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Iraq
Veteran peacemaker returns to inspect repairs, bring medicine
by Edith P. Eckart

Edilith Eckart with the children from the Abul Khaseeb neighborhood, supplied with clean water by the Labbani Water Purification Plant. Team Two of Veterans for Peace will be leaving to rehabilitate three more water plants in the Abul Khaseeb Valley on March 12. Donations for the project may be sent to Veterans for Peace Iraq Water Project, PO Box 532, Bayside CA 95524.

It sounded risky, it sounded dangerous.

We had successfully flown into Baghdad from Amman, Jourdan, defying the Iraq sanctions. Our trip was called the Iraq Sanctions Challenge IV. Part of our mission was to bring $4 million in medicines and medical supplies for the Baghdad hospitals. And now a few from our 50 participants would be selected to defy the "no fly" zone by flying from Baghdad to Basrah. I knew I would be among the chosen, since my initial request for participation on the trip was to inspect the Veterans for Peace Iraq Water Project south of Basrah. Seventeen Veterans for Peace had gone in by bus last October and initiated repairs of the Labbani Water Plant. I was to be the official inspector of the completed work.

We were told only twelve of us could go from our group. Another American group, Conscience International was being allowed eight people on the plane, and the plane was full. I expected it to be a rough ride in a very small plane. But, I was used to the small planes in and out of our Arcata airport.

Imagine my surprise to see a Boeing 747 awaiting us! The 747 seats 400 people, and every seat was taken. This plane was flying in defiance of the no fly zone.

"Oh, yes," I was told, "This plane flies down each morning and returns each evening."

I asked where Iraq got a 747. "The United States gave this plane to the Prince of Qatar (a small nation, just beyond Kuwait). The Prince of Qatar gave it to Iraq." Surprised, I settled back for the smooth, luxurious flight south. Another peak experience!

In Basrah I was driven along a road that reminded me of the Florida Keys-water on each side and many bridges, date palm groves everywhere. Our guides explained that the date palms were owned by families. When the dates ripen in October, the whole family goes out to harvest.

"Cloths are spread on the ground, a boy climbs up the trunk and shakes the dates out. Our trouble now is that we can't get our dates out to export them, with the UN embargo. The US warships let no date boats through."

Soon we came to Labbani Water Plant. In Baghdad I had visited a rundown gray, dismal, mostly inoperative water plant. My spirits went up when Labbani appeared by the river side, sparkling white in the sunshine. A high-spirited welcome by the Iraq staff and workers met me. I was wearing a T-shirt they recognized with the Veterans for Peace emblem, and Veterans for Peace printed in English and Arabic. It was the uniform of the day for our VFP workers last October. Everything about the water plant was spotless and in working order. Generators had been installed, since electric power was undependable. We climbed the steps to the sedimentation tank, where a new rotor had been installed. We inspected the new chlorination tanks.

Finally, we walked out on a pier over the river. Three pumps and pipes brought water up for purification. The pier which had been made of old rotten wooden planks had been rebuilt with a concrete walkway. I felt proud and happy to have been a part of the organization which had helped rebuild this water plant.

Previous to its being put into good working order, the people of the Abul Khaseeb district had had to dip their water from the contaminated river.

I wanted to see a household which receives water from the plant, and at the outskirts of Abul Khaseeb, my guide went into a home and asked permission. We were welcomed by the family with four children. The father and the oldest son came to the outside faucet, each with a glass. They turned on the tap, filled their glasses, and drank it down.

They explained that the government had tested the water for purity, and that they were very happy with clean water to their home. The mother invited us to stay for dinner. The youngest boy, fresh home from school rounded up the neighborhood kids, and they gathered to smile their thanks and wave good-bye.

My belief is that the way to real peace, is by making friends, not by dropping bombs.

Edilith Eckart, 81, of Arcata has been a "Dauntless Peacenik" for the past 20 years. Her e-mail is eeckart@humboldt1.com.