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(Micah Shristi is currently in Iraq as part of Voices In The Wilderness's Iraq Peace Teams. He sends back regular reports on his experiences in the country.)



Micah Writes: Jan 13, 2003 Micah Writes: Jan 13, 2003: Micah writes concerning the disruption between Iraqi Christians and Muslims that has been occurring since Bush stepped up his war rhetoric. He quotes a nun, who talked about when, during the first Gulf War, the church next to her convent was bombed, killing several members of 5 families taking refuge there. Picture for the article available here.

Micah Writes: Jan 10, 2003 Micah Writes: Jan 10, 2003: Micah writes about the meetings of 9/11 victim family members and victims of the Gulf War bombing in the Amariya bomb shelter. The delegation was amazed at the hospitality of the people despite regular US bombardment; ven a person, who had lost 4 family members in the bombing, who initially took out his grief yelling at a delegation member, later came and took her hand and invited her to be a guest at his house. The group finds it very hard to deal with the reality that these people, who are just trying to go about normal, real lives, may be in a war zone soon. To quote one, "What do you say? 'I hope you don't get killed in a month'?".

Micah Writes: Jan 02, 2003 Micah Writes: Jan 02, 2003: Micah writes about New Years, the distanced world most journalists live in when in Iraq, the bombing of electrical and water facilities, and interviews with ordinary Iraqis under a pervasive atmosphere of fear.

Micah Writes: Dec 27, 2002 Micah Writes: Dec 27, 2002: Micah writes about Christmas in Iraq, which he spent at St. Rafael's Church with a few of Iraq's 1 million Christians. Children sang carols and put on a Christmas play, and Santa Claus came to hand out presents. Thankfully the reindeer were able to make it through the no-fly zone.

Micah Writes: Dec 23, 2002 Micah Writes: Dec 23, 2002: Micah writes about the uncertainty of being in a country on the verge of war, for whom your government is a sworn enemy of, and the scrutiny that the team gets put under, but also how amazing the hospitality of the people is nonetheless. He talks a lot to Iowans for Peace, trying to figure out how best he can work to help Americans understand the humanity of the Iraqi people, and what war would do to them.

Micah Writes: Dec 22, 2002 Micah Writes: Dec 22, 2002: Micah writes to his mother, talking about his phone call to her and the Iraqi man who cried after seeing Micah's face after having to hang up, the sadness that looms everywhere in the country, and his attempt to humor a shoe-shining boy by racing through the streets with him pretending to be a (very out of place) shoe shiner.

Micah Writes: Dec 20, 2002 Micah Writes: Dec 20, 2002: Micah writes about his arrival in Iraq from Jordan, his trip down the Iraqi Autobahn, how few people (even police officers) are armed, and some of the westerners already in the country.