A Day in the Life

[WilliamPitt]

Link to final: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071006R.shtml

A Day in the Life
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 10 July 2006

Upon reading of the astonishing shooting incident in the al-Jihad neighborhood of Baghdad yesterday, I sat down and attempted to imagine, simply, what it must be like to live in that city these days. I tried to imagine what it must be like to be surrounded by constant violence, escalating cycles of revenge, and a total absence of government control.

Pretend you live in Iraq. The day starts, as it usually does, with you wondering what will happen because of the bombings and killings the day before. Several members of a Shiite family were mowed down by gunmen in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad yesterday, and three others were shot to death in an ice cream shop. A Sunni cleric was shot to death yesterday, and several people died when a Baghdad mosque was bombed. Four children were killed by mortars in the capital. Outside Baghdad, three US Marines died when their convoy was bombed in al-Anbar.

You hear about all this - Shiites killing Sunnis, Sunnis killing Shiites, the mosque getting bombed and the Marines getting killed - and you know what you knew the day before, and the day before that: someone, somewhere is going to try to exact revenge today for the mayhem of yesterday. It could be Shiite revenge, Sunni revenge or American revenge, but the arc always arrives at the same spot. Someone is going to die today, and you hope it isn't you.

You attempt to go about your business, but that is hardly a simple task. Every neighborhood you pass through is barricaded and patrolled by "neighborhood governments" who are armed to the teeth and murderously distrustful of outsiders. Kidnappings happen all the time. Islamic fundamentalists, once a rarity in Iraq, now patrol the streets doling out punishment to anyone deemed to be dressed improperly.

If your errand is to get some gasoline, you'll be in line for the rest of the day and into tomorrow. If you're looking for food, your chore is equally daunting. Fresh food is hard to come by, and not a good idea generally. Electricity is off for hours at a time, turning your refrigerator into a useless hotbox, and anything you buy will spoil quickly in the stifling heat.

There is no true government outside the so-called "Green Zone" set up by the Americans. Beyond the concrete barricades and hard-eyed soldiers, it is a free-for-all. As you walk, you catch a snippet of the American president bragging about Iraqi democracy on someone's radio, and you laugh to yourself at the absurdity. You laugh quietly, however, and not for long. You don't want to draw any attention to yourself.

You turn the corner into the al-Jihad neighborhood of western Baghdad and head for a vegetable stand a friend told you was good. Before you can get there, you see three cars drive up and stop. Out of the cars pile several black-clad men toting assault rifles, and you dive for cover, and you watch.

The guns erupt and people begin to drop. The gunmen begin kicking in doors and dragging people out into the street, where they are riddled and left to bleed out. You see several people hanged by improvised nooses, and you see others held down and tortured to death with power drills. From one kicked-in apartment door you hear horrifying screams and the sound of a hammer pounding, and you realize that someone inside is being pegged to a wall.

Before you turn to flee, you recognize the shooters as members of the Shiite militia they call the Mahdi Army, which is controlled by powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Mahdi fighters means the ones dying are Sunnis. You count more than fifty bodies on the ground before you duck behind some cars and sprint around a corner. The vegetables can wait.

On your way back home, you hear a distant boom. When you get back to the relative safety of your own neighborhood government-guarded apartment, you hear that two car bombs went off at a Shiite mosque not too far away. You do a little mental calculus: The Shiites gunned down yesterday means the Sunnis who died today paid for that carnage, and the Shiite mosque bombing today means the Sunnis outraged by the massacre in al-Jihad reached out to touch someone.

The electricity comes on for a little while that night, and you tune in to an Al Jazeera news broadcast. You hear the Iraq deputy prime minister for security affairs, Salam al-Zawbae, accuse the defense and interior ministries within his own government of helping the militias organize and carry out the attacks. "Interior and defense ministries are infiltrated," says Zawbae, "and there are officials who lead brigades who are involved in this. What is happening now is an ugly slaughter."

The power abruptly cuts off again and the television screen goes blank. You sit in the dark and think about Bush's happy comments on Iraqi democracy, the words you heard on that radio before the shooting started. Politicians loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr control more than thirty seats on the so-called Iraqi parliament, making any attacks against the Mahdi Army a ready excuse to explode the government. The civil war playing out in the streets is also being fought by those supposedly elected to lead Iraq out of chaos.

You hand-roll a cigarette made of black market tobacco, and you sit in the dark, and you try to guess who will die tomorrow. You hope, as always, that it isn't you.

[bigtree]

1. a lot of resentment about Americans safe and comfy in the Green Zone

and about the new embassy being built, the new American palace . . .

Green Zone Offers Uncertain Refuge From Baghdad Violence

BAGHDAD, July 10, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- “All the people in the Green Zone have their bodyguards," one Baghdad man told RFE/RL recently. "It all belongs to the U.S. Army and the National Guard. We Iraqis remain here; it is just explosions and no security in the streets. They are provided with electricity and water, provided with everything. The Green Zone is protected from all sides. They protect themselves, but no one protects us, the Iraqis.”

Ordinary Iraqis are unable to enter the Green Zone except on official business, and they see it only from the outside. And what they see bears little resemblance to the rest of the capital . . .

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/07/d4f024a5-3d93-46ee-ab60-19bd0903962d.html


the revenge killings have the same intractable stain of the killings on both sides fueling more and more bloody reprisals. Only ambitious, ignorant fools like the conservatives in the Bush regime could look upon all of this and conclude they need MORE militarism and military muckraking.

Interesting how Maliki is calling for reconciliation while, at the same time, he's hosting the U.S. 'anti-insurgent' raids along with the Shiite majority government forces against mostly Sunni areas they determine are harboring the 'terrorists' Bush claims he wants to 'defeat'.

The only ones more ignorant are the ones who are in a position to shut the American side of this civil war down, yet, sit on the sidelines trying to direct the occupation holding on to Bush's coattails.

[vickitulsa]

16. Oh, that American embassy palace monstrosity! Migodyes!

I read about that a few months ago, here's the article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12319798

Absolutely and completely disgusting! Absurd! Insane!

I swear these people have no sense of shame whatsoever, and it's no wonder the Iraqis hate us more every day....

[JHB]

18. Who's wasting money on palaces now?

n/t

[stellanoir]

2. B-but b-but b-but

. . ."freedom is on the march. . ." right?

What these folks have had to endure is unimaginable to me in terms of the basic inhumanity and cruelty of all of it. It's gonna take a miracle to work this out and hold the guilty parties accountable.

4th rec.

[Freedomofspeech]

3. What an incredible article...

Every night I thank God (or whomever is out there) that I have a home and a pillow to lay my head on. What we have done to Iraq is despicable. On the 4th of July, we sat on our back porch listening to fireworks blasting everywhere. I kept thinking about the poor people of Iraq who hear bomb blasts everyday, fearing for their lives. I kept seeing images of that bastard, Bush, celebrating his birthday, like everything is right (ha) in the world. When is that bastard going down? I can't wait for the day. Every moron who voted for him should go down with him.

[Klukie]

4. Imagine.......

What a powerful word. The ability to imagine is a crucial tool that seperates us from the republicans. Some on the right lack the ability while others simply refuse to use it. I really think that their parents forgot to teach them to put themselves in others shoes.

[mnhtnbb]

10. Yes. Imagine by John Lennon

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/john_lennon/imagine.html

[NanceGreggs]

5. I found it frightening to live in the world you have so ...

... vividly created on the page for the few minutes it took to read it. It gives one a true sense of how frightening it must be to live in that world day in, day out.

And the sense of hopelessness is truly overwhelming.

Beautifully written piece, which will stay with me for a long time.

K'd & R'd, because this NEEDS to be widely read.

[Amonester]

6. K & R

[Just Me]

7. "The horror. The horror."

;(

[Ghost in the Machine]

8. excellent work!

I was trying to work on one like this, but having our U.S. cities instead of Iraqi cities and American names. Make it hit home a little more... I think you could do a much better job than I could though....

[kentuck]

9. 'Nam...

...

[AuntiBush]

11. It's All Heartbreaking.

Somehow, someone has to stop all this madness and bring sanity and rationale to it all. Isn't there anyone in power that gives a damn? Anyone...

[DallasNE]

12. Has Baghdad Degenerated Into A Taliban Zone

But with guns and bombs instead of whips.

Actually, for decades we have seen in Africa what happens when the central command collapses and bands of thugs take over. "Warlord" is too kind of a word to describe these thugs, whether they are common criminals or clerics in that capacity.

And does this have any implications for America. Will the Jerry Falwell's start seeing themselves as American Taliban's using force to herd the populace into armed camps that run amok. "Wanted, dead or alive", after all, was not directed at bin Laden but at the American people to whip up hatred. Hatred, once whipped up, is hard to control as Baghdad and decades before that, Berlin, so tragically reminds us.

We live in dangerous times and I fear that wrong conclusions will be drawn as to the source of much of this danger. Very wrong.

[ArmchairMeme]

13. War does not work

This article clearly demonstrates that killing does not stop people from killing. There are just more dead people, more victims, more resentment and it becomes a viscious cycle. War is not the answer.

I see this also in Israel/Gaza. Israel will continue to bomb the Palestinians until.......

I see it as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results! Insanity!

Each generation does not learn from previous generations that war is devasting they have to experience it for themselves unfortunately.

Look at the "war on drugs" has it stopped people from using drugs? The U.S. has more people imprisoned for drugs than any other country in the world. This continues even though it does not work as a solution.

It will take a brave person of courage to make the change to a new way.

[ninkasi]

14. Powerful, Will

I've imagined something similar, except from a woman's point of view. I know that in Iraq, there are women like me, who are grandmothers, and worry not so much for themselves, as for their children and grandchildren. For those women, the war is in some ways worse, because they can't know at all times where their children are, or what they are doing, or if all of them are safe.

The people of Iraq are suffering more and more each day, and are helpless to change anything. Their country is being blown to pieces, and they are supposed to be grateful to us for bringing them the priceless gift of democracy. Only the truly delusional, like Bush, can possibly believe that. We are making the situation worse every day we stay there.

[vickitulsa]

15. I've been reading the journal entries of a Baghdad dentist

at a Website called "Healing Iraq" ever since the guy started posting, which was soon after the invasion started, if I remember correctly. He's a fairly young fella (late 20's, I think), and he wasn't able to post daily by any means, but he began getting lots of responses in his blog comments section and amazing discussions developed there. His English is almost perfect, so there's no trouble figuring out what he means when he says things. His name is Zeyad, and he's a fine and intelligent young man with a family.

Here's the link to Healing Iraq, and his latest post from yesterday is terrific!

http://healingiraq.blogspot.com

I don't find time to read his posts as frequently now as I did during and just after the invasion of his country by mine, but I learned so much from the early days on just from getting his perspective on life in his turbulent nation. Turbulent in large part due to U.S. actions there, of course.

I do still check in to see how Zeyad is doing. I remember a few months ago learning he had been hired by an American magazine or newspaper and that he had plans to immigrate here, via Jordan. I see that yesterday he posted from Amman -- and boy did he have an amazing update to offer! It seems Iraqis are "invading" Jordan (as he put it) in such great numbers that the Amman government is at a loss how to stop the influx, and it's a touchy situation there for everyone.

These Iraqis are refugees in the truest sense, grabbing what few things they can carry and gathering their family members and heading out for the border with Jordan to escape the carnage and daily dangers of life in Iraq. This is one of the saddest things I've ever read! To think that it has all come about because of what my country has done to Zeyad's just makes me so sick I am positively queasy inside.

Anyway, you can still look back through the archived posts at Healing Iraq and check out what he said in his accounts of "normal life in Baghdad." I think Will has done a wonderful job of imagining, for sure; but if you'd like to read an Iraqi's "live reports" of it as he has lived through it all, I recommend Healing Iraq highly.

I remember in particular one day when Zeyad had just sent his daughter out the door to walk to school in the morning and he was finishing getting ready for work. His child had not been outside for a minute yet when he heard the frightening sounds of gunfire right in front of his house!

He bolted out the door not even knowing what was happening and managed to get his daughter and bring her back inside before it was too late. He said the gunfire became a horrendous barrage that lasted about ten minutes, and then it got quiet outside again and they went on about their day -- though not without a bad case of the shakes, I'd imagine.

But it was hearing tales like this interspersed with the totally mundane bits of news of their daily personal lives that sound a lot like our own that really gets you to thinking. The Iraqis have tried so hard to get on with life, they really have! It is just impossible for them, and becoming less doable every single day and week and month that passes.

My heart simply and purely breaks for these people. Through Zeyad I feel I have come to know them pretty well, and I just cannot imagine how truly awful it must be for them all....

[Canuckistanian]

25. Thanks for the HealingIraq link, fascinating blog

Looks like he's on his way to CUNY in NYC to study journalism.

Maybe we can convince him to post on DU!

[vickitulsa]

26. You're welcome! And I hope others will check out Zeyad's blog.

His story just gets more fascinating all the time.

I remember he was working down in Basra for weeks at a time at one point, and then things got pretty bad down there, too. I get the feeling this young man really would like to "heal Iraq," and I'm surprised he didn't get so discouraged earlier that he had to leave sooner than he did. I think that mosque bombing this past February really set things off toward civil war, perhaps irreparably, and that's so very sad.

Zeyad was surprised to be offered the job and opportunity in America, but very pleased. Guess he'll get to attend university some, too, although his writing is excellent already. I hope he and his family fare well in their new lives. No doubt what he'd really like to do is to improve things in his home country, and maybe he'll be able to in some way, someday.

He's a Sunni, by the way, which might explain why he finally decided he'd better get out of Iraq, where the Shiites have a large majority and most of the political power now. He's not a religious fanatic, though. Things are just so crazy there....

[Julius Civitatus]

17. We've turned Iraq into the seventh circle of HELL

Remember, this whole mess was made in the name of "transforming the Middle East" and turning Iraq into a "model Democracy" for the rest of the countries in the Islamic world to "envy."

Nice job, George.

But wait, Tom Friedman says this whole thing will turn around in the next six months.
:sarcasm:

[sinkingfeeling]

19. I think about this every day....my heart hurts because my country has

caused this. What is wrong with my fellow Americans who have no empathy for other human beings?
Thanks for writing this, Will.

[snappyturtle]

20. Great job! K&R

I too have wondered what life must be like in Iraq today. I don't believe the mess we have placed upon the Iraqi people will go away with or without us. It's a deplorable situation. How can any sane administration member, for one minute, rationalize our occupation? Really, weren't the Iraqi citizens better off with Saddam than georgie?

[WilliamPitt]

21. Wee punt

[dog_lovin_dem]

22. Wonderful, as usual!

Also sad as hell.

[Thoreau-Ly]

23. Deeply Tragic, But Inspiring Writing

I very much admire William Rivers Pitt for his writings and editing, and wish to thank him. For, too, my grief, my sorrow, my horror at it all has turned to the deepest and darkest rage.

And I am deeply remorseful that anything, anything like this is ever being written in the year 2006.

[vickitulsa]

27. You are so right, Thoreau-Ly, and welcome to DU!

I love your handle. ;)

A big DU welcome to dog-lovin-dem, also -- from a fellow dog-lover! :hi:

There's just so many good people here ... I love this place!

And I agree with you, Thoreau-Ly, about William Pitt. He has inspired me a lot over the past year!

[Laurab]

24. This needs to be kicked

it is so very, very heartbreaking what has been done in our names. If only this administration had a heart.


:kick:

[mkb]

28. Daily Struggles, Theirs and Ours

     A sad commentary on what the right-wing is doing in Iraq.
 I sympathize with the difficulties that people have in their
daily struggles.  We should all pay attention to the fact that
life can be a struggle, for many of us as well.  Particularly
important for Iraqis, and even we at home, is finding good,
safe, things to eat and drink.  There is much bad food around.

[pointblank]

29. Well written Will.

You put me there for sure. It is a point of view that I have often wondered voyueristically about, but was unable to imagine until now.

Horrifying, to say the least. :(

Why are we there again?

[Drops_not_Dope]

30. Why Imagine?

Hear it from a girl/woman living in it.
Who hasn't imagined what life there must be? Unless your vision is narrowed to see only what our president can comprehend--

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Atrocities...
It promises to be a long summer. We're almost at the mid-way point, but it feels like the days are just crawling by. It's a combination of the heat, the flies, the hours upon hours of no electricity and the corpses which keep appearing everywhere.

The day before yesterday was catastrophic. The day began with news of the killings in Jihad Quarter. According to people who live there, black-clad militiamen drove in mid-morning and opened fire on people in the streets and even in houses. They began pulling people off the street and checking their ID cards to see if they had Sunni names or Shia names and then the Sunnis were driven away and killed. Some were executed right there in the area. The media is playing it down and claiming 37 dead but the people in the area say the number is nearer 60