An update from Shaner  ­

Thank you all for your prayers.  Last night, I was up most of the night in prayer, couldn’t sleep.  Somehow, I had the distinct feeling we would get our clearance into Iraq today.  And I have been praying, fasting… that God would lead us where we are to be… and I will follow one step at a time, clinging to Jesus.  We were told by the Iraqi government that if we said we would be “human shields” we would be given immediate clearance, but we did not (the Iraqi government has been strategically manipulating the locations of the human shields).  We are going to accompany the Iraqi families, and we so now we go.  May God be with us and with the families of Iraq.

[Sorry (ha) if there are errors, I wrote this quick, for we are now on our way to Baghdad.  And I just heard this story from Baghdad ­ our group there, the Iraq Peace Team, has been having vigils (holding signs like "Inspections YES! Invasion NO!") outside humanitarian sites like hospitals, elecric plants (imagine the hospitals without electricity), water plants, orphanages.  They have just hung banners above the sites that say:  "To bomb this site is a war crime" (violating Article 54 of the Geneva Convention, but precisely what was bombed in the 1991 Gulf War). Beautiful.]

"Sorry"  by Shane Claiborne

Today we were given clearance into Baghdad.  And this morning we were  welcomed into Iraq by two of the more incredible people I've ever met, UmHayder and her 7 year old son, Mustafa.  As we were preparing for our journey, they greeted our Iraq Peace Team, and invited us into their country with great joy.  UmHayder and Mustafa were on their way to the United States because Mustafa needs special medical attention.  We were privileged to hear their story ­

On January 25, 1999 a US missile was dropped on their neighborhood.  Sixty five houses were destroyed, 67 people were injured, and 4 died.  All four of the casualties were children, one of them was Mustafa's brother.  Mustafa cuddled next to his mom as she continued.  Mustafa (4 years old at the time) and his brother were outside playing in the street. Pieces of the missile pierced into Mustafa's body. My stomach ached as UmHayder pointed out the holes in his body today:  "There is a three inch piece of missile here," she said pointing to his leg, "and another  piece here in his liver… and here… and he lost most of his hand."

She held up his hand which was missing all but two of the fingers.

"But the Gulf War was in 1991," we said puzzled.  How could this have happened just a couple of years ago, nearly a decade after the Gulf War?  "It was a mistake," UmHayder responded, getting tears in her eyes… "The US government said they were sorry for the mistake."  She paused ­ "But now what am I to do with 'Sorry'?"

What are we to do with "SORRY"?  I have become very familiar with the Arabic word for "sorry"--, "ASIF".  Over and over, people tell me how saddened they are by the US war.  And I tell them I am sorry for what our government is doing.  But I cannot believe how, over and over, people respond, "We know the American people are not the same as the American government."  They tell me how encouraged they are that so many Americans do not want to bomb them. Today, My Palestinian taxi driver told me he knew that the US was not filled with George W. Bushes, and he told me to remind my people in the US that Iraq is not filled with Saddam Husseins, but with children and families, just like in America… and then he tapped my chest, grinning, "And we are brothers, my friend."
The US (cnn.com) estimates that over 140,000 Iraqis were killed in the 1991 Gulf War, and at least one of every four casualties was a civilian, mostly mothers and children.  I hope that we need not say "sorry" to more Iraqi mothers like UmHayder and more beautiful children like Mustafa. Perhaps someday when I say "I am sorry for what my government is doing," people will not understand, for they will have forgotten the terror of war, and we can rid ourselves of "SORRY."  War will be lost in the archives of history.  May we listen to the world, and hear humanity cry out:  NO… never again war.  May we listen to the words of our Lover Jesus in the face of "redemptive violence"  -- "NO MORE OF THIS!… Put your swords away" (Lk 22:51, Jn 18:11).  If ever there were an age to "beat our swords into plowshares" it is today.  May the Kingdom come on earth, and may we who expect the Kingdom, enact it, NOW.

So UmHayder and Mustafa are headed to the US, and we are headed to Iraq.  We asked her how she planned to get to the US.  "With the help of God," she said confidently, smiling. We will join UmHayder's husband, who was a prisoner of war, and her other children in Iraq as they wonder if more missiles will fall on their neighborhood. As we travel into Baghdad, how will we make it?  "With the help of God."