Christian Peacemakers Freed

My brothers James, Harmeet and Norman are free after four months as hostages. It was a nice piece of news after not knowing for so long. As is fitting of a Christian Peacemaker's Team, no shot was fired and no one was injured in the rescue of these three, who were found in an unguarded home in Iraq. I admire non-violent intervention because it shows that power is not about might. Safety can come in trusting when often we are taught to distrust, to get the upper hand, at any cost.

They are all in good condition and good spirits although they have lost significant weight. Unfortunately Tom Fox was not among them. His body was found just days after the last tape showing the other three was aired. He was presumably killed by his captors, the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, who originally said they would kill them all earlier if Iraqi prisoners were not released, so I suppose as far as terrorists go they were relatively merciful.

It seems that everyone and anyone is a target in Iraq. Tensions are high. They would be. I've considered that it would be unsafe for troops to leave Iraq at this point, so I thought it was the "responsible" thing for them stay now. However, I've changed my mind about any rationale for US troops being there at all. If intentionally sending people to kill on a mass scale is responsible just for the sake of upholding a previously illegal, short-sighted and immoral principle, then I'm a Jesus Christ lizard. So it was reassuring that there was a show of people protesting the war on its third anniversary. Everyone's sick of hearing about it, but at least we still have the gusto to disagree. One day was stupid, but three years is far too long, so it's even more important that we keep the pressure on our "leaders" now, until their support for prejudice and hate collapses. Give it up. Why do warring nations feel the need to treat a country as a hostage to its own democracy? They will recruit and train more and more Iraqis as security forces, but this just reaffirms the dependence on coalition forces and the military model. Hardly any of the Iraqi forces can operate their own missions. Even with a sustained effort though, this wouldn't change. It is simply a lie to suggest the military is providing security and I imagine Iraqis would more easily be able to elect a government democratically if there wasn't regimentalized violence going on around them, nevermind the traffic of illegal arms which is an inevitable part of any war. Bush and the acting prime minister of Iraq can argue whether there is a civil war going on or not and whether they've contained it or incited it, Bush will always deny anything that suggests his plans aren't working but until he does something to reduce US involvement in the midst of that war, until he shows signs of being able to reconsider ideas and react to the reality of the situation, to turn up the volume on diplomacy and turn the volume down on cowboy stunts, it will not be identifiable or solvable and that is a shame. Do you expect a legacy of American president's and Canadian prime ministers committed to exporting soldiers for battle in sustained wars? If so, what is the benefit?

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