Missoula speakers describe citizen-diplomacy trips to Iraq and Jordan before Gulf War bombing

Two Missoula residents who traveled to the Middle East as part of citizen-diplomacy missions described visiting Baghdad, meeting officials and speaking with schoolchildren and refugees in the days before bombing began on Jan. 17.

Anita Doyle, host of the Missoula Peace Network and a member of the Jeanette Rankin Peace Resource Centre, introduced the guests as local participants in two citizen-diplomacy efforts. Rick Schrum, a graduate student in environmental economics at the University, and Todd Randolph, a Vietnam-era former assault pilot and Gulf Peace Team participant, spoke about their experiences in Iraq, Jordan and at a border peace camp.

The visitors said their goals were to open informal channels of communication, bear witness to civilian conditions and return to the United States with first‑hand perspectives they could share locally. "Citizen diplomacy is something that to me, it's a negotiation, it's an interaction between people. It ends in hugs instead of bombs," said Todd Randolph, identified on the program as a Gulf Peace…