An Iraq for All Iraqis

My mother refuses to leave. She can manage in a war, she says; she and my father just minimize their needs. She wants to stay in Iraq because she insists it's her destiny.

I miss my family, my friends, my work. But I maintain hope. Freedom is a responsibility, and Iraqis must seize it.

In my work as a peacemaker, people often ask me what should be done. The answer to this big question is simple. We start by determining who is opposing the political process in Iraq and who is really in control. Who has the courage to stand up and take responsibility?

In my own way, I do my best for my country. I know how to work with Iraqis because I am one of them. Two weeks after the U.S. occupation, I was working in a nonprofit emergency clinic in a Sunni mosque, supported by Christians, helping Sunnis, Shiites and Christians.

It was through this work that I met officials of the international coalition Religions for Peace. In May 2003, I helped to organize a historic gathering of Iraqi religious leaders in Amman, Jordan. I oversaw an eight-car convoy, traveling without armed guards or government security, on the dangerous 14-hour drive from Iraq to Jordan.

In Amman, for the first time in my life, I experienced peace: possessing a concept of the future, knowing that you will see your friends again, living in the world as a normal human being.

I want the same thing in my country.

The writer, a surgeon, is Iraq coordinator for Religions for Peace.