Another war blog

[mullaney]

In the months leading up to the war in Iraq, I kept a journal. It was obvious at the time, that the supposed links to Al Qaeda were either overblown or simply lies. I also suspected that the claims of vast stockpiles of WMDs were wrong. The inspections seemed to be doing some good and were clearly not revealing a grand program. I feared a war would lead to a protracted guerilla conflict, a politically chaotic situation on the ground and terrific pain, suffering and death for both our courageous young soldiers and the people of Iraq. Nineteen months into the war, the situation is worse than I imagined.

Shortly after the war began, I focused my attention and my energy toward our political campaign. I thought it was the most productive way I could bring about change in Iraq. I needed hope. I needed to be optimistic. And I don't think my efforts were wasted.

But now have begun a new chapter, the Bush administration will be around for another 4 years and I fear so will this war. I will continue to do what I can on other issues, but on the eve of a new offensive in Fallujah, I want to start another journal devoted to what brought me back into the political process, the war in Iraq.

 

[mullaney]

As someone who used to be a devout Christian, this essay deeply moved me.

No Longer a Christian
by Karen Horst Cobb

Let me tell you about the Christ I know. He was conceived by an unmarried woman. He was not born into a family of privilege. He was a radical. He said, “It was said an eye for and eye and a tooth of a tooth, but now I say love your enemies and bless those who curse you.” He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” (Mattew 5: 3-9) He said, “All those who are called by my name will enter the kingdom of heaven." He said, "People will know true believers if they have the fruit of the spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control.“

He knew he would be led like a sheep to the slaughter. He responded with “Father forgive them.“ He explained that in Christ there is neither Jew nor gentile, slave or free male nor female. He explained that even to be angry is akin to murder. He said the temple of God is not a building, but is in the hearts of those are called by his name. He was called "the Prince of Peace." His final days were spent in prayer, so that he could endure what was set before him, not on how he could overpower the evil government of that day. When they came for him he was led away and didn’t resist his death sentence.

 

[mullaney]

A first hand account of our last attempt to subdue Fallujah:

Fallujah and the Reality of War
by Rahul Mahajan

The assault on Fallujah has started. It is being sold as liberation of the people of Fallujah; it is being sold as a necessary step to implementing “democracy” in Iraq. These are lies.

I was in Fallujah during the siege in April, and I want to paint for you a word picture of what such an assault means.

Fallujah is dry and hot; like Southern California, it has been made an agricultural area only by virtue of extensive irrigation. It has been known for years as a particularly devout city; people call it the City of a Thousand Mosques. In the mid-90’s, when Saddam wanted his name to be added to the call to prayer, the imams of Fallujah refused.

U.S. forces bombed the power plant at the beginning of the assault; for the next several weeks, Fallujah was a blacked-out town, with light provided by generators only in critical places like mosques and clinics. The town was placed under siege; the ban on bringing in food, medicine, and other basic items was broken only when Iraqis en masse challenged the roadblocks. The atmosphere was one of pervasive fear, from bombing and the threat of more bombing. Noncombatants and families with sick people, the elderly, and children were leaving in droves. After initial instances in which people were prevented from leaving, U.S. forces began allowing everyone to leave – except for what they called “military age males,” men usually between 15 and 60. Keeping noncombatants from leaving a place under bombardment is a violation of the laws of war. Of course, if you assume that every military age male is an enemy, there can be no better sign that you are in the wrong country, and that, in fact, your war is on the people, not on their oppressors, not a war of liberation.

The main hospital in Fallujah is across the Euphrates from the bulk of the town. Right at the beginning, the Americans shut down the main bridge, cutting off the hospital from the town. Doctors who wanted to treat patients had to leave the hospital, with only the equipment they could carry, and set up in makeshift clinics all over the city; the one I stayed at had been a neighborhood clinic with one room that had four beds, and no operating theater; doctors refrigerated blood in a soft-drink vending machine. Another clinic, I’m told, had been an auto repair shop. This hospital closing (not the only such that I documented in Iraq) also violates the Geneva Convention.

 

[mullaney]

Seems we have taken over the hospital again.

U.S. Forces Storm Into Western Fallujah

Several hundred Iraqi troops were sent into Fallujah's main hospital after U.S. forces sealed off the area. The troops detained about 50 men of military age inside the hospital, but about half were later released.

The invaders used special tools, powered by .22 caliber blanks, to break open door locks. A rifle-like crackle echoed through the facility. Many patients were herded into hallways and handcuffed until troops determined whether they were insurgents hiding in the hospital.

Dr. Salih al-Issawi, head of the hospital, said he had asked U.S. officers to allow doctors and ambulances go inside the main part of the city to help the wounded but they refused. There was no confirmation from the Americans.

"The American troops' attempt to take over the hospital was not right because they thought that they would halt medical assistance to the resistance," he said by telephone to a reporter inside the city. "But they did not realize that the hospital does not belong to anybody, especially the resistance."

During the siege of Fallujah last April, doctors at the hospital were a main source of reports about civilian casualties, which U.S. officials insisted were overblown. Those reports generated strong public outage in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world, prompting the Bush administration to call off the offensive.

The NY Times also has an article on this:

Early Target of Offensive Is a Hospital

At 10 p.m., Iraqi troops clambered off seven-ton trucks, sprinting with American Special Forces soldiers around the side of the main building of the hospital, considered a refuge for insurgents and a center of propaganda against allied forces, entering the complex to bewildered looks from patients and employees.

Ear-splitting bangs rang out as troops used a gunlike tool called a doorbuster, which uses the force from firing a blank .22-caliber cartridge to thrust forward a chisel to break heavy door locks.

Iraqi troops eagerly kicked the doors in, some not waiting for the locks to break. Patients and hospital employees were rushed out of rooms by armed soldiers and ordered to sit or lie on the floor while troops tied their hands behind their backs.

In less than an hour, the compound was secure. Most of the Iraqis had their cuffs snipped off and were sitting up along hallways in the hospital's main building. Doctors were back to attending to the most seriously ill, watched by Iraqi and American troops.

I'm not sure what to make of this. Obviously the Iraqi/American forces are pushing the idea that this hospital is some kind of insurgent sanctuary. Read further down in the NY Times article if you are curious.

 

[mullaney]

One thing I hate about journalism is the utter lack of context in most reports. Troops moved here, attacked this, X number of casualties... just facts which don't paint a larger picture. If there is anything beyond the basic facts it's usually just the spin that accompanies it... a reporter simply regurgitating the talking point of a politician or military commander. It rarely gives you an idea of what's truly going on.

Today, however I found a series of reports in the Asia Times which looks quite interesting. I probably won't have time to really dive into it until later tonight, but I thought you might want to read about the last time we tried to take Fallajuh.

Inside the Iraqi Resistance
by Nir Rosen

 

[mullaney]

Ten days ago these men were alive

Pictures from Fallujah: http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/2004/11/ten-days-ago-these-men-were-alive_15.html

I'm not going to say I have any great mission with this. I'm really angry with my country and I don't know what else to do. When I look at these pictures and think of someone's mother or father, someone's child...it makes me sad. If I look at these pictures and imagine my family...it makes me angry.

We have created a generation of Iraqis that have every reason to hate us.

Only follow this link if you are willing to look at the graphic toll of our recent campaign in Fallujah: http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/

 

[mullaney]

The story of an AP photographer in Fallujah:

AP Photographer Flees Fallujah
By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer

"I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river."

He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."

"I kept walking along the river for two hours and I could still see some U.S. snipers ready to shoot anyone who might swim."