[Vision2020] "I Was Wrong" says reformed Anti-War Protester

[John Harrell]

Hello Mr. Jacob Spencer,

I can understand your concern regarding not wanting to be persuaded by
falsehoods. I recently came across this UPI release of this story:

Feature: Pacifist says 'I was wrong' 

                By Ken Joseph Jr.
                From the Life & Mind Desk
                Published 3/27/2003 4:38 PM

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030327-040242-4131r

Cheers!
John Harrell

--- Jacob Spencer <spencerjt@wlu.edu> wrote:
> Can anyone confirm the veracity of this story?  It strikes me as too
> similar to another that was posted on the listserve a while back.  In
> addition, the details simply don't ring true, especially the part about
> being the only person not to have a government 'minder.'  If this is
> true, it is certainly food for thought, if not, I would not like to be
> persuaded by falsehood.
> 
> Jacob Spencer
> 
> >>> John Harrell <johnbharrell@yahoo.com> 03/29/03 03:26PM >>>
> I Was Wrong! 
> 
> By Ken Joseph, Jr. 
> Amman, Jordan
> http://assyrianchristians.com/i_was_wrong_mar_26_03.htm 
> 
> [excerpt below, see URL for complete article]
> 
> How do you admit you were wrong? 
> 
> What do you do when you realizethose you were defending in fact did not
> want your defense
> and wanted something completely different from you and from the world?
> 
> 
> This is my story. It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I
> have fought for
> peace all my life and those for whom the
> decision for war comes a bit too fast. 
> 
> I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second
> generation in
> ministry after my Father came to Japan in
> answer to General Douglas Macarthur's call for 10,000 young people to
> help rebuild Japan
> following the war. 
> 
> As a minister and due to my personal convictions I have always been
> against war for any
> and all reasons. It was precisely this moral
> conviction that led me to do all I could to stop the current war in
> Iraq. 
> 
> >From participating in demonstrations against the war in Japan to
> strongly opposing it on
> my radio program, on television and in regular
> columns I did my best to stand against what I thought to be an unjust
> war against an
> innocent people - in fact my people. 
> 
> As an Assyrian I was told the story of our people from a young age. How
> my grandparents
> had escaped the great Assyrian Holocaust
> in 1917 settling finally in Chicago. 
> 
> Currently there are approximately six million Assyrians - approximately
> 1.2 million in
> Iraq and the rest scattered in the Assyrian
> Diaspora across the world. 
> 
> Without a country and rights even in our native land it has been the
> prayer of
> generations that the Assyrian Nation will one day be
> restored and the people of the once great Assyrian Empire will once
> again be home. 
> 
> It was with that feeling, together with supplies for our Church and
> family that I went to
> Iraq to do all I could to help make a
> difference. 
> 
> The feeling as I crossed the border was exhilarating - `home at last`
> thought as I would
> for the first time visit the land of my
> forefathers. 
> 
> The kindness of the border guards when they learned I was Assyrian, the
> taxi, the people
> on the street it was like being back `home`
> after a long absence. 
> 
> Now I finally know myself! The laid back, relaxed atmosphere, the
> kindness to strangers,
> the food, the smells, the language all seemed
> to trigger a long lost memory somewhere in my deepest DNA. 
> 
> The first order of business was to attend Church. It was here where my
> morals were raked
> over the coals and I was first forced to
> examine them in the harsh light of reality. 
> 
> Following a beautiful `Peace` to welcome the Peace Activists in which
> even the children
> participated we moved to the next room to
> have a simple meal. 
> 
> Sitting next to me was an older man who carefully began to sound me
> out. Apparently
> feeling the freedom to talk in the midst of the
> mingling crowd he suddenly turned to me and said `There is something
> you should know.`
> `What` I asked surprised at the sudden
> comment. 
> 
> `We didn't want to be here tonight`. he continued. `When the Priest
> asked us to gather
> for a Peace Service we said we didn't want to
> come`. He said. 
> 
> `What do you mean` I inquired, confused. `We didn't want to come
> because we don't want
> peace` he replied. 
> 
> `What in the world do you mean?` I asked. `How could you not want
> peace?` `We don't want
> peace. We want the war to come` he
> continued. 
> 
> What in the world are you talking about? I blurted back. 
> 
> That was the beginning of a strange odyssey that deeply shattered my
> convictions and
> moral base but at the same time gave me hope
> for my people and, in fact, hope for the world. 
> 
> Beginning that night and continuing on in the private homes of
> relatives with whom I
> stayed little by little the scales began to come off
> my eyes. 
> 
> I had not realized it but began to realize that all foreigners in Iraq
> are subject to 24
> hour surveillance by government `minders` who
> arrange all interviews, visits and contact with ordinary Iraqis.
> Through some fluke
> either by my invitation as a religious person and or
> my family connection I was not subject to any government `minders` at
> any time throughout
> my stay in Iraq. 
> 
> As far as I can tell I was the only person including the media, Human
> Shields and others
> in Iraq without a Government `minder` there
> to guard. 
> 
> What emerged was something so awful that it is difficult even now to
> write about it.
> Discussing with the head of our tribe what I
> should do as I wanted to stay in Baghdad with our people during their
> time of trial I was
> told that I could most help the Assyrian cause
> by going out and telling the story to the outside world. 
> 
> Simply put, those living in Iraq, the common, regular people are in a
> living nightmare.
> >From the terror that would come across the
> faces of my family at a unknown visitor, telephone call, knock at the
> door I began to
> realize the horror they lived with every day. 
> 
> Over and over I questioned them `Why could you want war? Why could any
> human being desire
> war?` They're answer was quiet and
> measured. `Look at our lives!`We are living like animals. No food, no
> car, no telephone,
> no job and most of all no hope.` 
> 
> I would marvel as my family went around their daily routine as normal
> as could be.
> Baghdad was completely serene without even a
> hint of war. Father would get up, have his breakfast and go off to
> work. The children to
> school, the old people - ten in the household
> to their daily chores. 
> 
> `You can not imagine what it is to live with war for 20, 30 years. We
> have to keep up our
> routine or we would lose our minds` 
> 
> Then I began to see around me those seemingly in every household who
> had lost their
> minds. It seemed in every household there was
> one or more people who in any other society would be in a Mental
> Hospital and the ever
> present picture of a family member killed in
> one of the many wars. 
> 
> Having been born and raised in Japan where in spite of 50 years of
> democracy still
> retains vestiges of the 400 year old police state I
> quickly began to catch the subtle nuances of a full blown, modern
> police state. 
> 
> I wept with family members as I shared their pain and with great
> difficulty and deep soul
> searching began little by little to understand
> their desire for war to finally rid them of the nightmare they were
> living in. 
> 
> The terrible price paid in simple, down to earth ways - the family
> member with a son who
> 
=== message truncated ===


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com