According to The National Post, the Iraq Embassy in Canada is not at all pleased with the Christian Peacemaker Team’s statement released this week.
The Iraq embassy is on MacLeod Street in Ottawa, (wikipedia) ( Embassy Magazine) and according to Foreign Affairs the Iraq Ambassador to Canada is Howar Ziad, who has been the Iraq Ambassador to Canada since December 2004.
This matters because of the National Post story.
An embassy statement is understood to come from the government it represents. For example the US Ambassador to Canada speaks for President Bush, the legislative branches of government and the people of the United States.
An embassy the size of the US has a large staff, however, when a statement is released it carries the weight of the Ambassador, and hence the President, government (congress and senate) and the people of the USA.
This is a preamble to help us understand how important this statement is from the Iraq Embassy in Canada.
The fact the spokesperson is not individually identified is irrelevant, if it comes from the Iraq Embassy, it is speaking for the government of Iraq and the people of Iraq. As the Canadian government completes construction of an embassy in Iraq, the Canadian government represents its interests to the Iraq government and the people of Iraq from Jordan.
So this embassy statement represents the Iraq Transitional Government elected by the people of Iraq on January 30, 2005. If I am understanding my research correctly - this statement released to the National Post is speaking for Iraq Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafarim, President Jalal Talabani and the elected representatives of the Iraq people.
“The Christian Peacemaker Teams practises the kind of politics that automatically nominate them as dupes for jihadism and fascism,” the embassy’s statement said.
“The statement shows they even share the rhetoric of the jihadists, even if they do it out of naivete. Despite their claimed affinity for ‘non-violence,’ this is false.
“Politically, they are on the other side of this war. Christian Peacemaker Teams are objectively on the side of the fascists, Saddam Hussein’s loyalists and al-Qaida in Iraq.
“It is abundantly clear that Christian Peacemaker Teams are opposed to and, in effect, at war with Iraqi democrats, Americans, the British, and the rest of the multi-national Coalition.”
The National Post also quotes the embassy as saying The Christian PeaceMaker Team in Iraq were “phony pacifists” and “dupes.” The statement of the representative of the Iraq government is in response to this CPT press release, March 23, 2006. The Canadian Iraq Embassy released it’s statement March 24th, 2006. Two of the four hostages released this past week are Canadian.
British CPT Iraq member, Norman Kember, has arrived home and says he needs time to reflect.
Published 2 years, 8 months ago“I do not believe that a lasting peace is achieved by armed force, but I pay tribute to their courage and thank those who played a part in my rescue.”
“It is the ordinary people of Iraq that you should talk to, the people who have suffered so much over many years and still await the stable and just society that they deserve,” he said.
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It isn’t hard to see that this statement will play well with lots of Americans and they’re the ones I suspect it was intended for. The old and tired “if you’re against the war you must be pro-Saddam” line gives the game away, doesn’t it?
Which is I believe directly who it is aimed for given the CPT office in the US seems to handle the statements.
Mr. Zaid is an experienced enough diplomat to aim well.
Right on target about the CPT and other assorted “pacifists”. Although part of the statement came from the new Iraqi government and I would like to know how much the US had their hands in the creation of the statement - I nonetheless agree 100% with it. The CPT actually help Islamo-fascists.
“Politically, they are on the other side of this war. Christian Peacemaker Teams are objectively on the side of the fascists, Saddam Hussein’s loyalists and al-Qaida in Iraq.”
Yep, after years of knowing the socialist, nay, communistic goals of religious leftwing groups the actions of the CPT don’t surprise me.
I have been to Iraq three times as a member of CPT delegations.
On each trip we have spent ample time with religous leaders included Christians and leaders of many different sects, from the Papal Nuncio to the Presbyterian Church in Basrah.
In each of our discussions we have learned a lot about the political and sectarian issues. They worry about their future but generally feel that they are “brothers and sisters” with their fellow Iraqis, regardless of faith.
One conclusion is that Iraqis, of all faiths and the secular, welcome CPT in Iraq and only wish that more peacemaking and humanitarian groups would return. They are struggling to bridge growing gaps and estimate that the majority of violence is instigated by those coming into the country from outside…prompting continued calls for the US to immediately leave.
My last trip was is September 2005, just before the four CPT members were taken hostage.