CPTNET
Welcome at Rutba
Mar. 30 2003
by Doug Hostetter

(The author of this piece is a 15 year adviser and friend of CPT who is
currently supporting peace work in Amman, Jordan. He is Peace
Pastor, Evanston Mennonite Church (Evanston IL), and Senior Middle
East Correspondent for American Friends Service Committee.)

Amman Jordan - A three vehicles convoy started out early Saturday morning
(3/29/03) heading for the Amman Jordan on the road that runs through the
Western Iraqi desert from Baghdad to the Jordanian border. The group
included Iraqi drivers for each vehicle, 8 Americans and an Irishman from
Christian Peacemakers Teams and Voices in the Wilderness, two Japanese
reporters and a Korean peace activist. As the group headed west in the
early morning light, there was ample evidence of the effects of US/British
bombing. There were the downed bridges, the destroyed gas stations, and
the blackened shells of destroyed military and civilian vehicles by the
side of the road. US and British planes could be seen in the skies, and
were actively engaged in bombing near the road so the drivers decided
spread their vehicles apart and travel at maximum speed so as to minimize
the likelihood of their becoming "collateral damage" in this war. The last
of the vehicles carried three Christian Peacemaker Team Members: Weldon
Nisly, Seattle Washington, Kara Speltz, Oakland, CA and, Cliff Kindy of CPT
staff in Ohio, along with Shane Claiborne, Philadelphia, PA who was in Iraq
with the Voices in the Wilderness Iraqi Peace Team. They were a few hours
from the Jordanian border traveling at about 80 miles per hour when a tire
blew, causing the diver to lose control. The vehicle left the road and
landed on its side at the bottom of a 10 foot ditch. The driver thought
that the wheel had been shot by a nearby Allied plane, but the team thinks
it was just as likely that the tire was destroyed by shrapnel or debris on
the road from earlier Allied strikes.

They were able to open the doors on the top side of the vehicle and
eventually were able to pull everyone out. Everyone was bruised, badly
shaken, but all were conscious though it was clear that Weldon was badly
injured, and Cliff was bleeding badly from a large gash in his head. The
car was totaled, and the other two cars in the convoy were well out of
sight down the road toward the Jordanian border and no one in the
delegation had a satellite phone. Because of to the intensive US/British
bombing, with very good reason, there were very few vehicles on the road
between Baghdad and the Jordanian. The group was just beginning to panic,
when an Iraqi civilian car approached, pulled over and asked if he could
help. Without a second thought, the driver packed the 5 additional
passengers into his car and drove to the closest Iraqi town, Rutba, about 6
km from the site of the accident. Rutba is a city of about 20,000 people
located 140 km east of the Jordanian Border. The group was astounded to
see that this civilian town, with no apparent military structures had been
devastated by US/British bombing three days earlier. Much of the town was
destroyed including the children's hospital in which two children were
killed in the bombing. The group was taken to the only remaining
functioning medical facility in town, a 20-foot X 20-foot four-bed
clinic. The people of the town quickly gathered to inspect their uninvited
foreign guests. The group hastily offered everyone a copy the CPT
hand-out, a description of the Christian Peacemakers Team's mission and
work in Iraq, with English on one side of the page and Arabic on the
other. Introduction in hand, the people of Rutba warmly welcomed the
wounded stranded American refugees, just three days after their town had
been destroyed by American/British Aircraft. The next morning, Shane
asked, "How do you think Americans would respond to Iraqi civilians
accidentally stranded in their community three days after Iraqi aircraft
had destroyed their town?"

When the doctor arrived, the group was in for an even bigger surprise. In
this town of 20,000 in the middle of the Iraqi desert, the doctor who would
treat them spoke perfect English, and without delay, he started his
examinations. Everyone in the vehicle was badly bruised, but Weldon Nisly
had a broken thumb, several broken ribs and other possible fractures,
while Ciff Kindy had a very bad gash in his head. The doctor was
professionally embarrassed. Because of the embargo, and the Allied attack
on their primary hospital three days earlier, many medications were
unavailable. Some painkillers were on hand, but Cliff Kindy would have to
get the 10 stitches he needed to close the gash in his head without
anesthesia. Under normal circumstances, the doctor explained, they would
gladly have offered to take the wounded of group by ambulance to
Jordan. But, he could not make that offer in the current situation. As
was obvious from the bombed out ambulance not far down the road, it appears
that even ambulances are at times considered legitimate targets of
American/British bombing. By the time everyone in the group had been
treated, about two hours after they had arrived, the two other cars in the
convoy had returned and found them. The group warmly thanked the people of
Rutba for their hospitality, and tried unsuccessfully to pay the clinic and
doctor for their services. "We treat everyone in our clinic: Muslim,
Christian, Iraqi or American. We all are part of the same family you
know," the doctor said.

Christian Peacemakers Team

Weldon Nisly, Mennonite Pastor from Seattle, WA
Jonathan & Leah Wilson-Hartgrone, Philadelphia, PA
Kara Speltz of Oakland, CA
Betty Scholten, Mt. Rainier, MD
Peggy Gish, Athens, OH CPT staff
Cliff Kindy, Indiana CPT staff

Voices in the Wilderness Iraq Peace Team
Michael Birmingham, Ireland
Shane Claiborne, Philadelphia

Christian Peacemaker Teams is a program of Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite
Churches. CPT P. O. Box 6508 Chicago, IL 60680 tel. 773-277-0253; Fax:
773-277-0291, E-Mail cpt@igc.org WEB www.cpt.org