You would think the CPT organization would find it in their hearts to at least offer thanks for the rescue. Nope. This is the statement released by the Christian “Peacemakers” after their remaining three hostages were rescued from captivity and almost certain torture and murder and given free medical care:
Harmeet, Jim and Norman and Tom were in Iraq to learn of the struggles facing the people in that country. They went, motivated by a passion for justice and peace to live out a nonviolent alternative in a nation wracked by armed conflict. They knew that their only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers. We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.
Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families. In the spirit of the prophetic nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance. We give thanks for the compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained their spirits over the past months. We pray for strength and courage for ourselves so that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and peace.
Throughout these difficult months, we have been heartened by messages of concern for our four colleagues from all over the world. We have been especially moved by the gracious outpouring of support from Muslim brothers and sisters in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. That support continues to come to us day after day. We pray that Christians throughout the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for respect for the human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally by the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.
During these past months, we have tasted of the pain that has been the daily bread of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Why have our loved ones been taken? Where are they being held? Under what conditions? How are they? Will they be released? When?
What an incoherent, rambling set of thoughts.
I just visited the CPT site again, and they did post the “first of several addendas” in which they very grudgingly thanked the people who risked their lives to save three people who couldn’t save themselves and were counting on God to intervene on their behalf. Well, I guess God did intervene in the form of men with guns who were willing to use them. The CPT author(s) couldn’t resist throwing in some meaningless crap about how happy they were no shots were fired during the rescue. Guess what, the harsh reality is that the only shots you should have been worried about were fired into the body of your colleague. Those bullets were fired by radical Muslims, not “the illegal occupiers” who, by the way, are only still here because Iraqis have asked them to stay. The history of inhuman violence and the cheapness of life in Iraq (Mesopotamia) goes back at least 1,200 years and probably much further. Your captors didn’t care that you were here to “help them” or whatever it was you thought your were doing.
You help people by giving them a good solid education. You help people by teaching them useful skills that put food on the table. You help people by providing them with positive memes. You help people by teaching them not to think in terms of old tribal disputes and by helping them focus on nationalism instead of sectarianism. You help people by making sure they’re fed, clothed and healthy and giving them the tools they need to take care of those things themselves in the long term. You don’t help people by getting kidnapped by thugs and then blaming your rescuers for the bad things that happened to you because you were misguided.
But that’s just my unofficial opinion. I guess I could be wrong. Maybe if I threw away all my guns, my enemies would too. I think I’ll keep them though, just in case.