Iraqi Kurdistan: 'I Cry All Day Long' (by Peggy Gish)
Susan sat on her bed, looking frightened and sad. The 27-year-old had lost the lower half of her left leg when at 2 a.m. Dec. 16, Turkish fighter planes dropped four bombs on her home in a village along the northeastern Iraq-Iran border.
"When the fourth bomb exploded, everything was fire, and I heard my daughter screaming," recounted Susan's father. For several hours planes flew overhead. The blasts also killed their cows and sheep. "It was several hours later when we were able to carry her to a car that could take her to a hospital," he said. The next day they were among the estimated 3,000 persons or 800 Iraqi Kurdish families who fled border areas out of fear.
Of all Iraqis, the Kurds have been the most supportive of U.S. military presence in their country. However, U.S. policies concerning Turkish incursions into Iraqi border areas have not only caused suffering to the Kurdish victims, they have increased Kurds' anger toward and mistrust of the U.S. Such policies perpetuate the cycles of violence in these conflicts, when what is needed is leadership toward peaceful resolution.
"I have no hope for my life now," Susan told us. "I am not good physically or psychologically. I cry all day long."
This was the Christian Peacemaker Teams Iraq team's second visit to Susan's family as part of a project to monitor this border conflict and be prepared to accompany displaced families back to their villages. Tomorrow Susan has an appointment with a Kurdish organization to assess whether she is able to participate in their six-month rehabilitation and vocational program for amputees.
Susan's family isn't the only one questioning the role the U.S. has taken in allowing Turkey to fly over Iraqi air space in its anti-terrorism campaign. Kurdish Iraqis express little support for the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), whom they consider terrorists, operating in more remote areas of the Qandil Mountains. They expected the U.S., as the occupying force in Iraq, to protect civilians in their care. Many Iraqi Kurds believe that Turkey's real motives for Turkey's invasions into Iraq are to sabotage the possibility of a strong independent Kurdish state in northeastern Iraq, and to take control of the oil fields of Kirkuk province.
In the past five years, the actions and policies of the U.S. government have eroded most of the initial gratefulness Iraqi people had for getting rid of Saddam Hussein. Excessive violence, domination of Iraqi political and economic structures, and the U.S.'s failure to rebuild the physical, social, and medical infrastructures of Iraqi society feed into the increasing anger and violent resistance that have emerged.
Peggy Gish is a fulltime worker with Christian Peacemaker Teams, which seeks to enlist the whole church in organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. CPT initiated a long-term presence in Iraq in October 2002. She is the author of Iraq: A Journey of Hope and Peace.
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Comments
The callous "Great Game" of realpolitik geopolitics continues, with the elites of every nation jockeying for financial and poltical power via militarism, while the innocent bear the brunt of their selfishness.
Posted by: N.M Rod | February 22, 2008 1:17 PM
Hmm, cost of war, tears, cost of inaction in gumdrop lane Iraq under Papa Saddam, tears.
Zero sum game?
Posted by: aaron | February 22, 2008 3:25 PM
For the 27-year old woman...
For the 21-year old man from my neighborhood killed in an ambush in Iraq...
For all victims...
Let us mourn with those who mourn
And weep with those who weep
Duh-sciple
Posted by: Duh-sciple | February 22, 2008 5:22 PM
I am sure that this is written sincerely to show the tragedy experienced in Iraq every day. As a Turkish person who wholeheartedly believes that war is not an answer to solve conflicts in today`s world, I must say that this op-ed is nothing but terrorist PKK`s propaganda. It shouldn't be that easy to blame Turkey and the Turkish operation going on in Northern Iraq aimed to protect Turkish citizens.
Since 20 years, Turkey has lost its 30,000 Turkish and Kurdish citizens because of the terrorism rooted from the Northern Iraq. Unfortunately, this region is used as a safe-haven by the PKK terrorists for the last 2 decades. And even worse, than this, many countries including the U.S. have supported and supplied weapons to these countries even though they recognized them as "terrorists'
Finally, the U.S. saw its mistake and understood the importance of Turkey`s role in fighting against terrorism. Ethnic terrorism and religios terrorism are not different. Terrorism is terrorism. The last air strikes conducted by the Turkish military forces in December were pin-point strikes which only targeted military/terrorist camps of the PKK. The U.S. officials and human rights organizations in the region did observe all the operations. Photos showed as evidences of "civil casualties" are proved that they are from other parts of the world.
Indeed, I can say that there were no civil casualties and this fact was confirmed by the Kurdish Regional Government as well as the Central Iraqi government just after the operation.
Unfortunately, the author of this article is emotionally affected by the terrorist PKK`s propaganda. Please do some research about the civilians killed by PKK terrorism. It will help you to understand the need for Turkey to clean this safe-haven in Northern Iraq. Finally, all the wars are bad and I hope there would be no need for them. Thank you for reading...
Posted by: Cenk Sidar | February 22, 2008 8:58 PM
Actually aaron, you point out a horrible truth.
It seems the war, which was suppose to "liberate" the oppressed in Iraq, seems to have done absolutely nothing for the innocent it has claimed to liberate. How very sad; especially for those civilians who are (or were) pro-U.S. occupation.
War never solves anything... because somebody has to lose. In war you have a winner or a loser (and sometimes, most of the time, no winner). But that very fact, the fact that somebody "loss," meant that we all failed one way or the other. We all failed in our attempts to love one another, even in the face of threats from our enemies.
Look I know sometimes war is inevitable, wherever there are greedy and corrupted hearts, there will be war in some form or fashion. But let that never deter us from our mission to reach the world for Jesus Christ, through love, not by the sword. And may we as Christians, never be the catalysts to war; but the protectors of the oppressed and lost. And may never celebrate in the death of our enemies, for we would be celebrating the loss of a soul that never found peace, grace, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. May we pray for those still suffering under oppression, and may we pray for our "enemies" as well.
Posted by: Matt G. | February 23, 2008 12:56 AM
"As a Turkish person who wholeheartedly believes that war is not an answer to solve conflicts in today`s world, I must say that this op-ed is nothing but terrorist PKK`s propaganda. It shouldn't be that easy to blame Turkey and the Turkish operation going on in Northern Iraq aimed to protect Turkish citizens."
Another person who is not for war but is for it. Seems just about everyone on every side can say the same thing - always in good conscience of course and invoking the appropriate grievance and injustice as the rationale.
Seems there is no end to injustices and grievances on all sides, more than enough to go around, endlessly.
But it doesn't change a damned thing does it.
Unless sufficient numbers of people "get it," we are going to create another asteroid belt in the third orbit from the Sun.
For Christians, one would expect that the Son of God taught non-violent resistance and lovig one's enemy would be high enough authority to pay attention. But apparently not.
Posted by: Sojourner Truth | February 23, 2008 2:15 AM
Violence begets violence
Posted by: Oak | February 23, 2008 11:28 AM
You've probably noticed that, after its lawlessness, and its corruption, that the current US administration can be characterized most accurately by its incompetence.
Not only is the Iraqi war unjustifiable on any ground, its execution has been incompetent. The administration's response to Hurricane Katrina illustrates again its incompetence. Why, our fearless leader actually goes down to New Orleans every anniversary and celebrates!
One of the few benefits that empire provides, or should provide, its provinces and client states, should be to prevent a client state's invasion by a third power. It's no surprise that the current administration is incompetent at empire.
Posted by: Ted Voth Jr | February 25, 2008 3:13 PM
Sadly, this is just another example of how the US has adopted the role of "war gamemaster" for our "allies", in order to orchestrate world politics in a fashion which meets "our" (read: this Administration's) needs.
Power needs folly to work, and supporting war as a means of "bringing peace" is the ultimate folly.
Unfortunately, the hearts of mankind have to change from within before they will change on the outside, demand an end to war and it's perpetrators, and demand peace.
Jesus taught us the way of peace, but we've clouded the concept with politics, rhetoric and self-denial. It's time for Christians to stand up and demand peace, from this inept President, and from the President-elect. If we fail to do so, we will answer to Him who died to birng peace to our world.
Pray for Peace, and dare to act!
Posted by: Doug & Jan in CO | February 25, 2008 5:29 PM
"...I must say that this op-ed is nothing but terrorist PKK`s propaganda. It shouldn't be that easy to blame Turkey and the Turkish operation going on in Northern Iraq aimed to protect Turkish citizens." Cenk Sidar
Unfrotunately, this sounds like the sort of spin that the US government has pushed out - that ANY kill is good, so long as it is Iraqi, Kurd, whatever. So long as we kill on the basis of nationality or ethnicity, the grief and desire for vengeance will continue. Yes, the PKK has killed civilians and military. Does that mean these people were necessarily PKK members or supporters?
Until you can demonstrate that, Turkey remains under suspicion of reverting back to the days of the Armenian genocide.
Posted by: Feargal | February 25, 2008 10:02 PM
As an American living in Berlin, Germany, with a very high Turkish population and also a high Kurdish population, I have just begun learning about the role of the Kurds in the entire conflict because I met a Kurdish friend months ago.
Since World War I Kurdistan was taken away from the Kurds, and in 1990 the U.S. government asked the Kurds to fight against Saddam in order to get their land back (but then forgot about the land thing afterwards, probably because Turkey is one of the only safe allies in the war and the US doesn´t want to risk a disagreement about their parcel of the land now that they´ve had it for a century now).
I agree that we must work for peace. I know Turkish and Kurdish people, and both have suffered from the war between them. I suggest to everyone here to listen to stories and insights of violence (like the insight our Turkish friend just tried to share with us about the violent record of the PKK), not solely being dismissive of the conclusion that we should go to war in return. Of course not every single individual within a violent organization like the PKK is there because they are a thoroughly bad person, and of course the violence is a distrustful reaction from a group of sad and desperate people. I can sympathize to an extent, even though my identity has not been uprooted as much as theirs has.
But if we really want to not sympathize with violence and encourage a peace movement to rock the torn regions of Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran, a peace movement perhaps not seen since Mandela, then we need to listen and evaluate carefully for truth, being as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves, and empathize. There is evil on every side of a conflict as well as good. Learn to distinguish between the different factions so you can be wise about what´s going on, then go listen to people´s stories and be innocent.
Posted by: sola gratia | February 26, 2008 9:52 AM
One more sign of the callousness of current American foreign policy is the fact that while the US govt. tacitly encourages the Turkish campaign against the PKK in the interest of punishing terrorism, we are covertly supporting Kurds in Iran in their efforts to destablize the Ahmadinejad regime. Despite the high-minded rhetoric of the Bush/Cheney administration, this is totally unprincipled behavior with self-interest the only motivation.
Posted by: Rob Frazier | February 26, 2008 11:59 AM
Dear Feargel
Until you can demonstrate that, Turkey remains under suspicion of reverting back to the days of the Armenian genocide.
I can easily demonstrate that. Turkey`s last military campaign only targets military camps of the terrorist organization, PKK. Not civilian villages like the PKK bases its propoganda.
Posted by: Cenk Sidar | February 26, 2008 4:27 PM
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