This is an Assyrian minister, born and raised in Japan. In his upbringing, his family witnessed the reconstruction of Japan after WWII. There are approximately 1 million Assyrians in Iraq, so Ken Joseph went there to protest any upcoming war. He writes of arriving in Iraq:
The first order of business was to attend Church...Since he's a minister, you might say he experience a "conversion on the road to Baghdad".Following a beautiful `Peace` to welcome the peace activists in which even the children participated, we moved to the next room to have a simple meal.
Sitting next to me was an older man who carefully began to sound me out. Apparently feeling the freedom to talk in the midst of the mingling crowd he suddenly turned to me and said `There is something you should know.` `What?` I asked surprised at the sudden comment.
`We didn't want to be here tonight`. he continued. `When the Priest asked us to gather for a Peace Service we said we didn't want to come`. He said.
`What do you mean` I inquired, confused. `We didn't want to come because we don't want peace` he replied.
`What in the world do you mean?` I asked. `How could you not want peace?` `We don't want peace. We want the war to come` he continued.
What in the world are you talking about? I blurted back.
That was the beginning of a strange odyssey that deeply shattered my convictions and moral base but at the same time gave me hope for my people and, in fact, hope for the world.
Beginning that night and continuing on in the private homes of relatives with whom I stayed little by little the scales began to come off my eyes.
Yes. See my tagline? It comes from the first article written about this minister. Then he wrote the piece you posted.
You have been a FONT of information tonight and it is appreciated.