By Kathleen Kern

When Christian Peacemaker Teams director emeritus Gene Stoltzfus visited Iraq soon after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, he was impressed by the energy and vision of the Iraqi grassroots organizations he met there.

“I discovered endless expressions of generosity, hard work, reasonable hopes for community and humor,” he wrote. “I discovered partners — not the kind of partners that faraway funders require that you have. I found real partners who share a vision for our age. . . . Like people who live with an eye to the future everywhere, they have long practiced reaching across lines into the neighborhoods of others where the stuff of negotiations begins.”

Stoltzfus wrote this reflection to address the issue of “foreign fighters” in Iraq. When the U.S. government and media speak of such fighters, they are referring to Al Qaeda operatives or militants from other groups fighting U.S. forces.

Stoltzfus noted that the Blackwater mercenary forces, to which the military has contracted responsibility for protecting diplomats, are also foreign fighters — as are the American soldiers in Iraq. None of these armed groups bothered to consult with grassroots organizations about the fate of their country. As Iraqi citizens, members of these groups would have had a better chance of building democratic structures than non-Iraqi armed groups, and could perhaps have prevented much of the daily carnage happening now.

Stoltzfus was thus encouraged when the current Iraqi government demanded that the United States remove Blackwater’s foreign fighters from the country after they killed 11 civilians on Sept. 16, including a father, mother and toddler who died from a blast into their car and Iraqis who tried to rescue them from their burning vehicle.

Before Sept. 16, the Iraqi government had already complained to the United States about six other incidents this year in which Blackwater contractors killed a total of 10 Iraqis. On top of actions causing these civilian deaths, Blackwater personnel have generally behaved like untouchable bullies on Iraqi streets and have even come to blows with conscientious American soldiers trying to stop this behavior.

A 2004 regulation established by the Coalition Provisional Authority then running Iraq granted U.S. private security contractors immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law. Under U.S. law, however, federal prosecutors are taking legal action against Blackwater employees who smuggled arms into Iraq that ended up in the hands of militant groups.

Two employees have already agreed to testify under a plea bargain that could land them in jail for 10 years. Despite the unsavory information that keeps bubbling up from the Blackwater pool, however, as of Sept. 21, Blackwater had resumed its regular duties in Iraq.

In the conclusion of his reflection, Stoltzfus wrote: “The occupation tore Iraq apart. Iraqi people will have to put their own country together again.

“It is going to be hard, and it will help for them to have friends who cheer them on instead of enemies who do not respect their borders. They don’t need friends who force their leaders to have instantaneous responses to the election cycles of distant lands. They need friends who understand the power of space . . . space to fail and space to succeed. They need friends who understand that boundaries create the possibilities for real friendship.”

To read Stoltzfus’ reflection, “Asleep at the Fence,” go to www.gstoltzfus.blogspot.com.