Escondido man heads peace trip to Iraq

By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer | Tuesday, December 21, 2004 11:11 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- With a picture of his dead Marine son behind him and a table covered with medical supplies in front of him, Escondido anti-war activist Fernando Suarez del Solar told reporters Tuesday that he will spend this Christmas returning to Iraq to bring aid to children made refugees by the war.

Suarez, who described himself as a former "newspaper deliveryman and 7-Eleven cashier," has become a tireless peace activist since his 20-year-old son, Lance Cpl. Jesus del Solar, was killed March 27, 2003.

He said he and his wife, Rosa, planned to arrive in Jordan the day after Christmas as part of a 14-member delegation.

The group, comprised of mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq and relatives of victims who died in the World Trade Center attack Sept. 11, 2001, plan to spend 11 days handing out $100,000 of donated medical supplies and buying food and water for children in refugee camps along the Jordan-Iraq border.

Suarez addressed a phalanx of TV cameras in the spare San Diego office of the American Friends Service Committee ---- an international Quaker peace organization involved in the project ---- Tuesday.

Through an interpreter, Suarez said in his native Spanish that hundreds of thousands of people, families and children were forced to leave their homes in war-torn Fallujah when U.S. Marines attacked to drive out insurgents.

Some fled to Baghdad; others tried to flee into Jordan. The Jordanian government has closed its borders, leaving thousands of families and children to live in refugee encampments along the border.

Suarez said many children are dying every day because there isn't enough food, water or medical assistance.

Pointing to the table in front of him covered with medical supplies such as SpongeBob SquarePants Band-Aids to Ace bandages, bags of antibiotics, syringes and nebulizers ---- machines that deliver liquid medications in the form of mists that can be breathed in ---- Suarez said, "The intention of this trip is to provide humanitarian aid to the children of Iraq that the U.S. government has not been able to provide."

Suarez, who went to Iraq to promote peace in December 2003 with a San Francisco peace group, Global Exchange, said he spoke then with many Iraqi families and children.

He said they "were all pleased with the U.S. government because it had removed Saddam Hussein from power."

But Suarez said those people needed outside help now.

"I have contact with an Iraqi doctor in Jordan, and he told me the situation is almost that five to 10 children die every single day only from diarrhea and respiratory problems," Suarez said in halting English, "because the doctors don't have any medicines."

A press release from Global Exchange said an Internet appeal conducted jointly by military families, peace groups and doctors organizations raised the $100,000 in medical materials and cash to fund the trip.

Suarez and his wife plan to fly first to Los Angeles, then to New York to meet with the other members of the delegation, before heading to London, and arriving in Aman, Jordan, on Sunday.

Christian Ramirez, the director of the American Friends Service Committee, said the delegation plans to meet committee officials who will help them get to the refugee camps.

The committee, Ramirez said, had offices in Baghdad until this year, but was forced to flee Iraq after several humanitarian aid workers were kidnapped. The organization, in very un-Quakerlike fashion, was forced to hire armed guards.

Ramirez said the organization tried to talk Suarez out of his plan.

"I told Fernando when he told me he was thinking of going back again that it was very dangerous," Ramirez said. "And he said, 'I don't care what you guys think. I'm going. This is my mission. I've given my word that I was going to return.' "

Suarez himself acknowledges that Iraq has grown more dangerous since his first visit, and said the delegation doesn't plan to venture any further into the country than the refugee camps.

Despite that, he said he has no fear of physical danger for he or his wife. He said when he went to Iraq for the first time last year, it gave him closure for his son's death. Suarez said his son's body came home, but his "energy" stayed in Iraq, where he became one of the first U.S. soldiers killed in the war.

"When I was there, I collected my son's energy and I come back home with him," Suarez said. "And I received a lot of comfort."

Ramirez said of Suarez's decision to return to Iraq, "Personally, I think that it's a heroic effort. If there is such a thing as an American hero, I think that Fernando really has a lot of those qualities."

But others don't think Suarez's speaking out against the war or his trips to Iraq are heroic ---- even though Suarez continues to say he loves the U.S. troops but hates the war.

"Some people told me, 'Oh you're going to make comfort for the terrorists,' " the soft-eyed Suarez said. "'You're going to make the comfort for the American enemies."

"I respect the opinions," he said. "But I say the children are not the terrorists. The children are not the enemies ---- today. Tomorrow, yes. It's possible."

Suarez said how those children ultimately view the United States depends upon this country's actions. He said if the United States doesn't provide comfort and humanitarian help, "it's possible that the children of today will be the new enemy for America."

"But you help the people," he said. "Give them love and friendly relations ---- you win friends."

Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.

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