A Family in Baghdad

Peace be upon you…
These are samples of the Iraqi's suffering in their own country, recorded here for history, so we can remember what the occupation did to us.
These are live testimonies from inside Iraq, now.............

***************************************
Email No. 1 ,from Baghdad:

Good morning, my dear lady:
At last I managed to get out of the house. In the last four days there were daily clashes in Al-Adamiyah, causing most secondary streets to close down, as for the main streets, they are almost always closed, and most people who work outside get to their houses around 5 pm, through one outlet (in and out of Al-Adamiyah) subjected to a slow search procedure.
Yesterday they targeted and hit a humvee vehicle on the main street, around 11 am, so the Americans put a post at the street's end and started shooting every passer by in our smaller streets. They hit five pedestrians, who all died, including an old man who was out shopping and a young boy on a bicycle. They kept bleeding till death under the watchful eyes of people who gathered around the corner, and they shot at everyone who tried to get to them. We opened the doors of our houses and brought in the people who couldn't get to their homes, until the afternoon. Things remained like this until around 6.30 pm, then the shooting resumed, they hit two more people and one of them died. Then the ambulance arrived, and they shot at it too.
After about half an hour, they permitted the ambulance and the morgue car to enter.
Today Al-Adamiyah as a whole is closed to the outside, and traffic through "Anter Square" is not allowed, under orders of direct shooting, (as the soldiers who stood guard there said). So, everybody went back home, and God knows how long it will last this time.
I take God as my aid, for there is no power, no might, and no hope, but by Him.
************************************


Email No. 2,from Al-Kut , south-east from Baghdad

Dear Um Raid:
Peace be upon you, with God's mercy, and his blessings…
Regarding the information you requested from me about the displaced people from Baghdad; today, since morning and until about 4.30 pm, I was in a field round concerning them, but the battery of my camera ran out so I couldn't send the photos with this e-mail. But after my tour around the province in general I found that the total and actual number of the displaced is (1180) families. We visited some of these famines in the places listed here by:
1- the center of the province- as follows:

a- Al-Kut amusement park- the number of families there is ninteen families, a total of 46 people residing there, the rest of the families went out to camps in other locations.
b- Hay Al-Jawadain town, which is one of the largest gatherings for displaced, number of families there is 185 families, originally from Al-Naser and Abu Ghareeb in Baghdad. They need aid and their conditions are very bad.
c- Al-Thaqalain Hussayniya, at Hay Al-Jamaheer Dist., the number of families is- 120 families.

2- Al- Hussayniya Precinct, Al-Ahrar area in Kut, the number of displaced is- 50 families.
3- Al- Nu'maniya Precinct, Wasit province, number of displaced is-120 families.
4- Al- Hay Precinct, number of displaced is-90 families.
5- Al- Suweara Precinct, number of displaced is-58 families.
6- Al- Azeeziya Precinct, number of displaced is-44 families.

And we noticed some things that were painful and very impressing indeed. While we were in a visit to Hay Al-Jawadain area, the Salvadorian troops came to give them some aid, which were some gifts to the children, but the people burned the gifts in their mud furnaces. When I asked them why, they said- we, Iraqis, do not agree to take aid from foreigners while those nearest to us look at us without helping us, did the dignity of the Iraqis reach that stage, we do not need milk and toys, we need a facility for clean water, we need electric power, and a school for our children, because schools here do not take them, and besides, they are very far.

My thanks to you, I send here a part of the photos, and the rest, tomorrow.

Friday, July 13th, 2007
Peace be upon you….
I don't know why sometimes an old Arabic proverb comes ringing into my mind: "If you know; it is a disaster, and if you don't know, then it is a greater disaster…..". I think it is said about a person who thinks he knows everything, then he discovers he was a fool, and what was hidden was much greater…
Perhaps this is how it is with most people who follow up the news of Iraq, especially the poor American people, surrounded as they are by a government and a media that follows it, repeating all the lies day and night to keep the American people ignorant about what is taking place in Iraq, while they are the No. 1 party involved in that war, as it is financed from the pockets of the tax-payers. They tell them- you are sacrificing for America, for the freedom of America, and the reputation of America… and the truth is- they are sacrificing for a bunch of thieves; the owners of capitalist companies, so their investments should grow and their bank balances should increase, and let the American people go to hell, just like the Iraqi people went to hell…..
The story of this war started when Bush and Blair cried over the unjustly treated Iraqi people, oppressed by a fascistic and criminal regime that tied people's freedoms and tyrannized them. The media was full of stories about Iraqi families running away from hell; where the fathers were tortured, the mothers threatened, and the children terrorized, so they run away from hell, and asked for humanitarian asylum in the continents of Europe, Australia, America, and elsewhere… and after all these introductions; after the exaggeration and the daunting against Saddam's regime as being the worst in the twentieth century, people were prepared psychologically to accept change in Iraq and to topple its government, in the hope that "Democracy", "Human Rights", and "Freedom" would all become words of the daily vocabulary of Iraqis… the Iraqis waited, with the whole world, the Americans first of all, for the fulfillment of the rosy dream, proclaimed by Bush, Blair, and the rest of the gang….
And here are the years passing by, with Iraq moving from bad to worst….
It became a sentence I hear from the Iraqis everyday; I heard it from various sides, the same sentence repeated, as if they all agreed to it: today is better than tomorrow….
What does it mean for a human to say, and repeat: today is better than tomorrow?
Here I am in Jordan, I see people thinking of tomorrow, they have a dream that tomorrow is better than today, and so are people everywhere in the world. That is how I lived all my life, believing that tomorrow is better than today.
But it seems the story is different for people who live through catastrophic conditions, like those in Palestine and Iraq, where there is an occupation, with armies, greed, and evil schemes, where there is ruin, destruction, killing, and daily bloodshed… people become forgotten, weak creatures, their rights, dreams, and ambitions crushed…
And the question jumps up: do we surrender to the evil powers that are breaking the lives of humans like us? Do we stand, helpless, idle, and look at our brothers and sisters dying quickly, or slowly, without caring?
This is a point that deserves to be considered….
*************************
Yesterday, Bush said- America will not withdraw from Iraq as long as the security conditions have not improved … and that means he will not withdraw from Iraq. And we all know he doesn't want to withdraw in the first place…
The building of huge American military bases in Iraq, the building of a big American embassy, and keeping the Iraqi government, the Iraqi army and police force as weak structures; torn apart, battling and divided onto themselves; that is exactly what corresponds with Bush's wishes, and what justifies remaining in Iraq indefinitely…
So, let Iraq remain torn, divided onto itself, with a conflicting government and Parties, sectarian warring militias, then bring on words like- Sunnies, Shia'ats, Kurds, and Arabs for ignorant people from all sides to keep busy with, and you can say goodbye to something called- Iraq…
Forget something called Iraq… for it has turned into a heap of ruins in which live miserable, poor, and sick people, gnawed by hunger, ignorance, corruption, and darkness…
This is Bush's Iraq…
And if we got back to the days of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, we would have found them the days of prosperity and welfare, compared to what we see today. Our cities turned into gloomy ruins, the best of our people; the doctors, the university professors, the scientists, either immigrated or were killed. We saw poverty such as we didn't see during the years of the embargo, we witnessed an administrational corruption far more than what used to happen in Saddam's time, and we saw a recklessness about human rights that suppressed what we saw during the days of Saddam… the water supply, the electricity, the education, the health services, and the employment…all these are deteriorating into the worst….
And- today is better than tomorrow…. As the Iraqis are saying now…
Four years ago, Iraq was better than it is now…
One year ago, it was better…
Six months ago, it was better…
And today is better than tomorrow….
This is the daily life reality in all of Iraq…
Hunger and poverty increase every day, the number of widows and orphans increased from what it was before, the administrational corruption increased. The security condition is deteriorating, the government is weak, incapable, and is hiding in the Green Zone, while the militias belonging to the Government Parties are ravaging the streets; killing people, kidnapping, torturing, and no one calls them to account. The occupation forces are doing as they please; arresting, breaking into and blowing up buildings, and bombing, under the pretext of following Al-Qaida'a…
Iraq has changed from a country dreaming of freedom and sunshine into a dark hell filled with poisonous snakes, scorpions, explosives, and gangs…
And Bush still insists to remain in Iraq, he still insists that all is going very well, but the problem is- how many Al-Qaida'a extremists will be eliminated for Iraq to become a paradise of peace, security, structure, prosperity, and happiness….
I remember reading in old Arabic history books that every disease has a cure, except Foolishness, meaning- a fool cannot be cured, a hopeless case….
Well then, what if a foolish man took over the leadership of the strongest country in the world?
Tell me, if you please; how to solve this problem?
***********************************
Usually, for some two years or more now, I work as a volunteer to send medicines or food aid to displaced families in the western parts of Iraq…
Sometimes I laugh, saying- I am a Shia'at, how come I help the Sunnies?
These are poisonous names entered by the occupier, in which I do not believe, even if the world turned upside down, until the Day of Judgment. I do not believe in them, but I have seen Iraqis who did accept these designations and used them to their advantage. I have seen men and women who exploited the story of- Sunnies, Shia'ats, and Kurds. For example: the Shia'ats and Kurds work as contractors for the Americans, form Parties or Organizations, or try to get financing from some American sides under the consideration that they were oppressed and unjustly treated during the days of Saddam Hussein… I have seen bluffing Sunnies who claim to be members of the resistance and are unjustly treated, in order to get financing from other organizations who hate the occupation…
And, I have seen the poor peaceful people who didn't play over the ropes; these are crushed by life, and in today's Iraq, poverty, hunger, and injustice increased upon them, they call for aid, but no one answers…..
In the last few weeks I finally met some organizations working in the provinces in the south of Iraq… I said to them – now I want to hear from you; I used to work with the western parts of Iraq, I have seen poverty and hunger, and the excuse was that they were terrorists and housed the resistance, that's what the American media and the Iraqi government say… well then, you're in the south; you do not have a resistance or terrorists, how do you live?
And then came the astonishing reports and photos…
Poverty and hunger such as I have not seen even in Falluja, overtaxed by the siege and hunger….
I started my questions: where is the government and its institutions?
Answer: sinking in administrational corruption; the money is sent from Baghdad, the officials in the municipality councils steal it, and the province's streets remain dirty and poor without tending. The displaced go without care, the youth without job opportunities, and the cities without re-construction projects…
- Well then, what about the militias?
- Raking havoc about the provinces, they belong to Parties represented in the government, battling with each other, tempting young people to join them. And if we organized some gatherings to debate and criticized the existence of militias, we received phone calls and personal threats to shut up and not to start such debates again…
Four years ago, we weren't like that…. They said, sadly …
And I remembered the proverb: today is better than tomorrow…..
-All right, you are civil society organizations, aren't you financed by the government to develop the needs of the local society and to enlighten the people?
Answer- the government is hostile to us, looking upon us as opponents, because we criticize its performance, speak about the militias and human rights, and criticize its slackness in helping the poor and displaced people…
My question is- how is this government different from that of Saddam Hussein? Isn't it supposed to be an American-made government caring for the human rights of the Iraqi people, of which he was deprived in the days of Saddam Hussein?
And the answer is- smiles….then, laughter…
***************************************
They went back to Iraq, I promised them I shall contact a big international organization here, then present their reports and projects, hoping to be able to get some attention or financing….
After a couple of interviews here and there, the answer was an apology; this organization doesn't finance small projects for a number of poor families, but give quick, emergency aid like food rations, sponge mattresses, or plastic barrels for water or fuel. And this is what I saw carried out in one of this big organization's projects with an Iraqi organization working in Dewaniyah, Naserriya, and Samawa…
Meaning- poor, limited aid…
Well then; what about these huge buildings, high fences, security men, cement blocks and high salaries, why all these expenses? And you do not finance but poor, naïve projects?
By God, it seems the world has gone completely out of its mind… the money is there, but there is a very evident mismanagement…
Where do these international organizations spend their money? And who calls them to account?
By God, if Bush is the one who controls the fate of the world's countries, then there is no blame upon these organizations, for the important thing is to be within his command and not to disagree, and that would be enough. For who will judge them for their slackness with the Iraqi people?
No one, of course….

Then I met a lady working for the human rights field with these international organizations. I showed her a report about a poor Iraqi woman from Babylon, the militias killed her husband in Baghdad, then she was driven out with her children while she was pregnant. She gave birth in a toilet booth, for no one helped her to go into the nearby medical center. Her baby daughter died. She is living a sad life and is in need of help. The lady looked at the report and said: by God it is a sad story, but I am in a hurry, I want to travel. If you have a report about violence against the Iraqi women, I mean- a case of a woman being beaten by her husband or was forced into marriage against her will, send it to me so I can investigate the case and help her…
I remained astonished…..
Are these the stories that should be marketed in Iraq, violence against women?
Well, what about the woman who lost her husband because of the gangs and sectarian militias? Isn't she a victim of violence?
These are the priorities of the international organizations working for Iraq?
I mean; there is an Iraqi proverb that says: ((Arab wen, Tanbora wen??)) {"= A" talks in one direction, and "B" listens in another!!!}
Ha,ha,ha,…
How can I explain it to the non-Iraqis?
I mean- how far are we from this vain woman?
This Americanized, pampered woman, where is she living? And how can she help the Iraqi women?
Impossible to help them, for she lives in another world, and the salary she receives is a pity….

Before that, I visited an American organization here, to ask them what projects they are presenting to Iraq? What are they doing to the displaced families?
The Arabic employee said with pride: we have a team inside Iraq, and we arranged some projects to the displaced.
I said: pardon, but can I learn about these projects?
She said: we gave a bag to each displaced family, containing a towel, a soap bar, toothpaste and toothbrushes.
I kept staring at her face; is she sane, or nuts?
Where is the food after which they can brush their teeth and wash their hands with soap?
Ha,ha,ha,…
I wish I knew who puts down the work plans of these naïve, nut organizations? And who finances them?
They remind me of Marie Antoinette when the French people were starving for the lack of bread, and she said naively: well, why don't you feed them with biscuits?
************************
And I remembered now a person I met some months ago. He is an Iraqi living in America, his wife is an American. He works in geology and well drilling… then, after the war on Iraq, he presented himself as an expert in marshes, and he started working with international organizations visiting the marshes and writing reports about them…
When I entered the offices of the organization he works with here in Amman, I found the walls covered with pictures of beautiful birds; large numbers of birds of different kinds, and written below them that these birds used to live in the Iraqi marshes habitat, and this project is to redraw these birds into their environment…
I turned to the American woman who works in the office and asked: and what about the people in the marshes? Do you have a project to improve their lives?
She laughed, blushing: no, we have nothing for the people, we are an organization caring for nature…
How nice! I felt happy because of this humanitarian organization that cares about nature, birds, and sparrows, but doesn't listen to the misery of the poor hungry Iraqis…
We sat down, the three of us. The Iraqi talked and laughed a lot, he said he was just visiting here, and will go back to America where his wife and kids are…
I stared at him, telling myself: this is one of the Iraqis who didn't suffer an embargo, or hunger, or wars. He's been living in America since about 1978, he studied there, got married, obtained the nationality, and perhaps forgot something called Iraq in his life… after the war, he jumped forward and said: I am an Iraqi, went with the American and European organizations to the marshes and made himself an expert, pledging to follow up the redevelopment of the marshes, and received financing from different organizations to develop the marshes..........
I said to him: very well, now what have you developed in the marshes? Didn’t all the American and British newspapers cry about the marshes, and that Saddam Hussein starved them to death, dried up the water, and destroyed the environment? What have YOU done?
He said: thank God we now have a team measuring the biological changes in the environment, I mean- the percentage of oxygen and other elements in the water; if it is suitable for the birds that immigrated to come back… checking the humidity in the air, and if it is suitable for the birds to lay their eggs?
I said to him: and how will you announce to the birds that the environment is suitable? Will you put a balloon in the air on which is written- hay, come back, we fixed the environment for you here?
He laughed and said: well, I mean, they will return with time…
He gave me a book published on excellent paper and very fancy printing, full of bird's pictures and their life story…
I said: well, what about the Iraqi families in the marshes, did you build any schools for them? Clinics? Did you provide drinking water purifying stations for them? Have you developed their lives and compensated them for the poverty of the past years?
He said, indignantly: this isn't our business, this is done by other organizations or the government. Our business is only with the environment and the birds. We set up a web site, and written all the necessary information, and if someone likes to come along and invest or create a business there, he's free to do so……
I hid my rage, and smiled….
In Iraq, we have a nice name describing the fools, with a genuine Iraqi word: dupe…
Ha,ha,ha
Whenever I remembered that bourgeois, that word jumps to my mind, why?
I don't know............
********************************
These are the models that entered Iraq after the occupation, then deserted and run away, after running out of their lies, and stealing the financing from naïve or evil organizations, god only knows…
But the marshes and its people remained poor, crushed, and forgotten creatures, whose lives didn't develop with anything real, their story was exploited to draw donations and outside financing, and that was the end of the movie…
This is the story of the entire Iraqi people, who was dealt with in the same way as the people of the marshes; lies and exaggerated stories in the media to draw financing and sympathy. And the result- nothing substantial was achieved, on the contrary, the financing was stolen or used in petty projects, and the poor Iraqi families were left starving of hunger, deprivation, and neglect….
The story of the war on Iraq is one of the biggest shameful stories in the history of humanity…
It will remain to be told thus, until the Day of Judgment…
Told as an evidence of lies, injustice and deception, of how someone can put on the guise of virtue, honor and mercy to save the lives of innocent people, and the result was- more innocent souls crushed, the lives of those remaining alive embittered, and their daily life's motto becomes: today is better than tomorrow….

We shall keep on waiting until the American occupation's nightmare is removed, and they go out of Iraq…
Then, the Iraqis will go back to the proverb: tomorrow will be better; we will unite our ranks and build our country with our own hands…..
Amen….

* * *

السلام عليكم
هذه نماذج لمعاناة العراقيين في وطنهم
تسجل هنا للتاريخ
حتى نتذكر ما فعله بنا الاحتلال
هذه شهادات حية من داخل العراق
الآن.............

***************************************
صباح الخير ياسيدتي العزيزة
اخيرا استطعت الخروج من البيت، في الايام الاربعة الماضية كانت هنالك اشتباكات يومية في الاعظمية، تؤدي الى قطع اغلب الشوارع الفرعية، اما الرئيسية فشبه مقفلة دائما تقريبا، ويصل اغلب الموظفين قريب الساعة الخامسة الى بيوتهم من خلال منفذ واحد خاضع للتفتيش البطئ.
امس ضربوا عربة همر في الشارع الرئيسي، حوالي 11 صباحا، فاقام الامريكان نقطة في رأس الشارع وصاروا يضربون باتجاه شوارعنا الفرعية كل عابر سبيل، فضربوا خمسة من المارة ماتوا جميعاً، من بينهم رجل كبير السن كان يتسوق وولد صغير على دراجة،وكلهم بقوا ينزفون حتى الموت امام انظار الناس المتجمعين على منعطف الشارع، وضربوا كل من حاول الوصول اليهم، ففتحنا ابواب الدور وادخلنا كل من لا يستطيع الوصول الى داره حتى المساء.وبقي الحال هكذا حتى الساعة السادسة والنصف مساء
ثم عاودوا الضرب فاصابوا اثنين اخرين مات واحد منهم. ثم جاءت سيارة الاسعاف فضربوها.
وبعد حوالي نصف ساعة سمحوا لها ولسيارة نقل الجثث بالدخول.
واليوم الاعظمية كلها مقفلة عن العالم الخارجي وساحة عنتر ممنوع مرور المشاة فيها تحت طائلة الضرب المباشر (على لسان الحرس المتواجدين هناك)
فعاد الجميع الى منازلهم، والله اعلم متى تنتهي هذه المرة.
حسبي الله ونعم الوكيل، ولا حول ولا قوة ولا امل الا به.


************************************
الاخت ام رائد
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
بخصوص المعلومات التي طلبتيها مني حول النازحين من بغداد فاني اليوم من الصبح وحتى الرابعة والنصف عصرا انا كنت في كشف عنهم وللعلم ان الكاميرا خلص البطارية فلم استطع تحويل الصور مع الاميل لكي وبعد الكشف حول المهجرين في عموم محافظتنا وجدت بان العدد الكلي والفعلي لهم هو 1180 عائلة
وزرنا قسم من هذه الاماكن المذكورة انفا :
1- مركز المحافظة على النحو التالي
ا- مدينة العاب الكوت وعدد العوائل الموجودة الان هم 19 عائلة وعدد الافراد الكلي لهم هو 46 فرد باقية فيها والباقي خرجو من المخيمات الى اماكن اخرى
ب- مدينة حي الجوادين وهي من اضخم المناطق المهجرة فيها وعدد العوائل فيها 185 عائلة والمنطقة التي نزحو منها النصر والسلام في ابو غريب في بغداد وهم بحاجة الى المساعدات وحالهم يرثى لهم
ج- حسينية الثقلين في منطقة حي الجماهير وعدد العوائل المهجرة فيها 120 عائلة
2- قضاء الحسينية منطقة الاحرار في الكوت وعدد المهجرين فيها هو 50 عائلة
3- قضاء النعمانية في محافظة واسط وعدد النازحين اليها 120 عائلة
4- قضاء الحي وعدد الناس النازحين اليها 90 عائلة
5- قضاء الصويرة وعدد الناس النازحين اليها هو 58 عائلة
6-قضاء العزيزية وعدد العوائل النازحة هو 44 عائلة

وقد لاحظنا بعض الحالات التي كانت مؤلمة ومؤثرة فعلا وهي اننا كنا في زيارة في منطقة حي الجوادين فجائت لهم القوات السلفادورية لاعطائهم مساعدات وهي هدايا للاطفال فقام هؤلاء الناس بحرقها في تنور الطين وعند سؤالي لهم قالو لي نحن العراقيين لانرضى بان الاجانب يساعدوننا والاشخاص القريبين عنا ينظرون الينا بدون اي مساعدة هل ان كرامة العراقي وصلت لهذه الحالة نحن لانحتاج الى الحليب والالعاب نحن نحتاج الى اسالة لشرب الماء الصافي ونحتاج الى توفير الكهرباء ومدرسة لاطفالنا لان المدارس لاتقبلهم وهي بعيدة عنهم

سلامي لكم مع الشكر الجزيل ارسل لكم جزء من الصور والباقي سارسله غدا لكم