121 Contact

Jan 31 2009 Iraq votes amid mortars, bombs, and shootings

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis held their most peaceful election since the fall of Saddam Hussein on Saturday, and voting for provincial councils ended without a single major attack reported anywhere in the country

BUT -- Reuters doesn't always get it right, and here is why many Iraqis stayed away from the polls today:

War News for Saturday, January 31, 2009
Why these incidents should be hidden by the media?

Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A shooting has occurred in Baghdad during provincial elections. Ghufran al-Saidi, a Shiite lawmaker in the Sadr City district, says a military officer opened fire Saturday after voters chanted slogans at a polling station. He says two people were injured, one of them seriously. Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, told Al-Arabiya television that one person was killed and one injured after some people tried to carry mobile phones through security cordons. The reason for the conflicting accounts was not immediately clear.

One civilian on Saturday was wounded while he was entering a polling center in eastern Baghdad, according to a local security source. “The civilian was wounded while he was entering Sulaiman al-Khazaie polling center in Sadr city, eastern Baghdad, in an attack launched by gunmen from the top of a nearby building,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

One civilians was killed and another was injured in a tribal fight after a car accident in Sadr city in east Baghdad on Saturday morning.

Tikrit:
#1: In Tikrit, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad, three mortar shells exploded near a polling station, but caused no casualties, said police, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Four mortars on Saturday landed consecutively near three electoral centers in central and western Tirkit city, causing no casualties, according to a police source. “This morning, two mortar shells fell near an electoral center on al-Arbaen Street, downtown Tikrit, causing no casualties; while a third mortar fell on Pasha Street, western Tikrit; and a fourth near the vegetables’ market in the center of the city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The fourth mortar caused damage to nearby shops and houses, according to the source.

A mortar shell on Saturday fell on a polling center in northern Tikrit, causing no casualties, the fifth of its kind in the city today, according to a local security source. “A mortar hit Omar Ibn Jandoub Center in Tikrit’s northern neighborhood of al-Qadissiya,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A bomb found near a Tikrit voting center was defused, police added.

Tuz Khurmato:
#1: Six policemen and a civilian were wounded in a bomb attack in a town north of Baghdad on Saturday as the nation was voting in provincial elections, police said. The attack took place in the main street of Tuz Khurmatu.

Police forces on Saturday killed one civilian in Touz Khormato in gun shooting that erupted after a roadside bomb wounded seven policemen, said the suburb’s mayor. “Police forces today opened fire after a roadside bomb targted their patrol vehicle near the silo, central Touz Khormato,” Mohammed Rasheed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Seven policemen were wounded in the explosion,” he said.“One civilian was killed in the shooting,” he added.

Baiji:
#1: The U.S. military says one of its soldiers has been wounded and an Iraqi is dead after a shooting incident in an industrial city north of Baghdad. The military says one Iraqi has been detained after the incident, which occurred Friday in the city of Beiji, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of the capital. A statement by the military's media office gave no further details but residents said the shooting occurred when a young Iraqi man opened fire on a U.S. foot patrol.

An Iraqi insurgent shot dead a U.S. soldier and wounded another at a town in Salahudin province on Friday, a provincial police source said. "Osama Hashim, a young man fetched his AK-47 assault rifle from his house and opened fire in the afternoon on U.S. soldiers who dismounted their patrol's vehicles in front of his house in the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The U.S. soldiers fired back and killed Hashim before they stormed his house and detained his brother inside, the source said. The reason behind the incident is unknown yet, the source added. A U.S. military statement confirmed the incident, but said that one of its soldiers has been injured and an Iraqi is dead after shooting incident in Baiji.

Mosul:
#1: The U.S. military says two Iraqi policemen were killed after they opened fire on U.S. soldiers conducting an operation against al-Qaida near the northern city of Mosul. A U.S. statement says the incident began when U.S. soldiers entered a neighborhood looking for a suspected al-Qaida operative who was believed to be in a building. The statement says the soldiers began taking fire from a separate building and after identifying themselves fired back. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police entered the house and found two Iraqi policemen in civilian clothes had been killed in the exchange.

Jan 31 2009 Baghdad high school: Americans feel happily when they see us killed

I was talking yesterday with Mahmood, a Baghdad high school student. The conversation left me feeling like the path to Iraq/US reconciliation  is going to be long and difficult.

heyn't retrieve chat historym-hey h r u?

b-good, but a little cold.

m-ok then put some cloths on

b-lol. You ready for elections?

m-lol i am under 18

b-You are in high school?

m-thats rit

After a few minutes of this light talk I asked Mahmood if he wanted to join 121Contact…if he wanted me to find an American student to pair with him in email.

m-why i need to these people

b-what do you mean?

m-no thanks. i get enough from the american

b-i think i get it.

m-good. then did u see in the movie how they distroy the beautiful Baghdad. I hope they will live what we live from them & see what we see.

I told him how 121Contact tries to show these things to young Americans so they will know the truth of the occupation. I told him of the work of 121Contact.

m-ok its a important things u do but its not punish who did these things. who distroy a country with out a reason. and wat they will say to their god

b-i think they have no god but money. How else could the not care how many die?

m-i dont think the only reason is the money i think they feel happily when they see us killed. if u and the american people read wat the islam and the perhept mohamed say that will solve alot of wrong ideas. all the islam says about foregivinas and pease with the other religions.

and if u read the history of islam u will see the cristian & jews are living in peace with muslims. we see in the cristian countrey the muslim get hert from the non muslim becouse of the american fredom

b-i hope you do not think all American think like the bushmen.

m-yes i think that. who u think vote for bush to be the presedant? the iraqian people?

At this point the connection was lost and Mahmood’s words were left ringing another sad truth of the results of our occupation; another young Iraqi who believes, in his heart, that Americans want to kill, enjoy killing him and the Iraqi  people.

It will take an enormous effort on the part of caring Americans to heal these wounds. You can help by sending a check made out to Bruce Wallace to:

Bruce and Noor

121Contact

523 72^nd Street

Brooklyn NY 11209

 

We will see that 100% of your donation gets put into the hands of a Baghdad widow and her family. It will help change perceptions and help heal the wounds we have inflicted.

 

 

 

Jan 29 2009 Iraq Elections: Samawa Posters Paper Propaganda

Dear Bruce
I hope u in good health
this small report about reality of the street before two day from election

When we are walk in Samawa city we are see many photos and Attractive slogans there are different sizes and bright colors make by hands of the skilled

Impress the human eye that called Electoral propaganda.



But we found it distributed randomly and without coordination even on the traffic lights And we found too some of propaganda are bigger than other propaganda cause material support of the candidate and the party.

and I attach some photos with my e-mail 

 

Best Wishes

 

Ali

Jan 9 2009 N in Baghdad by Joan I. Siegel

N. In Baghdad
  by Joan I. Siegel

If I walk and look down at my feet
I will only see my feet walking
on the sidewalk. Then I will know
I am still alive. And the body
of the dead woman in the gutter
is someone else. The stench
I swallow is hers. Not mine.
The wailing is her family's.
Not mine. The car pulling up
beside me is only a car stalled
in traffic. I do not explode:
my blood raining
on the street with scraps of skin
and brains, my lifetime
of molecules housing all
I have ever known-
my mother and father
sisters and brothers
my house, my hands
the taste of pomegranates
my nephew's voice
my last thoughts screaming
in widening rings.

Jan 28 2009 Palestine & Israel: a rational view. What about Iraq?

I guess I like this video because I agree with its point of view. I wish there was a video that described the Iraq situation as clearly.

The video:
http://www.rys2sense.com/hub/get/vid/id/3.htm

The section on 'media filters' is particularly revealing, especially in its relationship to how US media portrayed (or didn't portray) the realities of the Iraqi occupation.

There is, in fact, an illegal occupation that has been going on since the UN told Israel to get out of the occupied territories.

 Only 4 percent of US news reports about West Bank and Gaza talk of the occupation. Israel is portrayed as active in 'self defense', not as illegal occupiers.

UN Resolution 181 calls for the evacuation of Palestine by 1 august 1948.

The Palestinians are angry.

Some have lost all hope.

Some have resorted to violent resistance because of the growing frustration of not getting anywhere.

And all the while the Palestinians suffer sanctions, lack of water, electricity, food, medicine, and the basic feeling of security which allows people to feel that life is worth living.

Jan 27 2009 Tolerancy.org - Iraqis move themselves toward peace

Tolerance raises its beautiful head in Iraq with the recent conference, Jan 20^th to  Jan 22nd, with dialogue and planning among many, many different Iraqi factions. Their final declaration is at  HTTP://WWW.TOLERANCY.ORG

In short: a few hundred Iraqis from most Iraqi regions, religions, sects, etc. came together to outline a plan for bringing lasting peace to their nation. This is an Iraqis for Iraq group with no need for American or any other outside influences.

At the heart is a drive to reactivate Iraqi traditions of social coexistence. These traditions have been buried by the Western press under the weight of propaganda justifying the need for a US presence in Iraq. But the Iraqis know where they come from and they know best how to return to the dignity of their shared destiny.

They call for all Clergy to preach tolerance and highlight the unifying, relevant ideas within their own beliefs. They call for government mechanisms and regulations to keep religious speech out of politics.

Perhaps most important in the short term: many of the 20 points they arrived at deal with ensuring that the movement continues with regular meetings, links to clergy and government, and the provision to honor, yearly, those Iraqis who do outstanding work to further this reconciliation movement.

The full text, and a place for your comments

Jan 25 2009 Abu Ghraib 2: the return, while Iraqis struggle for reconciliation

While the reconciliation conference continues in Erbil (more on that tomorrow) Iraq simmers just before the elections. The streets are a circus of posters with pictures of the hopeful politicians, many unknown to the general population. We are trying to get pictures out and hopefully tomorrow we will have the summary of the conference. The attendees are hopeful, but know that they have a hard road to follow...

News of the Day for Sunday, January 25, 2009

Ah, the good old days...maybe they will return...A detainee in an outdoor solitary confinement cell talks with a military policeman at the Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq in this June 22, 2004 file photo. A senior justice official says the Iraqi government will reopen the notorious Abu Ghraib prison next month, but it will have a new name. The announcement comes as the U.S. military has begun handing over detainees in its custody to the Iraqis under a new security agreement. (AP Photo/John Moore, File)


Reported Security Incidents

Balad

A 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Soldier died as a result of non-combat related injuries Jan. 24. Note: This is not the same incident posted by Whisker yesterday.


Baghdad

Roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol injure 2 soldiers, 2 others in Karrada.

Reuters also reports arrest of six men caught planting a bomb. "Under interrogation," they confess to trying to assassinate Baghdad's governor Hussein al-Tahan. (Yeah, maybe. -- C)

Kanusiyah, near Hajiwah, south of Kirkuk

U.S. troops raid the home of Dhiya Hussein, a former Colonel in the Iraqi army, kill him and his wife and wound his 8 year old daughter. From the Xinhua account:

A U.S. military statement said that the U.S. troops were conducting the operation in cooperation with Iraqi forces as required under an agreement signed late last year between the United States and Iraq. The statement said that Hussein is a suspected leader of al-Qaida assassination cell.

It said that U.S. and Iraqi troops entered Hussein's bedroom and saw his wife reach under a mattress and they told her in Arabic to show her hands, "but she failed to comply" and they shot her dead. Hussein, then, attacked the soldiers and they killed him, acting in "self-defense," the statement said, adding that the girl was wounded by a bullet that exited the mother's body and struck her in the leg.

However, Xinhua reports that according to an Iraqi police source, Iraqi authorities were not informed of the raid. The Washington Post confirms the contradictory positions of the U.S. and Iraqi authorities on this:

In the angry aftermath, 40 cars carrying hundreds of people converged on the family's funeral later in the day, said Fadhil Najm, a neighbor. He said the mourners shouted, "Death to America! Death to killers of women!" as they buried the bodies.

Gen. Jamal Tahir Bakir, head of the provincial police, said U.S. forces acted on their own in the raid. The U.S. military denied that. It confirmed the incident but said the raid was conducted in cooperation with Iraqi forces.

Mosul

Roadside bomb targeting a police patrol kills 1 civilian, injures 2. Also, a bomb hidden in a wooden cart injures 3 people.

Arbil

The body of a man in his 20s is found, shot to death.

Other News of the Day

WaPo's Anthony Shadid reports that tribal loyalties, not political parties or issues, dominate politics in Anbar. Excerpt:

Part sheik and part showman, with a dose of barroom humor, [Hamid al-Hais] leads a party that has helped make Iraq's provincial elections this month the first truly competitive vote in Sunni Muslim lands since the United States overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003. By all accounts, that is a good thing. But the results of next Saturday's ballot may say less about the campaigns themselves than about the political geography of Anbar, where tribes, sprawling clans steeped in tradition and courted by the U.S. military, enjoy more power than at any time since the Iraqi monarchy was toppled half a century ago.

Here, the new Iraq looks like the old one, imbued with politics that might be familiar to Gertrude Bell, the British diplomat and adventurer who drew the country's borders after World War I. There is a saying heard these days in Anbar: "Everyone claims they have the love of Laila, but Laila loves none of them." In other words, Laila gets to choose. The same might be said of the tribes, whose mantle everyone claims and which often demand a tidy sum for their support. Coddled and cultivated, the tribes are kingmakers. . . .

The Americans might have hoped the tribes had less power, Hais said, in their vision of a modern state built on the rule of law. "But now," he added, "they're stronger."

Abu Ghraib prison will reopen after renovations. They'll need it, because the Iraqis are supposed to take custody of some 15,000 people currently held by the U.S.

LA Times Ned Parker and Usama Redha report that in Nineveh province, it is the Arab-Kurdish conflict that is central to the election. Excerpt (Note that Barzani's statement is a bit, shall we say, disingenuous):

The ballot box has become a battleground in Nineveh province, a high-stakes combat zone where Kurds and Arabs will face off over the future shape of the country -- and confront each other over the past. The outcome could set the stage for another round of violence, which both sides insist that they do not want.

"In the last few years, almost 2,000 Kurds have been killed in Mosul," Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani told The Times this month. "We have not responded in the same manner and we have not reacted in any act of vengeance; but of course everything will have its limits."

Jan 24 2009 Iraq Security Incidents of the day

Yes, security is improving...even some bakers in Baghdad are able to stay open until late at night (although wildly fluctuating prices make shopping a gamble for some). Life? It isn't what it used to be, and memories of stability under Sadaam don't fade easily.

Ali Hassan, 10, walks past raw sewage in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009. (Photo: AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)




Reported Security incidents (January 24, 2009):

Baghdad:
#1: One civilian man was killed and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went of in western Baghdad city on Friday, according to an Iraqi police source. “The IED, which was emplaced at the intersection of al-Khadraa neighborhood, western Baghdad, left a civilian killed and two others wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded a civilian as a police patrol passed by in Khaldiya, 80 km (50 miles), west of Baghdad, Police Captain Kareem Ali said.

Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: A bomb placed on a bicycle wounded a civilian and a policeman when it struck a police patrol in the centre of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in downtown Baquba around 10 a.m. Three people were wounded including two policemen.

Sadiya:
#1: Gunmen burned three truck trailers in Sadiya village (northeast of Baquba) on Friday night. One driver was killed while the other two are missing.

Mandali:
#1: Three civilians were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack near their vehicle southeast of the city of Baaquba on Saturday, a security source in Diala said. “An IED went off near a vehicle on the main road in Mandili district, (90 km) southeast of Baaquba, wounding three civilians on board,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Hilla:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Saturday opened fire on the house of a provincial candidate in downtown Hilla city, but no casualties were reported, according to a security source.

Al Hafriya district:
#1: A roadside bomb went off on Saturday targeting a U.S. convoy in northern Wassit, devastating one of the convoy’s vehicles, said a source from the province’s police. “A roadside bomb, which was planted by unknown individuals on the highway connecting Kut to Baghdad near al-Hafriya district (105 km north of Kut city), detonated targeting a U.S. convoy,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “One U.S. military Hummer vehicle was devastated in the attack,” he added.

Jarf al Sakhr:
#1: Four Sahwa (Awakening) council fighters were killed or wounded in an armed attack on their checkpoint near Hilla city, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen attacked a checkpoint set up by Sahwa forces in Jarf al-Sakhr district (60 km northwest of Hilla), killing two Sahwa fighters and wounding two others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The gunmen fled to an unknown destination after they had caused material damage to the building,” the source noted.

Diwaniya:
#1: Five rockets on Saturday fell on the U.S.-run Camp Echo in western Diwaniya province, according to an Iraqi army source. “A fire broke out inside the camp following the attack,” eyewitnesses told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.Aswat al-Iraq news agency contacted the media advisor for the Multi-National Force (MNF), who said he has no information to release in this regard.

Basra:
#1: A security plan on Saturday was launched in Basra province to maintain law and order during the upcoming provincial elections, due to be held later this month, Basra’s Operations Command said. “A joint force from the army and police was deployed to roads and checkpoints as part of a security plan to secure the electoral process,” Col. Abbas al-Tamimi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The plan will be entirely carried out by Iraqi forces, the official explained, adding that the Multi-National Force (MNF) will remain in its bases.

Hawija:
#1: US soldiers killed an Iraqi couple and wounded their eight-year-old daughter during a raid against suspects near the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, police and the US military said.
The incident took place at 2 am (2300 GMT on Friday) when troops burst into the home of Hussein Ali, a police source said. They killed him and his wife, and wounded the child, according to a neighbour in Hawijah village, west of Kirkuk. A US army spokesman confirmed the casualties, saying the raid was a combined operation with Iraqi security forces in Haqijah.

Al Anbar Prv:
Karmah:
#1: A car bomber has struck a police checkpoint northwest of Baghdad, killing at least 5 policemen and wounding 13 people, police says. The bomber drove a car loaded with explosives into a police checkpoint in Jarma, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad on Saturday. Five policemen were killed and thirteen others including six police officers and seven civilians were wounded in the bombing.

Iraqi officials say three people have been killed in a suicide car bombing west of Baghdad. Police say the attack targeted a police patrol in the former insurgent stronghold of Karmah. Police and hospital officials say those killed in Saturday's attack include a senior police officer and two civilians. They say six other people were wounded.

Thirteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police patrol near the western Iraqi city of Falluja, police have said. A spokesman said the police patrol was returning to its base in the town of al-Karmah when the attack happened.

Jan 20 2009 Obama Is In, and Reconciliation Advances in Iraq

Right now, in Erbil Iraq, some 200 participants sit and talk of reconciliation. The first day of this conference brought together people from all over Iraq who believe in a peaceful future for their country.



The mood was serious during the day, with talk focusing on human rights. and festive at night.

At the party in the evening there was live music; music from "all over Iraq--north to south"!

(Sorry for the quality of this one. A band is on the stage and folks are jest relaxing after a long day.)

There were men, women, Sunni, Shi'a, Jews, Catholics, Kurdish, all kinds of people...We forget how mixed a society is in Iraq. And I think we forget, in the face of negative reporting here in the US, how much the vast majority of Iraqis want to get along with each other. 

The idea that permeated the day: "let us live together and forget past--like US people."  Can you imagine? After all we have done in Iraq they still view the US as able to represent some high ideals of  people getting along with each other.

You see, there is a belief in these Iraqis that Americans are distinct from the US government, and that they, like their Iraqi counterparts are generally people of peace. They are energized by the change of government here, and hope to accomplish large steps of reconciliation "while in Obama's time."

Inshallah.

Jan 19 2009 Iraq? What's that? Iraqis? Who?

I guess I will have to confess. I am jealous of the violence in Gaza. I want everyone, each and every American at least, to take responsibility for the pain of the Iraqi people, and then do something about how they feel.

As is the way of the world, up to now, the horrors of political violence fade quickly. Oh, yes, there are still stalwarts who have chosen to take some responsibility for the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the devastation to Iraqi families we enabled. They continue to contribute, and we continue to send support to Iraqi widows. All is not lost...

But now the attention is on Gaza. It's not that we don't have responsibility for the blood in Gaza. Our bullets and bombs are chopping limbs from Palestinians each day. But 121Contact is still focused on Iraqis, and it is harder and harder to raise money to help the victims of the Bushmen decision to install democracy.

Remember this photo from Baghdad? It was March 2004:
  





And now, Gaza:







Why do we keep thinking those in power will stop?

The change will have to come from us.

Inshallah.

b & n