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The international group, which has 30 full-time members and more than 110 trained volunteers, was founded in 1986 by Mennonites and the Church of the Brethren in Toronto. CPT now includes Quaker, Presbyterian, and Baptist peace groups from the United States and Canada. Members and volunteers do not mediate or broker peace but seek to be impartial go-betweens or bridges between tense parties—a job that sometimes means stepping between soldiers or law enforcement and civilians, which some have done on the West Bank.

CPT workers are seeking nonviolent solutions to conflicts in seven regions. Since 1993 Cliff Kindy, from North Manchester, Indiana, has addressed conflicts in Colombia, Mexico, and between Canadian police, military, and native communities. He says the situation in Iraq challenges CPT's tactics of building relationships with and between combatants on the ground.

"You can't step between an Iraqi and a bomber or touch the United Nations trade sanctions," Kindy says. "We can only draw attention to the toll the sanctions have taken on women and children and what a war will do to the vulnerable."

Kindy says he has heard no anti-Western sentiments from Iraqis in Baghdad. Kindy says nine Christian churches are within walking distance of the Al Dar Hotel, where he is staying. Most, he says, are holding round-the-clock vigils praying for peace and fasting. About 600,000 Christians live in the country of 22 million people. Iraq has five Presbyterian churches, with 3,000 members.

Scott Kerr, a CPT staffer in Baghdad, described the mood there. "In the streets, people live under a cloud of fear," Kerr said. "We feel it and are living it, too. People wash windows and are getting married and playing with infants, all with the hope that somehow there will finally be peace."

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Previous CT articles on Christian Peacemaker Teams include:

Risking Life for Peace | Caught between rebels, paramilitaries, and crop-dusters, peacemaking Christians put their lives on the line in violent Colombia. (September 7, 2001)

Hebron's Peacemakers Find No Shalom in Olive Branches | Christian Peacemaker Teams, a social-justice group working overseas, is testing the boundaries of nonviolent intervention in its mission to Hebron. (Sept. 16, 1996)

Recent articles include:

Human shields urge global action against Iraq war—Reuters (March 12, 2003)

SA human shields ready for risky mission—The Star, South Africa (March 12, 2003)

How much do human shields understand?—Seattle Post-Intelligencer (March 11, 2003)

Human shields get out—Sydney Morning Herald (March 10, 2003)

Canadian activist plans to stay in Iraq as human shields leave—Canadian Press (March 9, 2003)

US sneers at Iraq human shields—Agence France-Presse (March 4, 2003)

Iraq human shields' safety not assured: U.S. general—Associated Press (Feb. 26, 2003)

'Human shields' take stand in Baghdad—The Washington Post (Feb. 24, 2003)

Previous Christianity Today articles and commentary on the possible war with Iraq include:

Weapons of the Spirit | Regardless of their positions on Iraq, Christians have much they can do. (Feb. 25, 2003)

Just War in Iraq | Sometimes going to war is the charitable thing to do. (Dec. 10, 2002)

Bully Culprit | Can a pre-emptive strike against the tyrant of Baghdad be justified? (Sept. 30, 2001)

Christian Leaders Respond to Bush's National Security Strategy | The White House outlines foreign policy in a changing world. (September 25, 2002)

Is Attacking Iraq Moral? | Christian leaders disagree, too. (September 4, 2002)

Recently, Christianity Today Associate News Editor Stan Guthrie reported on the plight of Iraqi Christians.

A downloadable Bible study on the implications of a war with Iraq is available at CurrentIssuesBibleStudy.com. These unique Bible studies use articles from current issues of Christianity Today to prompt thought-provoking discussions in adult Sunday school classes or small groups.

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March (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47