I wonder if it feels strange for Iraqis to make New Year's resolutions with
the looming threat of American bombings and the future so uncertain?

I'm in Baghdad for the holiday season as a member of the Iraq Peace Team. We
spend our time meeting ordinary Iraqi citizens, listening to their stories
and relaying those stories to the American people.

The mainstream journalists in Baghdad rarely speak to ordinary Iraqis. They
are mostly cooped up in the Al Rashid, the fanciest hotel in town, and spend
their days rushing between press briefings and chasing the weapons
inspectors.

In contrast, as Iraq Peace Team members we spend our days visiting schools
and hospitals, or just sitting and chatting with Iraqi friends in the many
cafes near our hotel.

"We don't even want to think about war, we don't talk about it," a graduate
student at Baghdad University told me. "My husband works hard to pay our
bills, and I'm working on my thesis. Our children don't know about the
threat of war - we don't tell them."

"If the Americans bomb Baghdad, the electricity will go out, the sewer
system will stop working and people will die. All we can do is pray for
peace, but Americans can work to stop this war."

Large numbers of civilian deaths, so-called "collateral damage," are just
one likely outcome of a U.S. war on Iraq. If the 1991 Gulf War is any
indication, the United States will destroy the civilian infrastructure -
actions considered by many to be war crimes. The deliberate bombing of
electrical facilities and water treatment plants in 1991 caused unimaginable
suffering for normal citizens that continues to this day.

The same graduate student described living without electricity for 40 days
during the Gulf War. The UN economic sanctions have made it very difficult
for Iraq to rebuild its power grid. Today, 12 years after Desert Storm, the
majority of Iraqi households outside Baghdad have power cuts for 10 hours a
day, every day.

If it weren't for the pervasive mood of fear and uncertainty in Baghdad, I
might enjoy spending the holidays here. Despite suffering under 12 years of
crippling UN sanctions, the citizens of Baghdad still know how to celebrate.
I attended my share of Christmas parties and New Year's Eve festivities.

People are celebrating, and conditions are slowly improving, but, sadly, 60
percent of Iraqi families completely depend on food rations from the
oil-for-food program, and many are underfed and malnourished. The rations
provide 2,150 calories per person per day, but lack fruits and vegetables
and sufficient protein. Poverty forces 40 percent of Iraqi families to sell
portions of their ration to buy other necessities.

Also because of economic sanctions, health care facilities have a severe
shortage of medicines and supplies. Another U.S. bombing campaign here would
turn this longstanding humanitarian crisis into a disastrous genocide.

Would a United States-led war against Iraq make us safer? Just the opposite
- a United States invasion would almost certainly increase terrorist threats
against the United States.

During my travels in the Middle East, I have not met a single person who
supports a war against Iraq. A few Arab leaders may indirectly support such
a war, but terrorists come from the public at large.

Currently, high anti-American sentiment in the Middle East would reach a
boiling point if the United States bombs Iraq. Will invading Iraq make our
world more peaceful? Our nation safer? Come on Bush, it's a no-brainer.