Tom Fox

Tom Fox, in his own words...

Tom Fox — 2006-03-11T00:03:00Z

Today we received the news so many of us have been dreading: one of the Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages in Iraq, American Tom Fox, has been killed. Many words will be written about Tom's courage, his passion for a peaceful world, and the tragedy of his murder, but perhaps it is best to begin with his own words. The following reflection was written by Tom Fox the day before he was abducted.

November 25th, 2005 — The Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Iraq team went through a discernment process, seeking to identify aspects of our work here in Iraq that are compelling enough to continue the project and comparing them with the costs (financial, psychological, physical) that are also aspects of the project. It was a healthy exercise, but it led me to a somewhat larger question: Why are we here?

If I understand the message of God, his response to that question is that we are to take part in the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God. Again, if I understand the message of God, how we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the realm.

I have read that the word in the Greek Bible that is translated as "love" in the word "agape". Again, I have read that this word is best expressed as a profound respect for all human beings simply for the fact that they are all God's children. I would state that idea in a somewhat different way, as "never thinking or doing anything that would dehumanize one of my fellow human beings." (...)

- Waiting In the Light / Electronic Iraq

'Sooner or Later It Will Snap'

Tom Fox — 2005-12-06T01:04:00Z

[The following text is Tom Fox's last email message to the Langley Hill Friends Meeting the day before he was kidnapped on Nov. 26]

Friends,

I hope everyone had a restful and enriching Thanksgiving. I don't usually follow political developments here or elsewhere but the initial reports about the communiqué from the conference in Cairo sponsored by the Arab League are very hopeful. If the initial reports are correct the various religious and political factions in Iraq have called upon the U.S. for the establishment of a timetable for withdrawal of troops. This would seem to be a significant development in that both Sunni, Shi'a and Kurdish leaders have put aside their significant differences on other issues and united on a call for foreign troops to start immediately to leave their country. (...)

- Waiting In the Light / Press Action

Why are We Here?

Tom Fox — 2005-12-04T01:14:51Z

The following reflection was written by Tom Fox the day before he was abducted.

The Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Iraq team went through a discernment process, seeking to identify aspects of our work here in Iraq that are compelling enough to continue the project and comparing them with the costs (financial, psychological, physical) that are also aspects of the project. It was a healthy exercise, but it led me to a somewhat larger question: Why are we here?

- Waiting In the Light / Electronic Iraq

Sanded In Baghdad

Tom Fox — 2005-07-16T04:55:00Z

Spending three days in the Baghdad airport waiting to see if the sand and dust would let up enough to allow flights to arrive (and then allow me to leave) was more stressful that I imagined. Of course, six trips on the airport road may have been a factor in increasing my stress level.

There were a number of internationals in the same predicament I was in. Many were people I've had very little contact with in my time in Iraq. Some were private security contractors who work for the large international firms like Dyncorp and KBR and are paid substantial sums (many 1,000 dollars a day) to protect international facilities and personnel. Others worked for NGO's and organizations that were business related, such as a firm that did management training for Iraqi entrepreneurs. I took the opportunity of being stuck there to try and get to know a number of them. (...)

- Waiting In the Light / Electronic Iraq

Tales from Falcon Camp

Tom Fox — 2005-06-16T22:27:25Z

CPT Iraq has visited U.S. base Falcon Camp three times during the last five weeks to conduct exit interviews of relatives of detainees being held there. Falcon Camp is the holding center for the Dora district in Baghdad. Anyone detained by Multinational Forces (MNF) in Dora is held there first before being either released or sent to a prison. Also civilians who have suffered property damage or been injured or had a family member killed as a result of MNF actions in Dora come there as well. (...)

- Waiting In the Light / Electronic Iraq

Tunnel Vision

Tom Fox — 2005-06-07T15:13:59Z

"Iraqis always seem to have lots of guns in their houses." A U.S. Army colonel was making reference to how prevalent gun ownership is in Iraq. We were meeting with him in his office in the Green Zone. Draped across his high back chair was an ornate leather holster with his service revolver.

"Our young technician can barely keep up with the demand." The colonel described the work of a sergeant who is an expert in constructing artificial limbs. The colonel said proudly that no one in Iraq has the equipment or expertise that this young man has. Yet there did not seem to be an acknowledgement of why there is such a demand for artificial limbs in Iraq at this time. (...)

- Waiting In the Light / Electronic Iraq

It was a Fairly Quiet Day in Baghdad

Tom Fox — 2005-05-24T12:20:24Z

In Baghdad today, four clerics (three Sunni and one Shi'a) were assassinated. The bodies of two other Sunni clerics who had been abducted last week were found. A suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle in the Abu Cher market killing nine Iraqi National Guard troops and injuring twenty-eight civilians. Two engineering students were killed when a bomb (or rocket) struck their classroom at a local school. The dean of a high school in the Shaab neighborhood was assassinated. One judge, two officials from the Ministry of Defense and one official investigating corruption in the previous Interim Government were assassinated. In all, thirty-one dead, forty-two injured and seventeen abducted. Rumors abound in Baghdad about who is responsible for all the attacks but no one has claimed responsibility. And yet compared to some days in recent weeks here in Baghdad the number of dead and injured was fewer in number. So comparatively speaking it was a fairly quite day here in Baghdad. Children walked to their schools and people went to work. Shops opened for business and the seemingly endless parade of military, police and private security vehicles went about their business. (...)

- Waiting In the Light / Electronic Iraq