Three-time Nobel nominee speaks at lecture
Published March 12, 2004
Amid a crowd of college students and local activists, Kathy Kelly described raw sewage in hospitals, a 3-year-old girl running around playing war games and teenage Iraqi soldiers trying to get home to their mothers.
As part of the Muslim Students' Organization's Peace Awareness Month, Kelly was the featured speaker at the lecture, "Witness to War." She talked about her experience as a peace movement worker in Iraq and what Americans can do to "build a better world."
"I'm dumbfounded, shocked, almost speechless about the terrible conditions I witnessed in Iraqi hospitals," she said. "People don't need to see Mel Gibson's new movie to see suffering and pain. They only need to look at all these places around the world."
Kelly said Americans need to find other ways to resolve issues besides war. She described American soldiers she met in the Iraq who said they wanted to help.
"These young soldiers repeatedly stressed that they hoped they could do something good for the people of Iraq," she said. "A billion dollars are spent on one day of war. It would only take a tiny fraction of that money to help educate the civilization, to find a peaceful resolution. Saddam Hussein was a ruthless and oppressive ruler, but we must not allow ourselves to say fighting is the only way to oust a regime."
Kelly, who is the co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness, has been to Iraq 20 times since April 2002.
"Americans are acting like junkies addicted to war," she said. "Where are the questions, the investigations? Doesn't anybody care that we're fighting a war based on totally fabricated stories?"
Kelly said she thinks Americans are ready for change.
"The time is now to ask what more can we do to help change our world," she said.
Mid-Missouri Peaceworks Director Mark Haim said he has noticed fluctuations in war protests.
"About a year ago, there was that surge of activism," he said. "For many, it was disheartening that despite their best efforts, the government went ahead with the war and there was an immediate drop-off (in protests). But as we see the consequences of the war, we're seeing an upsurge again."
MSO president Hassan Al-Ibrahim said the group is discussing new issues this year.
"We used to only discuss Palestine," he said. "This year we had a new issue to talk about: Iraq. Our main goal was to educate people, and we accomplished that. People learned a lot tonight. We had a higher attendance than I expected."
Kelly said though she was happy with the turnout at the lecture, she wishes people with different opinions would have come out as well.
"We have to find ways to speak to people who don't agree with us," she said. "I look forward to having those discussions in which everyone can share their varying opinions."