30 June 2007
Husam Al-Rassam "Indi Watan" (= I Have a Motherland)
I have a motherland that am always longing for
It's a torment if you can't go home
I was deprived from her by the merciless
My wish is to go back, but how?
I can't go back, and that's the problem
I have a motherland that am always longing for
***
I have a motherland, and my soul is tied to hers
I am afraid to hug her, least i'd open her wounds
She is stabbed all over her body
Everybody had turned against her
She doesn't deserve what happened to her
I have a motherland that am always longing for
***
20 June 2007
Are You Sunni or Shiite?!
- "Are you Sunni or Shiite?"
- "I'm Iraqi!"
And as long as you are Iraqi, they will kill you.
May God protect every innocent Iraqi from those who kill, harm or terrorize this people.
- "I'm Iraqi!"
And as long as you are Iraqi, they will kill you.
May God protect every innocent Iraqi from those who kill, harm or terrorize this people.
15 June 2007
Martyrs Day
This past week has been a very difficult one. I had serious but brief health problem that caused my hospitalization for 24 hours.
During those difficult hours, i was under the caring eyes and hands of my colleagues, who refused to leave me in such difficult conditions. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for all of their care and concern, without which i am not sure i would have ever made it (back).
After that, and coming to 2 days ago, as i called my family for a news update, i got the terrible news that my cousin had passed away. He was a 33 years old doctor, and a father of a 3 years old boy. He was apparently stopped by a fake traffic police barrier a day earlier, and was found killed in his car the next morning, which was 13 Jun. 2007.
About half an hour after i received those terrbile news, i learned through the internet that a friend of mine who was a jounralist in the unstable province of Diyala had also passed away, due to a roadside bomb which went off as he happened to be passing. He was a 32 years old, newly wed.
Why all of our stories are the same?
During those difficult hours, i was under the caring eyes and hands of my colleagues, who refused to leave me in such difficult conditions. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for all of their care and concern, without which i am not sure i would have ever made it (back).
After that, and coming to 2 days ago, as i called my family for a news update, i got the terrible news that my cousin had passed away. He was a 33 years old doctor, and a father of a 3 years old boy. He was apparently stopped by a fake traffic police barrier a day earlier, and was found killed in his car the next morning, which was 13 Jun. 2007.
About half an hour after i received those terrbile news, i learned through the internet that a friend of mine who was a jounralist in the unstable province of Diyala had also passed away, due to a roadside bomb which went off as he happened to be passing. He was a 32 years old, newly wed.
Why all of our stories are the same?
08 June 2007
CNN Article: Rift seen in Iraq insurgency - some groups reject al Qaeda
Rift seen in Iraq insurgency -- some groups reject al Qaeda
By Karl Penhaul
BUHRUZ, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces have begun arming nationalist guerrillas and former Saddam Hussein loyalists -- and coordinating tactics -- in a marriage of convenience against al Qaeda radicals in one of Iraq's most violent provinces, senior U.S. commanders tell CNN.
This new alliance, a result of the deepening divisions among Iraqi insurgent factions, was on display earlier this week at a highway intersection in the town of Tahrir. There, a group of some 15 insurgents publicly chanted: "Death to al Qaeda."
"The al Qaeda organization has dominated and humiliated Sunnis, Shiites and jihadis. It has forced people from their homes. They can't get enough blood. They killed many honest scholars, preachers and loyal mujahedeen," one of the group's spokesmen read from a written manifesto.
It's a sharp turnaround from just two months ago when the same insurgent forces were focused on fighting U.S. troops and driving them out of Diyala province, about 40 miles north of Baghdad. (Watch how insurgents are turning against al Qaeda)
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multi-National Division North, believes U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Vietnam and Latin America offer precedents for the strategy he is now pushing in this region of Iraq.
"We've seen this in previous counterinsurgency operations, using local nationals, arming them and forming them into scouts," he told CNN. "That's the primary role we want to use them in. They know the territory. They know the enemy."
At the highway intersection in Tahrir, the insurgents said they had named their anti-al Qaeda alliance the United Jihad Council. They said the newly formed council was an umbrella organization of smaller insurgent units, including the 1920s Brigades, the Mujahedeen Army, Islamic Army and the Salaheddin Brigades. (Read a U.S. commander's view of the changing strategies)
CNN videotaped gunmen posting lookouts on rooftops throughout Tahrir and patting down civilians -- checking for potential al Qaeda infiltrators -- as they made their way to prayers at local mosques.
Locals say al Qaeda amputated fingers for smoking
Nationalist insurgents say al Qaeda excesses are behind their falling-out. Several sources said al Qaeda members burned a 7-year-old child alive and murdered women and other children in the towns and villages around the provincial capital of Baquba. They did not give names or dates to back up their claims.
"They [al Qaeda] ruled with tyranny. They really harmed our town, so we had to stop them, and they left, no return," said one young gunman, who claimed membership in the nationalist 1920s Brigades.
Other civilian and insurgent sources in the towns of Tahrir and neighboring Buhruz said al Qaeda had imposed strict regulations, including a ban on smoking -- punishable by the amputation of a finger or hand -- and a curfew on citizens walking in the streets after 4 p.m.
Some citizens said al Qaeda had even banned Friday prayers.
Based on anecdotal evidence, offered by civilians in Buhruz, al Qaeda was financing its military operations by forcing citizens to pay a "war tax," as well as by kidnapping for ransom, selling smuggled fuel on the black market, and even using forced labor to harvest oranges and dates from sprawling plantations throughout the region.
In Buhruz, Capt. Ben Richards is one of the U.S. field commanders cementing the U.S. military alliance with its former foes from the nationalist insurgent factions. He said the new strategy was highly pragmatic.
"If we go in with the mindset that every one of these persons has tried to kill an American, I don't think that's true, though in many cases it may be. But if you think that, then you're setting yourself up for a mindset that is not productive for us or for the Iraqi people," Richards, commander of a troop of Stryker combat vehicles, told CNN.
Richards described assistance from the former insurgent factions and what he calls other "concerned local nationals" as "militarily crucial."
His key ally in the region is a man known as Abu Ali, who says he has never belonged to an insurgent force but was an officer in one of Saddam Hussein's feared military intelligence units.
To date, Abu Ali says he has received 39 weapons and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the U.S. military. The insurgent factions he represents, however, are known to have significant arsenals of their own weapons, including light machine guns, assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Publicly, Abu Ali is grateful for the assistance he and his followers have received from the U.S. military. He predicts he can help clear the entire province of al Qaeda militants within six months if the U.S. Army provides more ammunition and supports insurgent operations with air cover and help from tanks and armored personnel carriers.
But while the marriage of convenience may be successful for now, Abu Ali and his followers seem to have no intention of making a lasting commitment to the Americans.
"After we are done with al Qaeda," Abu Ali says, "we will ask the Americans to withdraw from Iraq. ... If they do not withdraw, there will be violations and the American army will be harmed."
He adds, "Especially after the help the U.S. Army has provided us, we would like them to go home as our friend, not enemy."
With the alliance only beginning to bear its first successes, few U.S. commanders seem to be looking toward the end of the affair. But there is a realization that it is a balancing act -- to prevent al Qaeda infiltration and to maintain the collaboration of nationalist insurgents.
"It's a risk worth taking," Mixon said.
By Karl Penhaul
BUHRUZ, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces have begun arming nationalist guerrillas and former Saddam Hussein loyalists -- and coordinating tactics -- in a marriage of convenience against al Qaeda radicals in one of Iraq's most violent provinces, senior U.S. commanders tell CNN.
This new alliance, a result of the deepening divisions among Iraqi insurgent factions, was on display earlier this week at a highway intersection in the town of Tahrir. There, a group of some 15 insurgents publicly chanted: "Death to al Qaeda."
"The al Qaeda organization has dominated and humiliated Sunnis, Shiites and jihadis. It has forced people from their homes. They can't get enough blood. They killed many honest scholars, preachers and loyal mujahedeen," one of the group's spokesmen read from a written manifesto.
It's a sharp turnaround from just two months ago when the same insurgent forces were focused on fighting U.S. troops and driving them out of Diyala province, about 40 miles north of Baghdad. (Watch how insurgents are turning against al Qaeda)
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multi-National Division North, believes U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Vietnam and Latin America offer precedents for the strategy he is now pushing in this region of Iraq.
"We've seen this in previous counterinsurgency operations, using local nationals, arming them and forming them into scouts," he told CNN. "That's the primary role we want to use them in. They know the territory. They know the enemy."
At the highway intersection in Tahrir, the insurgents said they had named their anti-al Qaeda alliance the United Jihad Council. They said the newly formed council was an umbrella organization of smaller insurgent units, including the 1920s Brigades, the Mujahedeen Army, Islamic Army and the Salaheddin Brigades. (Read a U.S. commander's view of the changing strategies)
CNN videotaped gunmen posting lookouts on rooftops throughout Tahrir and patting down civilians -- checking for potential al Qaeda infiltrators -- as they made their way to prayers at local mosques.
Locals say al Qaeda amputated fingers for smoking
Nationalist insurgents say al Qaeda excesses are behind their falling-out. Several sources said al Qaeda members burned a 7-year-old child alive and murdered women and other children in the towns and villages around the provincial capital of Baquba. They did not give names or dates to back up their claims.
"They [al Qaeda] ruled with tyranny. They really harmed our town, so we had to stop them, and they left, no return," said one young gunman, who claimed membership in the nationalist 1920s Brigades.
Other civilian and insurgent sources in the towns of Tahrir and neighboring Buhruz said al Qaeda had imposed strict regulations, including a ban on smoking -- punishable by the amputation of a finger or hand -- and a curfew on citizens walking in the streets after 4 p.m.
Some citizens said al Qaeda had even banned Friday prayers.
Based on anecdotal evidence, offered by civilians in Buhruz, al Qaeda was financing its military operations by forcing citizens to pay a "war tax," as well as by kidnapping for ransom, selling smuggled fuel on the black market, and even using forced labor to harvest oranges and dates from sprawling plantations throughout the region.
In Buhruz, Capt. Ben Richards is one of the U.S. field commanders cementing the U.S. military alliance with its former foes from the nationalist insurgent factions. He said the new strategy was highly pragmatic.
"If we go in with the mindset that every one of these persons has tried to kill an American, I don't think that's true, though in many cases it may be. But if you think that, then you're setting yourself up for a mindset that is not productive for us or for the Iraqi people," Richards, commander of a troop of Stryker combat vehicles, told CNN.
Richards described assistance from the former insurgent factions and what he calls other "concerned local nationals" as "militarily crucial."
His key ally in the region is a man known as Abu Ali, who says he has never belonged to an insurgent force but was an officer in one of Saddam Hussein's feared military intelligence units.
To date, Abu Ali says he has received 39 weapons and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the U.S. military. The insurgent factions he represents, however, are known to have significant arsenals of their own weapons, including light machine guns, assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Publicly, Abu Ali is grateful for the assistance he and his followers have received from the U.S. military. He predicts he can help clear the entire province of al Qaeda militants within six months if the U.S. Army provides more ammunition and supports insurgent operations with air cover and help from tanks and armored personnel carriers.
But while the marriage of convenience may be successful for now, Abu Ali and his followers seem to have no intention of making a lasting commitment to the Americans.
"After we are done with al Qaeda," Abu Ali says, "we will ask the Americans to withdraw from Iraq. ... If they do not withdraw, there will be violations and the American army will be harmed."
He adds, "Especially after the help the U.S. Army has provided us, we would like them to go home as our friend, not enemy."
With the alliance only beginning to bear its first successes, few U.S. commanders seem to be looking toward the end of the affair. But there is a realization that it is a balancing act -- to prevent al Qaeda infiltration and to maintain the collaboration of nationalist insurgents.
"It's a risk worth taking," Mixon said.
04 June 2007
Words from Amiriya (Briefing #5)
Today, there were some explosions, that seemed to be IEDs, since there have been significant movements by US Army vehicles in the area.
Around 22:30, there were 3 consecutive explosions, but there weren't any available information on their targets or whereabouts.
Around 22:30, there were 3 consecutive explosions, but there weren't any available information on their targets or whereabouts.
IraqSlogger Picture: Another Amiriya Image
Zainab, shot in the leg on her way to school in Amiriya neighborhood during clashes with al-Qaeda Thursday, evacuated by US Army medics.Courtsey Jane Arraf/IraqSlogger
IraqSlogger Picture: First Amiriya Images
First images out of Amiriya, showing the area near Tikriti Mosque not far from the Airport Highway.
Courtsey: Jane Arraf/IraqSlogger
editorandpublisher.com Article: AP Cameraman, Carrying Rifle, Killed in Iraq Opposing Al-Qaeda
Report: AP Cameraman, Carrying Rifle, Killed in Iraq Opposing Al-Qaeda
By Greg Mitchell
NEW YORK Jane Arraf, the well-known CNN and NBC correspondent now writing for the popular Web site, IraqSlogger, reveals tonight that the brothers of the Associated Press cameraman killed in Baghdad on Thursday say that he was carrying a rifle in trying to hold off al-Qaeda militants in his neighborhood.
A picture of the photographer, taken by Arraf, also appears on the front page of the site, being treated in vain by a U.S. Army medic. Other pictures show brothers of the slain man -- also journalsits -- grieving, along with his coffin.Arraf has been embedded with the Army "Stryker" unit.The subhed on the article states: "Off-Duty, Armed APTN Cameraman Dies a Hero Defending his Neighborhood.
"Her report, which was held up for a time due to embedding rules, opens as follows. The entire story is available at www.iraqslogger.com.*
They were still bringing in the wounded when we arrived at the mosque in southern Amiriya Thursday morning, racing from the armored vehicles surrounded by bursts of gunfire.
An American soldier was among the casualties – killed by small arms fire. His name is being withheld. His commanders said he was an exceptional young man who re-enlisted after surviving a mortar attack that killed his roommate.
The Iraqi wounded were taken to the mosque – laid out on the teal blue carpet stained by pools of blood and littered with shards of glass from the shattered ceiling panels which had read 'There is no God but God.'
One of them was Saif Mohammad Fakhry, an Iraqi cameraman with the television news agency APTN. His brother said he had gone out in the street with a gun after suspected al-Qaeda militants attacked the neighborhood. A doctor from the U.S. Army’s Stryker brigade, sweating with heat and exertion, worked frantically to insert a chest tube in his side to try to keep his lung from collapsing. I turned away for a moment as an American medic worked on an Iraqi man who had been shot in the face. When I turned back – he had died. The Army’s Arabic interpreter who had held Saif’s hand knelt by him to pray. Saif, 26, was the younger brother of Omar Fakhry, 33, a photojournalist for Arabic television stations and Yasser Fakhry, 31, who was also an Iraqi journalist. They shouted in grief...Saif’s phone rang – Omar reached into his brother’s blood-splattered pockets and pulled it out....
Saif had gone into the street carrying the rifle that each family in Baghdad is allowed to own. The U.S. military normally considers guns on the streets justification to shoot on sight but in Amiriya that rule was relaxed as neighborhood men spurred on by religious leaders gathered to fight al-Qaeda.
“They have a better ability to find and kill al-Qaeda that we do,” said Lt Colonel Dale Kuehl, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment responsible for the area.
By Greg Mitchell
NEW YORK Jane Arraf, the well-known CNN and NBC correspondent now writing for the popular Web site, IraqSlogger, reveals tonight that the brothers of the Associated Press cameraman killed in Baghdad on Thursday say that he was carrying a rifle in trying to hold off al-Qaeda militants in his neighborhood.
A picture of the photographer, taken by Arraf, also appears on the front page of the site, being treated in vain by a U.S. Army medic. Other pictures show brothers of the slain man -- also journalsits -- grieving, along with his coffin.Arraf has been embedded with the Army "Stryker" unit.The subhed on the article states: "Off-Duty, Armed APTN Cameraman Dies a Hero Defending his Neighborhood.
"Her report, which was held up for a time due to embedding rules, opens as follows. The entire story is available at www.iraqslogger.com.*
They were still bringing in the wounded when we arrived at the mosque in southern Amiriya Thursday morning, racing from the armored vehicles surrounded by bursts of gunfire.
An American soldier was among the casualties – killed by small arms fire. His name is being withheld. His commanders said he was an exceptional young man who re-enlisted after surviving a mortar attack that killed his roommate.
The Iraqi wounded were taken to the mosque – laid out on the teal blue carpet stained by pools of blood and littered with shards of glass from the shattered ceiling panels which had read 'There is no God but God.'
One of them was Saif Mohammad Fakhry, an Iraqi cameraman with the television news agency APTN. His brother said he had gone out in the street with a gun after suspected al-Qaeda militants attacked the neighborhood. A doctor from the U.S. Army’s Stryker brigade, sweating with heat and exertion, worked frantically to insert a chest tube in his side to try to keep his lung from collapsing. I turned away for a moment as an American medic worked on an Iraqi man who had been shot in the face. When I turned back – he had died. The Army’s Arabic interpreter who had held Saif’s hand knelt by him to pray. Saif, 26, was the younger brother of Omar Fakhry, 33, a photojournalist for Arabic television stations and Yasser Fakhry, 31, who was also an Iraqi journalist. They shouted in grief...Saif’s phone rang – Omar reached into his brother’s blood-splattered pockets and pulled it out....
Saif had gone into the street carrying the rifle that each family in Baghdad is allowed to own. The U.S. military normally considers guns on the streets justification to shoot on sight but in Amiriya that rule was relaxed as neighborhood men spurred on by religious leaders gathered to fight al-Qaeda.
“They have a better ability to find and kill al-Qaeda that we do,” said Lt Colonel Dale Kuehl, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment responsible for the area.
03 June 2007
Words from Amiriya (Briefing #4)
The situation have been reportedly stable also on Sunday. My family mentioned in a phone call today that fruits and vegetables have finally arrived at the area markets after about a week from their lack.
There have been some sounds of distant explosions and gunshots, but not as much as used to be. It was also noticed that there weren't any patrols during the past two days, at least in our alley.
There have been some sounds of distant explosions and gunshots, but not as much as used to be. It was also noticed that there weren't any patrols during the past two days, at least in our alley.
02 June 2007
BBC Article: Rival Sunni groups clash in Iraq
Rival Sunni groups clash in Iraq Iraqi Sunni fighters have been battling militants linked to al-Qaeda in a suburb of Baghdad, in a sign of growing rivalry among Sunni insurgents.
Residents of Amiriya in Baghdad have been joined by Sunni militants from nationalist groups in an effort to expel al-Qaeda fighters.
US forces have offered to strike a deal with the groups less hostile to them.
The BBC's Jim Muir says the latest power struggle could potentially yield an exit strategy for US forces in Iraq.
Sunni Iraqi tribal leaders in the restive western province of Anbar have already mobilised forces against al-Qaeda militants.
Our correspondent says the latest clashes show the rebellion against al-Qaeda has now spread to part of Baghdad's Sunni community.
The al-Qaeda group's severe interpretation of Islam, its use of foreign fighters and its brutality are said to be the main factors driving local resentment towards them.
'Reaching back'
US forces said they had imposed a curfew in Amiriya in an effort to stop fighters from re-arming.
But residents quoted by AFP news agency said this had not stopped fresh clashes from taking place on Friday.
No official figures are available for the numbers killed in the violence in Amiriya.
"Al-Qaeda fighters and leaders have completely destroyed Amiriya," Abu Ahmed, a local Sunni resident, told AP news agency.
"No one can venture out, and all the businesses are closed. They kill everyone who criticizes them and is against their acts even if they are Sunnis."
Lt Gen Raymond Odierno, the second-highest ranking US officer in Iraq, said the military was trying to "reach back" to fighters who wanted to stop attacking US forces.
"We're talking about ceasefires and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," he said.
At least 126 US troops were killed in Iraq in May - the third-deadliest month for US forces since the invasion in 2003.
An Iraqi government source said more than 2,000 Iraqis had also died violently in the same month.
On Saturday, an explosion blamed on militants destroyed a major bridge on the main road linking Baghdad with the northern cities of Kirkuk and Irbil.
On Friday, three children died in a US attack aimed at militants in Anbar province.
Residents of Amiriya in Baghdad have been joined by Sunni militants from nationalist groups in an effort to expel al-Qaeda fighters.
US forces have offered to strike a deal with the groups less hostile to them.
The BBC's Jim Muir says the latest power struggle could potentially yield an exit strategy for US forces in Iraq.
Sunni Iraqi tribal leaders in the restive western province of Anbar have already mobilised forces against al-Qaeda militants.
Our correspondent says the latest clashes show the rebellion against al-Qaeda has now spread to part of Baghdad's Sunni community.
The al-Qaeda group's severe interpretation of Islam, its use of foreign fighters and its brutality are said to be the main factors driving local resentment towards them.
'Reaching back'
US forces said they had imposed a curfew in Amiriya in an effort to stop fighters from re-arming.
But residents quoted by AFP news agency said this had not stopped fresh clashes from taking place on Friday.
No official figures are available for the numbers killed in the violence in Amiriya.
"Al-Qaeda fighters and leaders have completely destroyed Amiriya," Abu Ahmed, a local Sunni resident, told AP news agency.
"No one can venture out, and all the businesses are closed. They kill everyone who criticizes them and is against their acts even if they are Sunnis."
Lt Gen Raymond Odierno, the second-highest ranking US officer in Iraq, said the military was trying to "reach back" to fighters who wanted to stop attacking US forces.
"We're talking about ceasefires and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," he said.
At least 126 US troops were killed in Iraq in May - the third-deadliest month for US forces since the invasion in 2003.
An Iraqi government source said more than 2,000 Iraqis had also died violently in the same month.
On Saturday, an explosion blamed on militants destroyed a major bridge on the main road linking Baghdad with the northern cities of Kirkuk and Irbil.
On Friday, three children died in a US attack aimed at militants in Anbar province.
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