Fathers and mothers of the Americans killed in the Iraq war talk to al-’Arab al-Yawm.

The bridge of death from Baghdad to Washington sets off grief and anger among the American people.

* Anti-war, anti-Bush movement on the rise in the US.
* Bill Mitchell: “I asked Bush to bring me my son home from Iraq, and he sent him home in a coffin.”
* Nadia McCaffrey: “My son was killed in a war without honor for the sake of lies.”
* Sue Niederer: “I’m talking to you in order to expose the face of the killer of humanity who stole my dreams.”
* The star of Fahrenheit9 /11: “We invaded Iraq for oil. Is that enough to deserve my son’s blood?”

By Hada Sarhan for al-‘Arab al-Yawm.

Bill Mitchell took part in a demonstration against the Iraq war in California. He called out, “Bring back my son from Iraq!” But his son Michael Mitchell, a transport mechanic soldier was killed two weeks later in Madinat as-Sadr and came home to his relatives in a coffin.

Bill Mitchell, now a grieving father, said, “I was wrong. I should have asked them to bring my son back from Iraq alive, not dead.” Mitchell said that he wished he could spend an hour showing Bush pictures of his son “his smiling face . . his postive attitude . . . and show him that his murder has had a disastrous effect on the betterment of this world.”

“Let Bush know that we won’t allow that my son died for an unjust war. Michael died with honor in a war with no honor.” Mitchell added, “I would like to meet Bush to stop his madness, because concealing the number of American dead and the extent of damage done in Iraq only makes the war easier for those trying to conceal the truth.”

Mitchell says that he is working with large groups of Americans who have also lost their sons or who sent their children off to fight in Iraq and who are trying to stop this war, end the occupation of Iraq, and let the Iraqis govern themselves.

This was one of the letters that al-‘Arab al-Yawm has received in answer to the questions we posed to the fathers and mothers of the soldiers killed in Iraq who are now active in a rising movement against the unjust war that Bush is waging in Iraq.

The movement has spread so far that it now touches US Congressmen and Senators where voices are being raised calling on Bush to end the war and withdraw his forces from Iraq as the number of American dead continues to rise and the cost of the war, that has now entered its third year, mounts ever more rapidly. Yet as the war continues to grow ever fiercer and more grueling, the traffic of coffins along the “Bridge of Death” from Baghdad to Washington becomes heavier and heavier.

In order to confront this increasingly difficult and tragic situation facing the US in Iraq, an American woman from California, Nadia McCaffrey, formed an anti-war organization called the Peace Organization for Women and Children - the largest organization against the war in Iraq. This American woman lost her son Patrick,34 , who was killed in the Iraqi city of Balad. Ms. McCaffrey says that she will raise her voice to tell the world that this is a war without honor. She notes that there have been numerous attempts to attack her Internet website and to distort its contents.

In a conversation with al-‘Arab al-Yawm, Ms. McCaffrey recounted that her son Patrick went to Iraq as a member of the US National Guard on a mission to “rebuild Iraq” - the sort of mission that the American National Guard does. But President Bush changed the nature of the mission of the army, she says, sending them into combat on the pretext that Iraq had a hand in the attacks of 11 September 2001 on America. “But I know, and many others know, and my son knows that this is untrue,” Ms. McCaffrey says. “Patrick discovered in Iraq that this was nothing but a lie and that Iraq had no hand in the September 2001 events. My son fought for lies.”

Nadia McCaffrey wrote us saying that she had no respect for Bush and that she didn’t vote for him. “He lied to us,” she says, “and went into this immoral war, killing many innocent people on both sides for oil. Iraq is now being sold to American oil companies.”

Ms McCaffrey goes on: “We are America: the people. We have now lost our rights. . . . I wouldn’t bother talking to Mr. Bush . . . I would turn my back on him. I will raise my voice against the war for my grandchildren because I know that my son who was killed in Iraq felt shame and disgrace over what we are doing in that country. Patrick was saddened and pained by the hatred that the Iraqis now have for Americans - for which we are the reason.”

At the end of our conversation, Nadia said, “In the last letter that Patrick sent me he said, ‘there’s nothing for us to do here. We must get out.’” Nadia said that she would be coming to Jordan next October on her second visit to the country within the framework of her campaign in the course of which she has visited many Arab and European countries, giving lectures and holding conferences where she demands an end to the war and calls on others to raise their voices too against Bush’s war in Iraq. She tells American mothers that fear is coming our way and that it has now already arrived on our own doorsteps.

An American woman named Sue Niederer appears in the picture in the middle of a memorial display of empty combat boots - corresponding to the number of soldiers killed in the war, a number that continues to increase - in what has now been turned into a poster that has spread by the anti-war movement throughout the United States.

Sue says that she doesn’t believe that the US army should be in Iraq because that country must rule itself. She told al-‘Arab al-Yawm that her young son Seth had not received the necessary training for the combat that he encountered, yet he was sent to Iraq five days after his wedding on what Ms. Niederer calls a “suicide mission.”

Soldier Seth Dvorin was killed in al-Iskandariyah in Iraq, leaving behind a wife no more than 24 years old. Seth himself was a young man who dreamed of continuing his university study, “but,” says Ms.Niederer, “Bush stole that dream.”

After the death of her son, Sue Niederer became an anti-war activist. “It is important for people to understand that there are families that have been left behind and that mothers are not supposed to bury their children.” So, she says, she stands against he war and takes part in marches opposed to the war alongside many other women.

Ms Niederer asks, “Does our going to Iraq justify taking the life of any one of our children?” In conclusion, she says that she took part in the discussion on al-‘Arab al-Yawm to “put a face on the killing of a human life.”

The face of Ms. Lila Lipscomb is well-known. She was one of those who appeared in Michael Moore’s film Fahrenheit9 /11. She read a letter that her son Michael Pedersen,26 , sent her from Iraq in which he described the how hard were the conditions over there.

This lady is still flying the American flag by the door of her house and says in interviews with journalists, “I’m proud to be an American citizen. But I’ve lost my faith and my trust in those who lead my country.” In her letter to al-‘Arab al-Yawm, Lila asked repeatedly: “Should my son’s blood have been shed for greed? No. No, I don’t think so.” Lila says that she took part in this discussion with al-‘Arab al-Yawm because she believes that mothers will heal the nations.

Ms. Lila Lipscomb is saddened by the fact that she knows no details about the death of her son Michael, and because the versions that were told her by the military administration were numerous and contradictory. She says: “Some say that Michael was killed while on a rescue mission. Others say that Michael was killed in a rocket attack and that he died with six of his buddies. But along with other families of soldiers she has many questions and many doubts about what really happened. Will there ever be any answers? Probably not,” she says.

Lila points out: “My son had a closed casket, so I am forced to trust in a government that I don’t trust that it was indeed my son in the casket they sent. I still at times have visions of him stepping onto the porch with a smile on his face, the way he always used to do.”

She concluded, saying, “No, I don’t believe in the presence of American soldiers in Iraq and neither did my son. We invaded a country to take control of its oil and when we got there the American Administration decided that it would fight terrorism. Don’t they know that the American presence in Iraq is the reason for the terrorism? Is a lie ever worth the cost of a mother’s child? Does it matter if it is an Iraqi mother or an American mother who grieves? Is it not the same grief?”

Lynn Bradach lost her son Travis,21 , in Iraq. She marked the second anniversary of his passing and has participated in many actions against the war. Al-‘Arab al-Yawm joined her in her grief over the Internet - something she regarded as a valuable opportunity to express her feelings and her anger despite her long-time resolve not to talk to the press and media.

Lynn admits: “It’s so hard to put into words all the feelings I have.” She says, “sometimes I think that Lynn died with Travis.” She says “I still believe the US should never have invaded Iraq.” She adds, “We know that Bush’s only thought was to get rid of Saddam Hussein, in spite of the reports that proved that he didn’t have weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq had no connection with Septermber11 th or with Bin Ladin. How could we as a country and a people allow that [the invasion of Iraq] to happen? How could we have let Bush and his administration take charge of our country and lead us in this direction?”

Lynn went on, “I now realize how much the politics of this country is my responsibility. It’s up to me to pay attention to whom I’m voting for and whom I’m voting against and to work hard to get others to understand why I feel this way. I can no longer ignore what’s happening in places outside my beautiful existence - my beautiful green Oregon - just because it frightens me. Each and everyone of us is responsible for the death of my son and so many others due to our complacent attitude.”

“The message I have for Bush is to listen to those outside of his little protective circle. Talk to experts in the subjects of warfare, the history of terrorism, the history of Iraq and the Arab peoples. What does victory mean to you and how many of our troops and innocent Iraqis need to die for this victory of yours?

“I also want to know what are you willing to sacrifice? Would you be willing to encourage your daughters to join up and fight for this victory - the army is in desperate need of new troops.”

Lynn Bradach concluded by saying, “I have never heard this president ever admit that he made some wrong decisions. I guess I want history to show how very, very wrong he was.”

Among those who answered the questions of al-‘Arab al-Yawm was one American woman of Jordanian origin Adelle Qabba‘ayn, a Lecturer in an American university. This woman has a different story. She declined to supply a picture of her daughter or to allow us to talk to her because she is still on duty in the US Army. But she said that her daughter joined the US National Guard and that she was proud of her and didn’t know that a disaster was lying in wait for her when she was sent along with the American forces to Iraq. What happened was that she found herself as a party in a military confrontation. The helicopter on which she was riding was shot down. All the soldiers aboard the craft were killed; only her daughter remained alive, though she was so severely wounded that she is now disabled.

She asked: “I want to know if there was a convincing reason for my daughter and all the other American soldiers to pay that price when they were sent to Iraq.”

Ms. Qabba‘ayn has joined an activist group against the war and in solidarity with the bereaved mothers and widowed wives produced by the conflict. Ms. Qabba‘ayn asks people to raise their voices against the war and to support those who organize demonstrations and protests to put an end to the conflict.

These are but a few samples from the mail that flooded in to al-‘Arab al-Yawm from mothers, fathers, and wives of American soldiers killed in the war who have raised their voices against the American administration. They are now gathering together to apply some real pressure in order to stop the war against the people of Iraq.

Al-‘Arab al-Yawm daily newspaper, Amman, Jordan. 10 July2005 .

Translated from Arabic by Muhammad Abu Nasr

For more, please go to the Iraqi Resistance Report in the Free Arab Voice www.freearabvoice.org

Arabic original at:

http://www.alarabalyawm.net/?action=shownews&§id=1&&ttli
d=5792&&issueid=66

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=13645

http://www.albasrah.net/en_articles_2005/0705/interv_120705.htm