On death and dying in Iraq...Tom Fox
by Tom Baugh
North Carolina Green Party

The body count continues to rise in Iraq with thousands of men, women, and children slaughtered and over 2,300 US deaths. Among those casualties is Tom Fox, 54, Virginia Green Party member, Quaker and part of a Christian Peacekeeper Team (CPT) in Iraq investigating abuses of Iraqi detainees. Abducted in Baghdad on November 26 with three other CPT members, Fox was tortured, murdered, and his body discarded by his captors.

Tom Fox, a Quaker and Green Party member from Virginia, went to Iraq with the Christian Peacemaker teams. Pictured here at the Syrian border and in the Occupied Territories, Fox was kidnapped and held hostage by the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. His dead body was found on a Baghdad street. Photos courtesy of Christian Peacemakers.

"Tom's dedication to nonviolence was absolute," said Kirit Mookerjee of the Green Party of Virginia. "His life is a model for Green Party members and for all Americans who value peace, justice, and the principles of nonviolent resolution of conflict. His death was senseless, but it also reflects the senselessness of the war on Iraq, which Tom, like the Green Party, passionately opposed."

The day before he was abducted Fox reflected on his CPT service in Iraq. He said, "As I survey the landscape here in Iraq, dehumanization seems to be the operative means of relating to each other. US forces in their quest to hunt down and kill 'terrorists' are, as a result of this dehumanizing word, not only killing 'terrorists,' but also killing innocent Iraqis: men, women and children in the various towns and villages."

In speaking of Fox's death, a spokesperson for The Fellowship of Reconciliation said, "Tom is one of thousands of casualties of the tragic and violent fiasco in Iraq. His life was neither more important, nor less important, than any other single life needlessly lost. Indeed, it was Tom's commitment to humanize the dehumanized, to stand with the invisible and voiceless."

	Tom Fox Photo: Christian Peacemakers.

Fox was a Quaker given to primarily silent worship. The deep reflection of silent worship provided Fox with a vision concerning the earlier abduction and murder of humanitarian Margaret Hassan. In his 2004 Christmas message Fox wrote about "... a land of shadows and darkness. But within that land, candles were burning; not many but enough to shed some light on the landscape. Some candles disappeared and it was my sense that their light was taken away for protection. Other candles burned until nothing was left and a small number of candles seemed to have their light snuffed out by the shadows and the darkness. What was most striking to me was that as the candles which burned until the end and the candles whose light was snuffed out ceased to burn, more candles came into being, seemingly to build on their light."

Perhaps Tom's candle will cast a little light on the depth of evil in the US capitol and the great failure of US foreign policy. In reflecting on Fox's death, Quakers of the Langley Hill Monthly Meeting, of which Fox was a member, quoted from his statement of conviction about his CPT service in Iraq, "We reject violence to punish anyone who harms us. We ask for equal justice in the arrest and trial of anyone, soldier or civilian, who commits an act of violence, and we ask that there be no retaliation on their relatives or property. We forgive those who consider us their enemies..." There is no question that service in Iraq took a great deal of courage, belief, and commitment for Fox and his colleagues.

The Green Party of the United States has expressed their condolences to Fox's family and friends, and also joined CPT in their plea for the safe release of all other hostages. GPUS also continues to call for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

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