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November 11, 2011 Baghdad, Iraq: The good, the bad, the treacherous.

Baghdad, Iraq: The good, the bad, the treacherous.
November 11, 2011 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

In the midst of the good news from Iraq about the emerging civil society organizations and their good non-violent works for peaceful transition to a more democratic society we find ourselves dismayed at the rising violence.

Baghdad is once again a city of fear in which parents, reporting to us, are afraid to let their children go out to play, shopping is becoming scary, and just going to work, if you are lucky enough to have a job, is an event filled with dread. The lack of central electricity is still an issue and generators (one for your house, one for the neighborhood) are still the mainstay.

Journalists are once again under fire, and freedom of the press is no longer guaranteed. Assassinations and attacks  of reporters have increased lately, and press offices are also being attacked by 'them'. The 'them'... Some say these are government backed forces who seek out media critical of the regime, or media trying to publish honest accounts of the situation on the ground. It is a sad, and dangerous, state of affairs.

On the good side of the ledger:

Mercy Corps is expanding its Baghdad offices and continuing its work of building schools and medical clinics, teaching women to read and empowering people with disabilities.

The final declaration of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) third conference is now available, offering a window of hope for all who wish for progress in Iraq. Looking at the list of over 100 Iraqi representatives of emerging and growing NGOs yields insight into the current momentum.

All in all we remain hopeful, but it is obvious that the road ahead is treacherous for the good people who still believe that Iraq can find non-violent paths to more peaceful tomorrows.

Please write your representatives to try and alter the distribution of funds slated for Iraq. As it stands now: the non DoD allocations increase the 2012 moneys destined for Iraq's military (about US$ 2 Billion), and decrease the allocations for civil society measures. Foreign Assistance.gov reports that support for Human Rights, Health, Education and Human services have dropped to $300 million each. Allocations for the environment and Humanitarian Assistance have been cut to zero.

 

Today in Iraq:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims, killing one Iranian and wounding four others in Baghdad's northwestern Kadhimiya district, a police source said.

#2: Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding another in Baghdad's northern Adhamiya district, late on Saturday, police and hospital sources said.

#3: "Two policemen have been injured in an attack by a group of unknown gunmen, who used silencer-fixed guns in their attack on a police patrol in west Iraq's Jami'a district on Monday" the Security Source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the attackers have escaped to an unknown destination.

#4: In another incident, "an explosive charge, planted on the roadside blew off close to western Baghdad's Baya'a Garage, wounding 3 civilians and causing severe damage to a number of vehicles, parked in the garage."

#5: Four Iraqi civilians have been injured in an explosive charge blast east of Baghdad on Monday, a security source reported. "An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in one of a main road, leading to east Baghdad's al-Sadr city, has blown up early on Monday, wounding 4 civilians and causing damage to a number of vehicles, parked close to the venue of the blast," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: Three terrorists, wearing explosive belts, have been killed while driving a booby-trapped car in west Baghdad on Monday, according to the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC). "Three terrorists, wearing explosive belts and driving a booby-trapped car close to a checkpoint in west Baghdad's al-Jami'a district, have been killed close to a checkpoint," the BOC statement was announced on the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV Satellite Channel on Monday.

Taji:
#1: Two roadside bombs went off near the car of an Electricity Ministry employee, killing him and wounding seven others, including four policemen, in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. The second bomb went off when police rushed to the scene.

Tikrit:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol, killing one officer and wounding a soldier north of Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, a source at the police operations centre in Salahuddin province said.

Samarra:
#1: A cop was killed by unknown gunmen in Samarra city, security sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that "unknown gunmen with pistols equipped with silencers attacked a group of cops west of Samarra that led to the killing one member of the patrol before fleeing to unknown destination.

Mosul:
#1: A soldier was killed when a mortar shell landed at an Iraqi army checkpoint in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.

#2: A bomb attached to a car exploded, wounding a prison guard officer, in eastern Mosul, a local police source said.

#3: Gunmen in a car shot dead a teenager in western Mosul, a local police source said.

Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead a police lieutenant colonel near his house in central Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, late on Saturday, a local police source said.

Oct 31, 2011 Baghdad Days: The House is Falling

Baghdad Days: The House is Falling October 31, 2011
by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

Noor, kaif halich? We are fine. Alhamdulilah. We are fine.

Yes, I know it is 4AM here but I just could not sleep. Oh sister, the house is falling. I am living in endless panic. I cannot go on. No. Everything is all right. But I am filled with worries. There is no sleep for me. I need to talk to someone. I need to talk to someone who is far away. I can call you because you are far away and I know I will not wake you. I know you will help me.

Do you know yesterday Ahmed amd his friend came home all shaking. When the car dropped them off at the checkpoint,  when they came from school, he said, the soldiers who are surrounding the neighborhood they looked at the kids, Ahmed and his friend,  in that funny way. One of them said, “I would love to take you home with me.” My son was in tears. Frightened. He and his friend are only 12 years. My son doesn’t know of homosexual things, but he knew something is wrong. He said, “He looked at me in the funny evil way. I was frightened.”  I was in shock. How can I send them again to the school? I don’t know whom should I worry about…my daughter, or to take care of my son. They are innocent of such details of rape or sex or such things. So I sat with him and forced myself to talk with him about these details instead of his studies. I have to frighten him to make him watch out. This is a big responsibility. It is not easy. This is happening here. Can you imagine?  In our neighborhood. Can you imagine? We are surrounded now, like years ago. The checkpoints are in each place.

You ask me to take him from school and to school? To walk with him? Sister, I have 3 children. Shall I cut myself in three and take care of each child? Hammed? He is working each day, Alhamdulilah.

Hammed? Yes. He is still going to work every day. And what of his coming and going? He insists to go to work, of course. But they are killing again. Each Sunni in our neighborhood is in fear again. They are killing again; the teachers, the intellectuals, especially the professional with a job…Now we are becoming like Mosul; like Baghdad of 2006. Hammed says, “Keep the children at home.” How can I deny them school? This is impossible. They will go crazy if I lock them in the house.

Did you hear of the bombs in Amariyah? Adhamiyah? Here in Fadhil? You think this is coincidence? We are the target. They will come for us, and we don’t know when. We are living with this fear. It is of every moment. Maybe I don’t think about it at every moment. But it is there. And I will think about it again. I know.

And I tell you I am tired. I am torn…of worrying about the boy, the girl, the work, the money. And when they go out the burden is like a mountain on my chest. And when they come home I feel it is lifted. I am tired of the fear and it is taking my sleep, and I have no energy to do anything; to shop; to take the children to school; to clean the house…what for?

Hammed tells me I have to be strong. For the children.  I am strong. But, sister, I am tired.

Oh, sister, I call you. Do you hear me? Can you help me?

[the connection is cut]

 

 

 

 

 

Aug 27 2011 Hurricane Irene, Bombs, and Baghdad

Hurricane Irene, Bombs, and Baghdad

by Nisreen, 121Contact

I can’t help it. Waiting for the storm is the worst part. I want to face it. Now. I don’t want to keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I hate waiting.

It is serious, I know. And it could be worse than serious. And I don’t know why I am being…there is a laugh inside me, and a surprise. How people’s lives are so precious here and how people are so worried about the days they are going to live without electricity and water.

They’re going to shut the trains, the buses…People are talking here and there, and the News is filled with live details about the hurricane; Irene the call it. I am not afraid, and I am waiting for this Irene. I want to see if it is worth that much panic and attention in the waiting moments. Is it worth that anxiety? I am waiting and each moment and every detail from the TV draws a smile inside me and reminds me of Iraq. 

I remember the hours before the bombardment of Iraq on March 20^th, 2003. We are gathering food and water. We are storing tens of cans of food afraid of hunger and starvation. Batteries and torch lights are sold out in a few minutes. Candles and gasoline lamps are sold out before you can blink and people are hurrying back and forth from home to store; each time remembering another thing forgotten.  Even medicine is being collected and stored.

We kept waiting and waiting. In our imaginations we kept seeing the bombing. Some of us were embarrassed to show fear, and some were really tense. I was one of them. I couldn’t sit. I was moving around from 2AM until 8PM my nerves were consumed. These are moments out of time. There is movement, but little thinking. Just waiting.

At two o’clock in the morning of March 20^th, I think, my family gathered, all of us, in one house to share the panic together. And maybe to share death together.  And we sit waiting in front of TVs and there is much talk and commenting. An announcer is talking about the impending invasion and my brothers suddenly have become experts. “If they come from the North then…If they come from the South…” etc. I think they are talking out of panic, and the bragging helps them feel calm. They won’t stop talking. Some of us want a quieter space and we go to listen to one of the six radios we just bought; of different sizes and colors, and different sizes of batteries now stored in the kitchen . Each room has a radio. The radio news is live reports of the strategies, the plans, the attacks…telling us moment by moment where the troops are…We now know the provinces have been bombed.

And all of a sudden we heard the sirens. The first sign was the electricity going down. So no more TV, and we ran to the radio which ran on batteries. And almost every channel was talking about the B52s that will arrive at the borders of Baghdad later that day, at 8 o’clock in the evening, and in a few seconds they will reach Baghdad, the Presidential Palace, and the most important locations in Baghdad.

 Our phone calls never stopped. We were talking to aunts, cousins, uncles.

The aunties said, “Hide under the stairs. It is the most safe.”

The uncles advised us, “No. Go to the corners of the rooms, away from the windows. Put the dressers against the windows to stop the broken glass.”

At that moment I really hated the idea of waiting. You don’t know what is coming…it is really…not unhealthy, but…it affects your spirit, your soul, your brain. It’s really…I hate it.

OK. 7:45 and we are gathering in one room. Some jokes are told. My brothers and sisters talk politics for a while before we started worrying that the children would understand, so we had to tell more jokes and stories.

 7:50 and we keep whispering, “The B52 will be here soon.”

 :57, :58, 8 o’clock and the B52 is not here yet. We are so quiet, waiting to hear the sound of the first blast. The radio is talking, “The bombardment has started. The B52s have entered the borders. Some of the provinces are being attacked.”

We are still waiting. God knows what will happen when it comes. Then, all of a sudden, we hear, far away, shooting. And the shooting comes closer and closer. We hear some far away explosions, booms that are not very close. Then we start to feel the house shaking, and I hear it. The B52. I don’t know if it is really a B52 but that is in my mind. And I can hear the planes and feel the earth shake, and it keeps going as if they are flying around and bombing some targets.

And all of a sudden  something fills my head with panic, with fear, with “what to do. It’s here.” I can’t sit still; my brother can’t sit still. The anti-aircraft artillery shooting is so loud. It is scarier than the planes. The children start asking, “What is this noise,” and then they start to cry. So we have to sing some songs and clap.

Some of us, like me and my brother, have to go out. We want to see what’s going on. Sitting in panic could kill you. And going out to see what’s going on could kill you too, but waiting in panic is unbearable.

We went into the street. My brother and I. My neighbor came out in his gray and blue pajamas and asked, “Are you celebrating? I heard clapping.”

“No,” we answered. “We were just quieting the children.”

“I feel sorry for them,” he said.

And we saw the thing we were waiting for; the thing we were bored of waiting for. We saw the blue, dark skies turn to red, orange and small yellow fragment here and there. The stars turned red.

 I am smiling now to see how the people here are waiting for Irene.

 

Aug 20 2011 Oh my aching Baghdad, Iftar, and memories

The end of another day of fasting. Unwinding into the night with an evening of ritual: Mahgrib, Iftar, talk, and Isha.  Even later came TaraweeH, but that is another story. Several families, really parts of families, gathered together in a small apartment in Brooklyn.

The meal was lavish. Each of the many dishes delicious, and plates overflowed, as did the talk. Each dish lifted its own plumes of spice-laden air, thick with memories of Ramadans past, places past, lives past. 

"This feels like home," said a young woman, here alone, her family still in Baghdad. She lifted her face and said softly,  "The gathering; the crowded table; the many dishes; the talk, arguing, children playing and teasing...like home."

Lina, the hostess, reached a hand to touch a hand and said, "Please. We are your family now. We are all one family here."

The table overflows and there aren't enough chairs so some are sitting on hassocks and the youngest, Luma, is on the sofa. She doesn't mind because from there she can watch an ElectricFactory show ("Please Arwa, use the earpiece.") while she eats, eavesdrops, and learns English at the same time.

After dinner the teenagers head for the bedroom, the women for the kitchen, and the men chat of everyday things: the long  commutes to work, the business of making a living, studying...then AHmed told of his recently failed venture and how he had to sell the grocery store, and how that gave him the money to start another business and how this new work was so fulfilling.

"This work is the work I did in Baghdad. Air condition. Big." His hands draw large machines in the air and he continues, " Large for companies, for stores. The same. I love it. I can do it here. The store I sold in Manhattan, they are now a customer. In Baghdad we had three stores of... appliances. Air condition, refrigerator..."

He pauses here, eyes moving to the floor, hands drooping in his lap.

"Then one day my man of business...er...my partner of the business assassinated. They come into the store, some men, and they just shoot him. No. No rob. Just to kill him. He has wife and three daughters. "

He pauses again, staring into space. His breath seems to stop and his face has loses all emotion, and he continues, flatly, "Then, after this, they kill my brother-in -law. He has two children. Two sons. No reason. Too much."

Murmurs of recognition and words of condolence are offered, and accepted. A few more stories come forth of life in Baghdad in 2005, 2006 (when most of those here at the table left Iraq). The usual coda of questions without answers follows ("Who does these things? Who are these people?" Why?) and then, with a joke or two, there is first an attempt and then success at moving the mood. We return to the present and become concious of the laughter from the kitchen. Luma has not budged from the sofa. She gives no indication of having heard any of the conversation around her but notices immediately when the older women enter the room.

The women return with kaHwah and kleicha and qataiyef. They bring withthem a real joy and appreciation for what we have. The evening returns to a bright night with friends, with family, and with Ramadan's spirit of calm reverence for all that is given.

 

Aug 10 2011 Raad can't recognize Baghdad any more. "What a sad sad reality."

Too hot, too tired, too too to write, so here's a page from Raad's "In the Middle" blog:

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Baghdad: 8 years later

I can't recognize this city anymore. What a sad sad reality. I can't recognize streets because of the concrete walls, and I don't know anymore here anymore. All my friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, and coworkers have fled the country.     

The ten words I could think of to describe Baghdad are: Garbage, checkpoints, barb-wires, concrete walls, armored vehicles,  flak jackets, bodyguards, personal security detail (PSD), corruption, and death. 

Let me see if i can use all 10 words in a sentence... 

Here is a picture from my armored vehicle -- while wearing a flak jacket and accompanied by bodyguards and my PSD -- of some concrete walls, barb wires, and garbage right before a checkpoint on my way to meet some corrupt politicians.

I guess I left "death" out, so here are three stories about death:

1- One of the international experts on my compound was killed a couple of days ago by a roadside bomb. He was in his armored car wearing a flak jacket and a helmet, but the explosion was very strong. It killed him and injured everyone else in his car. The night before he was having dinner with us in the same room. The next day I was eating and thinking to myself: "who's next?".

2- My coworker was telling me a story about her brother. He was killed in 2006 by one of the militias. By complete coincidence she mentions his name and I realize he was my best friend in high-school. His name was Durayd. His two children and wife left the country after his death.

3- A friend told me that in 2005 one of the militias took over the house next to his home. The militiamen tortured a men there all night long. My friend said that him and the rest of his family spent the night reading from the Quran and praying that the militiamen would just kill the man rather than torture him. "I tried covering my ears but I could still hear him scream", he told me. At sunrise, they shot him. "Death", my friend said, "is more merciful than life".

But, on the bright side, Iraqi Burgers are still as huge as i remember them.

     
I'll go have a bite now. More soon...

Aug 5 2011 Iraq, Ramadan, and Evil, (plus some notes about the MEK).

Ramadan:  For so many Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a time of deep reflection and sacrifice. As in other faiths, fasting is used to increase spirituality, discipline, and consciousness of God's mercy. [Obama] A time dedicated to faith, to God, to the path.

In Iraq the lie has been put to Ramadan with an upsurge in violence reminiscent of an earlier, bloodier time. Who puts this lie? 

A small number of people, for sure. While the overwhelming majority of Iraqis enter a month of quiet reflection there exists a poisoned knot of maniacal people whose values have acquired an importance beyond the value of human life.

When what you believe in becomes more important than human life you have crosse the line to evil. Maybe even Evil.

We pray the good people of Iraq remain steadfast in thier commitment to peace and not be led into the further violence of revenge.

---and now for something completely different---

In the news, below, you see a mentions of an attack on the prominent Shia cleric Iyad Jamaluddin. It calls him a former legislator. It does not mention that he is a supporter of the Shia resistance movement in Iran (aka the mujahedin khalq, aka MEK).

(MEK), or the People's Mujahedeen Organization, was founded in 1965 as an urban guerrilla group opposed to the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the 1979 Revolution but later broke with revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini over ideology and direction. In 1981, it went underground.

Now based in Iraq and Europe, the MEK is a Marxist-Islamist opposition group that seeks the overthrow of Iran's theocratic government.

Read more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/02/the-mujahedeen-e-khalq-controversy.html#ixzz1U8UxHSrL

Many of their members are hiding from Iranian wrath in the North of Iraq. Iyad has called upon the Maliki government to protect them from attacks by

A rumor: he is a CIA operative. This is a totally unfounded, by me, rumor. It makes some sense in that the CIA supports the MEK and so does Jamaluddin.

 

Today in Iraq:

Baghdad:
#1: Four Iraqis have been killed in two successive bomb attacks targeting a shop selling alcohol in western Baghdad, police and health officials said. A police officer said 13 other people were injured in the blasts, which occurred in the capital's Rissala neighbourhood. He said the first bomb went off near the shop, while the second came a few minutes later as police and residents rushed to the scene. Three policemen were among those killed.

Three policemen have been injured, 15 others including 7 civilians, were injured in an explosive charge blast close to an alcohol shop south of Baghdad, a security source reported on Wednesday.

#2: Three persons have been injured, when a Katusha rocket fell close to east Baghdad’s Rusafa Prison early on Wednesday, a security source reported. “A Katusha rocket fell close to east Baghdad’s Rusafa Prison, not far from the Interior Ministry’s Headquarters on Wednesday morning, wounding 3 civilians that happened to be close to the area where the rocket fell,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, giving no further details.

Iraq’s former Legislature, Iyad Jamaluddin, has been injured when a rocket fell on his house in Baghdad’s Jadiriya district on Tuesday night, a security source reported on Wednesday. “A rocket fell on Tuesday night on the house of former Legislature, Iyad Jamaluddin in central Baghdad’s Jadiriya district, seriously wounding him and setting his house on fire,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Two policemen were wounded when a Katyusha rocket landed in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen killed two taxi drivers late on Tuesday in middle of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, a local police source said.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Two persons, one military officer, were killed and six wounded, 3 of them were soldiers, in a double bomb blasts in Abu Ghraib area, west Baghdad. The first explosion took place in front of billiard hall, while the second one occurred in the same place when army patrol arrived.


Tikrit:
#1: “An explosive charge blew of on Tuesday night against armed men, who were carrying it in their car in northern Tikrit, the center of Salahal-Din Province,” killing two of them and seriously wounding a third one,” the security source reported, charging that the armed men belong to al-Qaeda organization.


Samarra:
#1: In another incident, an explosive charge blew off on Wednesday morning against a police patrol, in central Samarra city of Salahal-Din Province, wounding a policeman and setting fire to a police car, the security source said.


Baiji:
#1: “Two other explosive charges blew off early on Wednesday against an electric pole, carrying high-tension power south of Beiji, also in Salahal-Din Province, bringing down the pole and damaging another.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two soldiers were gravely wounded today by a bomb blast directed against their patrol south of Kirkuk, security sources said.

#2: Gunmen opened fire late on Tuesday and killed an off-duty Iraqi army officer in southwest Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, a source from Kirkuk's police operation centre said.

#3: A sticky bomb attached to a civilian car seriously wounded one man in southern Kirkuk, a source from Kirkuk's police operation centre said.

July 27 2011 Baghdad: a drop of cool water as Hillary Clinton becomes Commander in Chief

A roadside bomb rocked the city center of Iraq's capital Baghdad late on Monday, wounding three civilians, a police source said. The source, on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the explosion took place on Abu-Nuwas street and no further details could be obtained so far.

This was not high on Ala's list of problems. They had heard the explosion, but it was far from their house and once noted, forgotten in the sweltering heat. Another 120 degree day dawned at The generator for the neighborhood broke. Too much heat; too many houses; too much heat.

"The heat is no more bearable, a drop of cold water becomes a wish, we sigh for a drop of cold water!!", said Ala a father of 4 children in Baghdad. He keeps watching them sleeping on the bare floor seeking cold tiles instead of the bed-heat that burns their soft skin. "Every morning my children wake up wet from sweating, it breaks my heart that I can't offer them some cold air!"

No generator, no air conitioner, no cold air-a simple equation.

Not so simple the calculus of American troop withdrawal. In a rather startling development on the path to privatization of just about everything the State Department is building a private army the size of a combat brigage. The Irish Sun reports (what? you on't rea the Irash Sun?)

Hillary Clinton will now be commander in chief of some 5,500 mercenaries hired to protect the diplomats that remain after U.S. troops (not mercenaries, mind you) are withdrawn.

Withdraw troops; insert mercenaries. What math is this?

Sergeants in combat earn as much as $190 per day while private firms charge a staggering $1200 per day. [Popular Mechanics] Let's see: 1200 - 190 times 5,500...that's about US$5 MILLION A DAY MORE THAN USING TROOPS. And it's all to support the lie that we are withdrawing our forces.

Five million dollars a day could buy a lot of cold air for Ali, his family, his neighborhood, and even his city.

 

 

July 19 2011 - Our sincere $20 Billion worth of apologies to the sweltering Iraqis.

In yesterday's post we referred to the 'days finding Baghdad sweltering at over 100 degrees F.'

We were chastised roundly by some sweaty Iraqis who know better.

The average summer temperature in Baghdad is over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. 132F is not unheard of and many days are above 120F. Those ten or so degrees make a big difference, especially when there is little electricity to run your air conditioner. It's been 10 years since reliable electricity could be counted on by most Iraqis.

 Oh, you can run the AC from your generator, if you've the money to buy the ever-more-expensive fuel, and if there's any available. In May the Iraqi Parliament ruled that it would provide free fuel for generators over the summer. Nice one! except nothing ever came of this promise since the study needed to estimate the amount of fuel needed was never conducted.

Or, like the U.S. government you can just spend and spend on cool air and not have a worry about the price.

Steven Anderson,   retired brigadier general who served as Gen. David Patreaus' chief logistician in Iraq stated  that the annual cost of air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan is over $20 billion: "War critics in Congress would be foolish not to seize on the assertion [this article has some interesting rebuttal arguments in the comments section] from Gen. David Petraeus' former chief logistician that the annual cost of air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan is over $20 billion." [Salon.com]

That's US$20B, each year, that didn't go into you local school system, or anywhere else of value to our nation. It's US20B that just helped create more enemies, more danger, and more wasted effort.

You get to vote. You get to influence where your tax dollars go. Take a stand. Write a letter. Make a call.

and while we're ranting: The cost per soldier for one year in Iraq or Afghanistan: US$1,000,000.00. A million bucks! And we've got over a hundred thousand in the field. And there are probably that many mercenaries alongside our troops, and that cost is even higher than one million per head per year. What a sorry waste of resources. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.

 

 

 

 

April 9 2011 Where were you when Baghdad fell? Demonstrating alone in Union Square.

Alone together in New York Cities April 9th Anti-Whatever demonstration against...War/Nukes/Budget Cuts for Education/Invasion of [Libya, Palestine, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Afghanistan]  /Zionism/Terrorism/Attacks on Unions/...

The signs said it all. In fact they said just about everything a moral,  upstanding person could stand up for...if they bothered to stand up at all.

THEY HELD A PEACE DEMONSTRATION

AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO COME.

After hanging around with the few hundred or so demonstrators who didn't even fill Union Square on a beautiful sunny day in Manhattan [We think there were more people gobbling goodies from the farmers market!] I headed home feeling quite alone. How could it be that so few wanted to stand up next to me and protest the odious foreign policy of the United States of America? to stand up against intollerance? How could it be that so few held compassion strong enough to do something about it?

And then, in a quiet evening speaking with Iraqis, both here and in Baghdad, I got another, less self-centered, perspective. For some Iraqis this day marks a critical disruption of thought and feeling. There were those who rejoiced when Baghdad fell. They knew the end of tyranny was at hand. There were those who felt nothing but the loss of their loved ones and friends as US troops finished the slaughter of soldiers and civilians. There were those whose anger against the invaders grew into a fireball of hatred. But all were ignorant.

Few could foresee the horror of the coming years. And now, these many years later, they can all share the same feelings about the day Baghdad fell. They can all feel the deep sadness...the lives lost, the freedoms gone, the society ruptured...

"Lives lost"? It's like saying "collateral damage". The words carry little weight. The reality is overwhelming.

 

The Heart of Iraq: Sadness and Hope

April 7, 2011, by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

In a nation shredded by over 30 years of violence there grows a forest of hope. Living within the hearts of young Iraqis, those who have chosen to persevere to make the best of themselves, despite the depravity around them, there persists optimism about themselves, their country, and their world.

They are not blind. They have learned to keep their joy alive alongside their sadness. They have learned to turn the energy of their grief and anger into positive works, for themselves, their families, and their nation.

 “Al Salaam Aleikum. Kaif halak? I am, well, I am fine, Alhamdulillah. I am exhausted. This is my first break in 9 days. I was sleeping at work. Now I am home for four days, but I am bored. Alone, you know. I have colleagues at my work, but they are not…not close friends. My dear friends are all over now. Tikrit, Abu Ghraib, the North, the South, all over. No one is in Baghdad but me. I have no one to come home to…to talk to. You know a person should not be alone. It is not meant to be that way.

Everything is going backwards now. Look at these recent demonstrations. Maybe for justice...maybe against Maliki...Who knows who is behind them? Who is to trust? Maybe I trust the Kurds. They hated Sadaam, at least. I thought to go to the demonstrations but I could not. I have a deep hurt about this, but it was not possible. You see, it would hurt my family. They are against the demonstrations and I could not go against them, cause them worry, or cause them pain.

Maybe you think I am weak because of this. I don’t look at myself as weak. You think Iraqi women are oppressed, weak, under control, but I am not like this. I am an orphan. I put myself through school, and then through my professional school and now have a high job in a respected profession.[i] This is not from weakness. I am a strong person. I am not oppressed. It is that you don’t understand the Iraqi family. You don’t see how the family and feelings for the family can make a person choose to not do something that is important to them. It would be selfish of me to demonstrate. I cannot do that.

The culture of demonstrations is not part of our history. My family was taught that to demonstrate is to be arrested, tortured, and killed. They see that and wish that I do not demonstrate. So I respect them, and don’t. I am powerful, but I don’t wish to hurt them. If I make them worry or be sad for my own reasons then I could never forgive myself. I know you don’t understand this, but that is how I am.

Tomorrow I go back to work. The neighborhood there is very poor. The health of the people is deteriorating, and corruption is increasing. Can you imagine? Even after eight years the sadness of electricity going down still depresses me; even after all this time. I should be used to this. It is flickering now. Can you still hear me?...Good.

I see the young people trying to make a difference, but I don’t know. I sometimes think, “What’s wrong with us?” Our electricity, our water, over and over, still so poor when we have so much…And the corruption of our rulers…

You have to understand that corruption is from the bottom up, not from the top down of the pyramid. The people, the ordinary people have become corrupt after so many years…a way to survive. This is the legacy of the Sadaami culture of the 80’s. A 35 year legacy. And me…if I do nothing to stop it then I am part of it. We are all part of it. I see this corruption every day. People buy their jobs. The friends of the powerful families get the best jobs. Those who speak up risk being fired. I see corruption each day, but I do not say anything. So you have to swallow everything.

The demonstrators want to make change. A lot of things are wrong in the society. They yell in the street, but then they go home and do wrong stuff to keep happy, to keep food on the table. They take their part in the corrupt way of living. If they speak up on the job they could get into trouble. This does nothing.

We need to get rid of the corrupt politicians. I see it at work. A new boss, they come in and promise to make change, but they have people above them and they really do nothing for change…[they do] the same thing or they will be forced out unless they embrace the attitude.

So after all this, why am I hopeful? I hope because I do see a little change each day. Very slowly…so very little each day…but there it is. You don’t get what you want immediately. You have to work for it. And because without hope I cannot go on.”

1-[profession, school, location disguised upon request]

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