Iraqi speaker makes
for contentious event

By Sharon Resnick

Raed Jarrar believes that if Iraq had been “rich in potatoes, rather than oil” it wouldn’t now be occupied by the United States.

But regardless of why or how the U.S. came to Iraq, Jarrar, an Iraqi architect who has lived in the U.S. since 2005 and works now as the Iraq Consultant for Washington Public Policy Office for the American Friends Service Committee, said the best thing for both Iraqis and American taxpayers is for the U.S. military to leave.

“People don’t like to be occupied, whether it’s Iraq or any other country,” he told an audience of about 70 people at the Chilkat Center April 28. “Americans wouldn’t be tolerant of foreign armies coming here with tanks, even if the soldiers were nice and gave them candy.”

Jarrar’s talk, which was sponsored by Haines People for Peace, at times was anything but peaceful. An armed police officer remained throughout the almost two-hour event.

“I heard some people were in a confrontational mode toward the speaker and I thought (having an officer) would be a calming influence,” explained police chief Gary Lowe, who was also in attendance.

Jarrar said that during the “19 years of military hostilities between the U.S. and Iraq” the reasons for the continued actions were always changing.

In 1990, it was because Iraq invaded Kuwait, he said. Later, the U.S. said it was there because Iraq supported Al-Qaeda and the September 11 attack on the U.S., even though Al-Qaeda hated Saddam Hussein as much as it did the U.S, he said. Then it was because Iraq was supposed to have weapons of mass destruction, but later it was found that it did not, he said.

Now, the reasons have shifted to humanitarian and reconstruction, Jarrar said.

Repeatedly, resident Russ Walton made asides as Jarrar spoke and eventually said he couldn’t take it anymore and left to the applause of some in the audience. That applause upset Don Turner who was escorting Walton out.

On his later return to the gathering, Turner went to the podium and apologized for cursing and giving the audience the finger.

“I apologize for losing my temper,” he said. “But I was the most ashamed I’ve ever been of Haines to have people clap when someone leaves just because they disagree with you. I was trying to defuse a situation by helping him leave.”

Jarrar said he appreciated those people who come to hear him, even though they think they will disagree with what he has to say.

“It would be hard for me to do that without interrupting,” he said.

According to Jarrar, three major issues divide Iraq now: whether or not to centralize its government; whether to privatize or nationalize the ownership of its natural resources and whether to allow foreign intervention.

“Many extremists are happy that the U.S. is in Iraq because then they can continue to incite more hatred against America,” he said. “Once the Americans leave, they can’t do that.”

Iraqis are a strong and resilient people who have repeatedly persevered despite seven regime changes in the last 100 years, he said. They have dealt with more than 1,000 years of hardships, he said.

“Iraqis are capable of doing what needs to be done to fix their country and right now Iraq has more money than the U.S. has to do it,” he said.

The best way to help Iraqis and the American taxpayers is not to fly American engineers to Baghdad to build bridges, or American doctors to hospitals to care for the sick or American teachers to the schools to teach English, he said.

“The best gift we can give Iraqis is to get out of their way and let them do their job,” he said.

Right before walking out, resident John Newton asked, “Why should I, as an American citizen, believe what you say? You’re a bull-shitter.”

Resident Bill Stacy questioned how Jarrar could accurately reflect what other Iraqis believe.

“I live in Alaska, but can I say what other Alaskans think?” he asked.

Jarrar said his story is only one story and that it’s important that people do their own research. He recommended the “Iraq Index,” a statistical compilation of economic, public opinion and security data, as one source for information on Iraqi opinion polls.

Resident Suzanne Newton asked, “Why are you here taking advantage of this country and not living in your own country?”

“The U.S. is as much my country as Iraq is my country,” Jarrar said. “I see no contradiction in living here and wanting the U.S. out of Iraq. I feel it’s my responsibility to say what I believe. If Iraq invaded Texas, I would speak against that, too.”

Peace group member George Figdor, who organized the talk and has previously spoken of the need for a community dialogue on the Iraq War, said he was glad residents of differing opinions attended Jarrar’s presentation.

“It works out better that way. A dialogue gets going and the speaker is forced to not only about talk about peace, but to actually make peace. There isn’t a person in that room that didn’t learn about peacemaking. It’s a first step. If we can’t make peace here, how can we expect to make it in the Mideast?”

Earlier in the day, Jarrar had spoken to the fifth grade class, and a group of junior and senior high students.

According to principal Cheryl Stickler, he “enhanced our learning environment” and “brought a conversation to us.” As the globe becomes smaller, children need to be able to sit down and talk and listen to people who come from different ideologies, she said.

“The Iraq War Blog: An Iraqi Family’s Inside View of the First Year of Occupation,” a book written by Jarrar, his mother and brother, will soon be available at the Haines Borough Public Library.