CPTnet
28 February 2006

COLOMBIA/KENORA REFLECTION: More than just warmakers

by Irene Erin Kindy

In September of 2005, as I flew to the United States from Bogota, Colombia,
I talked with my seatmate, Jack*, an airplane mechanic who works for the US
State Department and the military contractor DynCorp to support the aerial
drug fumigations in Colombia. Jack* serviced planes for the fumigations in
Barrancabermeja. We noted some significant differences between the nature
of his work and my work with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Colombia.
I had the freedom to engage with ordinary people, while he had the
occasional sense of being a prisoner. In Barrancabermeja armed guards
escorted his work crew from their hotel to the airport every day and they
were not allowed to walk around the city.

    However, when we talked about fumigations, I was in for a surprise. I
have learned that fumigations are an ineffectual and environmentally harmful
way to eradicate drugs. Jack* agreed, saying, "The real work needs to be
done by educating people against drug use in the States. In terms of drug
trafficking, the fumigations only put a bump in the road," he said.

Several days ago on the bus to join the CPT Kenora team in western Ontario,
I spoke with a member of the U.S. Army Reserves who had just returned from
fourteen months in Iraq. To open a conversation with the young man, Danny*,
I mentioned that my Dad (CPTer Cliff Kindy) had been in Iraq. Danny* worked
with a combat battalion that saw a lot of action. "Sometimes we'd go out for
seventy-two hours with no sleep. It's amazing how far your body can go . . .
Then, back in Baghdad, we'd sleep a whole day, even though there were
explosions, gunfire and the sounds of helicopters and jets all the time."

Danny* asked whether I was ever scared in Colombia and admitted that he was
at times in Iraq. "Yeah," I said. "One time a co-worker and I were on a boat
and paramilitaries got on with all their guns and then we had to go on up
the river through their enemy territory. Luckily, nothing happened."

Danny* continued, "When I left Iraq I said 'that's the end of that' and I
try not to think about it much. Being over there really gives you a
different perspective. I don't think I'll ever be angry again, because it's
not a situation of life and death."

Because we both served in conflict zones we understood each other when we
alluded to moments of trauma we'd rather forget. Danny* respected the fact
that CPTers entered such places unarmed.

My prejudices say I would find little in common with men who chose to enter
conflict zones trusting in arms. But these two conversations opened my eyes
to the fact that just as CPTers are more than trained peacemakers, those
whose work includes weapons are more than warmakers. I find hope when I
am reminded of the common ground I share with people I initially view as
opponents.

*name changed

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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in
organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained,
peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. Originally a violence-reduction
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