The Assyrian Democratic Organization
In Washington D.C.
Earlier Mr. Kanna spent four days in Washington D.C. holding high level meetings with Mr. Lewis Libby, the Chief of Staff for Vice President, Dick Cheney, and members of his staff. The meeting took place at The White House. He also met with Mr. Philo Dibble, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near East Affairs. The meeting was held at Mr. Dibble’s Office at the Department of State. Mr. Kanna also met with Mr. Lawrence Rossin, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Strategic Planning, along with members of his staff. The meeting took place at the Office of the National Security Council, at the White House. These meetings were organized by the Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
In these meetings Hon. Kanna discussed such topics as the Assyrian self-governance in the Nineveh Plains (Dishta d’ Ninweh); the Assyrian villages reconstruction and resettlement; and the role of the Assyrians in the post-UN administered Iraq. Mr. Ashur Youeph, vice-President of the Assyrian Aid Society accompanied Hon. Kanna to these meetings.
Modesto Event of 1 May
The speakers at this event included: Honorable Dennis Cardoza; member of the United States House of Representatives (California, 18th District); Modesto’s Vice-Chair of the City Council (Deputy Mayor), Janice Keating; Turlock Councilman John Lazar; Modesto Chief of Police, Roy Wasden; Hughson Chief of Police, Lieutenant Maury Sanders; FBI agent Gary Price; a Representative from the Stanislaus State University; talk show host Rob Johnson; talk show host Don Langman; representative of California Assembly Member Greg Aghazarian and many more. Congressman Cardoza, Deputy mayor Keating, representative of Aghazarian, and the Chief of Police in their speeches addressed Hon. Kanna as “His Excellency” and praised his work for his people and the new Iraq. The Deputy Mayor of the City of Modesto after a warm and enthusiastic speech presented Hon. Kanna with the Key to the City of Modesto.
Dennis Cardoza’s Speech (member of the United States House of Representatives -California, 18th District)
Addressing Hon. Younadam Kanna: “I wish the best for your country. The House Resolution 272 expressed concerns for the Assyrians in Iraq. Assyrians deserve to be represented in Iraq’s future government; something they have been denied for decades. They paid heavy price under Saddam Hussein and not having adequate representation in government will be great injustice. The resolution calls for freedom of religion and the right of the Assyrians to celebrate their cultural heritage. Assyrian leaders must be part of discussions that address the future of Iraq. I am pleased that Assyrians have a representative on the Iraqi Governing Council, and you Sir (pointing to Honorable Kanna) represent your people, but there is more to do. Assyrians must be guaranteed their rights under the new constitution. I will continue my efforts with the State Department and others to guarantee their rights and have their representation secured. Once again, Sir (looking at Honorable Kanna) welcome to the United States and may God bless you.
Modesto Chief of Police, Roy Wasden’s Speech
“Wow, to sit next to His Excellency and listen to his personal story and to understand the struggle and suffering of the Assyrian people … freedom is not free … a heavy price must be paid. We know that when the winds of adversities blow, strong people are made … and the Assyrian people are strong people. God bless you and your efforts (addressing Honorable Kanna)…Never give up on freedom … we will prevail … you will prevail.”
Modesto Deputy Mayor, Janice Keating’s Speech
“I want you to know how honored and privileged I feel to be here to experience how much you truly appreciate His Excellency … he had come here to you and I am honored to be here to listen to him and what he has to say about Iraq.
Recently, I was in England and spent some time in the British Museum. In the British Museum there is an entire section dedicated to the Assyrians. All the things you brought to civilization; all those artifacts; that culture; and historical items will someday have a home to go to.
Tonight, I would like to honor His Excellency and welcome him to the City of Modesto. I would like to present him with the key to our city. (Vice-Mayor Keating steps off the podium and heads towards Honorable Kanna’s head table and presents him with the Key to the City of Modesto).
Assembly member, Greg Aghazarian’s Speech
Thank you for all the work you are doing in Iraq. It is phenomenal having you here. You are an extraordinary man and I am honored to have met Your Excellency. I would like to present to you a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly honoring you for all your accomplishments and those that you will reach in your tenor in the Iraqi Governing Council.
Thank you Sir for your work and congratulations. (The Representative then headed to the head table of Hon. Kanna and presented him with the Certificate of Recognition).
Turlock Councilman, John Lazar
Turlock Councilman John Lazar took the podium and gave the guests a brief biography of Honorable Kanna and his position as the Chaldo-Assyrian representative in the Iraqi Governing Council and the Secretary General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and asked him to come to the podium and address the guests.
Honorable Younadam Kanna’s Speech
(Congratulated the audience for the first anniversary of the liberation of Iraq and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Assyrian Democratic Movement) “In Washington we addressed the future of Iraq, its reconstruction, rehabilitation, and its future relations with the United States. We are visiting with the Iraqi and Assyrian communities in the United States to convey to them the real picture of Iraq and to explain that the negative picture you see on certain media outlets is not the whole truth and it is exaggerated. Negative propaganda is coming from those who hate democracy and freedom. Let me assure you that democracy will prevail in Iraq. Iraq is free … Saddam is in the past … we are building a new Iraq, which was not there anymore; there was no Iraq, there was only Saddam.
Some say that the members of the Iraqi Governing Council were appointed by the United States. However, fact is that the Coalition Provisional Authority and the United States selected groups that were present on the ground; groups that have status in the Iraqi affairs; groups that fought Saddam for years. They did not bring anybody. Yes, there are individuals that do not fall in the above category; however, they were selected because they complete the gender, ethnic, and political diversity of Iraq.
Be assured that after June 30th everything will change … the enemy claims that this unrest and insurgency is a holy war against the occupiers. This card will fall after June 30. Iraq will be free then and those terrorists will not be able any longer to play with the emotions of the common and simple Iraqis. The United States is too Christian and lenient with these criminals. After June 30, we will have the Iraqi laws to deal with and take care of such criminals and not Geneva Convention rules. Peace and stability will soon be established in Iraq with the support of a new resolution in the Security Council and thus the help of the United Nations.
(Addressing the Iraqi Fundamental Law and the bills of rights that it protects) “We were here before the war and met with Mar Sarhad Jammo, Mar Ibrahim Ibrahim, Mar Dinkha and we told them that Saddam will fall and that our nation is divided into eleven pieces. We asked, how are we going to be ready then and when the new constitution is ready, how are we going to be represented. We did not get an answer, although Mar Ibrahim insisted on the term Chaldo-Assyrians.
We began to see certain questionable efforts coming from Europe through some clergymen and churches …let me tell you, we are living in Iraq and we can solve our problems there; we do not need foreigners to meddle in our affairs. We will not allow the repeat of what we witnessed in World War I. After much deliberation with many of our groups and authorities, the Chaldo-Assyrian National Council was established and the October 2003 Conference took place and we all decided that in this specific period in our history we shall adopt the Chaldo-Assyrian title to represent our people and Syriac to represent our heritage and language. This does not mean that Assyria and Babylonia are wiped away from history; no one can erase the name of our nation.
Due to ignorance and the influence of certain foreign groups and our enemy, some people are trying to stand against our progress. We will not allow them. We do not want to be recognized as separate groups, one used against another … we must be recognized as one people. I do not understand why is it that we cannot agree. The Jews, who today basically rule the world, were divided, but they decided to reach an agreement. They called their country Israel, their language Hebrew and their people as Jews; they compromised and decided to use the three titles: Israel, Hebrew and Jews.
The decision we have reached is a political decision for this specific and crucial time. Why is it that some do not complain about referring to our people as two separate people as Chaldeans and Assyrians in Iran? One denominator pushes all extremists, who call for separate representations. Regardless of whether these extremists are Assyrians or Chaldeans, that common denominator is the enemy of our people. Let me tell you that 80% to 85% of our people in the Nineveh plain support this move toward our unity and the Chaldo-Assyrian title. Unity is our primary challenge; we hope that the Church will make it its priority as well.
The new Iraqi Fundamental Law (Temporary Constitution) guaranteed our administrative rights. Meaning, we will have our own region … we will elect our own mayors and representatives. Today we have over 100 schools all over Iraq. We need your assistance in the resettlement of our people and reconstruction plan. Some 60% of our villages are still there and 40% need more work in them. We need help with the reconstruction of at least 20,000 homes. This is where you come from. With the $18 billion budget set by the United States government, you need to campaign in your country and with your representatives to allocate some of that budget for this reconstruction. Today, the Diaspora Assyrians have their rights protected as well; you are entitled to dual citizenship and all the privileges that accompany that decision. We passed a special law for property. Today, if you have a claim against the Iraqi government for confiscating your land or home or you sold your property under pressure, you can apply to be reimbursed or you can go back to Iraq and ask for it. Finally, you should go back to Iraq and invest there. We are ready to help you while in Iraq. We are ready to assist everybody, even those who are attacking us today.
I would like to conclude by mentioning some wonderful people who worked for the Assyrian national cause. People whom we will remember; they were among us last year but are not with us today. They are Mr. Evan Giwargis, Mr. Paul Yonan, and Mr. Nadan Younadam.
Thank you and congratulations for the first anniversary of the liberation of Iraq.
San Jose Event of 2 May
The dinner event at the Awana of the Assyrian Church of the East in San Jose was sold out almost a week before the event. Some 500 people enjoyed wonderful performances by six Assyrian singers and several poems were recited. Mr. Sa’id Sipo, Representative of the Chaldo-Assyrian Council in San Diego, welcomed Hon. Kanna and through his moderate stand, he emphasized on unity.
His Grace Mar Bawai Soro’s Speech
“We are happy to gather here on this historic day. Throughout the history of Iraq, from Simele until today, this poor nation of ours dispersed throughout the world. We never had an official representative in Iraq as we have today. We are very fortunate that today we, as the people in Iraq first and then those in the Diaspora, have a representative who is our own son, from our own Assyrian flesh and blood. We see the faces of Iraqi people, the faces of our own sons and daughters, who have been oppressed, in your beloved image brother Younadam.
We need to say thank you, thank you to you and all the other brothers and sisters who worked with you for years. Thank you because as we left our homelands you remained to protect our human and national rights. We were selfish; we left our homelands looking for better and comfortable lives, meanwhile, those who remained, especially in Iraq, spilled blood as a price for that protection. For that, we salute those Martyrs and we, as Christians, supplicate to God that he will gracefully accept their sacrifices and have a special place for them in the eternal life.
Thank you for the schools that you built to save our culture, language, and literature. Thank you for being part in raising educated and nationalistic visionaries that understands world’s politics and you are an example of such efforts.
We have met many people who have visited Iraq; many of them belonged to other groups. They have utmost respect for Hon. Younadam and all others working with him. They respected them because these people remained and worked hard and are worthy to be called trenches fighters. You made us proud. We pray to almighty God to repay you for your sacrifices and may He multiply those like you, so that our poor nation that has suffered always shall follow a path towards safety and prosperity.
Thank you so very much for the work that you accomplished in the Iraqi Governing Council and the ministry in the Kurdistan Regional Government earlier. We have a request from you. We want you to work on the issue that is most important to this nation and in one simple manner to put it: We want you to unite this nation. This we ask because today there are many questionable efforts in Iraq to divide the Iraqi Christians into pieces and break them into small sectarian groups in order to undermine our national rights. True, we have problems, especially those arguments between Assyrians and Chaldeans. However, to those who love God and love their nation, these problems must be dissolved. We have seen your hard work; a work that promotes the principles of compromise in order to bring our people closer together and ultimately unites them.
We beg you not to stop and to go forward. We will support you as long as this nation, and through your efforts, is working as one and not as two nations. We will support you even if it is one nation with two united names. We will support you with all our true and genuine nationalist love and humbleness; we will communicate with all our people and churches so that an understanding is reached because our national goal must stand ahead of our personal goals and bigger than the goals of each individual Church. Our goal must be an eternal one; a goal parallel with the greatness of our national name, this holy name you picked – Chlado-Assyrian.
Well, we are here to listen to you and not to me. However, before I conclude allow me to add that we are with you with and we will support you and our people in Iraq with our modest capabilities. Our Chaldean Assyrian people in the United States support our people in Iraq with all their hearts. We want you to work yet harder because we do not need a stranger to make us work together and we do not need a stranger to divide us. Today, if we lost as a nation, we can blame nobody but ourselves. Please convey this message to our people in Iraq. Let us pray.
His Excellency Younadam Kanna’s Speech
In his speech, Hon. Kanna repeated the message he gave in Modesto and explained step by step what has taken place in Iraq and what is anticipated in the next 18 months and the options available. He stressed unity as the key for the progress of our people in Iraq. He explained the circumstances why the adoption of the political title Chaldo-Assyrian was important at this stage. The challenges were great and the risks were high and only with a compromise to unite our people we could progress as one people.
