Shane’s journals are available on-line through http://www.thesimpleway.org/

An Update from Shane in Baghdad, Iraq Most of us here in Baghdad are spending our days visiting hospitals and bomb sites (homes and neighborhoods hit by missiles) , and trying to tell these stories to the press, to the Church, and to the world. Here are a few stories along the way… We have constant calls from reporters. Much of the media is sensational and melodramatic, very discouraging. So I have decided to spend most of my time with people — in the hospitals, neighborhoods, and streets, and to rely on people I trust to spread the story of this war… like you! I did have a live interview on CBS this morning where they asked what I thought about America, and within the first minute they hung up on me. Hmm. They have been very interested in the dramatic fact that we could face up to 12 years in prison if we are convicted of treason… so they have been asking if we are “traitors”. I wrote this little ditty in response.

“Traitor?” If this bloody, counterfeit liberation is American… I am proud to be Un-American. If depleted uranium is American… I am proud to be Un-American. If US sanctions are American… I am proud to be Un-American. If the imposed “peace” of Pax Americana is American… I am proud to be Un-American. BUT If grace, humility, and nonviolence are American… I am proud to be American. If global democracy is American… I am proud to be American. If sharing to create a safe, sustainable world is American… I am proud to be American. If loving our enemies is American… I am proud to be American. REGARDLESS- I would die for the people of New York but I will not kill for them… my Kingdom is not of this world. I would die for the people of Baghdad but I will not kill for them… my Kingdom is not of this world. I will stand in the way of terror and war… my Kingdom is not of this world. I will pledge an allegiance deeper than nationalism, to my God and to my Family… my Kingdom is not of this world. I will use my life to shout, “Another world is possible”… for my Kingdom is from another Place. “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight… but now my Kingdom is from another place.” – Jesus, John 18:36

“Happy Birthday Amal”

We had a birthday party! One of the children we are close to, Amal, decided to celebrate her 13th birthday with us! So we had a feast, grilling out in a park nearby. We played all kinds of crazy games, blew bubbles, juggled, turned flips, and ran in circles until we couldn’t stand up anymore. As we were playing a little game of balloon volleyball, bombs began to explode in the background. The adults all looked uneasily at each other, and but we kept playing. Then one explosion hit very close. A couple of us huddled down with the little children. I looked at this young teenager who had courage I could only dream of – she looked deep into my timid eyes and said, “It’s okay don’t be scared.” And she smacked me on the head with the balloon. These children were raised hearing bombs, in 1998, in 1991… and yet they will still play in a park with the people who’s country is destroying theirs. Amal joked about how she might think differently about the war if Bush would bomb her school. When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said, “Peace.” And it wasn’t because we told her to. She believed that someday people might not kill each other. As bombs continued to thunder in the background, I was reminded once again that life is more powerful than death, that children can teach old tyrants and cynics how to love.

I wish George Bush could’ve been at this birthday party.

“The Blood of Christ”

God lives so clearly in the children inside the hospital… dying of the depleted uranium of US dropped bombs, bodies split open by my country’s war of liberation… destroying the temples. These children are God’s temples. God camps out inside of our bodies. “We are God’s building (v.9) You yourselves are God’s temple and God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy them; for God’s temple is sacred and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3). God have mercy on us.

I had a chance to visit one of the first targets of the war. She was four years old. That’s exactly how the doctor introduced me to Doha, a little girl who was hit in the back by fragments of a missile, and is now paralyzed. “This is the first target of the US war,” the doctor said with tears in his eyes. He explained that within the first 10 minutes of the first bombing, Doha and her family of seven all arrived at the hospital because a US missile hit their home.

We have been visiting four hospitals daily. Last week, the hospitals began to clear room for civilians injured by the war. Many of the regular patients were sent home, and many of them will die. One doctor explained, “Because of the past 12 years of sanctions, we have no medicine for pain, or for cancer.” As he said this he showed us a small closet about 10 feet by 10 feet that held all the medical supplies for the entire hospital, with 300 patients. He continued, “Many of the patients would rather die at home with their families, and many of them are scared this hospital will be bombed, again” (as it was in 1991). Within days, many of the beds have been filled by families hit by bombs. One doctor told us that their hospital alone had brought in 108 people in three hours, and he had not slept in two days. Hundreds of people are being injured and killed, and it has only been three days. The hospitals are filled with entire families whose homes have been hit by “strategic smart bombs”. I hope the world can see their faces. One 17 year old boy with a big smile was hit while playing in the street with his brother. One little 8 year old was trying to run out of the house and the wall fell on her. A one year old baby just died yesterday. A 63 year old man was shopping for his family and missile fragments flew into his chest – he kept groaning, “God save us from this aggression, God save us, God save us.”

A mother cried as sat next to her daughter whose body was completely scarred and swollen from the bombs. Her daughter cried out, “Why are they killing us? What have we done?” The mother sobbed harder as she whispered that she could not tell her daughter that her sister had died from the bomb. One father held up the x-ray of his son’s body, which we could see was filled with pieces of metal. And holding his son’s hand, he told us: “I want the world to see my son… I want America to see his face. Maybe then they will stop this madness. What crime has he done? We did not attack the US, why do they attack our children?” I will never forget the desperation of another father who looked into my eyes and pleaded: “Is this liberation? Is this democracy? We are brothers and sisters to the American people. Ask them why they are killing our children. Tell them this is invasion not democracy. Tell them if this is liberation we do not want it.”

Suppose there is a family with a very abusive father. Would it make sense to liberate the children by setting the house on fire?

I believe in global disarmament. Here’s a proposal — every country should begin disarming proportionately, with each nation getting rid of a certain percentage of their weapons. The US has, by far, the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, with our 369 billion dollar military budget – so we should lead the way. In fact it would take the next 25 countries combined to add up to the military budget of the US – so let’s get it started. Maybe Russia, with the second biggest military budget, would get rid of 30 billion if we’d get rid of 135 billion (50%). I am just brainstorming here, it’s time to throw out some options. Let’s lead the world in disarming weapons of mass destruction by turning some swords into plowshares at home. Hmmm.

“Liberate us from this war of liberation.” –one of the doctors in the Al Keenda hospital

I wish everyone could see the face of the manager of the children’s hospital as he showed us the hundreds of death certificates he signed each month, for children that should not be dead.

“Violence is for those who have stopped using their imagination.” –Vice President of the Al Keenda hospital March 24, 2003

As we continue to accompany the families here in Baghdad, I draw courage Ruth as she stood by Naomi during tragically difficult times. “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people.” –Ruth 1:16

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