December 14, 2005

Dear Khalid,

In an attempt to start by answering your questions (despite the fact that you already answered your questions in the letter, and already have your mind made up about the answer), it seems to me like you have two main questions: 1.Why does the American government not set a timetable for leaving Iraq? 2. Do I support the killing of Iraqis by the American army?

To try to answer your first question, the simple answer is, logic says that a timetable would only increase hostilities and the chance of greater hostilities after the withdrawal of American troops. I seriously question your logic that says that setting a timetable would allow the “resistance” to “find itself obligated to stop, and get in the government to be part of the police and army to build strong enough forces to control the country before the end of the year”. The question is this: What is the “resistance” fighting for? In your last letter, you answered my points exactly the way I hoped you would—by pointing out the ways why different groups don’t support the “resistance”. The “resistance” isn’t fighting for justice, certainly not with their horribly unjust tactics; it is fighting for its own power and its own vision of Iraq. For this reason, giving them a clear idea of when their “mission” is complete is only giving them a victory, and a timetable of when they need to prepare for a civil war in Iraq.

Second, how can I answer this question? Does any of us support the killing of another? War is hell and people die—that is my answer. This is a horrible answer and I know that; in fact many times I seriously consider the possibility that pacifism is right, and that all my support of wars is totally against the will of God, but thus far in my life, I have not come to that conclusion. The awful truth is this, Khalid, and I stand upon opposite sides of a war; that is why in my opinion, the fruitful thing for us to do would be to have a discussion where our attempt is to become friends and help each other understand each other more than we do now. This is why the personal nature of many of Khalid’s answers bothers me, as it is unprofessional and detrimental to our relationship. As I have continually said, in my many discussions with Muslims and Arabs, I am pushed more and more to the belief that the best thing we can do is talk and not argue.

To conclude, sadly I am ultimately and completely frustrated by the futility of this debate. It is quite a shame that two men who believe in God and brotherhood cannot get anywhere in a discussion, but I suppose this is the way life is sometimes. We can both thank God that we are not God and that only He knows what His true will is, and one day, God will make it clear to us what our role is in His will.

Despite the fact that my information is coming from a man who has lived in Baghdad (Canon Andrew White) and news sources that have a long-standing tradition of relative objectivity as well as no reason to support the American government (in fact Americans appreciate skeptical media than anything else), Khalid, you have simply refused to believe my information. At the same time, not to blame you, I have simply refused to believe much of your information because I reject your vision of what “Iraq” is, and I am very skeptical of the news sources that you use for information—news sources that have no history of objectivity and no knowledge of a society with a free press. For example, most experts agree that around 30,000 Iraqis have died, while Khalid continues to argue for a number around 100,000 (see this article Bush Estimates 30,000 Iraqis Killed in War). Another example would be Khalid’s information about Iraqi opinions, as exemplified in this story about a recent poll (Survey finds optimism in new Iraq).

Your idea of “Iraq” seems to me to be a reactionary model where Sunni control is reinstated at the expense of others, others that you said explicitly were not for the “resistance”. Unfortunately, Khalid, I feel that your position is very biased by who you think should be in power. To America, Iraq is not just Sunni, it is also Shiite, Kurd, Christian (Assyrian), and so on. Unfortunately, our visions are so different that we are not even looking at the same picture. I suppose you could say that this is a classic example of east versus west, although supporting this sort of broad delineation may not be helpful.

I leave the rest to our readers. I pray that you do not view me as someone who is not deeply saddened by the pain in Iraq, someone who does not greatly appreciate Iraq and its people, someone who does not respect Islam, etc. I am simply someone trying to find out what is right, as we all are in this life. Perhaps you as readers are more inclined to believe Khalid’s points because he is an Iraqi, and quite probably you are right to do so. In this debate the onus is definitely on me, as an American, a Christian, and someone who has never been to Iraq, but I only hope that what I have said sheds some light on the way that some Americans think. Perhaps it might be well to conclude this debate with the sentiment that life is nothing if not difficult and extremely complex. This debate has certainly proved both of those points, in terms of our information and our relationship. The fact that this is true illustrates that this debate represents reality and is not just the random opinions of unconcerned people.

December 15, 2005

Dear Evan,

I have said before and will repeat that the goal of this debate is not getting closer to each other, but to demonstrate the facts and answer the questions, and let the readers see for themselves the elements of the case of each one of us. I represent the common anti-war side, and you represent the common pro-war side, so there is nothing personal here, and I have nothing personal against you of course. If you want a better way to get closer to an Iraqi, consider asking your government to stop occupying his country.

I have a ton of American friends myself, but I am just trying to help you understand the size of damage that is done to my country, directly or indirectly, by your country.

We can serve in a good way to reach a better relation between the two people of our countries by being honest and confessing that this illegal war was a terrible mistake, and starting to think of a way to fix that mistake.

My sources for information aren’t biased media because they aren’t the media at all. I made the media news in many occasions myself because I live the news that you see on TV. I do reports and interviews for all different kinds of media, and all kinds of organizations, TV stations, radio stations, newspapers and magazines. I have been on CNN, BBC, and many other TV stations.

I would say that not getting any closer to each other doesn’t mean than we didn’t do good. I believe we both presented our ideas and defended them as much as we could, and defending your beliefs in this kind of issues is a virtue.

I have few points left to say, answering briefly your last article:

1. Bush has finally announced that a lot of the intelligence reports about Iraq were wrong, but of course he didn't say the words of " the war was wrong." You can see that he started to at least admit that there is at least some tiny thing going wrong around! I would say that's a first.

2. Over 100,000 were killed according to the respected medical journal the Lancet, one of the world’s most prestigious magazines in the field.

3. Where did I point that I wanted “a reactionary model where Sunni control is reinstated at the expense of others”? On the contrary, I want an Iraq that is ruled by Islam that guaranties and protects the right of all other religions and minorities.

4. My logic regarding the pull-out schedule is this: The one and only goal of the resistance is the withdrawal of the occupation forces. If the occupation promises to leave on a set date, it’s fine: Set a schedule and we will believe you. Only then we will cooperate with the government and participate in filling the security gap.

5. I think that by not answering all the questions, you send a message that they are unanswerable. And if so, I think that you are right because they present the ugly truth that—I have to say—you refuse to face. Only because you know it’s ugly, you don't want to go through it.

I know that you replied briefly about the killing part only among all that, and you made where you stand clear. But I want you to get into the details to consider the possibility of someone you love being burned or shredded with White Phosphorus (WP) or cluster bombs. Imagine your country occupied and the scenes of the military of another country on your land building military bases, and then spreading a propaganda about protecting your freedom. I hope that you will never have to go through that, but I am asking you to look closely at the life of Iraqis. They are not a political theory; they are people, humans, who are suffering from the lack of medicine, food, and security. But they still have their dignity, which is urging them to fight at all levels, a fight that won’t stop, not till the last man falls, not till the last pen is broken, not before Iraq gets its freedom back, someday.