[lit-ideas] Iraq
- From: JulieReneB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 18:40:37 EDT
For those interested, here's what's going on there in the last couple days
from someone who lives there.
<<
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Now it seems we are almost literally reliving the first few days of
occupation" &" I woke up to the sound of explosions and gunfire last night and
for one
terrible moment I thought someone had warped me back a whole year and we would
have to relive this last year of our life over and over againâ?¦
We haven't sent the kids to school for 3 days. The atmosphere is charged and
the day before yesterday, Baghdad was quiet and empty, almostâ?¦ the calm
before
the storm. The area of A'adhamiya in Baghdad is seeing street fighting: the
resistance and Americans are fighting out in the streets and Al-Sadr city was
bombed by the troops. They say that dozens were killed and others wounded.
They're bringing them in to hospitals in the center of the city.
Falloojeh has been cut off from the rest of Iraq for the last three days.
It's terrible. They've been bombing it constantly and there are dozens dead.
Yesterday they said that the only functioning hospital in the city was hit by
the
Americans and there's no where to take the wounded except a meager clinic that
can hold up to 10 patients at a time. There are over a hundred wounded and
dying and there's nowhere to bury the dead because the Americans control the
area surrounding the only graveyard in Falloojeh; the bodies are beginning to
decompose in the April heat. The troops won't let anyone out of Falloojeh and
they won't let anyone into it either- the people are going to go hungry in a
matter of days because most of the fresh produce is brought from outside of the
city. We've been trying to call a friend who lives there for three days and we
can't contact him.
This is supposed to be 'retaliation' for what happened last week with the
American contractors- if they were indeed contractors. Whoever they were, it
was
gruesome and wrongâ?¦ I feel for their families. Was I surprised? Hardly. This
is an occupation and for those of you naïve enough to actually believe Chalabi
and the Bush administration when they said the troops were going to be
'greeted with flowers and candy' then I can only wish that God will, in the
future,
grant you wisdom.
This is crazy. This is supposed to be punishment for violence but it's only
going to result in more bloodshed on both sidesâ?¦ people are outraged
everywhere- Sunnis and Shi'a alike. This constant bombing is only going to make
things
worse for everyone. Why do Americans think that people in Baghdad or the south
or north arenâ??t going care what happens in Falloojeh or Ramadi or Nassriyah
or
Najaf? Would Americans in New York disregard bombing and killing in
California?
And now Muqtada Al-Sadr's people are also fighting it out in parts of Baghdad
and the south. If the situation weren't so frightening, it would almost be
amusing to see Al-Hakeem and Bahr Ul Iloom describe Al-Sadr as an 'extremist'
and a 'threat'. Muqtada Al-Sadr is no better and no worse than several
extremists we have sitting on the Governing Council. He's just as willing to
ingratiate
himself to Bremer as Al-Hakeem and Bahr Ul Iloom. The only difference is that
he wasn't given the opportunity, so now he's a revolutionary. Apparently,
someone didn't give Bremer the memo about how when you pander to one extremist,
you have to pander to them all. Hearing Abdul Aziz Al-Hakeem and Bahr Ul Iloom
claim that Al-Sadr is a threat to security and stability brings about visions
of the teapot and the kettleâ?¦
Then Bremer makes an appearance on tv and says that armed militias will *not*
be a part of the New Iraqâ?¦ where has that declaration been the last 12 months
while Badir's Brigade has been wreaking havoc all over the country? Why not
just solve the problem of Al-Sadr's armed militia by having them join the
police force and army, like the Bayshmarga and Badir's Brigade?! Al-Sadr's
militia
is old news. No one was bothering them while they were terrorizing civilians
in the south. They wore badges, carried Klashnikovs and roamed the streets
freelyâ?¦ now that they've become a threat to the 'Coalition', they suddenly
become
'terrorists' and 'agitators'.
Now thereâ??s an arrest warrant with his name on it, although the Minister of
Justice was on tv claiming he knew nothing about the arrest warrant, etc. He
basically said that he was washing his hands of any move against Muqtada
Al-Sadr. Donâ??t get me wrong- Iâ??d love to see Muqtada behind bars, but it
will only
cause more chaos and rage. Itâ??s much too late for that... he has been
cultivating support for too long. Itâ??s like a contest now between the
prominent Shiâ??a
clerics. The people are dissatisfied- especially in the south. The clerics who
werenâ??t given due consideration and a position on the Governing Council, are
now looking for influence and support through the people. You can either be a
good little cleric and get along with Bremer (but have a lot of dissatisfied
people *not* supporting you) or you can be a firebrand cleric and rally the
masses...
It's like the first few days of occupation againâ?¦ it's a nightmare and
everyone is tense. My cousin and his family are staying with us for a few days
because his wife hates to be alone at home with the kids. It's a relief to have
them with us. We all sit glued to the television- flipping between Al-Jazeera,
Al-Arabia, CNN, BBC and LBC, trying to figure out what is going on. The foreign
news channels are hardly showing anything. They punctuate dazzling reportages
on football games and family pets with a couple of minutes worth of footage
from Iraq showing the same faces running around in a frenzy of bombing and
gunfire and then talk about 'Al-Sadr the firebrand cleric', not mentioning the
attacks by the troops in Ramadi, Falloojeh, Nassriyah, Baghdad, Koufa, etc.
Over the last three days, over 150 Iraqis have been killed by troops all over
Iraq and it's maddening. At times I feel like a caged animal- there's so much
frustration and anger. The only people still raving about 'liberation' are
the Iraqis affiliated with the Governing Council and the Puppets, and even they
are getting impatient with the mess.
Our foreign minister Hoshyar Zibari was being interviewed by some British
journalist yesterday, making excuses for Tony Blair and commending him on the
war. At one point someone asked him about the current situation in Iraq. He
mumbled something about how there were 'problems' but it wasn't a big deal
because
Iraq was 'stable'â?¦ what Iraq is he living in?
And as I blog this, all the mosques, Sunni and Shiâ??a alike, are calling for
Jihad...>>
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
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