"We didn't want to be here tonight,"
he continued. "When the Priest asked
us to gather for a Peace Service we said
we didn't want to come"
"What do you mean?" I inquired,
confused.
"We didn't want to come because
we don't want peace," he replied.
"We want the war to come."
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A strange oddessy begins
Beginning that night and continuing
on in the private homes of relatives with
whom I stayed, little by little the scales
began to come off my eyes.
All foreigners in Iraq are subject to
24-hour surveillance by government minders,
who arrange all interviews, visits and
contact with ordinary Iraqis. But by some
fluke, either of my invitation as a religious
person or my family connection, I was
not subject to any government minders
at any time throughout my stay in Iraq.
As far as I can tell I was the only
person including the media, Human Shields
and others in Iraq without a government
minder.
What emerged was something so awful
that it is difficult even now to write
about it. Discussing with the head of
our tribe what I should do, as I wanted
to stay in Baghdad with our people during
their time of trial, I was told that I
could most help the Assyrian cause by
going out and telling the story to the
outside world.
Simply put, those living in Iraq are
in a living nightmare. From the terror
that would come across the faces of my
family at the arrival of an unknown visitor,
a telephone call, a knock at the door,
I began to realise the horror they lived
with every day.
Over and over I asked them: "Why
could you want war? Why could any human
being desire war?"
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Their answer was quiet and measured:
"Look at our lives! We are living
like animals. No food, no car, no telephone,
no job and most of all no hope."
I would marvel as my family went about
their daily routine as normal as could
be. Baghdad was completely serene without
even a hint of war. Father would get up,
have his breakfast and go off to work.
The children to school, the old people
- ten in the household - to their daily
chores.
"You can not imagine what it is
to live with war for 20, 30 years. We
have to keep up our routine or we would
lose our minds."
Then I began to see around me those who
had lost their minds. It seemed in every
household there was one or more who in
any other society would be in a Mental
Hospital and the ever-present picture
of a family member killed in one of the
many wars.
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