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<font size=3><br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5>Baghdad Burning<br><br>
</font><font size=3>riverbend@velocall.com<br>
<a href="http://www.riverbendblog.com/" eudora="autourl">http://www.riverbendblog.com/</a><br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3 color="#FF3300">... I'll meet
you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can
mend...<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3 color="#808080"><b>Wednesday,
April 07, 2004<br>
</b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3> <br>
<b>Teapots and Kettles...<br>
</b>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
again.<br><br>
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, almost 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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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 wrongŠ 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.<br><br>
This is crazy. This is supposed to be punishment for violence but it's
only going to result in more bloodshed on both sides. 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 aren't going care what happens in Falloojeh
or Ramadi or Nassriyah or Najaf? Would Americans in New York disregard
bombing and killing in California?<br><br>
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 kettle.<br><br>
Then Bremer makes an appearance on tv and says that armed militias will
*not* be a part of the New Iraq. 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 freely. now that
they've become a threat to the 'Coalition', they suddenly become
'terrorists' and 'agitators'.<br><br>
Now there'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. Don't get me wrong- I'd love to see Muqtada behind bars,
but it will only cause more chaos and rage. It's much too late for
that... he has been cultivating support for too long. It's like a contest
now between the prominent Shi'a clerics. The people are dissatisfied-
especially in the south. The clerics who weren'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...<br><br>
It's like the first few days of occupation again. 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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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'. what Iraq is he living
in?<br><br>
And as I blog this, all the mosques, Sunni and Shi'a alike, are calling
for Jihad...<br><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3 color="#808080">- posted by
river @</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3 color="#0000EE"> 3:44
PM<br><br>
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