Terrorism. She's the Communications Director of Fair, a fact-checking organization.


There are adequate federal prison facilities to safely detain even the total number of Guantanamo prisoners, should that be necessary. No one has escaped from our federal maximum security facilities, ever.

The "released prisoners return to terrorism" reports from the pentagon have been debunked repeatedly.

The NYTimes allowed itself to print "1 in 7 Freed Detainees Rejoins Fight" without the fact checking that would have allowed its readers to see that:

-the pentagons counts are bogus, including freed men who merely wrote op-ed pieces or appeared in anti-war videos,

-the counts do not bother to exclude some who were never in Guantanamo,

-the counts failed to indicate that the so-called terrorists were never convicted of anything.

The article never even mentioned the fact that the 1 in 7 number included mere suspicious estimations in its totals.

That some prisoners are radicalized in our prisons, from torture and exposure to immoral inhumane treatment may very well be true, but this would not apply to those in solitary confinement. 

The scare-mongering tactics of the right wing fundamentalists like Chaney and his gang of neocons do not deserve major headlines. Their empty ideas perhaps deserve a mention on page 23 about the baseless arguments that they persist in putting forth, but certainly not the opinion-shaping headlines the NYTimes chose to give them.

There is a need for youth education in the country that will enable tomorrows adults to guard themselves against the ever increasing news-for-sensationalism reportage we are subjected to. Perhaps it is also time to add morality education to our journalism students. Then future reporters might not be so apt to lend their names to quasi-truths.

Debunking sources:
Denbeaux 12/10/07 [PDF]
Huffington Post, 3/13/07
Washington Independent, 1/23/09

Y'all have a good day now.

b

June 5 2009 From Brooklyn to Baghad by Kayla Chin

To my dear friends and colleagues in the peace movement,

This piece was written by Kayla Chin who attended a 121Contact event at NYU. 

If you substitute your own name for Noor's  and mine, and reflect upon your own work, you will again come to touch the importance of all of our work in moving this world toward more peaceful tomorrows.

b
--

“From Brooklyn to Baghdad”

By Kayla Chin

Revisiting the Haunting Truth of 9/11 &

Learning From the Brave Actions Taken in its Aftermath

 

            While I mentally organized my notes, balanced coffee and my usually oversized bag, I prepared to reconnect to the grief and anger I often suppress regarding September 11^th 2001. Although, we are now approaching the eighth year since the towers fell, it still was not that long ago. I was on my way to meet with Bruce Wallace, the founder of “One-to-One Contact”, a blog site that is used as a vehicle for youth connectivity “from Brooklyn to Baghdad.” Originally a space for students to connect to others, worlds apart, revealing the reality and truth of life in Baghdad and bridging the gap between the oceans that separate us and the political and violent misconceptions that breed in that distance. In addition to such outreach, Bruce and his small team of community organizers work out of his home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, connecting to others throughout the U.S. through speaking tours to raise awareness and provoke change.

            I first met Bruce and his cofounder ‘Noor’ two years ago as guest speakers for a peace studies class at NYU. ‘Noor’ was a high school teacher in Iraq who experienced the daily violence and terror of war and escaped to the U.S. seeking safety. However, the safety she sought was beyond the violence of physical danger. What she needed was a safe space where her voice could be heard, and the truth of the American intervention in Iraq could be exposed. (‘Noor’ is a pseudonym provided at the risk of exposing her identity.) She learned that carrying the language of truth, one that opposes the current empire she inhabits as well as the violence of her home country, can have dangerous consequences. However, Bruce and ‘Noor’ believe that exposing the political violence perpetuated by the U.S. government and educating the public on the reality of the war is fundamental for change.

            After first hearing them speak, I remember being weighted with such a profound sadness and a feeling of hopelessness beyond anything I had ever experienced. I couldn’t keep it together. For weeks I grieved and tried to carry on with daily life but their voices and stories echoed in my mind and tore at my heart. I realized, as cynical as I am, as politically active and conscious I believed myself to be, there was nothing that could have prepared me for the true nature of the war in Iraq. ‘Noor’ described with a trembling voice filled with both rage and profound sorrow, what it was like living in war-torn Iraq- the bodies that were left to rot on the streets, the bombs that destroyed the schools, and the violent presence of U.S. soldiers. The curfews, the loss of electricity, the unknowing, the loss of family members, and a time when she was held for forty-five minutes by a U.S. soldier as a shield in the middle of a crossfire. This moment broke any remaining hope she had that the U.S. was there to “help” them, “support or protect” them in any way.

            Now, two years later, I know that meeting Bruce and ‘Noor’ and hearing their truth was a necessary shock, one of many I now hope, which will force me to always question my environment and my beliefs. Also, since hearing them speak, I have carried a sense of gratitude for how deeply they moved me and for the personal growth I have experienced since then. So my visiting Bruce was not only to express a long overdue thank you, but to further my understanding of the truth in Iraq, and to further grow from his stories and knowledge. I see Bruce and One-to-One Contact’s work as a reminder to be constantly open, to always seek to relearn, and further educate oneself. And, admittedly, I felt that seeing Bruce again could reconcile some of the emotional difficulties I still carried from two years ago.

Immediately upon arrival I felt warm and comfortable in the quaint furnishings of a home; a space well lived in, surrounded by the intimacy of another’s life. The porcelain trinkets, the placement and order of things. A familiar comfort in the systematic and practicality of each object and their function. Coasters in the coaster holder, breakfast tray for 2 mugs and a French press. The aroma of dark coffee rich and flavorful steamed between us. Charming glass container for the sugar. The normalcy and comfort of routine and my familiar understanding of a need to have a place and space for each thing. I smiled to myself thinking what good roommates we would be. We chatted briefly, asking basic questions, and catching up. I had forgotten how soft-spoken Bruce was, the gentleness in his eyes and his demeanor. Feeling at ease, I asked Bruce to start at the beginning, to retell his experience, his story.

 It all began with Mitch. Mitch was Bruce’s nephew; he was the kind of man people called, ‘upstanding, responsible, and courageous.’ And he was all those things and more up until the day of his death while working in one of the towers. It wasn’t until months later that Mitch’s gun was recovered under the rubble, having been a security guard they were able to match the serial number to his identity. But Mitch’s body was never found. Watching Bruce retell this story, the grief palpable in its recollection, I could see how, despite the time, such a loss will always be experienced in the present.

            I shifted uncomfortably on the couch for a moment, but forced myself to keep my eyes locked to his, knowing the pain they were speaking, the grief they were reflecting was the heart of Bruce’s advocacy and understood that this intimacy of grief, and his sharing it with me was a gift, a lesson and was his story. It would have been disrespectful to shift from his eyes, from his pain, knowing that connecting through empathy can at times be as fleeting as that moment and one could easily miss it. Although he does not need another person to reflect this pain, I felt it was my responsibility to hold my eyes and absorb the profound nature of his loss. The absence of Mitch will always remain for Bruce, his family and all who loved him and now a part of it was in me. A wise woman once said, “You don’t need permission to feel, your direct connection is your empathy…imagine if all the people who questioned the right to care took action.” (Kathy Engel)

            Bruce took action immediately. He wanted to help, to put the pieces together to be a part of and support the effort to make a difference. After a certain point though, both he and his wife realized that part of their efforts were driven by the distraction they provided. Pausing for a moment, he said softly, “we realized that we were so busy helping others that we weren’t taking care of ourselves.”

            Therapy was helpful, as was time, but the energy that remained, the constant of anger and confusion pushed Bruce to seek other options.

            “I could never get comfortable with calling Mitch’s death, and the death of other innocent people, both here and in Iraq, collateral damage.”

            Having a background in activism and community outreach, Bruce was familiar and knowledgeable about the propaganda of media, of the political violence of government, and the dangerous underbelly of military support and “patriotism.”

            “I was full of anger, the nation was being pumped with similar outrage and our government was pointing the finger at Iraq.”

            Personally, I tell Bruce, how I struggle with a daily rage toward our imperialistic empire, our actions, our wars, our violence. I hate knowing that every dollar I spend will end up dirty by supporting Israel, sending arms to Somalia, and continuing the war in Iraq, and the list goes on. I think that knowing the true responsibility we all bare is both our great depression and our revolution for change.

            It was about a year after 9/11 that Bruce was introduced to September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, “Turning Grief into Actions for Peace.” It was here that he felt he had found a space of connectivity as well as peaceful action he believed and supported. Inspired by the actions of others Bruce, having taken up teaching again, held a ‘Peace Day’ presentation at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn that focused on civilian casualties and the real violence of warfare. Although he didn’t know what to expect he was still disturbingly shocked by the absence of education on such matters, especially regarding the current war. The reaction he received from these young adults was profoundly moving. “I wasn’t prepared for such an emotional reaction; it was so heavy, the kids wept and were angry, and in the end wanted to do something, to help in some way, they wanted to write to other students in Iraq.” Bruce’s eyes were distant as he spoke, remembering the events of that day and how these students, this presentation, were what began and helped create One-to-One Contact through the walls of political violence.

            He went on to describe the long and complicated process of organizing and outreach he experienced while trying to create a connection with Iraqi students. As he went through the web of people, faces and names, it almost bordered on comical the way things came together. Bruce said with a smile, “Hey, this is New York, you gotta know somebody to get somewhere.” He reached out to everyone he knew, going through a chain of phone calls and endless emails, misunderstandings and miscommunications- from a woman who worked with international trauma victims to the cell phone number of a taxi driver in Baghdad-who said he knew an important woman working in the education system-which ended up being untrue, but did end up having a sister who was a high school teacher. And this was how Bruce met ‘Noor.’

            It began with these two classrooms, creating an intimacy with a world our nation posed as violent, replacing words like terrorist with friend and Iraqi with students’ names. Using the power of language to express truth, create change, educate, connect, learn, grow and understand one another. (“When we finally discovered that we ourselves were the language…”) The blog’s success has been monumental, helping to raise funds for displaced families and orphaned children due to the war. However, its efficiency has fluctuated along with the turbulent and unstable environment in Baghdad. “One-to-One” faces many challenges, ranging from scarce electricity and availability of the internet, to resistant fighters in Iraq claiming contact with an American is traitorous.

            Looking at his hands, hearing the sadness in his voice, Bruce explained, “When the blog started in 2004, Iraqi’s were still hopeful, but by 2006, when people were without water, without electricity, hope was replaced by fear, as the assassinations started to occur.” The distrust in Americans had manifested a deep hatred, producing resistant groups like the Moqawama. They systematically drove out American forces, threatening translators and reporters, and assassinating those believed to support Americans. The constant danger and fear that became the lives of many, greatly affected “One-to-One’s” contact with Baghdad.

            A silence fell between us for a moment. Sometimes there are no words. Sometimes such moments just need to be absorbed, reflected upon, felt. Sighing Bruce looked at the time, and with a new energy he said, “But, what I feel is truly most important is informing American students about the nature of war and the truth of political violence, civilian casualties, and the forces of our government.” He went on to say how he very much supported and believed in the importance of the Peace Education Movement. In instituting peace studies in high school and college curriculums he believed we could ensure that the absence of information on alternative actions-to militarization, violence, and war- would no longer be an issue. He believed that ‘Peace Day’ presentations would not deeply shock the very core of young adults but rather would be organized by them.

            “One-to-One Contact is not a business, nor is it an official charity; it has always been about educating people.”

            I told Bruce then, how I very much agreed with such compulsory studies and classes. And how I believed that this disconnect to current issues was a reflection of our individualism to a fault. Not only did such disconnect allow for the invisibility of war, but it created a disassociation with each other and inevitably with ourselves. Clearing my throat and struggling against brimming tears, I told Bruce how before hearing him speak with ‘Noor’ two years ago, I was very much out of contact. And that meeting them, hearing their stories, I didn’t realize that a part of me had turned off, that I had adapted in a way to discussing Iraq, the war, without heart, empathy; becoming almost indifferent. The day of their presentation, I relived the impact of 9/11 through an upsurge of emotions I had not realized I was keeping cautiously at bay. And now, sitting in Bruce’s living room, I greeted and accepted these emotions with a new understanding, with the grace that can come with personal growth and the energy and will to make a difference.

            Leaning forward in his seat, eyes narrowed with intention, and his composure taking on one of satisfaction, he said, “That is why the emotional content of the speaking tour is absolutely necessary. We needed to expose people, youth, to the horror and truth of war. Compassion often starts with pain, and such pain and anger create energy. And this energy can be used to grow.”

            We realized then that time had escaped us, causing an unfortunate and abrupt end to our conversation. Getting up to go, collecting my many things, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude and affection, wanting to spend the rest of the day with Bruce, absorbing his energy, learning more about his life in the gentle grayness of the early morning hours. We exchanged thank yous, my hand pressed against my chest, my heart, as I further expressed my gratitude and the delight of his company. While opening the door for my departure, back into the rainy morning, he said how one evening he had gone to a meeting for peace advocacy and community outreach and came home and told his wife excitedly what wonderful people he had met. Looking at me with smiling eyes he said that after telling her she looked at him and said bluntly, “Well what kind of people did you think you were gonna meet at a peace advocacy meeting?”

Smiling and still laughing, buzzing with hope and inspiration, I gripped my umbrella against the rain and walked with a new sense of determination the few blocks to the train.

www.121contact.typepad.com

 www.peacefultomorrows.org

 

June 5 2009 Obama: "Iraqi people are ultimately better off"

Obama had little to say about Iraq when he spoke in Egypt, yesterday. He did reiterate his intention to remove all U.S. troops by 2012, but he does believe "that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein." Tell that to the families of the million dead. Tell that to the 3 million displaced persons. Tell that to the 720,00 war widows. Tell that to the million orphans. It's a ludicrous position that lacks the empathetic soul we came to believe Obama brought to the White House.

The American media has little to say about Iraq these days. CBS has closed its Iraq bureau. [note: at least 140 journalists and 50 media support workers have been killed in Iraq since 2003.] What little is published here in the U.S. usually speaks of 'better' conditions, and this comparison is usually with 2004-2007 when things were at their horrible worst.

When Obama speaks of 'better off' he merely cements the disdain in which we are held in most Iraqi hearts. Most Iraqis are not better off. Millions are dead, wounded, displaced, widowed, orphaned and deeply traumatized.

It is time for power to speak truth to the people so that our youth can come to terms with the enormity of the consequences of our using violence in Iraq. Without this understanding they will never be able to comprehend the levels of hatred we have engendered.

Reported Security incidents, June 5 2009:

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi officials say a bomb exploded in south-west Baghdad on Wednesday evening, killing nine people and injuring many others. The device was planted inside a cafe and was detonated as customers watched a football match on television. The blast was in a mainly Shia Muslim area and is the latest of several to take place in cafes in the evening.

A bomb attack has left 9 civilians dead and 31 others wounded in Baghdad. The bomb was apparently hidden in a bag brought in by an unidentified man who fled the scene before the blast, the source said.

#2: A policeman was wounded Thursday in an improvised explosive device blast in southern Baghdad, a police source said. “An explosive device, planted by unknown gunmen on the main road in al-Doura neighborhood in southern Baghdad, went off targeting a police vehicle patrol, injuring a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Wednesday Three civilians were injured by a roadside bomb in Doura area south Baghdad around 8:30 p.m.

Shawmli:
#1: Wednesday Gunmen in a car shot and killed a man in Shawmli, south of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Mussayab:
#1: Wednesday A roadside bomb wounded three people when it exploded in front of a greengrocer's shop in Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Mosul:
#1: One policeman on Wednesday was killed and another was injured when unknown gunmen attacked their patrol vehicle in Mosul city, according to a local police source. “The shooting occurred in al-Zanjali area, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The gunmen have fled to an unknown destination,” the source added.

#2: Iraqi forces found a female body in northwest of Mosul city, the director of the Talafar police said Thursday. “Security forces on Wednesday (June 3) found a body of a young girl in Owaynat village in northwest of Mosul,” Colonel Ali Hadi Ubeid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A suicide car bomber struck a convoy of sport utility vehicles (SUV) in Mosul on Thursday, killing an Iraqi civilian and wounding six others, a local police source said. The bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the convoy of a foreign security firm around midday in the Dawassa neighborhood in southern Mosul, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. It was not clear whether the convoy sustained any casualty as the U.S. troops immediately sealed off the area, preventing Iraqi police from approaching the scene, the source said.