Residents come together to help displaced families1 May 2007Families in Baghdad have started working together to collect food and essential items for displaced people living in makeshift camps on the outskirts of the capital. Despite its extremely volatile situation, Baghdad has more displaced people living there than any other city in Iraq, with about 120,000 people displaced since February 2006.
The Clock Ticks for Thee (in Baghdad and Washington)1 May 2007‘It had taken much thought and planning that wartime May Day four years ago when George W. Bush co-piloted a Naval jet onto the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln,’ writes Tom Engelhardt. ‘This White House has plunged Iraq and the world into the geopolitical equivalent of a blood-and-gore exploitation film that simply won’t end. Call that Mission Accomplished!’
Displaced families fall victim to house sale scams1 May 2007Illegal vendors are using fake documents and forged signatures to sell houses that belong to Iraqis forced to leave their homes as a result of sectarian violence. Some produce documents in English which say US authorities in Iraq have authorized the sale of such properties, thus making unsuspecting buyers confident that the transaction is legal.
Iraqi doctors welcome refugee agency contribution for hospitals1 May 2007Iraqi doctors in Damascus have welcomed the announcement today by the United Nations Refugee Agency that it is contributing US $2 million to the Syrian Ministry of Health towards the strengthening of medical facilities available for more than one million Iraqi refugees in Syria.
Iraq Showdown Looms After Senate Vote26 Apr 2007With Thursday’s vote by the Senate to begin withdrawing troops, the stage has been set for confrontation between Congress and the president. And with US war casualties mounting, Bush, whose low public-approval ratings have been the longest-running of any president in more than 50 years, will likely have a difficult time holding on to nervous Republicans as the election season approaches.
Troop Surge Touted as Success, But Casualty Stats Incomplete26 Apr 2007The Bush administration and proponents of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq have claimed that the increased military presence in Baghdad and al-Anbar province has reduced sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and lowered civilian casualties. But not all of the numbers are being included.
Video Diary: Barbwire25 Apr 2007This installment of the Hometown Baghdad project has Saif giving a security tour of his home. He shows the gate he put up on the balcony after a break-in. He shows his neighbors barbwire. At the end of the day, he locks a gate at the end of the driveway. ‘Maybe in ten years,” he says, half-joking, ‘we are going to put tanks in front of the house.’
An Ex-Diplomat Considers the World and Virginia Tech25 Apr 2007‘Given my twenty-plus years in the Foreign Service,’ writes John Brown, ‘I find myself looking at my own country from a non-American perspective. When I first saw Cho Seung-Hui’s photographs of himself pointing a gun at the camera, I was reminded of George W. Bush and his wars, not to speak of the thrust of his whole foreign policy.’
Iraq Government Downplays Human Cost of War25 Apr 2007The Iraqi government should return to past practice and immediately make public official figures on civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch said today, stating: ‘The Iraqi government faces a daunting task to establish law and order. But it can’t pretend security is getting better by suppressing its own statistics.’
Suspicion of U.S. Found Pervasive in Islamic World25 Apr 2007Six and a half years after U.S. President George W. Bush launched his ‘global war on terror’, suspicion of U.S. motives remains pervasive throughout the Islamic world, according to a new and highly detailed survey of four countries released Tuesday.
U.S. State Department Pushes for Palestinian Resettlement25 Apr 2007U.S. State Department officials confirmed this week that they have been in discussions with Israel and the Kurdish regional government about possible resettlement solutions for the estimated 15,000 Palestinian refugees currently stranded in Iraq.
Democrat Timetable Allows U.S. War in Sunni Region to Go On25 Apr 2007The language on a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq voted out of the House-Senate conference committee this week contains large loopholes that would apparently allow U.S. troops to continue carrying out military operations in Iraq’s Sunni heartland indefinitely.
Walls will increase violence, say specialists23 Apr 2007Iraqis have hit out against the US strategy of building walls around Sunni districts surrounded by Shia areas. They say such barriers would worsen the lives of thousands of Iraqis and would increase violence. US officials have said the barriers they began building on 10 April should be finished by the end of April.
Video Diary: Hidden Camera23 Apr 2007Very little happens in this installment of Hometown Baghdad. Adel puts a camera in a bag, cuts a hole in the bag, and walks down the street. Still, we learn much about Iraq. A small street is littered with burnt cars. There are mounds of trash because trash collection is too dangerous. Adel’s walk, he explains, could get him in a lot of trouble – even killed.
Video Diary: Exams22 Apr 2007In this Hometown Baghdad episode, Ausama finishes his medical school exams and interviews friends on campus about their exams, security, and the prospect of fleeing Iraq. This video diary is an important portrayal of college students pushing through with classes, exams and a fractured social life in the midst of incredible violence and instability.
Insecurity and lack of funds prevent cleansing of polluted sites19 Apr 2007There are up to 400 polluted sites in Iraq that are serious health hazards to the population and urgently need to be cleaned, according to a specialist in the Iraqi government. But ongoing violence, particularly the targeting of municipal workers, and a lack of funds is hampering clean-up efforts.
Doctors warn of summer dehydration among children and the elderly19 Apr 2007Doctors are warning of a possible increase in diseases among children and the elderly as Iraq’s hot summer months begin. Dehydration, cholera and bacterial infections are of the greatest concern, they say. ‘The sewage and electrical systems in Iraq have completely deteriorated,’ said Dr. Ibraheem Kaduri.
U.S. Surge Strategy Successful – in Shifting the Violence19 Apr 2007Evidence that the ‘surge’ is turning the tide is hard to come by. While civilian deaths in the Iraqi capital have fallen from the high levels before the surge was launched two months ago, the five horrific bombings that killed nearly 200 people in mainly Shia areas of Baghdad Wednesday marked one of the highest daily tolls in four years.
Basra Splits Between Warring Shias19 Apr 2007Oil-rich Basra in the south of Iraq is getting caught up in an increasingly more fierce battle between warring Shia groups. Basra, the second largest city in Iraq with a population of 2.6 million, is the capital city of the southern Basra province, and Iraq’s main port. The largest explored oil reserves in the country lie within the province.
Video Diary: Saif Heart Noor19 Apr 2007Saif’s fiance Noor is leaving for Dubai. In this installment of Hometown Baghdad, Saif and Noor go out for a final meal and we are provided with a rare look at dating in today’s Baghdad. For their meal together, they bring a friend because it is not safe for a young man and a young woman to be alone in a car together.
Video Diary: Mentally F’ed Up18 Apr 2007One of the great tragedies of the violence in Iraq is the emotional toll on Iraq’s children. In this installment of the Hometown Baghdad project, Adel interviews his young brother and cousin, who have just witnessed a dying man crying near corpses, one an 11-year-old boy. The interview is juxtaposed by footage of the two young boys playing vigorously with toy guns.
Yesterday’s Devastating Bombings: Reality vs. Rhetoric18 Apr 2007Yesterday’s bombings, which killed nearly 200 Iraqis, were a tragic response to war supporters urging faith in the new security operation. Furious Iraqis collecting bodies are reported to have driven away a US/Iraqi force by hurling stones and rubble.
Words to Die For…or a New Dawn in Baghdad?17 Apr 2007The Nation Institute’s Tom Engelhardt notes that the administration’s familiar war vocabulary and imagery of the last four years is missing in action. All those turned corners, those milestones, he says, have finally disappeared.” In this essential piece, Engelhardt offers a close examination of the new war words.
Electronic Iraq