Pete, bAb, and others, I’m making this a full post, as my comment went quite a bit long.

One of my sources in Ramadi has tried to explain to me how the governor, who has has around 30 attempts on his life, is not accepted in the city.

At the end of the day, he says it came down to the fact that, though the Governor had some level of tolerance from the tribe, he failed to live up to his responsibilities, and is no longer accepted as a legitimate authority.

Its important to understand that, despite the media’s portrayal, Saddam did not necessarily have direct control over even the middle area of Iraq. (below the north and above the south no-fly parallels)

Some of our grandparents(and great grandparents!) were alive when Iraq was not a state. The idea that somehow the Westphalian state model exists in Iraq just because Iraq’s western educated elites and those of the international community created a state, is really absurd.

Tribalism has existed in Iraq much longer than European State ideals.

I really feel that Iraq’s resistance/insurgency/terrorists/militias are not examined properly or with enough complexity in the media.

I get the impression that the situation Ramadi finds itself in has more to do with miscommunication and misteps by the Coalition forces and the Tribes, and less to do with the influence of Al Qaeda and others.

That said, I think its a certainty that Al Qaeda operates in force in other parts of Iraq, and is certainly a large piece of the puzzle.

I think the definition of “civilians” is also incredibly malleable. I’m working on another piece for IPS about the relationship between civilians, fighters, and the US military in Ramadi, I hope that will shed some light on this topic.

We all have our own definitions, the US military brings its definitions from the ROE, or Rules of Engagement. The UN has its own definitions, and of course the rest of us all have our own ideas.

I’ve never made any illusions about my own feelings on “resistance.” Resistance, as an idea, is clearly legitimate, but we never deal with a utopian ideal, we deal with what we have. Unfortunately, crimes have been committed on all sides, but I won’t be the first to ask Iraqis to lay down and die while their civil services are destroyed and bankers are put in charge of their country.

To misquote the Bush Administration, “We go to war with the resistance we have.”

When all is said and done, and the US project ends in Iraq, there will be alot of crimes still to answer for. Whether we’re talking about soldiers with US, Iraqi, or other nationalities, or civilians, or “amateur” guerrilla fighters, at the end of the day, things in Iraq will, pardon my french, fuck people up bad for a long time.

I’ll leave you with a quote from a friend of mine who’s now a Marine:

We’re professionals. We know that killing civilians is not only wrong on every level for us (morally, ethically, etc) - but it fucks you over in wartime situations. I mean, c’mon - we do this for a living.

AMMAN, Jun 5 (IPS) - These days, Ramadi is nearly impossible to enter. Against the backdrop of the Haditha massacre, IPS has received reports of civilians killed by snipers, and homes occupied with American snipers on their roof, while families were detained downstairs.

One man, who wishes to be known simply as ‘an Iraqi friend,’ met with IPS in Amman to describe the situation in Ramadi and detail recent events there as he saw them.

“To enter Ramadi (about 100 km west of Baghdad) you have to pass the bridge on the Euphrates and the electrical station for Ramadi. This is occupied by the U.S. troops. The checkpoint is there, the glass factory nearby is occupied by American snipers. Here they inspect cars and you will need more than four hours just to pass the bridge.”

Reports from Ramadi have been few and far between in recent months, and always filed by reporters embedded with U.S. troops working in the area.

Witnesses interviewed by IPS in Amman provided a nuanced picture of the situation, one that is very different from the military focus of embedded journalists.

Their stories describe death happening any moment, without signals or warning.

“On the side of the main street you will find destroyed buildings, and military tents on the buildings for snipers. Be careful, if you hear any sound of fighting, hide in the side roads, park your car there and get in any house and hide, because snipers will kill anyone who moves, even if the fighting is in another area.”

Sheikh Majeed al-Ga’oud is from Wahaj al-Iraq village just outside Ramadi, and visits the city regularly. He also described snipers killing without discretion.

“The American snipers don’t make any distinction between civilians or fighters, anything that moves, he shoots immediately. This is a very dirty thing, they are killing lots of civilians who are not fighters.”

According to the Iraqi friend, many people have been killed in Ramadi because they simply do not know which parts of the city are now no-go zones.

One such area is the main street through Ramadi. After the first traffic light you are not allowed to proceed forward, only to the right or left.

“The way is blocked, not by concrete, but by snipers. Anyone who goes ahead in the street will be killed. There’s no sign that it’s not allowed, but it’s known to the local people. Many people came to visit us from Baghdad. They didn’t know this and they went ahead a few metres and were killed.”

Sheikh Majeed was in Ramadi just a few days before speaking to IPS in Amman. He described a city where the fighters are very much in control.

“They are controlling the ground and they are very self-confident. They don’t cover their faces with masks, and the Americans are running away from them. The Americans cannot win an infantry war with them, so they began using massive airpower to bomb them..”

While in Ramadi, he saw many damaged homes, and said there were no civil services functioning.

“You will see that they bombed the power stations, water treatment facilities, and water pipes. This house is destroyed, that house is destroyed. You will see poverty everywhere. The things that the simplest human in the world must have, you won’t have it there.”

The Iraqi friend described a similar situation. “I saw four houses until now, but I didn’t see all of Ramadi, it’s a big town. There are also houses destroyed in the farms, I saw some, but most of them I couldn’t see it because they are huge farms.”

Ramadi is at present cut off from the rest of Iraq. Within, sometimes the electricity works, and some homes have generators, but the local phone service has been completely destroyed.

“The phone station was attacked by U.S. troops, and now even the building is completely destroyed. And the train station also, one hundred percent destroyed, day after day F16s bomb it.”

Life in Ramadi has not always been this difficult. When Baghdad fell, Ramadi had not yet been entered. When Baghdad was wracked by lawlessness and theft, Ramadi remained relatively calm.

“It was a very quiet city, there was order,” Sheikh Majeed said. “Though there are many different tribes there, and there is tension between the tribes, there was order. They respected each other, they respected the law.”

The Iraqi friend suggested why Ramadi remained calm and, unlike Baghdad, was not entered in the first days of the occupation.

“They made a deal with the tribes to not enter the city. But the political parties spoiled this agreement. They wanted to control Ramadi, so they gave wrong information to Americans. There was a small demonstration but not by Saddam loyalists; it was a peaceful demonstration against the occupation.”

After this demonstration of just 30 people, the agreement was broken and the military invaded Ramadi. Iraqis were killed, and following tribal policies of revenge, a cycle of violence began.

Qasem Dulaimi, who lives in Ramadi, told IPS his home was occupied by American and Iraqi troops in May.

“They crushed the main doors and entered the house. I got out of my room and said some words in English, ‘we are a peaceful family, ok its ok’.” But the family members were locked up in a small room downstairs.

“From time to time we heard shooting from our roof. They used our house as a killing tool, they used the roof as a killing tool.”

Eventually his family was released and the American troops moved on.

The Iraqi friend witnessed the killing of a young boy. “He was going to his school at about eight in the morning, carrying his books and crossing the street. Suddenly he fell down. I thought he just had a problem in his leg and fell, but he stayed for a long time like this. I knew or I felt there was a sniper who shot him.”

Stories such as this one are common amongst Ramadi’s residents.

“Haithem, one of the brothers of this kid, tried to find a way and took two steps to take the boy away. Snipers shot and missed him. So he didn’t try again. The boy remained there four hours, bleeding. He had been shot in the head.”

I’ll send a free copy of the Alive in Baghdad DVD to anyone who can describe what Iraq’s “makeshift checkpoints,” such as the one mentioned below actually look like:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen dragged 24 civilians out of their cars at a makeshift checkpoint in a town north of Baghdad on Sunday and shot them “execution style”, a senior police official said.

Post your version of what a makeshift checkpoint is in the comments and I’ll get back to you about the dvd.

Ok, I lied. To be honest, unless there are some veteran Iraq war correspondents, Iraqis, US soldiers, or NGO aidworkers reading this blog regularly, I doubt any of you will win this bet anyhow.

The only way to define a “makeshift checkpoint” is to first define an “actual checkpoint.” Driving around Baghdad, sometimes you can travel much of the city without encountering checkpoints.

As the evening lengthens however, checkpoints seem to sprout up like weeds.

Generally speaking, a checkpoint consists of one or two vehicles parked on the side of the road, and 3 or more Iraqis standing around, usually with at least one rifle handy.

As it gets later, its nearly impossible to see these checkpoints, unless there are cars parked in front of you waiting to proceed. This makes it easy to get shot accidentally running them, and even easier to impersonate them.

US Checkpoints and semi-permanent Iraqi checkpoints-such as the major one in west Baghdad, just beyond the “Mother of All Battles Mosque,” renamed “Um Al Qura,” or Mother of Villages, after the war by the Muslim Scholars Association-are usually better established, but sometimes consist only of a few soldiers and humvees, searching cars and checking ID along the highways.

Militias, Iraqi Police, Resistance fighters, and terrorists alike all have a shockingly easy time setting up their own checkpoints.

Stories such as this one from Reuters fail to provide the nuance and insight necessary to understand the situation Iraqis find themselves in:

Iraqi Gunmen Kill 24 at Checkpoint

The two competing problems causing such a mess in Iraq continue to be the lack of oversight placed on security forces by the international community and the lack of insight provided on Iraq’s crisis by the international media.

As most of you are probably aware, there has been discussion for awhile now about “new evidence” in the Haditha Killings and findings by the US on the case.

I think the evidence is pretty clear in this incident, but something that’s important to remember is that this isn’t isolated.

The interesting element about this case is the existence of photographs and video evidence.

Unfortunately there’s no such evidence available from Ramadi, Duluiyah, and even most of Baghdad.

Right now Omar has no electricity, either from the powergrid or neighborhood generators, nor is water functioning for showering.

Isam is in Japan right now, discussing the situation in Iraq through contacts he has there. He told me that he knows dozens of people who were killed or injured in the Adhamiya bombings Omar detailed a few days ago.

Iraq is a war-zone, and that should never for an instant get out of people’s minds.

The Haditha massacre appears to have been uncovered, but what about the murder of a 7 year-old boy a friend in Ramadi witnessed a few weeks ago? He was standing in front of his house when the boy was crossing the street, holding only his schoolbooks.

The account I was given provided details as the incident unfolded, and I believe it to be genuine.

Today Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nuri Al-Maliki, was quoted thusly:

Nouri al-Maliki said violence against civilians had become a “daily phenomenon”.

“They crush them with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion,” he said. “This is completely unacceptable.”

I won’t apologize for the killing, however I will ask you to consider that this is war’s reality. Soldiers in Ramadi and elsewhere are under attack everyday, and mistakes happen. Don’t for an instant think these mistakes should be acceptable, but also, don’t think Haditha or Abu Ghraib were isolated incidents.

Nor were Mai Lai or Hiroshima.

Analysis by Brian Conley and Muhammad Zaher
BAGHDAD, May 30 (IPS) - It could be instructive to recall that the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its armed wing, the Badr Corps, arose from a conference of Iraqi opposition parties called in Iran in 1982.

The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) was a breakaway faction of the Da’wa movement that had been outlawed in Iraq.

The Badr Corps, estimated before the war to be approximately 10,000 to 15,000 strong was similarly outlawed, along with its parent organisation, the SCIRI. The Badr Corps was considered a terrorist group by Saddam’s regime.

But in 2002 and 2003, the SCIRI and the Badr Corps, also known as the Badr militia, joined negotiations with United States officials, including now ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad over the liberation of Iraq.

During initial negotiations, it was proposed that the Badr Corps would participate in the invasion of Iraq alongside U.S. troops. That plan was abandoned in January 2003. It was decided at this time that the United States would temporarily administer Iraq, through what became the Coalition Provisional Authority.

At this January meeting, Ayatollah Bakir al-Hakim from the Badr Corps (who was killed in August 2003) told Zalmay Khalilzad that if the United States presence began to appear like an occupation, he would order his forces to attack Coalition troops.

Badr groups have emerged now from those controversial origins. Members of the Badr Corps, now known as the Badr Organisation, reflected on the change, and how it came about, in the course of several conversations with IPS.

A Badr member who gave his name as Abu Haider told IPS that while the group did not participate in the initial invasion, the Badr Corps swiftly joined the coalition forces “to destroy Saddam’s regime.”

Soon after the invasion two militant Shia groups became visible in Iraq — the Badr Corps and Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army. These groups have long been engaged in conflict with one another, each vying for control over Iraq’s Shia majority.

Although the Badr Organisation initially paid homage to Ayatollah Bakir al-Hakim, after his death in August 2003 there was apparently a split in the organisation, between direct allegiance to Hakim’s brother, Abd al-Aziz, who is also an Ayatollah, and Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah, Ali al-Sistani.

“I follow al-Sistani, and I’m not with al-Sadr in his opposition to the occupation, because we need the U.S. troops help at this time, in order to kill the terrorists,” Abu Haider said.

Muqtada al-Sadr’s vocal opposition to the occupation of Iraq by the U.S. and Britain has placed him at odds with some of the larger Shia parties in Iraq.

Abu Haider explained the position of his organisation and the Shia parties that oppose Muqtada al-Sadr. “When we have a strong government and control of Iraq, our religious leaders will ask them to leave Iraq.”

When the interim government of Iyad Allawi took power in 2004, Iraqis began to play a greater role in Iraq’s domestic security issues. A ministry of the interior was established to supervise Iraq’s police and non-military security problems.

Iraq’s Sunnis accuse the Badr Corps of infiltrating the Iraqi police, largely made up of Shias. When Bayan Jabr Solagh became minister of the interior in 2005, their concern was greatly exacerbated.

Bayan Jabr was the head of the Badr Corps before he took up position as minister. Jabr has repeatedly denied accusations that the Badr Corps was controlling and directing the Iraqi police.

But under public pressure the Badr Corps was disbanded, and replaced by the Badr Organisation, ostensibly with a new focus on domestic aid.

Because of Muqtada al-Sadr’s opposition to the United States and other coalition nations, members of the Mehdi Army did not play a large role in the new Iraqi police. The common assumption, therefore, has been that Badr’s ideology, if not its leaders directly, played a strong role in directing the actions of Iraq’s police.

The Mehdi Army aside, Abu Haider believes it is a misconception that there is a nationalist resistance in Iraq. “There is no real resistance in Iraq; they fight for personal reasons or for revenge. Also, some of them fight to return Saddam to power.”

Sunni groups have called on Iraq’s Shia parties, particularly on new Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to disband and disarm the militias because of their role in sectarian violence, torture, and arbitrary arrests and killings of Iraqis.

Sunni parties have also alleged that the Badr Organisation and certain Shia parties still owe allegiance to Iran. Through government or outside of it, Badr groups continue to play a significant role in shaping political life in Iraq.

[Editor’s note: Omar worked with Alive in Baghdad last fall, as our translator, fixer, and all around good guy. Now he’s shooting video for us in Baghdad, we’re looking forward to the first delivery of tapes later this week. He’s going to begin doing regular dispatches as well about his experiences on the beat.]

Today I was in Adhameya for a gallery opening, to interview artists and show some of the different things happening here. Even in Baghdad, in the midst of the war, we have an art gallery opening!

There were 2 blasts today in Adhamiya, while I was covering the gallery. The attacks targeted a police station and an Iraqi National Guard base near Delal square. They blocked the street for more than two hours and I was trapped there. then they started making raids on homes and searching inside homes nearby the blasts.

I took a few shots of the soldiers when they entered the gallery we were in. they were standing in the front door and i took a shot of them from the window. The shot wasn’t too clear, but it’s clear enough to see ther were soldiers in the gallery doorway.

Today I interviewed a member of UNESCO who runs an organisation that work on planting flowers around Baghdad, but the new government prevented them from doing that. They prevented this because the organization existed before the war. The blasts and gunfire occured while I was shooting this interview.

I was trying to film the blasts, but the National Guard prevented me from doing that. they just took the tape. They said go back inside, and took the tape. I had just filmed the first blast and there was a lot of smoke and fire at the end of the street i was standing in and there were Iraqi soldiers running toward the bomb site. They were shooting in the air and running. The video i shot was very close to them and very clear. But they didn’t know for what channel I worked, and they didn’t ask me for my badge. There were Americans at the bomb site, maybe 10 humvees, and a lot of infantry in the street as well.

While I was shooting, one of the Iraqi National Guard soldiers tapped me on the shoulder and told me “Turn the camera off, and take the tape out of the camera.”

I showed him my press badge, but he said he didn’t care, he just wanted the tape and that’s it. Then he told me to go back in the gallery. Then they began arresting people in the gallery. There were some people walking on the street when the blast took place.

The guard of the gallery offered to let them come into the gallery, and there was a big crowd in there. Then the Iraqi National Guard came in and arrested 4 of the people who were staying in the gallery. These weren’t people involved with the art show, but just people who were on the street.

One of the detainees was armed. I think he was just carrying a weapon for self-defense. I dont think he was an insurgent and he didn’t look anything like a mujahideen, just like a regular citizen. I even think he had permission to carry his gun for self-defense.

We were trapped in the gallery for more than 2 hours, but after that they let us go.

Brian Conley and Isam Rashid

BAGHDAD, May 29 (IPS) - Guns have come to be seen in Iraq as a need second only to food.

Under Saddam Hussein possession of weapons was highly regulated. But after the invasion of Iraq, the military collapsed and many armouries and ammunition dumps were left unprotected. In an environment of a lack of security, these came to supply a growing appetite for guns.

To begin with people bought guns — or took those discarded on the streets — as a defence against the eruption of lawlessness after the fall of Baghdad.

Recently, after the bombing of the al-Askariyah shrine in Samarra in February this year, a wave of reprisal killings drastically increased the desire of each Iraqi family to have at least one gun.

“I think it is important for every Iraqi to have a weapon to protect himself and his family,” Abu Hasan, a weapons merchant in Baghdad told IPS. “There is no security at all in Iraq now and we have no real government to protect us. The occupation forces protect themselves only.”

Soon after the establishment of the Coalition Provisional Authority, its administrator L. Paul Bremer signed a declaration outlawing the possession of more than one weapon per family.

This declaration, CPA Order no: 3, frustrated many Iraqis. Many felt a need for at least two guns, one to protect the family at home, a second for a family member to pass through an insecure area.

Those needs have become desperate after the Samarra bombing. Abu Thu al-Fikar, a teacher, bought a gun for the equivalent of 250 dollars after the bombing. It was expensive, but he had to buy it “because the killing started everywhere,” he told IPS. “I was forced to buy one to protect my family.”

Samir, another weapons merchant, says his business has had its ups and downs.

“When the occupation forces entered Baghdad, the Iraqi army dropped their weapons in the streets and Iraqi people went and took these weapons and kept them in their houses.” This brought a temporary setback to business, he said.

“In 2003 it was difficult to find someone to buy my guns because everyone had one or maybe more in his house. In 2004, and after the resistance grew, Iraqis started looking for weapons. Iraqi people started buying weapons for resistance, and others gave their weapons as gifts for use in the resistance.”

The demand has now risen again. Many Iraqis commonly have pistols or Kalashnikovs, to protect themselves both from death squads and sectarian violence.

Others use them against occupation forces. The fighters have relatively sophisticated weapons. Some are said to have small missiles and mortars.

Ali Minshid, who works in the sports ministry said controls over possessing guns still exist in law. “I have a special ID to carry my gun, but there are many Iraqis who carry guns in the streets without permission, and our government cannot control that..”

Although he works for the government, Ali Minshid supports families to acquire guns illegally.

“In this situation every Iraqi must buy a gun. Even if he doesn’t have enough money, he must borrow money and buy one to protect his family. To protect your family is more important than to be able to eat.”

The increased flow of weapons has been seen as a consequence of general anxiety and “sectarian violence,” but many Iraqis have very particular fears.

Samir is afraid of the influence of Iran, and blames the United States for focusing too little on Iran at the beginning of the occupation. He says U.S. failures encouraged Iraqis to buy weapons, because they failed to provide security.

Many Iraqis say the partial response of the government to the spread of weapons is not helping.

Abu Hasan said government agents were acting in a sectarian manner. “They confiscate the guns from Sunni areas and leave them in Shia neighbourhoods. I think this is because Sunnis are resisting the occupation and Shias control the government now.”

Samir says some of his customers are so poor they could never afford even the cheapest gun before. “But now they are borrowing money to buy guns to protect themselves.”

In the last few weeks friends of mine in Iraq have experienced a rash of deaths amongst their friends and coworkers.

It began with a courier we know being killed by gunfire. I’m still not sure whether it was at some kind of checkpoint, a carjacking, or other random violence.

At least five friends of Omar and his brother Mhyar were killed in the previous 2 or 3 weeks. One of those killed was the brother of a guy named Wisam, Omar’s best friend.

I’ve never met Wisam personally, but because Omar is often at his house and, because of the curfew, stays the night often as well, I’ve had a few chance conversations with him.

He’s a nice guy, though a bit strange-his nickname is Weirdo! He and Omar bond over their love for metal, metallica, and other similar things any American boy in his late teens/early 20s might be prone to.

Wisam’s brother was killed last week in a carjacking gone wrong. Apparently he shot back, but wasn’t able to scare them off or stop the assault. They shot back, and he was killed.

Two days later, the husband of Um Abeer, a woman who works with Omar’s mother, was killed in another carjacking. Both times the deaths were caused by guns.

For Wisam, his situation is made even worse by the fact that his father died two weeks earlier. No, he wasn’t killed by gun violence or deathsquads, just a good old fashioned heart attack.

I was having dinner with my friend Rafat last night and I mentioned to him that it had been a good two days. Two days since I heard of any of Omar’s friends being killed, or any other friends for that matter.

That’s when Rafat told me that the husband of his friend’s sister was killed the day before yesterday. I started to provide my regards, but, darkly, wanted as always to know how it happened.

As many of you may know, current accepted numbers put the daily death toll in Iraq at somewhere between 50 and 100 persons. Their deaths range from such causes as coalition operations, sectarian violence, and bombings, and of course carjackings, to name a few.

It only takes one of these many options to understand why the man I’m writing about began carrying a gun.

I’m keeping his name hidden for a variety of reasons, so I hope you’ll forgive me. Let’s just call him Abu Muhammad for now-a nom de guere used these days by many Baghdadis.

Abu Mohammad took to carrying a pistol with him when he went outside of his house, an effort to keep safe from the spate of carjackings and other violence now rampant in Baghdad.

Abu Mohammad only kept one bullet in his gun, which says something about his intentions. The only reason to keep just one bullet in your gun is the hope of firing a warning shot, to scare off would be assailants.

The other reason might be the rising cost of ammunition. The only people wasting ammunition these days in Iraq are the Iraqi Police-notoriously triggerhappy-and the US military. One recent study suggested the US military have fired as many as 250,000 bullets per “insurgent.”

After the exorbitant cost of pistols-usually several hundred dollars a piece since the Samarra bombing in February, perhaps Abu Mohammad couldn’t afford much in the way of ammunition.

As you’ll hear in a story that I’ll have published soon, families are now more concerned about protection than eating, and many have borrowed money or gone hungry just to afford the relatively low-in comparison-cost of a used Kalashnikov, now averaging around $250 US.

To put this in perspective, the average Iraqi salary is less than 200 per month.

Given all these things Abu Mohammad had on his mind, what happened next is more than understandable.

While driving through Baghdad’s heavy traffic, far worse these days than LA or Washington’s Beltway at rush hour, Abu Mohammad realized a dangerous oversight on his part.

He had loaded his pistol, as always, with one bullet. He placed the bullet into the chamber. And he forgot to put the safety lock on.

At this point, he realized the foolishness of this simple mistake, and attempted to rectify it. For anyone who’s tried to get a map to check their directions on a busy highway, or who’s been involved in an important cellphone call, the danger of this maneuver should be clear.

While removing the pistol and attempting to put on the safety, the gun went off, and the one bullet in Abu Mohammad’s pistol penetrated his leg, apparently severing the femoral artery.

Its still unclear how this happened, perhaps a checkpoint appeared suddenly, or an especially aggressive merge caught him offguard. It’s even possible he was startled or forced to come to an abrupt stop by a US or Iraqi convoy in the city.

Whatever the reason, the accident was noticed quickly and Abu Mohammad was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Unfortunately, as those of you with at least mild medical knowledge have already guessed, the wound was fatal.

The femoral artery is a major artery running through the leg, and severing this artery, especially in a country with the tenuous medical situation Iraq finds itself in, almost certainly results in death.

I hope Alive in Baghdad can continue to bring light to the stories of senseless death and violence in Iraq. Simple casualty numbers do no justice to the lives lived and lost in Iraq. If you have stories such as this, please share them, in the comments or with us directly by email.

Todd Pittman has been reporting from Ramadi for the AP over the last month or two. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that the falsities he’s been writing lately are based more on misunderstanding than malice.

I can accept that Todd’s misconceptions are directly due to his embedded status in Ramadi. I can also accept that this is a legitimate, important piece of the story.

However, when the AP fails to make contact with the residents of Ramadi, but allows Mr. Pittman to make assertions such as:

The criminal court system doesn’t function because judges are afraid to work; tribal sheiks have fled or been assassinated.

He needs to back them up with quotes from the sheikhs and judges themselves.

I myself know two Sheikhs from the Ramadi area, and yes, if you’re going to transliterate correctly, Sheikh better approximates the sound of the letter “Kha” that ends the word Sheikh in Arabic.

How did I meet these Sheikhs, having never travelled to Ramadi personally? Well I met them in Amman, one last fall and one last week. I’m sure you’re thinking, doesn’t that prove Mr. Pittman’s poiint?

You’d be right except for one thing. Those Sheikhs, Ghazi and Majeed, and their brother Sattam, are in Amman running three NGOs and trying to shed light on the ongoing humanitarian crises in Ramadi and Al-Anbar province. The only thing they’ve fled is ongoing aggression by Iraqi militia and US forces.

Let’s start from the top with the title of Mr. Pittman’s story:

Insurgents keep U.S. at bay in Ramadi

Well, that’s fair enough, and I’d argue it’s accurate as well! Unfortunately, that’s where the fairness and balance ends.

The first paragraph reads like this:

RAMADI, Iraq - Whole neighborhoods are lawless, too dangerous for police. Some roads are so bomb-laden that U.S. troops won’t use them. Guerrillas attack U.S. troops nearly every time they venture out - and hit their bases with gunfire, rockets or mortars when they don’t.

The question here is really the definition of lawless. If lawless merely means opposition to the occupation troops and a government many still view as illegitimate, then most of Iraq is “lawless.”

I’ve been informed on multiple occasions so far, by Sheikh Majeed, as well as Qasem and another Iraqi who wishes to remain nameless, that the resistance has loose connections and communication with the residents of Ramadi. They use this network to inform the public about which areas will be under attack that day or in the coming days.

Unlike Baghdad and many other areas of Iraq, Ramadi seems to have a surprisingly low incidence of civilian casualties due to roadside bombs.

If by lawless you mean the, perhaps accidental, killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure, then Ramadi is certainly full of “lawless” acts.

Both Qasem and Sheikh Majeed recounted separate occurrences where civilians were killed in front of their eyes. The numerous accounts of snipers in Ramadi makes it difficult to understand why there are so few accounts of snipers in Iraq from embedded journalists.

Reining in Ramadi, through arms or persuasion, could be the toughest challenge for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s new government. Al-Maliki has promised to use “maximum force” when needed. But three years of U.S. military presence, with nearly constant patrols and sweeps, hasn’t done it.

Today Ramadi, a city of 400,000 along the main highway running to Jordan and Syria, 70 miles west of Baghdad, has battles fought in endless circles. Small teams of insurgents open fire and coalition troops respond with heavy blows, often airstrikes or rocket fire that’s turned city blocks into rubble.

Reining in Ramadi will continue to be a difficult challenge, so long as the governor is considered a weak leader in the back pocket of the Americans and the leadership of tribal sheikhs continues to be disregarded as secondary.

Reining in Ramadi will continue to be difficult so long as its residents see little reason to trust the American military. At this time, there are only two really feasible entrances to Ramadi. One is by the checkpoint located at the exit to Ramadi from the highway. The other is by swimming across one of the two rivers that Ramadi is located between.

The indignities faced daily by the citizens of Ramadi further ingratiate them to the resistance and further distance them from the Occupation.

According to an account told to me by a resident of Ramadi (and since corroborated by Sheikh Majeed and Qasem)

“When you enter Ramadi, just inside the city there is a stoplight. You can go straight or right or left. If you go straight you will be killed by snipers. We know this because sometimes friendds came to visit, and they didn’t know which way to go, so they went straight, and one time a whole car full of our friends were killed. There are no signs to indicate the danger, you just have to know from the people who live in Ramadi.”

If you could continue on past this stoplight, you would eventually get to the city center and the area where the much vaunted “Government Center” is located. This is one of the few areas the American military has managed to hold.

Along with the Government Center, they are also holed up in the Ramadi School and one other school in this area. These schools have not been rebuilt, and are not being used for their educational purpose, because they currently provide military function to the US and Iraqi troops.

Mentioning the difference in photos taken by Marines two years ago, and the situation now, Todd Pittman gives his own account of the Government Center area, which seems to corroborate with the accounts Ramadi residents have provided me:

Some of the pictures show bullet-strafed buildings and cars on fire, but it’s a far cry from Ramadi, 2006. Case in point: Government Center, headquarters of the provincial governor.

Once, civilian traffic was allowed to pass in front of the near-pristine edifice. Today, only military vehicles are allowed near. The wrecked building is enclosed by blast walls, barbed wire and a sometime moat of sewage. From machine-gun nests, walls of sandbags and tents of camouflage on the roof Marines repel several attacks a day.

Marines say that the governor is unfazed and comes to work despite 29 assassination attempts.

Residents of Ramadi repeatedly assure me that were the US troops to leave Ramadi, order could be restored within a matter of days. They feel that without the support of the local people, resistance elements would not be able to continue fighting.

According to Marine Capt. Carlos Barela, interviewed in the article:

We’re holding it down to a manageable level until Iraqis forces can take over the fight,

Given Qasem’s recent account of three Iraqi soldiers abandoned in his home when the American’s left, as well as the lack of an adequate translator with their unit, these kinds of stat

Mr. Pittman’s account of the civilian toll appears to be diametrically opposed to everything I’ve heard from the residents of Ramadi:

When U.S. and Iraqi troops question civilians, insurgents follow in their footsteps to visit and sometimes kill the suspected informants.

After U.S. troops use residential rooftop walls as observation posts, insurgents have been known to knock them down.

Ramadi is dangerous not only for combatants, but for civilians caught in the crossfire.

“It’s getting worse. Safety is zero,” Col. Hassan said.

After one neighborhood sweep devolved into an hour-long gunbattle, Iraqi Maj. Jabar Marouf al-Tamini returned to base and drew his finger across a satellite map of the area he’d just fled under fire: “It’s fallen under the command of insurgents,” he said, shaking his head. “They control it now.”

According to Qasem and others, many residences have been abandoned, because the families were killed or fled the increasing violence. Despite his own home being used as a sniper’s nest by the Americans, while he was locked in a closet downstairs, he doesn’t fear reprisals.

He informed me that such things have happened before, and if the Americans decide they particularly prefer a certain home for this use, resistance members have contacted the family and asked them to leave, possibly providing them some support to find a new residence.

Qasem and Sheikh Majeed both assured me that the resistance has rarely, if ever, targetted civilian buildings with residents inside. The same cannot be said for the US troops, who are so desperate to “win” that they seem to subscribe to an increasingly liberal interpretation of the Geneva conventions, setting up residence in civilian buildings, destroying civilian infrastructure, and allegedly guilty of negligence in the sniper deaths of several civilians.

.com/photos/aliveinbaghdad”>our Flickr site to view new photos from the Ruweishid Refugee Camp.

Video coming soon!

Imagine your entire life has been spent in a place that is not your home. Imagine that after 20 years, you’re forced to leave that place because of war. Imagine it was another war in your homeland that forced you to leave in the first place.

Imagine you fled this new war, only to find yourself stuck in a stateless zone, an area between countries, with no official recognition.

The Iranian Kurds who currently find themselves in this position, either fled their homeland in northern Iran in 1979, or are the children of those who fled.

These people fled most recently from the Al-Taash campe, which the United Nations High Commission for Refugees supervise. This camp is near Ramadi, which has been a flashpoint for violence, particularly over the last 6 months, but really for several years.

According to Barzan, an Iranian Kurd I made contact with after visiting the Ruweishid camp, Al-Taash was initially established in 1982 in collaboration with the UNHCR.

His family came later however. The reason he refuses to be relocated by UNHCR to the Kurdish area is that his father was killed there in 1986.

“I was three months old when Khomeini’s regime killed my father in Suleimaniyah, in 1986.”

Barzan contends that his father and others were killed by agents of Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime, who entered northern Iraq in 1986. I have not yet been able to determine more about this event, but will be looking into it.

It appears that most of the refugees now in the No Man’s Land are under 12, but there are some who are 40, 50, or 60 years old. The younger members of their camp, including Barzan, have lived their entire lives as refugees inside Iraq.

The UNHCR’s position is that refugees should be relocated to the original camp established in 1979, but due to the history of violence there, allegedly from Khomeinist forces, Iranian Kurds are hesitant to return.

The Kurdish government desires to relocate these and other Kurds in similar circumstances to Kirkuk. This is of course a politically strategic move, aimed at increasing the chance of a Kurdish victory in the 2007 referendum on the future of Kirkuk.

Barzan contends that his group are political refugees and that it will not be safe to return to Al-Taash, or even the Kurdish area in the north.

The question of returning to their homeland, inside Iran, is certainly impossible.

Now Barzan is just hoping for some help, and for knowledge about their condition to reach Kofi Annan and other leaders around the world.

“The situation here is very hard and we nee water. Yesterday a five year old girl was burned from a fire. We cannot go back to Iraq. Our situation is very bad, the babies are begging every day for food and water.”

These refugees are distrustful of the UNHCR because they allege during the Ba’ath regime, many Kurds were able to curry favorable treatment, regarding aid and relocation, by paying bribes to Ba’ath representatives to the UNHCR project at Al-Taash.

I hope to reach another man, Khabat, by phone soon. Barzan named him as a leader or representative from a committee established by the community in the No Man’s Land to represent them and make decisions.

Entering the No Man’s Land is very difficult, indeed nearly impossible. After our trip to Ruweishid, another place incredibly difficult to visit, I have some hope, however.

Barzan’s last words to me before our conversation was cut short were, “Second by second we are suffering. Our story is really important and you should come to see it with your own eyes.”

Yesterday I travelled to the Ruweishid refugee camp in Jordan.

This camp is near Jordan’s border with Iraq, and was established 3 years ago to hold refugees who fled Iraq in 2003.

Today there are 498 refugees living in the camp, they range in nationality from Palestinians living in Iraq since 1948 to Iranian Kurds living in Iraq since 1979, to Turks, and even, allegedly, one Jordanian citizen.

To get to Ruweishid you have to drive out from Amman through Jordan’s eastern desert. It is a place that feels, literally, like the edge of the world. Along the desert highway linking Amman and Baghdad are black, possibly volcanic, rocks littering the desert expanse. In some places these rocks are so thick as to make the land look black.

I felt like we were in some kind of real-life land of demons. I was struck by how little justice has been done to the reality of the eastern desert in the various descriptions offered in journalists’ memoirs of the war in Iraq.

On the other hand, it’s almost as indescribable as what I found later in the day, when we reached Ruweishid.

Ruweishid proper is a small town that was formerly on the border with Iraq, until Saddam ceded control of a large swath of land on its western frontier to the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan in the 90s.

Now Ruweishid is a lonely backwater town, without even the border trade to supply it with a steady influx of dinars.

A few kilometers west of the town, the empty desert continues. The only thing that differentiates the tents of Ruweishid camp from their Bedouin couterparts is their vast number and the incomprehensible chain-link fence surrounding them.

The eastern desert is an area of jordan populated mainly by Bedouins, many of whom I saw on our return trip, tending their herds along the highway. Every so often you’ll see an encampment, noticeable only by large, unmarked canvas tents.

The very amorphous nature of life in the eastern desert further stresses the anomaly of Ruweishid camp. The residents of the camp are cut off from the rest of the world, merely by the presence of a chainlink fence, a few guards, and their current state-less status.

They live in temporary tent structures, most without electricity, and barely sealed against the harsh summer and winter weather. Despite the temporary nature of their accomodations, many of Ruweishid’s residents have been there for more than three years now.

The UNHCR-United Nations High Commission for Refugees has been supporting the refugee camp in Ruweishid, which was established by the Hashemite kingdom after a royal decree. Despite this aid, they have only a few semi-permanent structures, utilized mainly for schooling and other general use functions.

The refugees also complained of problems with supplies for their schools, as well as delays in obtaining other necessary resources.

At this time, 20 Kurdish refugees are set to leave the camp for Denmark tomorrow, and others have nearly succeeded in relocation to Ireland.

Many of the Palestinians are preparing for relocation to Canada.

Near the end of our visit, I met an Iranian Kurd who has a cousin stuck in the “no-man’s land,” which is a stateless zone between the official borders of Iraq and Jordan.

I’ll publish an update about this later, as well as some photos and video from Ruweishid.

More news from Qasem in Ramadi:

During the time of our being in the dark hot room, we heard sound of single shots, the sounds coming from above the house-seems like on the roof. I asked the Iraqi soldiers about these sounds of shooting. They told me that there is some American snipers staying on the roof of my house.

Oh my! They used my house as a snipers base, to kill the people. This is what happened many times for the last year. They will shoot all the people who are leaving their house in the early morning, yes they will.

We kept silenct and some of us tried to sleep but nobody can-it is too hot and became wet, in addition to difficulty breathing. Maybe because the air cant be recycled, the room is completely closed, the window and door.

I felt hungry and thirsty…oh it is not fair…hungry and thirsty inside my own house…

And I felt bad because my house will be a killing tool, it is very criminal for me…

At 11am there was the sounds of tanks near my house. After awhile, US soldiers run down stairs and left the house. The Iraqi soldier, from behind the door, said to his friend “what happened???”

I don’t know, maybe they found some thing outside!!!!!” the other soldier answered.

“Oh they’re riding in the tank-they are leaving, we should follow them. We can’t stay.” One of the Iraqi soldiers said.

Then I shouted to them, “Open the door now, you will go and nobody will open it!!!”

“Ha, ok, ok. I will give you the key,” the Iraqi soldier said.

He put the key under the door and ran to follow his friends

I wait until the tank left and I became sure that US soldiers go ….

I opened the door and asked my brother to take care and keep all the family inside until I came back. I looked around inside the house and roof and all the rooms. Then I came back to the room and let my family get out of the room.

It seemed like breathing freedom when I got out of the room. “Oh it was terrible night! A hard one and dangerous for me, my father, mother, brothers and kids.”

I found that American snipers used the beds of the kids for cover in their place on the roof. In addition, they broke holes in the front walls to look though them at the street and garden.

Anyway we are OK now we got back our lovely house, and while we were eating breakfast together we were discussing about this experience and some jokes were made by my brother who found that it is funny that American soldiers almost forgot the Iraqi soldiers in the house.

Brian Conley and Muhammad Zaher

BAGHDAD, May 16 (IPS) - Call them terrorists, call them resistance fighters. A significant member of one such group spoke to IPS about why he joined.

Abu Ayoub, a 35-year-old living in Baghdad, is a member of the Islamic Army. He spoke to IPS in the Adhamiya neighbourhood..

“When the occupation forces entered Baghdad, they killed my brother in front of my eyes. He was wounded and bleeding but the occupation forces didn’t allow me to save him. When I tried to save him they began shooting at me and after a few minutes my brother died. After that I swore to fight them to the death.”

Many resistance groups have been identified since the beginning of the war in March 2003. They range from the well-known Ansar al-Sunna, first noticed in northern Iraq after its members fled Afghanistan, to smaller groups like the Revenge Brigade involved in the kidnapping of Jill Carroll, correspondent with the Christian Science Monitor..

“I think 80 percent are from the Islamic resistance, because Islam orders Muslims to fight against the enemy and against everyone who came to occupy our country,” Ayoub said.

After his brother was killed, friends just came up to support him in his resistance fight, he said. “At first I was fighting in a small group, because we didn’t trust many people to join with us. But now, after three years fighting, we became part of Islamic Army. Now everything has become organised, we make good plans before any attack.”

There are some groups, both Sunni and Shia, who believe the time for violent resistance has passed, Ayoub said. Sunni groups such as the Iraqi Accordance Front, the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Muslim Scholars Association seem to be pushing for a political process, and participated in the December elections.

But the Islamic Army will never negotiate with the United States or the Iraqi government, Abu Ayoub told IPS. He believes negotiators with the coalition and Iraqi government include only resistance fighters from the Ba’ath party.

“The Ba’ath resistance fight for Saddam, not for Islam or for Iraq. We are against this. They aren’t representative of the Iraqi resistance.”

Abu Ayoub believes that the occupation cannot be ended either by a political process or by other peaceful means. Only Iraqis fighting back can liberate Iraq, he says.

“The occupation forces will discover after this negotiation that nothing will change. The resistance will grow more and more till the end of occupation. They came by force, and they will never leave, except by force.”

Ayoub said he is not allowed to say how he joined the Islamic Army. But he was willing to say a little about his organisation. “The Islamic army is very big and we fight all over Iraq. We have groups everywhere in Iraq, but I have no connection with other groups. Only our leaders have connections between each other, this is for our security.”

Abu Ayoub said that after he joined the Islamic Army it was much easier to receive support such as guns. He told IPS there are “special people” whose work it is to bring weapons. His duty is only to fight the enemy, he said.

When asked why he was fighting the U.S. forces, he said: “I want you to ask this question to the U.S. forces, not to me. They came from the other side of the world and crossed the ocean to occupy my country. Bush and Blair lied to all the world when they spoke about weapons of mass destruction. All the world knew very well their governments were lying, but no country said ‘no’. Most of the world supported them to occupy my country.”

Ayoub dismisses claims by U.S. President George W. Bush parroted closely by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that their goal in Iraq is to establish democracy and liberate the Iraqi people.

“They don’t have credibility, they came to Iraq for many reasons, to destroy Islam, steal oil, save the east front of Israel, control the Middle East and establish bases near Iran and Russia. I want to ask them, ‘where is the democracy?’ Three years of occupation and Iraqi condition is from bad to worse.”

Ayoub is not just angry with the coalition forces. He believes it was wrong for Iraqis to join the new army or police force.

“They are not a real army like the Iraqi Army before the occupation. The occupation forces built this new army to protect them from resistance. I think any honest Iraqi should not join this fake army.”

The army was acting against the people, he said. “You can see what they did in Fallujah. They were like a hand of the occupation. They killed many innocent people there and they did that in many other cities in Iraq, like Ramadi, Tal Afar, Hit, Rawa and Haditha. Go there and see how many children, old men and women were killed by the Iraqi Army’s hand.”

Abu Ayoub believes the police should be called the militia. “Ninety-five percent of them are Shia and work with the Badr militia, and they work for Iran’s benefit. They killed many Sunni people just because they were Sunni, to create tensions between Sunni and Shia, and to make civil war after.”

But Ayoub believes it is still not right to attack members of the Iraqi army and police. “First we must liberate Iraq from occupation forces and then we can judge each one of them who committed crimes.”

There will be no civil war in Iraq if the occupation retreats, Abu Ayoub says. “We will control Iraq and push out all the militias and Iraqi politicians who came on American tanks. Then we will find many honest Iraqi politicians to lead Iraq. But for now you can see how the Iraqi people are between two hammers, the occupation and the militia — or even the Iraqi government, because they support them.”

Since I arrived in Amman, I’ve been making contacts and looking for appointments with people who’ve arrived recently from Iraq. We’re working on setting up those contacts, but it’s going slowly.

I’m hoping to arrange an interview this week with someone who just came to Amman from nearby Ramadi over the weekend, but I’m not sure how that will go.

Luckily, phones still work in Ramadi and elsewhere around Iraq, so we’ve been able to receive some updates that way, as well as by email from Qasem.

Rafat reached a friend in Ramadi yesterday. He is a manager at the electrical company in Ramadi. Accoring to him, the United States forces there shutdown the electricity and telephone center for many houses and all the public services were turned off or destroyed over the past week.

This corroborates with repeated comments by Qasem regarding the state of social services at this time in Ramadi.

Qasem’s latest email covers the events of Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Ramadi:

May 11, 2006

The day time was quiet but I heard the sounds of heavy guns somewhere around Ramadi…

At 9:00 pm an F-16 bombed one place, it is the train station again … in addition to this, tanks attacked the houses of the train station governmental employees…..three civilians where killed ..these civilians where father and his 2 kids …and some others injured ….and their house destroyed.

May 12, 2006

US troops were attacked by some fighters ….the attacks were in the military base that is located in the agriculture collage. The fighters attacked the base with machine guns and mortars, the reaction of the US troops was to attack the houses that were located near their base and at night they moved their tanks in the streets and arrested many people and inspected many houses.

Let me tell you what the inspection included. As usual, US soldiers were moving with tanks in the streets among the houses after midnight. They arrest people from any family that saw the fighters on their way to fighting location and they arrest any family that shows movment inside their house during US soldiers moving. Most arrest cases are when US soldiers notice that someone is still awake after midnight!!! Because of that me and my family and most the people in our area keep silent and hide inside our rooms and keep the kids quiet and take them to their beds. And sure all this happen in deep darkness every night because no electricity can be found. Only by private generators that can work only few hours because of very expensive fuel shortage.

After inspection any house the result will :

1- destroyed doors and windows.
2- Broken furniture and some broken sets such as TV sets ,refrigerator .
3- Broken car windows.
4- Scared kids and women, girls

And let me tell you what are the steps of getting US soldiers in any house after midnight :

1- US soldiers surround the house and watch it for few minutes.
2- They throw sonic bombs in the windows-that make high explosion sound to make shock on the people who are living inside and this shock keeps everybody inside unable to hear for 20 minutes at least …..and for babies there is risk to lose there ears hearing ability, maybe for their whole life.
3- The soldiers get in the house from many openings (windows, doors) and then they crash any door they face …..bedroom and kitchen, etc.
4- They take all the family (even women, kids) by force, shouting loudly and putting them in one room with tied hands in the darkest, smallest room …..
5- The soldiers start inspection and they break any closed cabinets and lockers……
6- After they make sure that there is no weapons or bombs in this house ….the soldiers start to collect information from the family members. Mostly there are no interpreters with the US soldiers, so that mostly the soldiers will arrest the males and young boys to interrogate them in the US military base.
7- After the US soldiers finish, they throw smoke bombs outside the house then they ride the tanks with the arrested people to go back to their military base.

My family had this experience many times when they had US inspectors after midnight …..and the worst thing for them is when I am not available to be the interpreter for the US soldiers.

Many times I got offers from US soldiers (when they inspecting my house) to be interpreter with US soldiers in inspections with good payment, but I refuse because I know that I will be partner to the US troops crimes in Iraq if I be with them during their killing my people.

US soldiers need to understand that all of them came to Iraq with their guns and hurt Iraqis too much and all of them have his own share in Iraqi tragedy ..in addition all of Iraqis are victims and a few of them fight to stop this tragedy.

May 13,2006

Today in the morning the US troops tried to get more houses to use them as snipers bases…….and many fighters appeared with their guns to stop this.

US soldiers use all the power that they can get from tanks and helicopters that attacked many houses and killed many people (most of the victims were civilians).
This time the US soldiers chose my house to use it as snipers base. At 3 am 10s of US soldiers destroyed the outer gate of my house and came in the house while my family were sleeping …..they hid in the garden for a while. I was woken up. I heard their sounds and steps. After awhile they got inside after crashing the two main doors of my house. Then I came out of my room to show myself with some English words that can help my family to avoid the harmful reaction of the American way of getting in the bedrooms.

The US soldiers shouted on me ” Freeze! Turn back to the wall with raised hands now!” the US soldiers shouted on me.

I did what he asked me. Another US soldier inspected me then he said “he is clean” he said for the officer who was watching me carefully……there was three Iraqi soldiers whose cant speak English at all…….but they where speaking each to other
” OK….. can you help US to finish our job here……we need you to tell us about this house and what kind of people living here.”

The officer asked me this while the other soldiers moving around me ..in fact I cant see them, it was dark but they see me by their instruments found in their helmets ….but I noticed that the officer brought our kerosene lamp to help to see my steps and to see him while he talking to me.

“Please do not hurt us we are a peaceful family and my family includes kids and women and an old man (my father) …please let me wake them by my self to be ready for inspection…….

“ok…..hurry up and I want all the people whose living here come to be in this room ” the officer said pointing to my small room. I hurried to wake up my father and mother telling them calmly that US soldiers are here and all of us are OK….and they want all of us to be in one room” I said to my father with calm voice to avoid scaring him-he has heart problems.

Then I went to my sisters room and woke them up and took them to my room …..2 US soldiers moved with me without saying any word……they felt safe with me because I was doing their orders.

In the room of kids I found my nephews sleeping, one of my nephew, Mustafa who is 5 years old was sick and sleeping deeply. I carried him and moved with the other kids to my room. Finally I waked up all the family and all of the stayed in the room.

The soldiers started tieing the hands of all family members …..but I stopped him
” please do not do this …..you can lock the door but don’t tie their hands, there is kids ….it is hard for them ……please do not do that” I said to the officer.

” ok …..lock the door ….it will be enough” the officer said.

” You are 18 members living in this house ??? how ” the officer asked me

“We have no choice …..that it is all what we can ….there is no other place to live…..but it is ok …our house is nice enough for all of us together ” I answered with a smile….trying to make them relax.

“You are a good boy …..take care your family ” he said with smile

“Oh no ….I am not boy ….I am man ….do not let me feel bad” I said to him ….kidding

“Oh sorry, sorry …..how old are you???”

” I am 30 years old ….”

“Oh , you seem younger…..30 ??? Are you sure?? ”

“Yes I am sure ….and if I seem younger it is good for my girlfriend-right?”

” hahaha…yes sure. you deserve good one ” officer said with laugh

” she is good ….and it is not your business …..ok….??” I said with laughing

“Ok …..ok…..now get in with your family and we will open the door when we finish……get in the room please”…the officer said

I keep quiet while I am getting in the room …..

One of the soldiers locked the door and we stayed in darkness.

At the beginning I thought that the soldiers will get out after they finish inspecting the house ….but they stayed till the 11:20 am…..and we stayed in the dark room for 6 hours …

The first 2 hours were ok although it was very hot and dark ….but the problems started when Mustafa wanted to go to bath room………I asked the soldiers to allow him to go…..

“We cant open it …only the Americans can open it ….we not allowed to do any thing without their orders” Iraqi soldier said to me .

” Ok tell them now ….he is sick kid and he need to go toilet now”

“Ok…..I will try ….I can’t speak English……I just will tell them by signs …ok??” the Iraqi soldiers said

“Ok, ok”

He went upstairs and after few miutes he came back with one US soldier.

“What is your problem ??? ” the American soldier asked me behind the locked door
I explained for him about my nephew …..then he opened the door

“Ok …he should go alone …” the American soldier said

“No he cant he is sick…..he is sick he cant walk ….he have weak legs”

“Ok ok …..You go with him …..and you,” pointing to the Iraqi soldier, “watch them.” the American soldier said to me and to the Iraqi soldier.

“What he said ??” the Iraqi soldier asked me

I explained for him …………then we go to the toilet and the Iraqi soldier points his gun on us, me and 5 year-old sick Mustafa

This way of used with every one went to the bath room…….we spend the 6 hours as hostages in dark hot room.

The next message will explain what happened ……..thanks.

It’s ironic, and perhaps a bit too flippant, but it was the only thing I could think of when Omar told me the news today.

I’ve finally recovered a bag that was lost by Royal Jordanian that contained 110 hours of MiniDV tape for the video end of the project, after being forced to pay 39 Jordanian Dinar for customs to release it.

I don’t know what US Customs is like, being an American citizen and never forced to navigate it, but I can tell you that Jordanian and Iraqi customs can be described by one word: Kafka-esque.

When I finally obtained my bag, I found the tapes absent, and was told by Royal Jordanian that “no one had gone through my bag, not RJ or customs.” After haggling a bit, it turned up that of course they had gone through my bag and there was a ticket in the bag to bring for the box of tapes.

I was initially told I would have to pay 95 JD. But so that you can understand where haggling will get you, even though I was told “there is nothing we can do” repeatedly, the “chief of customs” eventually marked the price down to 56 JD, and then, after I explained to him I am a freelance journalist, etc. It was marked down to 39 JD.

Perhaps if I had until next Ramadan, I could have received the tapes for free. Considering that I brought 6 cameras through customs with no problems however, it seems like the joke is on them!

When I returned to the flat I called Omar, to check on our progress to find a driver to transport the camera, tapes, etc. to him in Iraq, I heard the news.

“Well you know dude, we can’t use that driver now, just because he is dead.”

I didn’t know how to respond, I believed he was a friend of Omar and his brother, Mhyar, but I guess they weren’t close. I gave him my apologies, but Omar’s sort of “it happens” reaction led me to my own blasphemous thought, “Iraq happens.”

In other news, yesterday an Iraqi friend in Amman received a call from another friend who now lives in Amman. According to this friend, who is from Fallujah, just this morning he received a call that US forces broke into his house and arrested his sons as well as the other men in the house, and smashed his home up, apparently searching for weapons or something else. I’m trying to make an interview with him and, inshallah, it will happen soon.

This friend gave me an interview his organization taped with a woman who was arrested by the US and I hope to have that translated and uploaded soon.

There have also been reports of renewed fighting in Samarra from friend here, and we’ll be trying to reach a doctor who works in the hospital there. The only news I’ve found that mentions Samarra recently, however, is in the context of the shrine bombing, and nothing recent.

See here.

The government negotiations aren’t going well, not only has the Fadhila party pulled out altogether, Bahaa al-Araji is threatening that the United Iraqi Alliance will form a government unilaterally, I’m not sure this is really possible, but I’ll be looking into it and trying to post more soon.

Technical Difficulties appear to be mostly corrected, we’re still having some trouble posting directly from Amman, however. Here is the rest of Qasem’s email. We will try to contact him by phone tomorrow and provide another update as soon as we can connect with him.

May 8, 2006
US troops tried to get inside more houses to install sniper bases among the houses …some fighters attacked them and fighting continued for 2 hours after noon. After a 4 hour period of no fighting some fighters hunted one US professional sniper on his base then many attacks happened and fighting…and other US snipers in Ramadi started shooting anyone who can be found in the streets…..but just as they started many people started to take out the people by their cars and help them to run away from the snipers shooting ……..the people believe that snipers are the most wild US soldiers of all the US troops in Ramadi, because snipers killed many kids and I know him one of them, his name Haitham Yusif Hubaiter (7years old) he was killed by US sniper while he was going to his school 2 months ago, in addition to many kids and women killed by the US snipers with shots in head.

By the way the college of agriculture and college of education still occupied by US troops and the students use other buildings of Anbaar university to study.

May 10, 2006

At 9:30 in the morning, the US troops tried to install more snipers by occupying more houses close to the core of the city, some fighters attacked them and tough fighting continued for 3 hours… US bullets damaged many houses because of their random shooting, this way hurt many families inside their houses and my family was harmed also when many bullets sparked fire in the kids room.. I heard their screams while 2 of my nephews run away from their burning bedroom. My brother and I ran upstairs to find out what kind of hurt we will find this time… my mind was full with images of a kid killed with sniper bullet in head or burned dead body of one of my nephews. I was scared too much and I lost control of my steps on the stairs. I found my brother broke down the door and crashed the window with his hands to get out the heavy smoke and he carried out his 5 year-old son Mustafa who was startled, to get him out of the burned room. The fire started to burn some blankets, I found my way to bring water and started extinguishing the fire. It was small fire cased by the bullets …this kind of bullets used by US troops is very harmful gun for human beings or the materials-it contains lead that will be like a hot liquid inside the bullet…if the bullet get inside the body will explode and crash the body from inside and melt bones & flesh ….and if the bullet attacked a car or furniture or wood, it will burn and melt it .

The streets were empty and the fighters succeeded to disapear as usual …but the US soldiers keep there machine guns working and pointing to our houses….

I know that US soldiers want to keep themselves alive till they see their families but we also need to be alive to take care our suffering families in our poor hard life in Iraq.

Notice : till now there is no electricity, no drinking water, no phone service and no way to know what is the next day can be ……darkness and blood are our atmosphere.

And in media there is the usual news about 10s of Iraqi dead bodies found in Baghdad streets and explosions killed many Iraqis and the only help that government doing is to collect the dead body and put them in hospitals and tell the media to avoid scaring the people by hiding the real numbers of the dead bodies in the streets.

Other new strange crimes appeared in Baghdad when a group of gunmen was moving in Baghdad streets and shooting in the crowded places on the civilians and the Iraqi police allow them to pass the check points ……it is strange but it is fact ……ask any Iraqi even government members then he can’t say it is not fact…

Now, IF I have the choice to live in Baghdad or Ramadi or Fallujah …I will choose the 2 last choices because the dangerous side is clear but in Baghda every thing is Dangerous even Police check points can arrest and kill the people for money or some thing else…

Another email from Qassem in Ramadi… This is only part of his email, but I want to read through and make it easier to understand his english, also I’m hoping to provide some more context for the situation in Ramadi.

As for me, I am in Amman, I slept for 12 hours after being awake for 36 travelling. I met with the NCCI as well as Kathy Kelly and Kathy Breen, and my flatmate Justin Alexander who works with UNAMI. Expect more about all of these people and their organizations soon. I have to be in touch with Rafat, my friend and “fixer” and I hope we’ll start shooting video interviews by tomorrow or Saturday.

Now this from Qassem:

Now the situation in Ramadi and the ways around it going to be worse more……US troops going to install more snipers towers and at 7th May 2006 US attacked the train station of Ramadi completely ..it is the third attack for this station although it is empty and surrounded by the local people houses……
US snipers occupied more houses such as ( Mr.Fasaal Alassafi ’s house) .the US snipers used to make the houses military bases for snipers and hunt any body moving around them….
The people in Ramadi called Iraqi fighters whose attacking US forces ( Resistance ) .resistance still watching and attacking US troops hardly .

For the Ramadi people think that Resistance is the Iraqi victims relatives of US boming ,and they believe that Resistance revenging for the Iraqis whose killed by US troops .
The main problem is that US troops think that by hurting civilians they will force resistance to stop the attacks but the clear fact is that Resistance got more members and getting stronger when more civilians killed……the other problem is that the people here have no way to stop US troops crimes only by defending their houses by them selves ……they believe that the world ignored them ….so no peace chance can be useful .

The streets of Ramadi full with destroyed buildings ,houses and burned cars ,I know very well that all of them destroyed by US troops in add there occupied schools and houses.
I believe there is bad experience for my people with the US troops.my people never trust US troops and US troops never trust us…….we living with our families and children in our houses and they living in their tanks with weapons among our houses…….

Now in Ramadi most the streets are dangerous because of US snipers and services is almost not found because US troops destroyed telephone station ,mobile service ,electricity and water services …..the main reason to destroy this services is to punish the civilians because they do not help US troops to kill the fighters……for me I believe that my people never agree to help some body to kill any body ….. US can get out the city to avoid attacks it is the easier choice for Iraqis and US soldiers ….and it is the best choice to get peace without blood.I know that the fighters need to get back their life and stay with their families again with peace and US soldiers want this also ….both of them need the chance and US troops can make this chance.

Helena Cobban over at Just World News has been running a “Democracy Denied in Iraq” counter for quite some time now. The current time reads 146 days. That’s 146 days since the elections last December, without a finalized Iraqi government.

Now Prime Minister al-Maliki is claiming he’ll have a government formed tomorrow! It still seems questionable, but certainly al-Maliki appears to have a better shot at it than his predecessor al-Jaafari.

I spoke to a friend of mine in Baghdad just a little while ago. He seems optimistic that al-Maliki might make his self-imposed deadline-he promised to seat a government in half the alotted one month deadline.

The main issue we both see is what the results of the Ministers of Interior and Defense will be. These are really the key issues, since security is such a big question right now.

Here is a breakdown of some stories in the press regarding al-Maliki and the upcoming government nominations:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC946024.htm

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C05%5C10%5Cstory_10-5-2006_pg4_1

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=sport-qqqm=sport-qqqa=sport-qqqid=2970-qqqx=1.asp

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/05/10/2003307173

I’ll be reporting about the view of Iraqi refugees on the government negotiations as soon as I am in town, certainly expect to hear something by tomorrow!

As many of you are no doubt aware, I have once again been derelict in my duties as founder and coordinator of this website. This is because the past week has involved hectic preparations for a return trip to the Middle East

As I type this I have one hour until I leave for JFK airport to hop a plane back to the Middle East. I have a short layover in Frankfurt Germany and expect to arrive in Amman at approximately 8:40pm local time.

Through the dedicated assistance of Alive in Baghdad’s readership, we’ve raised enough money not only to go back for 2 months, but also to take many cameras over with us.

I’ll be bringing 6 cameras including my own, and expect to begin producing media from Amman almost immediately and to get these cameras into the hands of our “correspondents” in Iraq and Amman’s Iraqi refugee community as quickly as possible thereafter.

Our goal is to be uploading a number of interviews each week, as well as myself providing regular “headline” news updates from Amman, over video, audio, and text. These news updates will be aimed at cutting through the rhetoric and informing people not in the Middle East or lacking access to Al-Jazeera and similar stations, about the view from the ground.

We hope to very soon have a bi-monthly news program put together combining reports from Amman and Baghdad with general news updates as well. This will also be available by video initially and hopefully audio as well soon after.

Please stay tuned, and also look for the launch of our new site in the Drupal codebase. It will look nearly identical, but should correct some of the functionality problems we currently face.

As always, any donations are heartfully accepted, money, cameras, tape, audio equipment, and computers are all worthwhile and needed donations. Please feel free to email me for further information!

aliveinbaghdad at gmail.com