Speaker shares Iraq experience

By Jessica Alway

Before Dave Robinson visited Iraq in December he expected to encounter a militarized country housing a community that hated Americans. Upon his arrival, Robinson discovered anything but that.

"I always encountered the same reaction," said Robinson to about 30 members of the Santa Clara community gathered in the Campus Ministry conference room. "At first locals asked if I was Canadian. When I told them I was American I braced myself, but the initial response was usually awe followed by immediate welcome. Most Iraqis have an uncanny ability to separate American people from American governmental policies."

Robinson, the national coordinator of Pax Christi USA and the organization's representative on disarmament issues, traveled to Iraq on Dec. 8 with a group of men and women representing a variety of interfaith and church-affiliated social justice organizations in the United States. The group sought a nonviolent, diplomatic solution to the crisis in Iraq.

The 11-member delegation, known as the Iraq Peace Journey, met with religious leaders, U.N. agencies, relief organizations and government officials. During their 10 day trip the group visited hospitals, orphanages and schools where they met those who will suffer the most in the event of war: the children, the sick and the poor.

The Iraq Peace Journey, which supports the removal of all weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and in the world, said in its mission statement that the trip's purpose was to "stand with our sisters and brothers who daily live under the threat of violence and war."

Robinson said for him it was also a personal journey to let the Iraqi's know that not all Americans agree with the U.S. government's position on war, a fact he also made known to his audience on Tuesday night.

"The last thing you do to disarm a nation of weapons of mass destruction is initiate a bombing campaign," Robinson said in a lecture sponsored by Santa Clarans for Social Justice, the Bannan Center for Justice Education and the Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Center for Community-Based Learning. "It just doesn't make sense to me. We say we want to help the Iraqi civilians, but I am afraid America is a country of slogans and bumper stickers. No one believes us when we say we want to end injustices against human rights. The only people that swallow that garbage live in the U.S."

Robinson has spent 12 years with Pax Christi USA devoted to changing U.S. policy toward Iraq. He has participated in educational campaigns, advocacy efforts, congressional visits, protests and traveled in support of peace to many regions in the Middle East. He accompanied a delegation to Afghanistan organized by Global Exchange in June 2002 and a Pax Christi USA delegation to Pakistan earlier that same month.

Robinson felt that the only thing left to do was go and stand with the people of Iraq as they face such a terrible prospect. The trip to Iraq was essentially a last resort at avoiding war, he said.

Sam Oshana, who is currently in the process of enrolling at Santa Clara, told fellow audience members Tuesday night of his personal desire to prevent war. Oshana is an Iraqi-American who left Baghdad in 1991, seven hours before the United States invaded Kuwait. His entire family remained in the country unable to raise enough money to pay smugglers to help them escape. Oshana has kept in contact with them by phone and mail over the years, with increasing difficulty, he said. He used to get a letter or a phone call once a month, but as of now he has not heard from his family in over three months.

"I love this country with all my heart," said Oshana. "But there is an inner conflict. I have adapted to society and immersed myself in this culture, yet Iraq is my homeland. I was born there, I grew up there, it naturally means very much to me."

While Oshana grew up in Baghdad, he was born in Basra, another town Robinson visited on his journey.

One of Robinson's main goals of the trip was to see how the millions of Iraqi people continue to suffer because of U.S. economic embargo and destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure that the Gulf War brought.

The United States dumped 300 metric tons of depleted uranium on the city in the early 90s, creating extreme influxes in cancer occurrences. After the war, the number of cancer patients in the country increased 300 percent, in areas around Basra it increased over 1000 percent.

"Everything Dave said tonight hit me hard," said sophomore Paige Chant. "It was an affirmation of my strong opposition to war. I think U.S. citizens should be focused on nothing else at this point. The Iraqi citizens can't escape the possibility of war, so I don't think I should be able to either."

After his return to the United States, Robinson has become even more dedicated to peace, traveling across the country to tell others what he saw in Iraq. He hopes to be the voice of those who cannot be heard. The delegation has called for the cooperation of all national leaders, under the auspices of the United Nations, in pursuing a nonviolent resolution to this deepening crisis.

Junior Jake David and Senior Evan Hughes, who also attended the lecture Tuesday, both believe the new anti-war memorandum submitted to the United Nations Security Council by Russia, France and Germany might be the right alternative to a bombing campaign.

"I think the inspections can work if we give the inspectors enough time to complete their work," said Hughes. "There are only 200 something inspectors and so many places weapons could be hidden. We have to give it enough time."