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"May 27, 2007 Imad Khadduri From an email to Dahr Jamail: Baghdad is a smashed city... "Below is an email I have just received from my close friend and translator Abu Talat. While he has fled Baghdad with his family and is now a refugee in Syria, he recently had to return to Baghdad in order to try to salvage what is left of his former life (his car, belongings from his house, etc.) before returning back to Syria. His note is instructive as to the current living conditions in the capital city of Iraq. Here is the full text of his message: Habibi…
Baghdad is a SMASHED city…no roads to drive
on…most of them are closed off by concrete obstacles with concertina wire. In
addition, the presence of the Iraqi military, who cover their faces with black
masks and hold their guns in such a way that when you see them you will
definitely be afraid that they will shoot you. Later, on my way to Sadr City, I found that two of the three roads which lead all the way from south to north Baghdad are either partially or totally closed in some places. You still remember the highways in Baghdad…well now most of them are closed, or at least fenced off with obstacles, yet they say there is some progress in the security situation inside the city! Everyday two or three cars explode across Baghdad, killing large numbers of civilians. When I returned to my neighborhood of al-Adhamiya, I couldn't get in unless the soldiers checked my ID and my car, even though the guards are from the same neighborhood and they know me personally. But they had to check it to ensure that no car bombs might happen. Nevertheless, daily mortars shell my neighborhood and those are out of control, despite this concrete wall placed by the Americans which now surrounds our neighborhood. Despite all that they do, they cannot bring security to our small neighborhood. Needless to say, Baghdad has been changed into THE CITY OF GARBAGE. You can find it everywhere. You can smell the stench of dead bodies wherever you go. Talking of electricity, there is now only one hour daily. That's it. From where we're staying in the city center, in Bab al-Muadham, I can see from the balcony that people sleep nearly naked on their rooftops because it is so hot and there is no electricity to run fans or air conditioners. Thank God that there are two large generators that maintain electricity in our building. Everyday by 2-3 pm the buildings where we are staying are closed so that noone can leave or enter. That way it is kept secure, and this is how it remains until the next morning. As far as my family life in this condition, we are as though we are in jail from 2-3 pm until the second morning where the doors are opened at 7 am. My son goes to the hospital to work, but for the last two days he finds it without any running water. [His son works in Baghdad Medical City, the largest hospital in Iraq] For the last 2 weeks, as he told me, the hospital has been without any air conditioning and almost without patients, although it's the biggest hospital in Iraq.
My sons wife, who is also a doctor, has to go to
another hospital just to try to assist since there is a drastic lack of
Gynecologists. She stays in her hospital for three days continuously before my
son picks her up with his car on the fourth day to bring her home, in order to
insure her safety so she doesn't have to take a bus or taxi. As for my
daughter, she has not passed out the doorway of this apartment where we are
staying for the last week except for one time for some work she had to
accomplish. As for me, I found my car ruined, so I had to repair it. For that I called the mechanic to come to my home and repair it, since I couldn't take the car to him since all the mechanics shops are closed and there is no place to have a car repaired. All of those shops are totally closed. When I saw the mechanic he said, "We cannot live anymore, and there is no job we can find."
Dahr, this short letter gives you just a glance of the current situation in Baghdad. With the next letter I will tell you some more." . How many in the audience will be future "terrorists"?
Splendid.
Tear-jerking photos of impoverished Iraqi kids in Baghdad's slums
begging American troops for sweets and footballs, and of course the
obligatory shot of the Iraqi kid with a small American flag. Oh,
how heartbreaking.
Baghdad 2006 Saddam trial is a theatre. It is a Hollywood show to divert attention from the destruction of Iraq and the massive war crimes committed against the Iraqi people. Like the invasion, the "tribunal" is illegal and has no legitimacy in occupied Iraq-
The remains of a bombed barber shop in Baghdad, where three people were killed, draw the interest of Iraqis in June. Islamic extremists, some of whom believe beards reflect religious piety, have been targeting the shops for attack and killing barbers. In response, barbers are posting signs stating that they do not shave men. (By Ceerwan Aziz -- Reuters)
A new children’s hospital in Basra was to be a showcase for American generosity.
It was a joint venture of Bechtel and Project Hope, one of Laura Bush’s
favourite charities, overseen by USAID. Congressional Democrats questioned
whether Iraq needed a state of the art 94-bed paediatric unit when existing
hospitals were in dire need of basic repairs and medical supplies. The contract
was signed anyway: $50 million was set aside for construction and $30 million
for supplies and training. The project was to be finished by 31 December 2005.
This June, the embassy finally ordered work to stop: $150 million had been spent,
and Bechtel estimated that a further $98 million would be needed. Treasure of Baghdad
It was 9 p.m. when my cell
phone rang. The screen showed an Iraqi number. My heart stopped for a
minute! I was scared because it was about 5 a.m. in “There were clashes in my neighborhood since the morning,” she said. “Get the hell out of there,” I said.
“I am supposed to go to Treasure of Baghdad
Iraq 2005 Khalid
..on one of the Iraqi TV channels, a governmental channel, there is a daily
show that started recently, where police, interrogates real criminals that were
arrested in Iraq, in front of the camera, we don't get to see the police faces,
we only hear their voices, while the camera is focused on the criminals' faces,
zooming in and out, all the time. those criminals are "terrorists" that the
Iraqi police and the un-national guard arrested, and they are the ones that are
doing -supposedly- the beheading and the killing of the national guard and
police operations, and also the kidnapping and stealing, rape and thefts, and
every other thing that you might think of. The police ask them: why do you do
that?
"What's his name?" "What's his name?" asked Col. Sean MacFarland, the commander of the 4,000-soldier First Brigade. "Lisk, sir," someone replied. "If he can be saved, they'll save him," said Colonel MacFarland, who had been only a few yards away in an armored personnel carrier when the mortar shell landed. About 10 minutes later, the word came. "He's dead," Colonel MacFarland said. Whenever a soldier dies, in Iraq or anywhere else, a wave of uneasiness — fear, revulsion, guilt, sadness — ripples through the survivors. It could be felt on Monday, even when the fighting was still going on. "He was my best friend," Specialist Allan Sammons said, his lower lip shaking. "That's all I can say. I'm kind of shaken up." Another soldier asked, "You want to take a break?" Specialist Sammons said, "I'll be fine," his lip still shaking. Sergeant Lisk's friends and superiors recalled a man who had risen from a hard childhood to become someone whom they counted on for cheer in a grim and uncertain place. "He was a special kid," Specialist Sammons said. "He came from a broken home. I think he was divorced. I'm worried that it might be hard to find someone." He said he would write a letter to the family — to whom it was not clear just yet. Iraq 2005 An insurgent group, the Victorious Army Group, has extended a deadline for a Web design contest, according to an Internet posting. The group has set a Jan. 15 2006 deadline for submissions of a design "worthy of the group's reputation and the reputation of the jihad and the mujahedeen," according to a translation provided by the SITE Institute, which monitors jihadist messages. The winner is promised "God's blessings" and the opportunity to fire three long-range rockets at an American military base. The land of two rivers “O’ people of Iraq, I have hated you and you have hated me. I have loathed you and you have loathed me. May Allah give me a better people, and may He give you a worst ruler.” – Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, addressing Iraqis.
Monday, February 12, 2007
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