As a child, Kathy Kelly, an American peace activist and writer, witnessed the rebuilding of peace following World War II, but later grew frustrated with the devastation wrought by U.S. military campaigns overseas. She has traveled to Iraq 26 times, including during both the first Gulf War and the Iraq War, and has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. She has spent most her life calling for peace, yet she feels her country has increasingly been heading in the opposite direction.