March 13, 2002 - Using Peace Corps to Reach Out to the Islamic World

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By Admin1 (admin) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 8:57 am: Edit Post

Using Peace Corps to Reach Out to the Islamic World






Using Peace Corps to Reach Out to the Islamic World

Return to Afghanistan, Iran, Bangladesh and other Countries

By: James Fox, RPCV

In six months the world has tumbled and turned so much it is hard to grasp the present, much less predict the future. Yet plans must be made, life goes on. Peace Corps, like institutions throughout the world must now react to daily turns of events. Peace Corps is being called to new duties.

In the initial confusion after the World Trade Center was destroyed, many Peace Corps Volunteers were pulled from their posts. For "the safety and security of our volunteers," country programs were closed down. Meanwhile Americans demanded revenge and retribution. Alliances were negotiated and the mightiest military force on the planet set its sights on one of the weakest, broken nations. Fortunately, the ultra-conservative, fundamentalist Islamic Taliban, linked to "The Terrorists," were an easy target. Unfortunately the "war" added to an already unfortunate history of dangerous anti-Islamic polarization.

Now, urgent new mandates propose that Peace Corps lend legitimacy to a new multi-agency Freedom Corps, reach out to the Islamic world and lead the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan. Peace Corps' 40-year history of non-political respect is being tapped for political purposes. If Peace Corps is to maintain its integrity, its fundamental principles must not be co-opted for these short-term goals.

The Freedom Corps will be debated as enabling legislation is developed. However, doubling in size, return to Islamic countries and involvement in reconstruction efforts may be executed in haste, with possibly dangerous results.

Peace Corps' long history of success and respect resulted from its strict isolation from other governmental Diplomatic, Intelligence and Military operations. The strength of Peace Corps came from the bottom up, from the strengths of individual volunteers, living and working at the local level within local cultures.

Popular perceptions are that Volunteers "teach the American way of life to the natives of less developed countries." In my experience, as volunteer and staff-member, it was the volunteers that first went to learn, that had the most successful tours. Only by living within the local culture, can one begin to understand what problems really exist and what solutions may be possible. Often we learn, far more than we teach.

The Administration calls for reaching out to the Islamic World and for using PCV's in Islamic countries to facilitate communication and understanding. Excuse me. While this attention is long over due, we have been there all along. My entire PC experience, and that of many others was in Islamic countries. We lived and worked there. We brought experiences from home, and back home. But our experiences and insights have been generally ignored.

One of my greatest frustrations has been countering the religious based propaganda that stereotypes all Moslems as "the enemy." I have hundreds of stories of how I was accepted, hosted as a guest and worked closely with my Islamic coworkers, friends and neighbors.

I used to joke that we should never have drifted into the danger-zone between Arabs and Jews. Later, I warned it was dangerous to turn our back-side to the huge Islamic world. Little could I predict where we find ourselves today. Inexcusable cultural insensitivity has left us in a position with ties back to Europe's centuries-old Christian Crusades.

Our unilateral military-enforced economic imperialism has inflamed ancient wounds and put us in a position where we have become the new colonial power, rather than democratic liberator, and trading partner. We say that we must destroy an evil force that extends into most every country on earth. Our arrogant invincibility knows no bounds, as from the safety of 10,000-feet we destroy evil-forces below, immune from retaliation.

Such naivety leaves us now open to increasing random retaliation. For individual travelers and isolated workers, the world has become a significantly more dangerous place. This fundamental change in world stability has occurred in only a few months.

I lived and worked in remote places. I traveled empty deserts and the back streets of many third world cities, day and night, never concerned for my physical safety. Never concerned, like I am in cities here at home. Now, the threat of random retaliation, anywhere in the world has become more real. It is a new factor we must deal with.

Peace Corps served in and has now been pulled out of three Islamic countries that I am familiar with, Iran, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Iran was a wonderful place to live and work in the 1960's, progressing rapidly, perhaps too rapidly. I was surprised and shocked when the Shah was overthrown and a religious theocracy gained control. I hear that the average Iranian is still pro-American. In recent years, Iran has been rapidly opening up, and I was looking forward to a return visit and normalization of relations. Now, relations have been set back 10-years, as we prepare plans for "nuking the evil-axis." "Terrorism" has nothing to do with the Iranian friends I knew, lived and worked with. They must not be victims of misguided military adventures. Peace Corps should return as soon as possible

Bangladeish was one of the poorest countries in the '60's, suffering from severe overpopulation and political problems. When I returned after 30 years, I was overwhelmed with the progress I found, - some directly attributable to Peace Corps or USAID efforts back then. The present Bengali-Islamic government is moderate, providing growth and opportunities for both men and women alike. The social changes were revolutionary in scope. Our reintroduced volunteers were doing well. Peace Corps should return as soon as possible.

Afghanistan, in the sixties, was as always an isolated, barren place. Empty of resources, essentially locally governed by village tradition, I described it as "the last free place on earth." Vast empty areas made me suggest renting areas to countries wanting a place for war. After the lease was up, neighboring villages could mine the war-zone for scrap metal and surplus weaponry. Afghanistan was a forgotten area, never conquered for long, peopled by tough, ancient warrior people. Raped by the Russians, and local militia warfare, it is a country destroyed. I quietly tolerated our exploitation of their civil war, figuring that Anarchy was preferable to Taliban domination. It is now a land of occupation, ripe for Soldiers of Fortune, Arms Merchants, and Carpetbaggers.

We talk of sending Peace Corps volunteers out to lead recovery. This is premature and must be carefully reassessed. Throwing PCV's out there to band-aid war wounds and blatantly, anti-Islamic fundamentalist Christian pandering is hypocritical at best, and dangerously too little, too late. And legions of Peace Corp Volunteers can't "make it all well."

Afghanistan is still under siege, and we talk of placing naïve or experienced Peace Corps Volunteers in isolated remote locations. This is out of the question at this time. Believe it or not, there are some really irritated people out there. Even with an occupational military presence, I expect the US, like the British, Russians and Pakistani-Taliban before, will be expelled from the Afghani homeland. Unarmed PCV's cannot depend on non-existent local protection.

There are stable Islamic countries where Peace Corps can have reasonable local support and protection. These sites should be re-opened. The cultural exchange is valuable, but it must be two-way. We must listen and learn, as well as teach. Peace Corps must never be exploited as a propaganda, political, intelligence or covert military tool. Peace Corps has a unique role, proven by history. Let other agencies carry out other tasks.

Peace Corps must be run by ex-PCV's who have learned cultural sensitivity and real-politik the hard way. PC staff must have the sensitivity to place naïve and experienced PCV's in safe productive assignments. We must not let political necessities throw thousands of sacrificial sheep into the fields and then express horror when some wolf attacks.

For "the safety and security of our volunteers," Peace Corps must never become a political tool of this or any future administration.


Biography:


1964-65 PCV East Pakistan (Bangladesh) RPW, Evacuated during war.
1965-66 PCV Iran Village Development
1966-68 PC Iran Staff Technical Advisor
1969 Travel Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, work in Nepal
1995 1-month return visit India, Bangladesh, Nepal

James is presently a professional Civil Engineer working in Washington State.





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By jamesrday on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 3:31 am: Edit Post

I totally agree. The only person who would say send PCVs to Afganistan is a person who has never been in the PC.

By Leo Cecchini on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 8:59 am: Edit Post

Then the Peace Corps is not an agency that can help rebuild a destroyed nation?

By Faith Sorenson on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 12:13 pm: Edit Post

Yes, I agree with your position. Bush has said Peace Corps will be "creating opportunities in other nations [including] new opportunities in Muslim nations for us to spread the good story about the values, the universal values, we hold so dear."
This is not the purpose of Peace Corps! I did not join Peace Corps in order to spread my culture's values, but to share myself with people of another culture in a cultural EXCHANGE! We become preposterously presumptuous and dangerously ethnocentric when we attempt to do otherwise. I am for waiting until Afghanistan is a safe environment in which Peace Corps may function as a cultural exchange, not joining the ranks of those who would spread the "values" of U.S. military, political and philosophical superiority.--- Faith Adamson Sorenson, RPCV Sierra Leone '73-'75

By Charles Weiler on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 2:44 pm: Edit Post

Yo Jim Fox;
Perfect letter - you saved me the time and aggravation.

Remember me,Chuck WEILER,Iran 14-RPW Hamadan
1966-1968. If memory serves me you stayed at our house (with Ray Saatjian, Chuck Foster, etc.) and may have visited with me in Phila in 1969?

Please do get back to me. I've been tracking down old friends on Google.....

Architect Charles Weiler
Haddonfield, NJ

By Adrienne Renny Gorman on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - 12:33 pm: Edit Post

I agree with a lot of what you said in your article, but have some areas of disagreement. I, too, was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran in 1966-68 and remember having constantly to field accusations of being part of the CIA. I think you may have forgotten some of the paranoia that existed in Iran in those days, if only because the CIA was responsible for putting the shah on the throne. I would imagine distrust of the U.S. has only grown worse since President Bush made Iran part of the Axis of Evil.

More importantly, however, is our government's failure to use the enormous resources of its returned volunteers. I knew that the shah would be overthrown -- though not by religious fanatics -- nearly two years before it happened, simply because the demonstrations throughout Iran suggested a fundamental change in the population. But our embassy, state department and CIA people probably never left Tehran and so had no real way to judge the true feelings of the "true" people of the country. This ignorance on the part of U.S. personnel -- and journalists -- is rampant and has a great deal to do with the difficulties our military is currently facing in Iraq.

In other areas, too, our politicians continue to demonstrate this kind of ignorance, claiming that September 11 was brought on by Islamic hatred of our freedoms. Even in 1966, when the United States was a far less ubiquitous and "immoral" country, I could not walk more than a few blocks anywhere in Iran without being called a prostitute. The "freedoms" that we enjoy in this country are, in the eyes of many, a pathetic kind of license. It is this license, far more than our democracy, for which they hate us.

By Zacharov (mail.normaplus.com - 194.44.26.254) on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 10:33 am: Edit Post

PEOPLE,Stop terrorism or GOD PUNISH you. CHANGE your mind PLEASE///

By Jim Fox, RPCV (cache-ntc-aa03.proxy.aol.com - 198.81.26.8) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 2:54 am: Edit Post

Interesting re-reading what I wrote two years ago, so long ago, before even the invasion of Iraq. Fortunately, Bush's attempts to exploit Peace Corps as a band-aid for Afghanistan were just empty PR, words without substance.

Back in early-2002, I predicted that the MidEast would become a quagmire, that we had no idea what we were getting into, and would have no plans for getting out. Well, it's even worse than I feared - now over-extended, beseiged Occupational Forces, with no end in sight.

The US Military is still in Afghanistan, a holding force, having abandoned the search for "terrorists," in favor of a magor campaign for Iraqi Oil. I hear, they've pulled back to a few cities, like the British long ago. And, in remote areas the warlords have resumed the Opium crops, re-establishing their regional powers. Afghanistan will eventually revert to it's ancient anarchistic neglected state. Other than the new pipe-line, there's few spoils to plunder. Any day, they'll likely pick up BinLaden, when politically convient, and that will be that.

Peace Corps, as part of the corrupt Bush Administration, needs reform, like everything else. But that must wait until November, when we will hopefully see Regime Change here at home.


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