A Family in Baghdad

good evening..
we have just saw on TV that our two Italian friends ,Simmona Torretta and Simmona Pary
and their Iraqi co-workers, have been released...
we are soooo happy..
thanks for God, and His mercy
and thanks for all who prayed for their safety..
faiza

Wednesday, 22nd. , April, 2004
Good evening…
The situation is difficult…and it is getting worst, we do not know who is escalating the bombing acts, but it is clear Baghdad is living difficult days, and the security conditions are in constant deterioration…
At noon, Saturday, around 4 p.m., a powerful explosion rocked the Embassies Quarter Area, on the High Way Bridge connecting that area with the Airport Road. A trapped car hit an American convoy on the bridge, killing a number of soldiers, the metal fences of the bridge collapsed, the vehicles fell to the street below the bridge, the Airport Road was closed for a day or two, then we passed that way afterwards, and saw the remains of the accident, and the big hole in the street…
And yesterday afternoon, another trapped car collided with an American convoy in the Princesses Street, and blew up… the windows of houses and commercial shops were smashed, the street was closed to lift the bodies of the victims, the civilian Iraqis, the Americans, and the military vehicles that were burned.
I do not like hearing the stories of death and victims, my heart feels sad, if an Iraqi civilian or an American soldier dies, for they both have parents, families, and loved ones, whose hearts will be torn in pain, for the loss of their beloved…
War is something stupid and ugly…something that contains more destruction and follies than wisdom and up building.
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Yesterday, the glass of the shop's window shook at noon, and smoke rose up in space, in the area in front of us… the employees called their families to check there were no casualties there…each asked his wife were his children where?? We did not understand what happened, some say it was a trapped car, others say it was an American missile…we all shook our heads as fools, turned our hands, blew out deep sighs, and said: There is no might or strength, but by GOD…. Then we went back to continue our speech and work…..
Today another car blew up, or it was the noise of another missile, in the same area, almost at the same time… usually streets would be closed, and then, who could reach his house?? We will circle around for hours, only to find all accesses blocked…
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This week, two clerics were assassinated while walking in the streets near their houses, the bombings never seem to end, and kidnappings from streets and houses continue...
Some people kidnapped a man while driving his car in Al-Mansour Street two days ago, the driver said: Imagine, um Raid, they stopped, and in all insolence shot bullets in the air, so people run away, then they attacked the man, got him out of his car in front of our eyes, leaving the doors open, and they took him with them….
And the Police??? I asked in amazement, where were they??
He said: The Police? They run away from the area when they heard the gun shots…
I looked through the car's window to the street on my way home…and sank deeply in though… here are the streets filled with convoys of American vehicles, what exactly are these doing here??
I do not understand….
Today Fallujah was bombed, and the driver didn't come, he went there to check on his sister's house, whose windows were smashed, and to check on his widowed sister's children.
And we called the engineer to come and install the systems we sold yesterday, but he apologized, saying his house was near Al-Sadder City, that the area is a blaze in confrontations with the American Army, and all accesses were blocked. Perhaps he could come next week…
And when I go home, I put my fingers over my ears in a spontaneous movement, fearing a car or a missile would explode beside me, and I would lose my hearing…, in the morning I am more courageous… I read verses from the Holy Quran all the way…but at noon, I would be tired, hungry, and tense…..
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I receive letters from American readers, asking: Do you really have the beginnings of a civil war?? Do you think the time is right for the American army to pull out of Iraq?? Don't you see that massacres will take place, what with Al-Mahdi Army, Al-Sadder, the other parties, Al-Zarqawi, and the Wahhabies??
The same questions are repeated every day….
That means they all hear those stories and analysis from their media everyday….
So, the civil war tune is what they want to happen, for they have been playing that tune since they entered Iraq…
But there is no civil war here; people are hiding in their homes fearing for their children, going out for necessities only, and then rush back to hide from the hell of explosions.
Where did the notion of civil war come from??
The clashes here are between the occupation forces and other forces, so, where is the civil war??
In Beirut I saw the civil war; I saw the city divided to two halves, this half bombing that half with random missiles, that land on markets and streets, and there were some well-known organizations, who had names, leaderships, and political communiqués, who fight and wrestle openly, and people know them, some encouraging, others opposing…
But in Iraq, where are those local organizations that fight against each other, and wrestle??
The conflict here is between local forces and foreign forces… is this a civil war???? The kidnappings of foreigners and the bombings are carried out by non-existing organizations, that have no faces, and no real existence on earth, illusion organizations that have web sites and documentary films on Al-Jazzera Channel…
Who are their owners? Who finances them? No one knows…
Then they say a civil war, did the people join in forming these organizations?? Did they recognize them, did they give them legitimacy??
Of course not… these are foreign bodies, which do not belong to this environment, and someone created them, and forced them onto our lives… for some certain calculations and benefits whom we might understand some, but might not understand most…
But the certain and clear thing is: that the Iraqi people were the victims of criminals and fools, who are raking havoc on earth…and there is one to stop them, and shout at them: Enough.
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Since the fall of the regime, and the entry of the occupation forces to Iraq, and the media there wants to convince the world that Iraq is on the brink of a civil war, but the bombings that took place to evoke controversy between the Sunni and the Shi'aa did not work… nor did those between the Kurds and Arabs, they did not succeed, unless you count limited places in the northern cities… and they did not succeed between Muslims and Christians, despite the bombing of churches…
There is someone there who is trying, in vain, to start a civil war, but the Iraqis are in another world…. The miserable Iraqis are searching to provide their daily bread, and take shelter at home with their families and children…thinking warily: Next month the schools will reopen, how shall we send our children to school in these conditions?? No security, no stability…. Shall we keep them home?? Shall we send them in risk of their lives??
The explosions do not stop…and the interim government is weak, and helpless to present something that satisfies the citizen, and convinces him that the government is seriously thinking about him, his safety and security.
The daily government's newspapers headlines are full of beautiful promises…but there is nothing new on the ground of reality.
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The Iraqi Army and Police Force are also weak and fragile formations, who cannot even defend themselves…so how could they defend the people???
This is the same speech I have repeatedly written in my articles…. Whoever waged this war should have priorities and a plan…
Where is the plan??? Where are the priorities???
Has anyone ever asked the American administration this question??
Every company, institution, or association in society has a working plan, and aims that the members keep following, and observe its performance, then criticize it, in order to correct its path…
Is there someone who asks the American administration, from inside, or outside of it? Is there someone who questions, criticizes, and corrects the path?? Or are the clappers and hypocrites never giving a chance to others to participate and correct…
If this was the case to what is happening over there…then this is a sad disaster, with a sad ending to everyone…like the end of Saddam Hussein, with his carelessness and follies, who brought desolation to himself and his people…. And everybody paid the price of desolation, those who were with him, and those against him…
This is how the world is….
We have an old song, saying: Injustice, however long it lasts, is bitter…. Burning green and dry… and whoever doesn't believe, is a fool!!
Definitely, those who don't believe, are fools…
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I want an answer to my daily question: what will happen if the occupation forces pulled out of Iraq?? And my answer is: The conditions that occurred after the occupation forces entered Iraq, the disbandment of state institutions, the Army, the Police Force, and the security forces. All that created a void, giving way to an escalation of crimes, the entry of terrorist foreign forces, and the occurrence of daily clashes. The Iraqis no longer know friend from foe?
All these things happened, either by the stupidity of the occupation forces, or else by prior intent and planning. If it would have happened because of mismanagement, poor planning, and confusion, it could have been overcome with time, then corrected….but the program is going on stubbornly, persistently, with the same cadency… a weak interim government, guarded by the occupation army… a weak Army and Police Force, with old weapons, and no technologies…. The American army roams the land and skies of Iraq, using the most sophisticated technology… and the Iraqi police carry an ancient Klashencove, and so is the Army, driving small, miserable, pathetic vehicles, so that one missile could make all passengers fly in the air… while the tank, Helicopter, and Humvee could give more protection to their passengers against accidents, and reduce causalities??
So, there is some contemptuousness and marginalizing to the Iraqi Army and Police… or a plan to keep them incapable of taking control of things…in constant need of another, strong, backing force, to rule the country.
Of course, if three is a strong Iraqi Army that can control clashes and confrontations, a strong Police force to control security and thieves, and a government that is successful in managing the country and economy… the question then would be, from Iraqis and non-Iraqis alike: Here is the country going in the right direction, so, why is the occupation force here??? Ha?
Yes, that is the dangerous question that the Bush administration does not want to hear…
A weak Iraqi army unable to face challenges… a weak Iraqi police force that does not control security and order… and a confused, helpless government, without planning, without authorities, nor a strong budget, nor finance, nor a clear vision to solve the country's problems… and this is exactly what the occupation force wants…to stay.
How would they leave the country in such a state of disorder, weakness, and collapse??
Whoever person who has an ounce of brains, and quietness in his head would tell them: Stay, do not withdraw, until conditions get better…
Well, now, the all important question: when will conditions get better??? And what has the Bush administration done, in real, clear, tangible steps, for almost one and a half years to make conditions better???
Each one here asks himself the question, for this is the important question now… whether Bush remains in office or not….
This is the question that he should be pursued with night and day…. In all conferences, meetings, and lectures… ask him this question, for all the Iraqi people here… we cannot reach him, nor see him…. You are the ones who can reach him, and ask him, so ask him, if you love the Iraqi people, or have kindness to them, and wish to help them…
Ask him what more did he do, other than speeches and words…. Ask him, in the hope he might take responsibility for those who fell dead here, the innocent, Iraqi civilians, or the military Americans… your boys.
When he has a clear, truthful plan to improve conditions and reduce causalities… cheer him up, and re-elect him.
But if he retold the stories of terrorism, and the war on terrorism, and the same old, boring tune… then you will be joining him in the follies he commits here, and the mismanagement… and be responsible for the victims who will fall because of this mismanagement, and blunders.
A clear vision, and a realistic plan, strong and convincing, is what we need now, after long months of waste, propaganda, lies, and victims….
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What is the meaning of Democracy, and participation??? Doesn't that mean helping each other to overstep the cruel ordeals?? By thinking and discussions to find the suitable solutions? That we do not submit our necks to a fool who wields, makes mistakes, and destroys, exactly as Saddam Hussein did to us??
Didn't he trick the Iraqis for long years, claming to be the national, savior, hero, meaning the savior of the nation against loss…. How many Arabs and Iraqis believed in him?? How many victims they paid, a price for his follies… and how many long years were lost until the Arabs discovered he was a lying fool, who led the nation to doom, instead of salvation???
Is Bush leading the nation to doom, or salvation???
Do not be led behind him like blind men and fools, and repeat what happened to the Iraqis…open your eyes and minds… so you wouldn't be sorry when it is too late………..
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In the evening the driver came, apologizing for his absence, and said he spent the day in Fallujah, with his widowed sister and her children… there was an American army camp near her house, and some missiles fell, so the glass of the windows was broken, and the mother and her children were wounded by the splinters.
He said: They called me at six in the morning, and I drove my car like a mad man…till I got there… the mother was wounded in her hands and face, her eldest son, 16 years old, had slivers in his head, and is still in hospital. The youngest son, aged 6, was bleeding. In the emergency room I saw a photographer working for the media, with a camera. He wanted to take a photo of us, but I hit him, and threw the camera on the floor…
I asked him: Why? He said: They are dogs; they do not care for us…
I said: Maybe he is an honest journalist who wants to write about you, and support you…
He said: We saw nothing good from them, no body offered us any help… we no longer trust them… do you??
There was no nutrient solution in the hospital…so they went to the Maternity Ward, and found half a bottle that was left by a lady who just gave birth, and no longer needed it, so they gave it to us, to apply it to my youngest nephew…
People bring the needs for their patients, medicines and such, from outside the hospital… the government and the Americans are carrying out a blockade against supplying the Fallujah Hospital with medicine, they say you are treating the Mujahideen…. Come with me next week…. Come to see with your own eyes the families that live in tents…. 82 big tents for families whose houses were demolished in the American bombings… they now live in tents, looking at their destroyed houses every day…
There are some rich people, from inside and outside of Fallujah, who are contributing to the locals to rebuild their houses, so that families could go back before winter… and there is a cleric in the mosque, who receives the donations, then distributes them to the poor and widows. My sister is a widow, and she receives (40,000) Dinars monthly, to help with the expenses of life. She has six children….
And there are some Iraqi men, fighters, I'll introduce you to them, not one among them is a stranger from outside of Iraq… no one finances them with Dollars… they fight because they say we are an occupied country…and fighting the invader is a legitimate right… we are not terrorists, and there is no one with the name of Al-Zarqawi here…..nor any followers of his… these are untrue, made-up stories.
I remained silent, thinking…should I go to Fallujah?? Meet the people, and listen to their stories??
What shall I add, to the world?? Didn't hundreds write about Fallujah, and the suffering of its people??
Who cares??
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I said: Wait, don't go… I went inside the house, then came back with an envelope in my hand, containing some money… I said to him: this is a trust, for you to give to the cleric of the mosque, so he could distribute it to your sister, and her other poor neighbors…
May GOD be with you….
I have nothing more to add.
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Translated by May \ Baghdad.