[yonif]

Ken Joseph Jr. was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, where his parents met following the call of General Douglas McArthur for 10,000 young Americans to come and help rebuild postwar Japan.

An Assyrian, his grandparents escaped Northern Iraq during the Assyrian Holocaust of 1917 and came to the United States and settled in Chicago.

Ken graduated from the Christian Academy in Japan and Biola University in La Mirada, California, with degrees in Intercultural Communications and Mass Communications, and went on to Talbot Theological Seminary, returning to Japan in 1987.

A Christian minister, Ken Joseph Jr. currently serves as a Pastor at the Narimasu Christ Church, in Tokyo Japan, is Founder & Director of The Japan Helpline, a worldwide 24-hour emergency hotline and relief assistance organization, and is Founder & Director of the Japan-based Keikyo Institute, which studies the historical roots of Christianiaty in Asia.

Ken Joseph Jr, is well known in Japan, where he has just completed his eighth book in Japanese, hosts a radio program, serves as a commentator on numerous television programs, writes regular columns in Japan`s major newspapers, and is much in demand throghout Japan to speak at univerisites, public forums and other gatherings.

He is currently working on a book about his experiences in Iraq and the current situation in the Middle East.

[Constitution Day]

This truly is a "Must Read".

[B4Ranch]

ping. This is a great article IMO. A keeper for sure.

[Phil V.]

WOW!

My best read of the year. Thank you for the post.

[swheats]

Over and over I questioned them `Why could you want war? Why could any human being desire war?` They're answer was quiet and measured. `Look at our lives!`We are living like animals. No food, no car, no telephone, no job and most of all no hope.`

I've read a lot of these stories of changing minds about the war. But it wasn't until tonight that I was able to feel the yearning of those who desired the war to come. It's as though you can taste their freedom as the Coalition gets closer and closer.

If those who have called themselves "human shields" does not make as big a noise as they did in going to stop the war, they are doing themselves and those yearning for freedom a terrible disservice.

[gcruse]

bttt

[centexan]

`We don't need to do that. We know what they want.

Bump Bump Bump Bump

Great post. The quote is chilling. Could have come from Hillary, Tom, Charlie, Shelia Jackson-Lee, Maxine, etc.

Prayers for our troops tonight.

[gaucho]

The tapes are going to be shown on ABC by Barbara Walters

Be sure to watch ABC the week of March 31 - April 4 for an exclusive interview with Ken Joseph, Jr. from Amman, Jordan, and the video stories of the real Iraqis caught in the grip of Saddam's terror machine.

[Libertina]

This will no doubt be played immediately on abcnbccbscnmbc... /NOT :(

[RikaStrom]

He didn't have to say a word. I had learned the language of the imprisoned Iraqi. Forbidden to speak by sheer terror they used the one language they had left - human kindness.

What a heartbreaking piece. I hope he is able to show that tape and let the world know, with irreputible facts the hell those people have endured.

A strong man to admit when he is wrong and to do what he can to correct his assumptions, may he have all the help and freedom he needs to show his story.

[GLDNGUN]

Folks. This story WILL GET OUT! Go to his church link and you'll find the following:

Be sure to watch ABC the week of March 31 - April 4 for an exclusive interview with Ken Joseph, Jr. from Amman, Jordan, and the video stories of the real Iraqis caught in the grip of Saddam's terror machine.

We will let you know as soon as a date and time is scheduled by ABC. Please check back here for details

I'm assuming they will take every pre-caution to protect those that dared to speak if we haven't stormed Baghdad and hoisted Saddam's head on a pole by then.

[Phil V.]

ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS.COM ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS.COM ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS.COM

EXCLUSIVE with Barbara Walters Be sure to watch ABC the week of March 31 - April 4 for an exclusive interview with Ken Joseph, Jr. from Amman, Jordan, and the video stories of the real Iraqis caught in the grip of Saddam's terror machine. We will let you know as soon as a date and time is scheduled by ABC. Please check back here for details!   HOME

[Humidston]

God bless him for speaking the truth!

And this reminds me... Are there human shields who have stayed in Iraq?

[AmericanInTokyo]

I have met Ken a number of times in Japan. Believe it or not, he is legit.

Ken, IMHO, honestly went to Iraq out of basic concern for those people; he has a long record of humanitarian work to prove he is primarily coming from a human assistance perspective, rather than a radical political perspective like many of the foolish and arrogant "savior-complex" "activists" (human shields) around him who did not fundamentally care about the people.

Actually what is not known here (at least on FR) is the Rev. Ken himself has been a victim of a terrorist attack. That might cause him to be sensitive to the prospect now of the use of chemical weapons on Saddam's own people. Ken himself was on a downtown Tokyo subway one a.m. in early 1990s when the Japanese *Aum Shinrikyo* terrorist sect hit it with "sarin" gas. He had terrible migranes for years afterwards and formed a group of victims. There were more than a thousand wounded in that attack.

Another point. If this does in fact air, I HIGHLY suggest the TV networks blur the faces of those interviewed. They would be in extreme danger in Baghdad from the secret police. I would not put it past some International A.N.S.W.E.R.-type people in the USA to see Ken's videomentary, and then copy and somehow try to get it to Baghdad so they could torture or execute the people he clandestinely interviewed.

[griffin]

Great report.

I really do not understand in my wildest imagination how some people can not, will not realize that peace at any cost is not desirable. I simply can not understand it. There must be some psychological block that stops them from fully grasping the amount of terror that one can experience in the face of tyranny. It must be a class of naivete that is utterly blinding. This is the only way I can begin to understand. They simply are not wise to the ways of the world.

[PRND21]

Bump

[Dat]

The part that bothers me is that by telling this story he is endangering the people he interviewed. They are going to know who he is and who his family is. This just doesn't sit right with me. I really want the Iraqis to want to be rid of Saddam, but I have to be skeptical given the fact that the Iraqis have had a muted response to coalition troops (I know some of it is from fear of the Ba'ath party, but if the feeling is so common throughout the country, there should be more support).

[jcmfreedom]

Thank you for posting this. I wish every jerk who opposes the war would be forced to sit and watch or read this story.

[expatguy]

bump

[MeekOneGOP]

Great article. Thanks for the post and the ping, folks ! . . .


Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[MeekOneGOP]

And bookmarked ! . . .