asking for a change

In 2004 the UK journal, the Lancet, estimated that one
hundred thousand people have been killed in Iraq due to the invasion
by foreign powers. This is not the only frightening number; death
counts are tabulated by the week and month for US troops and others.
I cant recall how many times I've heard in the news "In the deadliest
day/week/month of fighting so far…" It is disturbing to say the
least. If we are to believe the Lancet's estimate and project it
three more years till today that would mean as many as 400,000 Iraqis
may have been killed.
What are we to do think about this kind of
information? I am stupefied to think that such an astronomical
number of people may have been killed in four years' time. I
remember watching with a sense of un-reality as Coalition forces
bombed Iraq. The school I was attending at the time had set up a
large screen tuned to Fox News in the student center so we could all
watch the "news." Whether it was out of the same feeling of grim
importance that I was feeling about the moment or to show the grand
entrance of the "liberators" of the nation, I am not sure. Either
way, I saw those 500 lb "liberators" fall from the sky to bring
"freedom" to the people of Iraq. I am glad that I did not know then
what I know now. I cannot imagine watching with only a sick feeling
but probably also a good deal of rage, shame and impotence.
What can we do about this kind of information? You and
I are individuals and it seems that our opinion and desire for our
nation's foreign policy does not matter. Very few of us have the
power to make decisions but we all have the right to speak. This is
why I am going to DC for the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq. I am
compelled to do something positive to bring some right-ness to this
wrong and complicated situation. The things that the CPW is asking
for acknowledge how many-faceted the issue is. We are asking for
economic and foreign policy that is just for all involved and not
just the wealthy. We are asking our country to acknowledge the rights
of an occupying military force, to leave and heal the damage it has
done in a tangible way. We are asking for a change from torture to
compassion. We are asking our government to be accountable to the
soldiers who have served it in caring for the physical and mental
damage done to them. These are all things the US government can do
immediately to live up to the ideals that the United States has
always claimed. Those 400,000 who have died and the countless others
in Iraq who suffer the threat of violence need and deserve justice
and so much more. We as our government to help give it to them, as
justice would demand. We ask our government for justice but not for
peace. We ask God for peace. We ask our communities. We ask
ourselves. Peace is work that starts with people and moves out, it
is not the business of governments, I don't believe it ever has been.
I believe in this event because unlike other protests,
CPW is based in prayer and worship and community. We are making
requests of our government and President but we are also making a
simple statement: our hope for peace and security are not found in
our government's ability to intimidate other nations or its own
citizens but in the care and love of our God and in being the people
God has called us to be.