US victims seek a better understanding of terror

There have been victims in the US and victims in Afghanistan, and the two came together last week to share their pain.

RICHARD S. EHRLICH
Kabul

Four Americans whose relatives perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack joined a "victims-to-victims delegation" and last week visited grieving Afghans whose family members died in U.S. bombardments.

"My 20-year-old step-sister [Deora Bodley] was on Flight 93, that's the airplane that went down in Pennsylvania," said Eva Rupp, 28, from Washington D.C. in a taped interview while standing amid the bombed wreckage of an Afghan family's home.

"She was a college student studying French and child psychology. She had gone out to New York to visit friends. She was coming back to see family before school started."

Ms. Rupp joined the delegation sponsored by a San Francisco-based human rights organization, Global Exchange, to learn about Afghanistan.

The group met Afghan victims of the U.S. bombing, saw devastated sites, sang songs at an orphanage and spoke with officials.

Other delegates included Derrill Bodley, who is Ms. Rupp's step-father, and Rita Lasar, 70, from New York whose brother Abe Zelmanowitz died in the World Trade Center collapse. Also in the delegation was Kelly Campbell, 29, from Oakland, California, whose brother-in-law Craig Amudson was killed in the Pentagon attack.

Asked how she felt about the U.S. war in Afghanistan, Ms. Rupp replied: "I have a lot of feelings about that, a lot of conflicting feelings being here right now. But then again, everyone we've talked to, just about without exception, has said they're very happy that the Taliban have gone.

"I've met people who [had relatives] killed by the Taliban. I've met people who were very oppressed under the Taliban. One family lost a five-year-old child [in the U.S. bombing]. Even though they lost their five-year-old child, they are very happy that the Taliban are gone."

Ms. Rupp said U.S. President George W. Bush had a difficult decision to make after Sept. 11 concerning the war. "I'm glad I wasn't in his [Bush's] shoes," she said.

"If you look behind me, if I can describe this, there was a house behind these walls and now there's nothing but stones. There were normal children living in this house and now they can't talk. They're very, very mentally disturbed.

"Looking at the children here, that should never happen to anybody. Never. "To know that we did that is very upsetting for me. I work for the government. I support the government. I've met with people from Congress. I've met the president. He [Bush] invited all the people from Flight 93 to his home in the White House."

After touring Kabul, Ms. Rupp said she could "see both sides" of the U.S. war.

"I think the [U.S. military] people who have come here really do believe that they're doing something positive. I wouldn't criticize them. I think that they're here to help get rid of terrorism.

"Terrorists killed my [step] sister. They tortured her and killed her.

"They were able to be trained here and the Taliban supported that. If they [the U.S. military] played a part in getting rid of that network, I'm very grateful.

"I'm very sad, of course, that at times they missed their targets and I believe that the U.S. should do something to help these people.

"It is pretty shocking for me. My step-father and I, our whole family, have really been suffering a lot since Sept. 11. It's been pretty difficult, emotionally. But we do have warm homes to go home to and jobs and food. I wouldn't say it diminishes our suffering, but I feel like these people have just been suffering their whole lives.

"We are the exception in America, people who have lost family members, but it seems to be more of the rule here."

Before arriving in Afghanistan on Jan. 15, Ms. Rupp worried how Afghan victims would react to meeting Americans. "I didn't know whether they'd be really angry at the U.S. for bombing them," she said.

"They've been very hospitable. People are crying over the loss of their child because of the U.S. bombing but offering us tea, people who have absolutely nothing.

"We caused these specific, horrible things to happen. But for 20 years, this country has been at war and people have been killed in really violent ways.

"We are part of this 20 years of history of horrible violence and devastation here. I'm hoping now that the United States is involved in Afghanistan, we can hopefully ensure the democratic process goes smoothly."

Ms. Rupp said she plans to raise funds for Global Exchange which paid the delegates' airfare and other expenses.

"They are in debt for this trip so they need to pay that off. Also we're hoping for a fund to help some of the people that we've met."

Another delegate, Ms. Rupp's step-father Derrill Bodley, said: "Deora Bodley was my daughter. I knew about a month after Sept. 11 that I wanted to try and come to Afghanistan."

Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted nearby, causing Mr. Bodley, 56, of California, to jump. "What was that?" he asked nervously.

Assured it was probably a controlled detonation of a land mine, Mr. Bodley said he wanted to "learn more about the actual history of the conflict here and conditions that had something to do with Sept. 11.

"My daughter was called collateral damage at one point by somebody. And we see collateral damage here. Part of our reason for visiting here is to try and determine what is the actual collateral damage and then to bring that information back to the American people and say, 'This does exist. This needs to be addressed'."

He expressed concern that the U.S.-led war on terrorism could continue indefinitely.

"If there is going to bombing for a long time, there is going to be collateral damage for a long time. So the numbers, whatever they are right now, are going to go up. And we will be responsible, as far as I'm concerned," he said.

"Those accidents [collateral damage] are accidents. But 9/11 [Sept. 11] was not an accident. In the sense that U.S. bombing has caused these accidents to occur, I think [there should be] compensation to those individual families."

Global Exchange, meanwhile, said in a statement: "A full accounting of civilian casualties from the U.S. bombing campaign has not yet occurred, but reports from human rights organizations and academics place the number of innocent Afghan victims at between 2,000 and 4,000 people.

"At the very least, it is clear from news reports that thousands of people were either maimed or killed by U.S. air strikes," Global Exchange said.

* Richard S. Ehrlich is a former UPI correspondent who has reported from Asia for the past 24 years.