Dear Friends,

It's 3am, March 11. The official word of our beloved colleague, Tom Fox, has
been made public. Tom's body was found along the road to the Baghdad
airport. He had been held captive in Iraq for over 100 days. Our three other
colleagues, Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember are still missing.
We pray earnestly for their safe release. We pray that the hearts and minds
of those holding our colleagues will be softened and they will return our
friends to their families and communities. We pray that our own hearts will
not be hardened by this tragedy and that we are able to put any feelings of
anger or animosity to rest.

I returned from Iraq last Wednesday, March 8, 2006. For 2 months I worked
with the team in Baghdad. Our work there seems endless and much of it feels
beyond human ability.  --[O]ur work has often felt like we were putting our
fingers in the holes of dikes that are overflowing, not with water, but with
blood.

There has been way too much blood shed in Iraq. Now the blood of Tom is
added to that river. We know what it is like to lose a loved one to the
insanity of war. Just like the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families and
the thousands of families of US and MNF [Multinational Forces] soldiers, we
know what it feels like to grieve.

Early this morning, I awoke to the sound of car bombs, the sight of black
smoke rising and the sound of guns. This time, it was just a dream. However,
somewhere in Iraq at that very moment, those sights and sounds were real.

It is enough. It has been enough. We continue to call on our government and
the governments of the multinational forces to lay down their weapons and
return to their homes. We cry out for an end to this insane vicious cycle of
violence. We call for an end to the making of widows, widowers, orphans,
homeless and displaced peoples.

We call for healing, rebuilding and repairing, not just of physical
properties, but of relationship, trust, human dignity and human rights FOR
ALL PEOPLE.

CPT still has team members in Iraq working against all odds to be a part of
that healing. I've met MNF soldiers in Iraq who want desperately to be part
of that healing and know in their hearts that it can't be done with guns and
bombs. They feel trapped by "orders" from [their leaders] but they work the
best they can to extend their hands in goodwill.

Then there are the thousands of Iraqis, most of whom we will never meet or
know, that are laying down their lives, and working with a fervor to heal,
rebuild, and repair their fractured and tattered country. Their work is
valiant and this groundswell of good and decent people has not been trampled
down yet. I've had the privilege of working with some of them.

Right now, it's hard to think of going on, but go on we will. We have to--


Michele Naar-Obed

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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in
organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained,
peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict.  Originally a violence-reduction
initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Church of the Brethren
and Quaker), CPT now enjoys support and membership from a wide range of
Christian denominations.

To express concerns, criticisms or affirmations to CPT's Chicago office send
messages to peacemakers@cpt.org . To express concerns, criticisms or
affirmations to CPT's Canadian office, send messages to
guest.996427@MennoLink.org .