Ottawa —
They drove through the front lines of the Iraq war, waved on by soldiers of opposing armies, through choking smoke and blowing sand to a city under bombardment.Nine peace activists, including two Canadians, made it to Baghdad on Tuesday after a harrowing 13-hour trip from Amman, Jordan.
"I think we wouldn't be able to do it tomorrow — I think that was our last chance," said David Havard, an Anglican priest who used to be a community worker in Vancouver.
Along the way they saw burned out cars and trucks, recently destroyed bridges, tanks in the distance and U.S. troops arresting four Iraqi soldiers.
"They [U.S. soldiers] flagged us to stop initially and then they waved us on, but they were pointing guns at us at one point," Mr. Havard said in a telephone interview.
"We didn't speak to them. They were on the side of this hill and we didn't stay longer than we had to."
The U.S. soldiers didn't ask to see any papers or identification, he said.
At Iraqi checkpoints, the group presented a letter in Arabic to Iraqi soldiers, explaining that its members "believe God has sent us to be with the Iraqi people at this time."
"You should have seen the look on these people's faces," Mr. Havard said. "They were stunned."
Nearing Baghdad, the group encountered thick smoke from oil fires lit by Iraqis to obscure targets in the city.
"It was actually pitch black. You couldn't see anything at all apart from the smoke. That's very uncomfortable on the eyes and the throat. It's awful."
Arriving in Baghdad, they could hear bombs falling in a distant part of the city. They were greeted by fellow activists who have been there since the war began.
"We're very glad to have them," Lisa Martens of Brandon, Man., said.
"They've arrived to work with us to accompany the civilian population."
The activists are members of Christian Peacemaker Teams who believe pacifists should be willing to die for their beliefs as soldiers die for theirs.
They don't accept assignments from the Iraqi government but often visit hospitals and orphanages and maintain a 24-hour camp at a water treatment plant.
They say they hope their presence will reassure civilians and deter indiscriminate bombing and that their reports to media and churches at home will result in greater understanding of the conflict.
"My colleague visited a home yesterday, [Monday] it had been bombed. Miraculously no one was injured. The bomb went right through the house," said Ms. Martens.
"Another colleague went to the hospital yesterday [Monday] and watched as an eight-year-old girl whose house had been bombed died in her mother's arms.
"The U.S. is calling this a clean war. We beg to differ."
Freelance journalist and filmmaker Sacha Trudeau, another Canadian in Baghdad, said the bombing is incessant but selective.
"The bombing goes on and on in Baghdad," he said in a report for Broadcast News.
"Compared with the Gulf War this is a relief, say the Iraqis. In 1991 fell indiscriminately on civilians and military facilities and explicitly targeted civilian infrastructure.
"So for now, the exodus out of the country is halted, the stockpiling of supplies ceased...People go about their affairs while they can."
Mr. Trudeau, son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, said many Iraqis expected the city to be paralyzed by a U.S.-led assault.
