Who Are The Real Peacemakers?
By Aaron Goldstein (03/25/06)
U.S. and British military personnel risked their lives to rescue three hostages who had been held in Iraq since November. Two of the three hostages were Canadian – James Loney and Harmeet Sooden. The other a Briton, Norman Kember. Sadly, a fourth man who had been kidnapped along with them was found shot to death two weeks earlier. He was an American named Tom Fox.
The men were in Iraq on behalf of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) – an organization that vigorously opposes the liberation of Iraq. Indeed, CPT was one of those organizations that supplied so-called “human shields” to protect Saddam Hussein’s infrastructure and preserve the status quo. More recently, CPT has focused its attention on documenting abuse of detainees by Coalition forces and even launched an Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign inviting churches to advocate on behalf on those detained by Coalition forces. Whether any of these detainees provided support to al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization does not enter into the discussion.
CPT also provided assistance “to a variety of new and old Iraqi human rights groups which suddenly found themselves with space and freedom to operate.” Oh yes, the Iraqi human rights groups just suddenly found themselves with the space and freedom to operate one day. This wouldn’t have anything to do with those very Coalition forces that ousted Saddam Hussein from power now would it?
Needless to say it should have come as no surprise when upon the release of the hostages CPT issued a statement (which can be found at www.cpt.org/iraq/response/06-23-03statement.htm) they did not thank Coalition forces for their efforts in rescuing their members but rather blamed them for the kidnapping in the first place:
Harmeet, Jim and Norman and Tom were in Iraq to learn of the struggles facing the people in that country. They went, motivated by a passion for justice and peace to live out a nonviolent alternative in a nation wracked by armed conflict. They knew that their only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers. We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.
So let’s see if I get this straight. It was the Coalition forces who were responsible for the kidnapping of the CPT members and not the Swords of the Righteousness Brigades. They were the group that took responsibility for seizing the CPT members last November. Indeed, CPT placed a sign on a house north of Baghdad with a message for the Swords of the Righteousness Brigades. Translated into English from Arabic it reads, “God forgives you.”
Well, CPT might very well forgive the kidnappers but cannot bring themselves to thank their rescuers. How ungrateful. The CPT should worship the ground on which Coalition forces walk. Instead they spit into their faces.
To be fair, upon Kember’s return to Britain he said, “I do not believe that a lasting peace is achieved by armed force, but I pay tribute to their courage and thank those who played a part in my release.” Still, if there was ever a backhanded compliment that was certainly it. As of this writing, neither Loney nor Sooden have made a public statement. Loney is en route back to Canada and Sooden is evidently heading to New Zealand where his sister lives. Loney and Sooden should thank Coalition forces for saving their lives. It ought not have been left to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do the thanking for the hostages.
Allow me to be brutally honest here. It was not the presence of the Multinational forces in Iraq that led to this kidnapping. It was in part due to the evil nature of the Swords of the Righteousness Brigades and the Islamic fundamentalism to which they subscribe. Islamic fundamentalists do not discern between CPT volunteers or Halliburton employees. To them, they are infidels just the same. It was also in part due to the sheer stupidity of the CPT for having gone over to Iraq in the first place.
That’s right. The CPT has no business being in Iraq.
The U.S. State Department, British Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Foreign Affairs Canada have all issued travel advisories instructing their citizens not to enter Iraq. Indeed, the Government of Canada currently neither has an embassy nor consular office in Iraq. Hence the reason why all three hostages were taken to the British Embassy in Baghdad to enjoy cake and ice cream.
By its own mission, the CPT is clearly present in Iraq to undermine not assist the efforts of the Coalition forces. For all CPT’s adherence to non-violence, by undermining Coalition efforts in Iraq they put our soldiers’ lives in danger. Their efforts attempt to convince Iraqis that Coalition forces are the enemy effectively tell Iraqis that they should put their lot with terrorist insurgents. If CPT can forgive their kidnappers but not extend a thank you to the forces that rescued them it means CPT has taken sides. CPT is not on our side.
Despite CPT’s hostility to Coalition forces they had a mission to rescue the hostages. According to the Associated Press, U.S. Major General Rick Lynch said the whereabouts of the hostages became known as a result of an interrogation conducted a mere three hours earlier.
Imagine that? These interrogations actually work. The Coalition forces were able to extract information from an individual either involved or at the very minimum aware of an ongoing hostage situation and were able to act on that information. I am sure the CPT is aghast that the military was able to obtain this information and is eager to find out if torture was utilized against this individual. Perhaps CPT will encourage their member churches to advocate for the release of their captors via the Adopt-a-Detainee program. Given the CPT’s contempt for the Coalition forces one cannot help but wonder if they would rather have seen their members remain hostages than be freed by American and British forces.
The fact the military forces rescued the CPT personnel demonstrates it is the American, British and other Coalition soldiers who are the real peacemakers in Iraq. The CPT members get to go home and those who kidnapped them will be brought to justice because of their heroic actions. These soldiers will probably never be properly thanked for their trouble. Then again, soldiers neither ask for nor do they expect thanks. They just have a job to do and they do it.
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