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Dateline
Iraq: A
different view of the war |
GFU grad Matthew Chandler returning from service as
a Christian Peacemaker stationed in Baghdad |
By Gunnar Olson, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Gunnar at golson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
Christmas decorations were in short supply this year in Baghdad, Iraq,
where less than 5 percent of the population is Christian, and the U.S. soldiers there who
are Christian are worrying about flying bullets.
Former Newberg resident Matthew Chandler, away from the abundance of tinsel
and colored lights in the United States, said he would be able to focus more on the
religious aspects of the holiday while in Iraq. It might also be said that Chandler’s
perspective of the war is not distracted by such colorful wrapping paper as the symbolic
capture of Saddam Hussein.
Chandler said people stateside, since the capture of the fallen dictator,
likely think the conflict in Iraq is improving. But that’s not the case, Chandler
said. He’ll share his views of the war on terrorism with many audiences when he
returns home Monday to Oregon.
“People (in Iraq) will say, ‘Yeah, it’s more safe, but the
electricity is worse, the gasoline is worse, still there are many teachers without
jobs,’” Chandler said from a cell phone in Baghdad, recalling the sounds of a
serious battle the night before.
Chandler, 22, is a 2003 graduate of George Fox University and was in
Iraq’s capital this Christmas as part of the Christian Peacemaker Teams. He protested
the war before President Bush committed the United States to it, and after his graduation
decided to join the volunteer peacemakers group “because of my religious
convictions.”
“I believe that it is immoral to violently injure other people for any
reason, and especially to wage war in a country where many civilians will be
casualties.”
Among other engagements, Chandler will speak at 10 a.m. Jan. 26 at the
university chapel.
Chandler has been in Iraq since Sept. 7. The efforts of his team have focused
on the detainees of the coalition. He said he sees many cases where Iraqis, whom he
believes to be innocent, are accused of being a member of the Baath party, a terrorist or
of having committed a crime against the coalition. His team pushes for their release.
“We found quickly that a lot of the resentment against the United States
that was fueling resistance movement came from how people saw the coalition was treating
them,” Chandler said. He added that many people saw the treatment as akin to
Saddam’s, in so much as detainees are put away without being able to contact their
families.
Chandler said the peacemakers team has spent most of its time with local
Iraqis, and despite cultural barriers he feels he has a good sense of the feelings of the
people. He said sees “a huge difference” between what’s going on in Iraq
and the perception at home.
The leaders of the United States are trying to give the impression that
things are getting better, he maintained. And the leaders of the coalition don’t have
a good handle on how people are feeling because they spend their time secure in the
“green zone,” he continued.
But things aren’t improving, he said. There is less electricity now than
two months ago, and the gasoline crisis has people waiting a day and a half to fill one
tank.
“These are the type of things that feed resentment even more,”
Chandler said. He added that security has improved, noting the people are staying out
later at night and women feel safer from kidnappers and rapists.
He has received mixed reactions from the many U.S. soldiers he has spoken
with.
“It seems to me they are not enjoying their time here,” he said.
“I don’t know how they could.”
Some of the soldiers voice frustration with policy makers, Chandler said, and
agree that coalition raids invoke more anger. Others say they’re completely
supportive of the Bush administration, that they’re making all the right decisions.
Regardless of their viewpoint, he said he thinks all of the soldiers want to
go home. And though he said he’ll be excited to return to Iraq to see his friends
again, he’s ready for a break. “Yes, I am anxious to go home.” |
|
From Dec. 27,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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