Baghdad Burning....blog from Iraq

[buycitgo]

a woman, former computer worker, whose job was given to a man, apparently, writes about things as she sees them

heard about it on Laura Flanders

pathetic geek from the Hoover Institute on now, trying to paint that rosy scenario, trying to explain away the fact that he bugged out after a few months....gee, wonder why

Riots, Star Gazing and Cricket Choirs...
There have been demonstrations by Al-Sadr's followers in Baghdad and Najaf. In Baghdad they are gathered near the Green Zone and the Sheraton hotel by the thousands- a huge angry mob, mostly in black. In Najaf,, they were just outside of the Spanish troops' camp. The demonstration in Najaf was shot at by the soldiers and they say that at least 14 are dead and dozens are wounded… An Iraqi friend in Diwaniya was telling me that they had to evacuate the CPA building in Najaf because it was under attack. He says there’s talk of Jihad amongst the Shi’a.

Let me make it very clear right now that I am *not* a supporter of Al-Sadr. I do not like clerics who want to turn Iraq into the next Iran or Saudi Arabia or Kuwait… but it makes me really, really angry to see these demonstrations greeted with bullets and tanks by the troops. Why allow demonstrations if you're going to shoot at the people? The demonstrators were unarmed but angry- Al-Sadr's newspaper was shut down recently by Bremer and Co. and his deputy is said to have been detained by the Spaniards down south (although the Spanish troops are denying it). His followers are outraged, and believe me- he has a healthy number of followers. His father was practically revered by some of the Shi'a and he apparently has inherited their respect.

Today Bremer also announced the fact that we now have an official 'Ministry of Defense'. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on Iraqis- the head of the occupation announcing a "Ministry of Defense". To defend against what? Occupation? Ha, ha… or maybe it's to secure the borders from unwelcome foreigners carrying guns and riding tanks? Or perhaps the Ministry of Defense should be more concerned with the extremists coming in from neighboring countries and taking over (but no- Bremer deals with them on the Puppet Council)… so many things to do for a Ministry of Defense.

There's also a new 'Mukhaberat' or "National Iraqi Intelligence Organization" (or something to that effect). The irony is that while the name is new and the head is Ali Abd Ul Ameer Allawi (a relative of the Puppet Council President Ayad Allawi), the faces of the new Mukhaberat promise to be some of the same as the old. They've been contacting the old members of the Iraqi Mukhaberat for months and promising them lucrative jobs should they decide to join the new Iraqi intelligence (which, we hope, will be an improvement on American intelligence- I’d hate to have us invade a country on false pretenses).
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

now THIS is reporting. certainly with a POV, but, uh, who is one to believe?

listen to Laura Flanders, if you already haven't

this is on tape delay in Chicago....radio here doensn't broadcast live

hope they rerun this

Naomi Klein is also on....she was there, too (I think), along with somebody from Code Pink

rats....it's over

[nostamj]

"somebody from Code Pink"

that was Medea Benjamin (she was in NYC)

only caught part of the broadcast though.

Iraq is falling into increasing chaos. corporate media needs a new Audrey Seibel... STAT!

[buycitgo]

1. check this....occupation watch

http://www.occupationwatch.org/

smile:

87 billion for occupation, but hardly a penny for Iraq’s hospitals

It is clear from conversations with Iraqis and reports from delegations recently returned from Iraq that the daily lives of the Iraqi people have not improved in the 10 months since Saddam Hussein was overthrown. In many cases, things are even worse with no improvement in sight. A case in point is the dismal conditions of Iraq's hospitals. Even at the “best” hospitals, like Baghdad’s Central Teaching Hospital for Children, it is reported that 80 percent of the patients leave with infections they did not have when they arrived. The wards are filthy, the sanitaion shocking, the infections lethal, and sewage drips from the roof above cots of premature babies. The following articles document the current conditions in Iraq’s hospitals. Is this what hospitals in “liberated” countries are supposed to look like?


Dying of neglect: the state of Iraq's children's hospitals
Chaos and War Leave Iraq's Hospitals in Ruins
Scenes of horror still plague an Iraqi hospital

[Katarina]

2. Riverbend blog

I've been reading her blog for quite awhile now. I like reading someones POV who is living through this mess. Totally different from what our media tells us.

Here is another one. http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/

[NMDemDist2]

3. wow i'm stunned.. thanks for this blog

[ShaneGR]

4. Been reading that blog for a while....

Here's my take on her writings, I think the underlying answer to what is going on in Iraq is that there is no answer.

Saddam was terrible. We are terrible. The Iraqi people are terrible. Everyone inolved in this awful situation is terrible, and nothing good can come from that god forsaken country by our meddling.

If we really wanted to save Iraqis, we'd help them move out of that hellhole to North America or Western Europe.

Let the fanatics have the rest.

Oh yeah, invest in alternative fuel.





That is all.