[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [Latest from Baghdad Burning]

[Alfred Kagan]

FYI

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>------ Original Message ------
>Received: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 06:28:28 PM BST
>From: Roberta Bacic <Roberta at wri-irg.org>
>To: (Recipient list suppressed)
>Subject: Latest from Baghdad Burning
>
>
>From: <mailto:lastmarx1 at worldnet.att.net>Michael Munk
>To: <mailto:abc-content-l at list2.starwave.com>ABC
>Sent: 4/7/2004 1:49:27 PM
>Subject: Latest from Baghdad Burning
>
>She's still the best source on what's going on in Iraq.
>
>
>Baghdad Burning
>
>.. I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and
>souls can mend...
>Wednesday, April 07, 2004
>Teapots and Kettles...
>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

>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.
>Falloojeh has been cut off from the rest of Iraq for the last three days.
>It's terri ble. 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 wrong
 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 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?
>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-Sa dr 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

>
>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 mi litia 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'.
>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...
>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.
>Over the last three days, over 150 Iraqis have bee n 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'
 what Iraq is he living in?
>And as I blog this, all the mosques, Sunni and Shi’a alike, are calling for
>Jihad...
>
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>
>' Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent 
>' - Isaac Asimov - Foundation.


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu