Delusional Voices in the Wilderness

Sometimes it is instructive to look at the mindset of the anti-war left. Below is an appeal that was sent out from the group Voices in the Wilderness. It is groups like this who help stage anti-war protests, who protested at the recent RNC and who are part of the vocal anti-war voice that gave Howard Dean his moment in the sun and who are now driving candidate John Kerry to say things about bringing the troops home no matter what.

Dear Friends,

Here on Carmen Avenue, ten of us gathered this morning for a reflection, as we've done each day of the fast. It was a tearful time. Cathy Breen and Cynthia Banas recounted their most recent conversations and correspondence with Ra'ad Ali, one of the four Bridges to Baghdad humanitarian workers kidnapped from the group's Baghdad office yesterday.

First off let me say that my heart goes out to the families of those kidnapped but I have to say that if they are returned alive it will most likely be through the efforts of the very people Voices in the Wilderness is trying to undermind.

We remembered how relieved we felt when we learned that Ra'ad and his family were safe, following the worst of the "Shock and Awe" bombardment. We've each quoted him, often, when speaking about Iraq with groups in the U.S. Ra'ad, a University professor and engineer, studies astronomy as an avocation. When the lights went out all across Baghdad, Raad went to his rooftop where he set up a telescope, knowing he could study the stars as never before.

Is now the time to note that Voices in the Wilderness was one of those organizations who sent over human shields in the days before the Iraq war started? I'm sure each of the people who were delusional enough to believe that playing on the coalition's aversion to killing innocent people and in the process helping a dictator who had no such aversion to slaughter was somehow moral - I'm sure each of the human shields had an interesting story to tell.

Voices has worked with Bridges to Baghdad since we began traveling to Iraq in 1996. They have maintained a steady presence in Iraq, since 1991, and we relied on them for advice and insights whenever our delegations traveled to Iraq. Their vision and witness has provided peace activists worldwide with an inspiration to resist the economic sanctions and each of the wars waged against Iraq.

These people had been to Iraq since 1996 and their eyes remained closed to the brutality of Saddam Hussein. You may notice that Saddam's name doesn't appear anywhere in this appeal. I guess reality is bad for fund raising.

In 2002, when we were notified of a $20,000 fine imposed on us for bringing medicines to Iraq, we raised $20,000 and contributed it to Bridges to Baghdad's Sinbad Clinic which they operated in Basra to assist women and children afflicted with water-borne diseases.

Voices in the Wilderness sent a letter to Janet Reno in 1996 that basically said that those laws that the government has don't apply to them. They basically dared the government to fine them - John Ashcroft called their bluff and fined them in 2002. The Justice department has also started fining members of Voices in the Wilderness who traveled to Saddam's Iraq outside normal channels (basically smuggling themselves and their supplies). The fine has been $10,000 per person in the cases I have seen. I think that's great - being Saddam's useful idiots should come at a price.

The appeal then continues saying that they are aggreived and concerned and ask you (the reader) to sign a petition. I'm not including that part out of concern some of you may actually sign it with joke names like Heywood Jablome.

Simona Toretta, Simona Pari, Ra'ad Ali Abdulaziz and Mahnaz Bassam have long recognized the grievances of people throughout Iraq who have endured ongoing siege and war. Their work compels us to recognize that no country should ever be held hostage to the greed and dominance of others.

Read this again carefully. They recognize the grievances of the people of Iraq but only against the coalition nations. What about the grievances of the hundreds of thousands of families murdered by Saddam Hussein? They said they had been in Iraq since 1996. The phrase "greed and dominance" would seem tailor made for Saddam but some people must be born with their eyes closed.

As we yearn for their liberation, we pledge ourselves to work toward a fair and peaceful future for the people they've served.

They yearn for the liberation of the people of Iraq but it is the young men and women of our armed forces that are actually making that liberation possible and it is these exact same young men and women of the armed forces that Voices in the Wilderness is protesting against.

An Appeal for the Release the Italian and Iraqi Aid Workers Abducted in Baghdad:

THEY ARE NOT INSTRUMENTS OF THE OCCUPYING FORCES
We are individuals and organizations from around the world who opposed and continue to oppose the occupation of Iraq and we plead for the release of two Italian and two Iraqi humanitarian workers who were abducted in Iraq September 7, 2004.

Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both Italians, and Ra'ad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnoaz Bassam, both Iraqis, are members of Un Ponte Per Baghdad (Bridges to Baghdad) an independent Italian humanitarian organization that has been working in Iraq since 1992. During the embargo, other humanitarian organizations refused to operate in Iraq. Bridges defied that in the belief that the suffering of civilians should not be used as a political bargaining chip.

Sometimes reality hits people like a ton of bricks. These people were allowed into Iraq by Saddam Hussein because they were in Stalin's phrase "useful idiots". They could be used for public releations purposes by a dictator free from any moral compass and also as human shields. Now the terrorists who are trying to prevent democracy in Iraq find these same people useful as hostages and as instruments of terror.

In this occupation, the United States and its coalition cynically blurred the distinction between the humanitarian and the political, using aid and relief as an apparatus for pacifying the Iraqis. As a result, Iraqis have become increasingly and understandably suspicious of international humanitarian organizations. Despite the perils caused by this confusion, Bridges consciously decided to continue its operations in Iraq, convinced that Iraqis will see through their intentions.

I read this and I think about Zell Miller's words about being called an occuppier not a liberator. Voices in the Wilderness typifies the type of groups driving people like Zell Miller out of the Democratic party. Two things to point out - the blurring of the political and humanitarian probably refers to US soldiers helping rebuild the country when they are not on patrol to protect it. I also don't think the Voices in the Wilderness folks will ever understand that the average Iraqi will always question the motives of a group that had no problem working with Saddam but speaks out against those who gave the people liberty.

Bridges is not an instrument of the Italian government, nor of the US-led coalition, to make the occupation more bearable, and therefore, more acceptable to the Iraqis. From the very beginning, Bridges has been open and consistent with its positions: it opposed the embargo, it opposed the invasion, and it opposes the occupation. In Italy, Bridges has been a leading critic of the government's decision to join the US-led coalition.

Allow me to translate - "Dear terrorist hostage takers - why us? We support you!"

It plays a leading role in the nation-wide movement that mobilized over a million Italians to march against the war in February 15, 2003, as well as in various demonstrations after. Bridges has also been very active in the global anti-war movement, maintaining links with various anti-war organizations around the world and playing a key role in establishing the Occupation Watch Center in Baghdad, a center for monitoring the occupation founded by anti-war organizations and coalitions from different countries.

Again let me translate - "Dear terrorist hostage takers - don't you want useful idiots like us who can bring political pressure on the nations of the coalition to just leave Iraq?"

The appeal continues with some of the fine humanitarian things that have been done on behalf of the Iraqi people and it is noted that the hostages stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the people they think the terrorists care about. The Voices in the Wilderness group make the mistake of believing that the terrorists can have feelings for people as people - witness the dead children in Russia if you don't understand that yet. Voices in the Wilderness ends the appeal with:

We also call on the Italian government to immediately withdraw its membership in the US-led coalition. We call on the United States and the remaining members of the coalition to end the occupation.

If you wanted to know what type of people would want us to cut and run on the Iraqi people - well here's your answer. The kicker is that they would have us cut and run for "humanitarian" reasons. What do you call a person or a group when they have transcended useful idiot?