Eyewitness Iraq Program in Sacramento March 9

Press Release: For Immediate Release, March 2, 2004

Contact:  Rev. Meg Lumsdaine or Peter Lumsdaine (831) 457-9914
or MDrum23456 [at] aol.com

Local information: Sacramento Area Peace Action, 448-7157

N. Californians' visit to Baghdad, Karbala, Sunni Triangle: Iraq disaster looms unless prompt elections held, say couple who visited Shiite leaders

Lutheran pastor Rev. Meg Lumsdaine and her husband Peter Lumsdaine, will present their eyewitness report and slideshow 'Escalation in Iraq -Report from the Front' in Sacramento on Tuesday evening March 9.  The slideshow will begin at 7:30 pm at Goethe Hall of St John's Lutheran church, 1701 L St., Sacramento.

The Lumsdaines traveled from northern California to Iraq in late 2003, where they acted as personal messengers between Iraqi religious officials and a strategic U.S. military outpost in the holy city of Karbala, following a deadly shoot-out involving American troops and Shiite militia fighters there.  They say that their discussions with Shiite leaders in Karbala and in Sadr City indicate that prompt national elections, and economic self-determination for Iraq, are essential to avert a spectacular escalation of the fighting there.

According to what they learned, unless decisive policy changes occur in the weeks ahead, the intensity of such a confrontation could far exceed the armed conflict of past year, centered in the Sunni Triangle - which has already killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers and thousands of Iraqis, including many civilians.

They say that American civilians are needed as non-governmental human rights observers for carrying out "protective accompaniment" missions in Iraq to lessen the chances of a tragic confrontation between the Shiite movement and U.S. troops.

During their stay in Baghdad the city was rocked by repeated car-bombings, one close enough to shake the apartment building they were in.  In the Sunni Triangle they attended the funeral of an unarmed Iraqi farmer shot dead in his kitchen by U.S. commandos, a striking example of the incidents that continue to fuel the insurgency there.

Lutheran pastor Rev. Meg Lumsdaine and her husband Peter Lumsdaine, Coordinator of the Military Globalization Project, returned from their three week fact-finding journey to Iraq with vivid accounts of warm personal welcomes, tense check-point stand-offs, escalating violence, and encounters with the Shiite social movements that they say hold the key to that troubled nation's future.

After several days in the pivotal Arab kingdom of Jordan, which just signed the region's first NAFTA-like 'free-trade' treaty, they were based in downtown Baghdad, traveling from there to the conflict zones of Karbala, Sadr City and the war-torn Sunni Triangle. Living and traveling with North American volunteers from Christian Peacemaker Teams, as well as carrying out independent research, they talked with a wide range of Iraqis from different economic strata, religious groups, and political perspectives - including farmers, veterans, professionals and religious leaders - as well as U.S. military personnel and a ministerial official of Iraq's 'governing council'. They visited families, mosques and churches in slums and affluent neighborhoods.

The Lumsdaines, staying in contact with people they met in Iraq, are now involved in intensive educational work to share their eyewitness 'behind-the-headlines' report and slideshow at schools, colleges, churches and community forums throughout California - and to promote protective accompaniment work in Iraq.  They can be contacted for questions and interviews at  (831) 457-9914 or MDrum23456 [at] aol.com

Rev. Meg Lumsdaine is an ordained Lutheran pastor.  She has served  congregations in Pennsylvania and California, and now hosts the 'Leap to Faith' radio program. She has also been involved in global human rights work, including previous delegations to El Salvador and Cuba, and in nonviolent witness at International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings.
 
Peter Lumsdaine, Coordinator of the Military Globalization Project, has worked for the U.S. Department of Energy, small business, and non-profit organizations - including Global Exchange and the Resource Center for Nonviolence - work which has taken him throughout the U.S. and to Japan, the Philippines, Guatemala, Korea, Iraq, and eight states of south-central Mexico.