Christmas in Baghdad...
Explosions and bombing almost all day yesterday and deep into the night. At some points it gets hard to tell who is bombing who? Resistance or Americans? Tanks or mortars? Cluster bombs or IEDs? Nothing on the news… to see the reports on CNN, Abu Dhabi, and Al-Arabia you'd think there was nothing going on in Baghdad beyond the usual thumps and thuds. Yesterday was *very* unusual. Embassies, mines, residential areas and the Green Zone… and the sirens. I hate the sirens. I can stand the explosions, the rattling windows, the slamming doors, the planes, the helicopters… but I feel like my heart is wailing when I hear the sirens.

The explosions haven't really put anyone in a very festive spirit. The highlight of the last few days, for me, was when we went to our Christian friends' home to keep them company on Christmas Eve. We live in a neighborhood with a number of Christian families and, under normal circumstances, the area would be quite festive this time of year- little plastic Santas on green lawns, an occasional plastic wreath on a door and some colored, blinking lights on trees.

Our particular friends (Abu Josef's family) specialized in the lights. Every year, a week before Christmas, they would not only decorate their own plastic tree (evergreens are hard to come by in Iraq), but they would decorate 4 different olive trees in the little garden in front of their home with long strings of red lights. Passing by their house, the scene of the green olive trees with branches tangled in little red lights always brought a smile… you couldn't help but feel the 'Christmas spirit'- Christians and Muslims alike.

This year the trees weren't decorated because, as their father put it, "We don't want to attract too much attention… and it wouldn't be right with the electricity shortage." The tree inside of their house *was* decorated, however, and it was almost sagging with ornaments. The traditional tree ornaments were hanging, but the side of the tree was covered with not-so-traditional Pokemon toys. Their 8-year-old is an avid collector of those little Pokemon finger puppets and the bottom section of the tree was drooping with the weight of the little plastic figures which took Iraq by storm a couple of years ago.

Kids in Iraq also believe in Santa Claus, but people here call him 'Baba Noel' which means, "Father Noel". I asked the children what he looked like and they generally agreed that he was fat, cheerful, decked in red and had white hair. (Their impertinent 11-year-old explains that he's fat because of the dates, cheerful because of the alcohol and wears red because he's a communist!) He doesn't drop into Iraqi homes through the chimney, though, because very few Iraqi homes actually have chimneys. He also doesn't drop in unexpectedly in the middle of the night because that's just rude. He acts as more of an inspiration to parents when they are out buying Christmas gifts for the kids; a holiday muse, if you will. The reindeer are a foreign concept here.

The annual ritual around Christmas for many Christians in Baghdad used to be generally hanging out with family and friends on Christmas Eve, exchanging gifts and food (always food- if you're Iraqi, it's going to be food) and receiving guests and well-wishers. At 12 am, many would attend a Christmas service at their local church and light candles to greet the Christmas spirit. Christmas day would be like our first day of Eid- eating and drinking, receiving family, friends and neighbors and preparing for the inevitable Christmas party in the evening at either a friend's house or in one of the various recreational clubs in Baghdad. The most famous for their Christmas parties were the Hindiya club and the Armenian club.

This year, the Christmas service was early and many people didn't go because they either didn't have gasoline, or just didn't feel safe driving around Baghdad in the evening. Many of them also couldn't join their families because of the security situation. Abu Josef's family have aunts and uncles in a little village north of Mosul. Every year, the extended relatives come down and stay in their house for a week to celebrate Christmas and New Year. This year they've decided to stay in their village because it just isn't safe to leave their home and head for Baghdad.

At one point during the evening, the house was dark and there was no electricity. We sat, gathered around on the ground, eating date-balls and watching Abu Josef's dog chew on the lowest branch of the tree. The living room was lit by the warm light radiating from the kerosene heater and a few Christmas candles set on the coffee table. Abu Josef's phone suddenly rang shrilly and Abu Josef ran to pick it up. It was his brother in Toronto and it was the perfect Christmas gift because it was the first time Abu Josef got an overseas call since the war- we were all amazed. An Iraqi phone conversation goes like this these days:

III= Iraqi Inside Iraq
IOI= Iraqi Outside Iraq

Ring, ring
III: Alloo?
IOI: ALLOO?!
III: ALLOOOO? MINNOOO? (Hello? Who is it?)
IOI: ABU (fill in the blank)??! Shlonkum? (How are you?)
III: Aaaagh! Is it really you?!
(Chorus of family in the background, "Who is it?! Who is it?!")
IOI: How are… (the voice cracks here with emotion) you?
III: We're… (the line crackles) …and is doing well.
IOI: I CAN'T HEAR YOU! Doing well? Thank God…
III: Alloo? Alloo…? (speaker turns to speak to someone in the background, "Sshhh… I can't hear anything!" The family go silent and hold their breaths. )
III: Alloo? Alloo?!
IOI: Alloo? Yes, yes, your voice is back- are you ok?
III: Fine, fine.
IOI: Is my mother ok? My brothers and sisters?
III: All fine… we're fine, thank God.
IOI: Thank God (the voice cracks again)
III: How are you? (a vague echo with 'you…you… you…')
IOI: We're fine but terribly worried about all of YOU…
III: Don't worry- we're doing alright… no electricity or fuel, but we'll be alright…
IOI: (crackling line… fading voices) … tried and tried to call but… (more crackling line) … and we heard horrible…. (static)
III: Alloo? Alloooooooo? Are you there? (silence on the other end)
III: Alloo? If you can hear me, I can't hear you… (the hovering relatives all hold their breath)
III: … I still can't hear you… if you can hear me just know that we're fine. We're ok. We're alive and wondering about your health. Don't worry… yallah, ma'a al salama… don't worry. Alloo... Alloo...?

And everyone exhales feeling a bit more relieved and a little bit empty as the phone is returned to the cradle and the momentous event passes.

Although it's late- Merry Christmas.

- posted by river @ 5:25 PM

 
Best Asian Blog...
Check out Flying Chair for nominations on the best Asian blogs. I've been a little obsessed with blogs from Pakistan and Iran, personally. I love comparing the similarities and differences in our cultures. Baghdad Burning is nominated for the Best Iraqi Blog on this page. Vote for your favorite.

- posted by river @ 3:57 AM

 
Filling the Water Tank...
We filled the water tank today. Most Iraqi homes have a water tank or 'tanki' on top of the roof. The water pressure was usually high enough to send the 'municipal water' to the tank on the roof, and then the water goes from there to either the 'gizer' or water heater (another tank heated by electricity, kerosene or coals) or directly to the cold water faucet. Because the water pressure is low these days in our area, the water barely makes it to a couple of faucets on the ground floor.

I realized the water tank was empty at around 10 am when I turned on the faucet in the kitchen and, instead of the sound of gushing, flowing water, the faucet sort of wheezed, spluttered and whined. The faucet and I groaned simultaneously. I called out E's name and he stumbled downstairs in two sweaters, pajama bottoms and mismatched socks (it's just so *cold* lately).

"E., the water is GONE! Not a single drop in any of the faucets… we have to fill up the tank." E. groaned and beat his head gently against the staircase railing, mumbling something under his breath. I didn't blame him. Filling up the water tank is no fun. It involves at least 3 people, several buckets, a lot of sloshing around in the water and mud and some interesting slips and spills.

E., of course, always gets roof duty. That means he gets to stand on the roof, next to the water tank, receive the pails of water, and dump them into the tank. I get hose duty, which has me standing outside IN THE COLD, filling up pails of cold, cold water from the garden hose while shifting from one foot to the other and trying to keep my thoughts away from the kerosene heater inside of the house. There should also be at least two people (we'll call them the couriers) to run the buckets from me, wielding the hose, to E. who empties them and sends them back down. This process is repeated around 12 to 15 times, or until either E., the couriers or I have dropped from sheer exhaustion.

The hard part about doing this during the winter is the fact that everyone involved is bound to get wet and cold, but it is necessary to do this chore because otherwise, it may take days and days for the tank to fill up. We have an electric water pump but there isn't enough electricity to run it long enough to fill the tank.

I took the final bucket upstairs to the roof myself because our courier (a twelve-year-old three houses away) claimed he had a soccer game to attend to. As I neared the water tank, I saw E. leaning against it conversing with a pigeon that seemed oblivious to his presence. We have seemingly millions of pigeons in Baghdad and some people are obsessed with them- E. is not one of those people… I thought he had finally lost it. "What are you talking about?!" I asked, awed.

"I was envying its wings…" he murmured, staring out into the distance.
"Ah… you'd like to fly away…" I nodded sagely.
"No… I just think it's fantastic he doesn't have to wait in line 8 hours for gas to get from one place to the next…"


- posted by river @ 3:49 AM

 
Questions and Fears...
Baghdad has been a very tense place these last few days. Yesterday alone we heard around 8 explosions though none of the news channels seem to be covering them. There have also been several demonstrations- some anti-Saddam and some pro-Saddam and several anti-America. The most prominent anti-America demonstrations took place in A'adhamiya and Amiriya, two residential areas in Baghdad.

One demonstration in A'adhamiya included people from all over the city. The demonstrators were demanding the release of hundreds of people who have been detained over the last few weeks (there are thousands of detained Iraqis, overall). Most people imagine detained Iraqis as being bearded, angry men in their 30s or 40s shouting anti-imperialist slogans and whipping their heads about in a livid frenzy. They do not see the women- school teachers, professors and housewives- being herded off to the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. They don't see the kids- some no more than 13 or 14 years old- who are packed away with bags over their heads, hands secured behind their backs. They don't see the anxious mothers and children, weeping with fear and consternation, begging in a language foreign to the soldiers to know where their loved ones are being taken.

The Amiriya demonstrations were pro-Saddam demonstrations led by a boys' high school in the area. Jo Wilding in Baghdad describes the demonstrations in an internet article, and she has another article on some of the detentions:

December 18th- Arresting Children
December 13th- Prisoners

Gasoline is a big problem. A friend of ours quit her job a couple of days ago because her husband can't afford to wait in long lines for 4 or 5 hours to fill up their battered Volvo so that he can drive her across Baghdad every morning to the clinic she works in. Everyone has been buying black-market gasoline of late, but we've been getting leaflets and warnings threatening 7 – 10 years of prison if we buy or sell black-market gasoline. Black-market gas simply means a surly, dirty guy surrounded with yellowish plastic containers selling gas for over 30 times its original price. He, inevitably, has a cigarette dangling out of the side of his mouth and a furtive, hurried look about him.

We've been using candles most of the time instead of kerosene lamps because the kerosene man hasn't been coming around these last few days and we need the kerosene for the heaters. The kids really hate the candles. The other day, the electricity suddenly flashed on at 8 pm after a 6-hour blackout. We were exalted. Everyone jumped for the television at once and a chorus of voices called out, "News! The movie! A song! Cartoons!" After flipping the channels, we settled for a movie.

We sat watching until one of the scenes faded into a darkened room. The camera focused on the couple sitting at a round table, gazing into each others eyes and smiling fondly across two elegant candles. It was a cozy, romantic candle-light dinner. I think the whole family was lost in the scene when suddenly, my cousin's youngest daughter spoke up, impatiently, "They have no electricity! They're using the candles…"

It took me about 15 minutes to try to explain to her that they had electricity but actually *chose* to sit in the dark because it was more 'romantic'. The difficulty of explaining romance to a 7-year-old is nothing compared to the difficulty of explaining the 'romance' of a darkened room and candles- especially if the 7-year-old has associated candles to explosions and blackouts her whole life.

These last few days have been truly frightening. The air in Baghdad feels charged in a way that scares me. Everyone can feel the tension and it has been a strain on the nerves. It's not so much what's been going on in the streets- riots, shootings, bombings and raids- but it's the possibility of what may lie ahead. We've been keeping the kids home from school, and my cousin's wife learned that many parents were doing the same- especially the parents who need to drive their kids to school.

We've been avoiding discussing the possibilities of this last week's developments… the rioting and violence. We don't often talk about the possibility of civil war because conferring about it somehow makes it more of a reality. When we do talk about it, it's usually done in hushed tones with an overhanging air of consternation. Is it possible? Will it happen?

Sunnis and Shi'a have always lived in harmony in Iraq and we still do, so far. I'm from a family that is about half Shi'a and half Sunni. We have never had problems as the majority of civilized people don't discriminate between the two. The thing that seems to be triggering a lot of antagonism on all sides is the counterinsurgency militia being cultivated by the CPA and GC which will include Chalabi's thugs, SCIRI extremists and some Kurdish Bayshmarga.

The popular and incorrect belief seems to be that if you are a Kurd or Shi'a, this step is a positive one. Actually, the majority of moderate Kurds and Shi'a are just as exasperated as Sunnis about this new group of soldiers/spies that is going to be let loose on the population. It's just going to mean more hostility and suspicion in all directions, and if the new Iraqi force intends to be as indiscriminate with the detentions and raids as the troops, there's going to be a lot of bloodshed too.

I once said that I hoped, and believed, Iraqis were above the horrors of civil war and the slaughter of innocents, and I'm clinging to that belief with the sheer strength of desperation these days. I remember hearing the stories about Lebanon from people who were actually living there during the fighting and a constant question arose when they talked about the grief and horrors- what led up to it? What were the signs? How did it happen? And most importantly… did anyone see it coming?


- posted by river @ 6:19 AM

 
The Latest...
The electricity only returned a couple of hours ago. We've been without electricity for almost 72 hours- other areas have it worse. Today we heard the electricity won't be back to pre-war levels until the middle of next year.

We heard about Saddam's capture the day before yesterday, around noon. There was no electricity, so we couldn't watch tv. The first sign we got that something abnormal was occurring was the sound of a Klashnikov in the distance. I remembering pausing in my negotiations with E. over who should fill the kerosene heaters and listening hard to the sounds of shooting. I grabbed the battery-powered radio and started searching the stations, skipping from one to the other. I finally located a station that was broadcasting in Arabic and heard that Saddam may have been caught.

We thought nothing of it at first… another false alarm. It happened on an almost weekly basis. When the sounds of shooting became more frequent, curiosity got the better of E. and he ran to our neighbor's house where they had a small generator running. Fifteen minutes later, he came back breathless with the words, "They've caught Saddam…" Everyone was shocked. We all clamored for the radio once again and tried to find out what was happening. The questions were endless- who? What? When? How?

It was only later in the evening that we saw the pictures on tv and saw the press-conference, etc. By then, Baghdad was a mess of bullets, and men waving flags. Our area and other areas were somewhat quiet, but central Baghdad was a storm of gunfire. The communist party were scary- it's like they knew beforehand. Immediately, their red flags and banners were up in the air and they were marching up and down the streets and around Firdaws Square. My cousin was caught in the middle of a traffic jam and he says the scenes were frightening.

The bullets are supposed to be an expression of joy… and they probably are- in a desert, far from buildings, streets crawling with vulnerable people and cars. In Baghdad, they mean chaos. People were literally ducking and running, trying to get out of the rain of firepower because what goes up must, eventually, come down.

Yesterday was almost as messy. Most parents kept their kids home. There have been pro-America demonstrations in some areas, and anti-America demonstrations in other areas. At around 6 pm yesterday evening, the chaos began in Amriyah, a residential area in Baghdad. The streets were suddenly filled with anti-American demonstrators, some holding up pictures of Saddam. It lasted until around 11 pm and then the tanks pulled up and things settled down somewhat. Similar occurrences in A'adhamiya in Baghdad, and one or two other areas.

Today there were pro-America demonstrations in Baghdad organized by SCIRI and there were anti-America demonstrations in Tikrit, Falloojeh, Samirreh (where 11 Iraqis were killed- CPA claim they were 'insurgents'), Baghdad, Imsayab and the biggest one was in Mosul. Thousands of students from the University of Mosul took to the streets with an anti-occupation demonstration and some of the residents joined them… the university president had to shut down the university- it was huge. I was surprised the CNN wasn't covering it. The troops broke it up by firing above the crowd and bringing in the helicopters. The demonstration in Samirreh had a similar ending, except the firing was *in* the crowd and several people were wounded severely.

The question that everyone seems to be asking is the effect it will have on the resistance/insurgence/attacks. Most people seem to think that Saddam's capture isn't going to have a big effect. Saddam's role was over since April, many of the guerilla groups and resistance parties haven't been fighting to bring him back to power and I think very few people actually feared that.

Political analysts and professors in Iraq think that Saddam's capture is going to unite resistance efforts, as one of them put it, "People are now free to fight for their country's sovereignty and not Saddam."

The rumors have been endless ever since yesterday- and they all seem to be filtering in from Tikrit. Some of the rumors include people claiming that Saddam was actually caught a week ago, but the whole thing was kept quiet. Another rumor is that some sort of nerve gas was used in a limited sort of way on the area he was hiding in. Another rumor goes on about how he was 'drugged'- something was added to his food… Others say he's being interrogated in Qatar… and on and on.

The GC seem equally confused with the commotion. Talabani claims it was a combined effort between the Bayshmarga (the Kurdish militia) and the troops, Chalabi, on the other hand, insisted the whole thing was completely an American effort. It's hard to tell who has the story right and who's getting it wrong…

People have differing opinions on where he should be tried and by whom- in Iraq or an international court? Others are wondering about the legitimacy of a court under occupation. The one thing everyone seems to agree upon is that it should be an open court and *everything* should be discussed. The question is, will the US allow that? Won't it bring forward certain political dealings with America in the '80s? Only time will tell…

Things are very frightening these days in Baghdad. Going from one area to another is like going from one city to another- the feelings and emotions vary so drastically it feels like only a matter of time before we may see clashes...


- posted by river @ 9:58 PM

 
Meanwhile...
We heard the latest statement from Washington about Germany, France, Russia and Canada not being allowed to have anything to do with the reconstruction. Iraq no longer feels like a country- it feels like war spoils: the winning team gets the pickings. So how is the world supposed to be involved in the reconstruction of Iraq when they are being deliberately excluded?

It's a decision like this one that brings to light the complete uselessness of the Governing Council. Why is Washington calling the shots on the reconstruction issues? This means that even after a military occupation, we'll be under an economic occupation for years to come. Why aren't any of the new ministers or GC members saying anything about this? Somehow, I have a feeling that if they have anything to say, it'll be in accordance with this latest decision.

There was a demonstration in Baghdad yesterday of about 4,000 people. The parties who are a part of the GC took part in an 'anti-terror' protest. The roads were closed for security reasons and helicopters were hovering over head. There were a couple of women's groups… I recognized some women from Al-Da'awa Al-Islamiya- Al-Jaffari's party. The Iraqi communist party and SCIRI were also involved. The irony is seeing SCIRI members hold up the "NO TERROR" banners (they could start by not terrorizing the Al-Iraqiya station because the anchorwomen don't wear hijabs…).

There were other demonstrations in some provinces, and they've all been lobbed together with the one in Baghdad. The truth is that some of them were actually anti-occupation demonstrations, like the one in Khaldiya. There were large crowds demonstrating in Khaldiya, demanding the release of boys and men who have been detained for over 3 months in American prison camps.

Today (well, technically, yesterday) there was another large demonstration in Baghdad which was a peaceful anti-occupation demonstration. The demonstrators were mainly university students and teachers who were opposing the raids occurring in some colleges and universities. They were demanding the release of three women who were detained when the Technology University in Baghdad was raided. Their spokesperson, a professor, I think, said that this was going to be the first demonstration in a long series of anti-occupation activism being organized by teachers and students.

There were some loud explosions a while ago... I just read it might have been inside of the 'Green Zone'.

- posted by river @ 2:22 AM

 
Kerosene and Gasoline...
The electricity has been terrible lately- it comes in fits and starts. The moment it goes off, we start running around the house unplugging things and flicking off the power switches- you don’t want anything to be turned on when the power comes back either too high or too low. That's why I've been blogging less often. Every time there's electricity, we remember a long list of things that can only be done in an electrical world… like vacuum. Some say it's not only Baghdad- the north also seem to be having continuous electricity problems.

The most popular guy in the neighborhood these days Abu Hassen. He lives on our street and he's going to purchase one of those large generators that will, supposedly, provide electricity to around 20 houses. The problem is that it can't accommodate any more than 20 houses (probably fewer) and anyone who wants to has to 'sign up' for the electricity. When E. went to get us registered for a few amperes, Abu Hassen told him that he already had 30 families who wanted to sign on but he would put us on a waiting list (!).

Since the generators are expensive, Abu Hassen has been hesitant to buy one. E. says he has a nephew who works at one of the electric power stations in Baghdad who convinced him it would be a *great* investment because the power situation promises to be very erratic for a while yet.

The big problem now is that gasoline is hard to come by. This is a very frustrating issue for Iraqis. Gasoline was like water here. In fact, bottled water used to be far more expensive than gasoline and admittedly still is. The lines at the gas stations are long and tedious. E. and my cousin sometimes go to fill up the car and disappear for hours at a time. The gasoline is necessary for running the generators and now they're going to start rationing it. This will mean that within days, the price of gas is going to go up because people will start selling black market gasoline.

Kerosene is also hard to come by these days. Every time the kerosene man comes banging down our street, representatives from each household instantly run outside and stand impatiently at their gates, some greeting him with an energetic "Hello, habibi!" We need the kerosene for the 'sopas' or the kerosene heaters, and the kerosene lamps. The weather is nice during the day, but it gets somewhat chilly during the evening. We light the kerosene heaters in the rooms and watch them carefully so that they don't start giving out poisonous fumes from burning kerosene. There have been entire families that died in their sleep from CO poisoning from kerosene heaters.

The nicest thing about the heaters is the fact that there's always a kettle of water on top of them. This accomplishes two things it once: it keeps the air in the room from getting very dry, and it provides a ready kettle of hot water for the tea ritual during the evening. The sopa is also fantastic for heating bread. At night, when there is no hope of electricity, we sit around on the rug, a little distance away from the sopa, and drink sweet tea, with warm bread and some famous Iraqi salted white cheese, while listening to the radio or just talking about family matters, or political matters.

The sun sets quite early these days and, if there's no electricity, it gets a little bit depressing. E. and I often go out to the roof to enjoy the last few minutes of sun every evening. Sometimes, the electricity will return at night and the lights will flicker on suddenly, leaving us too dazzled for the first few moments to do anything but sit there, allowing our eyes to adjust to the abrupt change.


- posted by river @ 2:21 AM

 
Latest Developments...
Rain! It has been raining… I love the rain. I think most Iraqis love the rain because it is a relative rarity in our dry part of the world. We have only a couple of rainy months during the year and they're not that rainy… more like drizzly.

The air smells like rain. It's the most wonderful smell- wet dust. It's not the first time this year, but it's been somewhat continuous. Everyone has been praying for lightning because Iraqis love 'chimeh' or truffles. Those are those little potato-like veggies that grow like underground mushrooms and taste like wet socks. It is believed that the more lightning during the rainy season, the better/larger/tastier the truffles later on… don't ask me why.

The topic of the moment is currently Samarra… or 'Samir-reh' as we pronounce it. People are really confused about the whole thing. The US military are saying that 54 Iraqis are dead, with several wounded- almost all of them 'insurgents', but the Iraqi police claim there are only 8 dead- two of them an elderly Iranian couple who had come on a pilgrimage to a religious site in Samirreh. There were only 8 corpses found after the battle and the police say that not a single one of the corpses was in fida'ieen clothes. So where did the other bodies go? Iraqi forces don't have them and American forces don't have them- as far as anyone knows… did they just disappear?

People from the area claim that the American troops had losses too. Most people believe that the big number of dead was thrown out in order to legitimatize the 'collateral damage', i.e. the civilians, like the Iranian tourists and the dozens who were injured and had nothing to do with it. If 54 are dead, then the extra 8 innocents who died won't really matter when one looks at the 'bigger picture'.

One thing everyone agrees on- there are dozens of wounded. The scenes in the hospital were terrible- so many injured, including some children. The troops are saying that the whole thing occurred outside of the city, but shelled houses, shattered glass and 'collateral damage' all contradict that. Other reports confirm that a mosque, a hospital, and houses all came under heavy fire.

The other topic we've been discussing is the CPA's decision to start a militia, to fight the resistance against troops, composed of various militias belonging to the political parties involved with the GC people. Read more about it on Juan Cole.

We're all worried about that. It basically means that Badir's Brigade (belonging to the SCIRI) and the Bayshmarga (with Talbani), amongst others, are going to be made legitimate. They are going to be given uniforms and weapons and allowed to basically do what they've been doing these last few months- terrorize the citizens- but with a CPA stamp of approval, this time around.

Muqtada Al-Sadr in the south is making some not-so-covert threats about how other militias might be tempted to join the resistance if they aren't given power, or at least some semblance of it.

This latest militia thing is a definite change from last month when these same militias were being ordered to disarm. My cousin is a wise man. The moment he heard the decision to disarm Badir's Brigade and the Bayshmarga a few weeks ago, he snorted with laughter and shook his head at my naïve, "FINALLY!"

"They'll take away their toys for about a week," he said, shaking his head, "and then put them in some fancy suits, with a badge on their arm, a monthly wage and bigger guns." Apparently, if you can't beat 'em, pretend you approve of what they're doing (and that you *really* can control them…no, *really*).

Salam Pax is blogging once more! He's blogging in orange because Raed, his co-blogger, blogs in white. For those who don't know him (is there anyone who doesn't?!) Salam is the Baghdad Blogger and he was blogging way before the war and he encouraged me, and others, to start a blog- he is daily reading.

Both Salam and Juan Cole mention the fact that the US rejected an Iraqi plan to hold a census by the summer (in order to allow voting) and that the Governing Council were supposedly shocked. I imagine they may have known, but, as we say in Iraqi Arabic "ghelisow" or they turned a blind eye to the whole issue because someone like Chalabi, or even Talbani, is very aware of the minimal support he would get from voters. Who needs a risky vote when you can be appointed?!


Completely Unrelated...
Is Something Burning has been updated.


- posted by river @ 2:23 AM

 
Iraq's Nuclear Mirage...
I can't believe it- just today I was planning on blogging about Imad Khadduri's book "Iraq's Nuclear Mirage", when I found this article:
Iraqi Scientists: Lied About Nuke Weapons

Imad Khadduri was one of Iraq's leading nuclear scientists. He's a cultured, super-smart man who was born into a Catholic family dedicated to the education of its children. His father was a prominent doctor who practiced in Baghdad and was well-known for his medical abilities, as well as his compassion and dedication.

Imad Khadduri studied physics at the University of Michigan, and then continued to study nuclear reactor technology at the University of Birmingham. He later returned to Iraq and became one of the key scientists working on Iraq's nuclear program.

His book is fantastic. The book takes you through growing up in Baghdad, during the '50s and '60s, to the first experiences of studying abroad and adjusting to a foreign culture, to becoming one of the leading weapons scientists in the country, during the '80s.

"On a brisk autumn evening in 1968, Basil al-Qaisi, a dear friend from high school, sat down next to me while I was playing Backgammon in an open-air café meters away from the Tigris. He had heard that I had returned from the US, where I was studying physics since 1961, via a sojourn in Jordan. Sipping his tea, he dropped a suggestion that changed the course of my life. In his gentle, shyly provocative manner, he asked,'Why don’t you join us at the Nuclear Research Centre? Our friends are already working there, Jafar Dhia Jafar, Nazar Al-Quraishi and others.'

I was thoroughly taken aback. I was not aware that the Russians had built a two Megawatt research reactor at Tuwaitha, 20 kilometers east of Baghdad that went critical a year earlier during November 1967."

The book gives details of the varying nuclear and 'secret' sites that were open to inspections and discusses how the program fell apart after the war in 1991 and what happened to the documents and information gathered by the scientists for over a decade. It also discusses the fakes and the flakes, like Chalabi and Khidhir Hamza, the 'bomb-maker' who helped build the WMD case against Iraq with the help of Chalabi and a very vivid imagination.

Imad Khadduri writes about Khidhir Hamza:

"In the mid-nineties, an Iraqi physicist, Khidir Hamza, managed to escape from Iraq and seek tutelage of the CIA. At the end of 1999, he published a book titled "Saddam's Bomb Maker". It is worth mentioning that at no point in time did Khidir Hamza get involved in any research work related to the nuclear bomb or the effects of a radioactive accident when we dabbled with such research…"

I found the book particularly fascinating, I guess, because Imad Khadduri is a *real* person. He's not one of those exiles who have been outside of Iraq for decades (he left in late 1998) and his words are painfully familiar- especially when he discusses family bonds and life in Iraq during the sanctions. He's very real, and very well-known and respected in Iraq. The author also played a prominent role in rebuilding Iraq after the 1991 war. He was one of the people who helped in restoring the electricity after,

"The power stations' electrical grids were covered with air dropped special nets embedded with graphite pea-sized pellets that caused extensive electrical shorts bringing the whole electrical distribution over Iraq to a halt and hurling the whole country into darkness… [during the Gulf War]"

The book doesn't read like a dry, scientific journal… it is an education in nuclear weapons, reactors and Iraqi culture, all at once.

If you want to know all about Iraq's nuclear program, and its sudden halt in 1991, read the book. If you just want a fascinating, yet true, story- read the book…

Some articles by Imad Khadduri:

The Mirage of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction

Mobile Lies

I'll blog tomorrow about how Iraqis felt about WMD... and I'll also update the recipe page.

- posted by river @ 11:56 PM

 
Two sides to the story...
It has been brought to my attention that there are two different sides of the incident I mentioned in my previous blog- about the 12 and 15 year old girls who were shot in a field while gathering wood. The CPA announced the girls were actually *found* in the field, dead, and were handed over to Iraqi police. Their brother, though, claims that US troops shot them. The first to come out with the story were the AFP (France Press) and Al-Jazeera and several others picked it up afterwards.

This is the modified story on Al-Jazeera.

And a confirmation at News Interactive.

I hope whoever did this is caught and punished *severely*.


- posted by river @ 11:48 PM

 
Eid Recap...
And so Eid Al Fittur has come and gone once again. This year was, of course, different from every year. It was more quiet and solemn than usual. The first day we spent at home, welcoming relatives and neighbors who came to say "Eid Mubarek", and have some tea and kilaycha.

On the second day, we went to visit a couple of family friends and a relative who are in mourning. It seems like so many people are in mourning this Eid. When you visit someone during the holidays who is in mourning, you can't say "Eid Mubarek" to them because it, in a way, is an insult to wish them joy during their difficult time. Instead, we say "Akhir il ahzan" which basically means, "May this be the last of your sorrows…" The person will often simply nod their head, fight back the tears and attempt to be civil. I hate making these visits because it really seems like a terrible intrusion.

One of our Eid visits was to a close friend of my mother who lives in Al-A'adhamiya. In April, she lost her husband, son and young daughter when a tank fired at their car as they were trying to evacuate their house. We went to visit her on the second day of Eid. I was dreading the visit because the last time I had seen her, she was only this fragment of a person. It was like she was only a whole person with her husband and kids and now she is only 1/4 of a whole. For the first month after their death, she couldn't eat, sleep or speak. When we saw her in May, she couldn't or wouldn't recognize us.

We went to see her at her sister's house in the same area. She doesn't live in her old house anymore- she can't stand how suddenly empty it is. She was speaking and moving around this time, but she isn't the same person- not even close to the same person. She speaks politely and tries to follow with the conversation but you can tell that her mind is somewhere else and it's a huge effort to stay focused on what is being said or done.

A part of me knew that being there, sharing Eid with her, was the right thing to do- the proper thing to do. Another part of me felt like we were committing some sort of terrible sin and that it was just unforgivable to be sitting there, talking about rain and explosions when this woman's life had fallen apart on a black day in April. I couldn't decide which was worse- to see the agonized look in her eyes during moments of remembrance, or to see the vague, void look of indifference she'd sometimes wear when she disappeared inside of herself.

As we were leaving, I leaned down and hugged her, whispering "Akhir il ahzan…" and as I pulled away, she simply looked at me, shook her head and said, "Of course it'll be the last of my sorrows- there's nothing else to mourn because nothing else matters…"

And then there was the last day of Eid…

Bush was in Iraq on the 27th. He made a fleeting visit to Baghdad International Airport. Don't let the name fool you- Baghdad Airport is about 20 minutes outside of Baghdad. It's in this empty, desert-like area that no one is allowed to go near. No one knew about it until he was gone and then we were all saying, "Huh? What was that about?!"

Everyone here sees it for what it is- just a lame attempt to try to look good. We actually expected him in Iraq during his Asia tour- he was bound to stop by for a good gloat. I just think the whole thing could have been a little bit less transparent (and I expected it would occur closer to elections).

Seeing him on tv was amusing- so why did he have to sneak into and out of Iraq with such secrecy? Why didn't he walk the streets of the country he helped 'liberate'? Why didn't he at least *hover* above the country he 'liberated'? He constantly claims the situation is much better now than pre-war, so why isn't he taking advantage of our excellent security situation?! We all sat there, watching him garble out the usual stream of words and shook our heads… he's just as much of an ass in Baghdad as he is in Washington.

I am curious about how the troops felt about his presence though… I'm sure the hand-picked group in the airport were elated, but I can't help but wonder about the troops stuck in Tikrit, Najaf, Falloojeh or Mosul… I imagine they'd much rather be at home.

The most amusing thing about his visit was watching Chalabi and Talabani jumping up and down at the airport, cheering and clapping as Bush made the rounds. Muwafaq Al-Rubai'i, also a member of the Governing Council, was just embarrassing- he was standing on tiptoe and clapping like a 5-year-old watching a circus clown. Later, he gushed about how happy the Iraqis were and how delighted the whole country was going to be, like he would know, almost as inaccessible to Iraqis as Bush himself is.

Bush must be proud today- two more 'insurgents' were shot dead in Ba'aquba: two terrorist sisters, one 12 years old and the other 15. They were shot by troops while gathering wood from a field… but nobody bothers to cover that. They are only two Iraqi girls in their teens who were brutally killed by occupation troops- so what? Bush's covert two-hour visit to Baghdad International Airport is infinitely more important…

Note: To all of you who sent me Eid greetings- thank you. The number of emails was unbelievable. I'll try to respond soon- be patient- the electrical situation has been a nightmare.


- posted by river @ 5:08 AM

 
Eid Mubarek...
The last few days I've had to give up the keyboard and blog for something less glamorous- the bucket and mop.

It started about 3 days ago. I was out on the driveway, struggling with the garden hose and trying to cunningly arrange it to give a maximum trickle of water. My mother was standing at the door, chatting lightly with Umm Maha, from across the street- a stocky, healthy woman in her late forties.

Umm Maha had made us 'kilaycha'- a special Eid desert (and the recipe is a bit too complicated to post). Kilaycha are like… not exactly cookies or bars but something like dry, sweet dumplings. They are, basically, a sort of baked dough filled with either nuts, sesame seeds and sugar, dates or just flat and plain, almost like Christmas cookies- but less brittle and sweet. Every house either makes them or buys them for Eid- they are almost as necessary as lentil soup.

I was vaguely listening to the conversation. They were discussing the blackouts and how they were affecting the water flow in some areas (like ours). My mother was mentioning how she was thawing out the freezer because the intermittent electricity was turning everything to mush and Umm Maha suddenly looked awed, "But isn't your freezer clean? Haven't you began with the Eid cleaning?!" I froze as I heard the words and peered around at my mother. She was looking uncomfortable- no we hadn't started with the 'Eid cleaning', but how do you say that to the Martha Stewart of Baghdad?

Yes, Umm Maha is the Martha Stewart of Baghdad- I defy anyone who can show me a neighbor with a cleaner driveway. Her whole house is spotless… rain, shine or cluster bombs. Her kids are always groomed and ironed. Their car, while old and dented, is spotless. She's always the first one to make the Eid kilaycha. She's the first one who is out of the door and washing down the house, the car, the driveway and the TREES after an infamous Iraqi dust storm. She's the neighbor who will know the latest cleaning fads (like using talcum powder to get out oil stains), and the one who'll be chasing the stray cats away from the garbage bins with (what else?) a broom.

My mother smiled wanly- we all knew Eid was coming up, but no one had the energy or initiative to begin the huge job of making the house spotless before Eid. Eid Il Futtir, as it is called, is the 3 day holiday that comes directly after Ramadhan. In Iraq, we celebrate it by visiting family and friends, and, generally, eating. It's a celebration of the end of fasting (especially if you were able to fast all month).

Preparations for Eid often begin a week ahead of the holiday. Kids have to have new clothes, pajamas and haircuts. The kitchen has to be stocked with good things to eat for visiting family, friends and neighbors. The family has to be prepared to have guests every minute of the 3 days of Eid. The house has to be spotlessly clean.

It's traditional for households to begin 'tandheef il eid' a few days before Ramadhan ends. On Arafat, or the eve of Eid, many people stay at home to get things organized. It is believed that Eid isn't complete and the holiday 'spirit' won't enter the home if the house is unclean or messy.

So Martha Stewart, aka Umm Maha, reminded my mother of the coming event a few days ago. That moment, I tried to subtly drop the hose and disappear behind a shrub, knowing my involvement in the cleaning process was going to be extensive. It didn't help. As soon as Umm Maha left the house, clucking disapprovingly, my mother got into 'cleaning mode' and began "Operation Spotless Eid".

Major General "Riverbend's Mother" instantly gathered her army of cleaners together and began giving orders. Riverbend would get to do the closets, father would have to attack that pile of 'valuable' junk in the driveway, and E. would move around heavy furniture to wipe beneath- dust bunnies must be abolished and dirt must be demolished.

That's what I've been doing the last few days- scrubbing, folding, polishing and flushing. It has been difficult because of the constant blackouts. Vacuuming is next to impossible and most of the clothes have to be washed by hand because the water tank on top of the roof is never full enough.

For some Sunnis, Eid began yesterday (as it did in Jordan and Egypt). For the rest, Eid is tomorrow. For families like mine, with a combination of Sunnis and Shi'a, we follow Saudi Arabia and they have declared Eid to be today- the 25th of November. It bothers me that we didn't begin Eid 'together' this year because that's what Eid is really about- togetherness.

Mosques are being watched carefully and most people are safely in their homes by 8 pm. We're not quite sure how our families are going to meet- who will go where? Not everyone has telephone access and many people, in certain areas, are somewhat hesitant to gather together in large groups for fear of being mistaken for 'terrorists'. It's a strange sort of Eid this year- with helicopters and tanks… and possibly raids.

To those who began Eid yesterday, and to those who begin it today- Happy Eid, or Eid Mubarek…


- posted by river @ 3:12 PM

 
Donkeys and Guerillas...
Ok, todays blog is going to look like something straight out of The Onion.

Donkeys Could Be the Missing Link?

Baghdad, Iraq- At around a quarter past 7 this morning, residents in downtown Baghdad awoke to the sound of explosions. Many inhabitants claimed that they assumed the sounds were the result of Operation Iron Hammer- the latest military tactic designed to send a message to Iraqi insurgents.

Upon turning on their televisions, Baghdadis realized that two prominent hotels and the Ministry of Oil had recently been attacked. The two hotels assailed with missiles were the Sheraton and Palestine Hotel, both situated in a busy, commercial locale in the Iraqi capital. The hotels are home to the reporters and journalists of many major news networks, including the CNN, as well as foreign contractors. While there seem to be no casualties in either of the hotels, or the Ministry, witnesses confirmed there were injuries.

The assailants? Donkeys. Yes, donkeys were found in various locations in Baghdad, leading colorful carts with missile launchers and missiles camouflaged with hay. The donkeys, looking guilty and morose, were promptly taken into custody for questioning and were not available for a statement.

"He looks just like the purple donkey in Winnie Dab-Doob!" gasped one, young Baghdad resident, related to the reporter, in reference to one of the terrorists.

The First Real Link

Could this be the first real tie to Al-Qaeda? After months of trying to connect Iraq to terrorist activities, this latest attack could prove to be the Pentagon's 'missing link' . After all, donkeys and mules are very widely used in Afghanistan to travel through the rocky, mountainous region- their presence in Baghdad is highly suspicious. It is, as yet, unclear whether the donkeys are foreign guerillas who crossed into Iraq from one of the neighboring countries, or are actually a part of a local Al-Qaeda cell.

Baghdad residents are wondering: could these culprits be the first donkeys sent to Guantanamo?

By Riverbend, Baghdad Burning

It's true... it's all we've been talking about all day.

- posted by river @ 12:56 AM

 
Thank You...
A very special thanks to three people. The first is Frank Tobin who got Blogger to upgrade my blog so that the advertisements are gone and I can do a lot of things I couldn't do before. The second person is Jeff Reed who has registered riverbendblog.com – Riverbend is a dot com now! The third person is Diana over at Letter from Gotham for… well, she knows why!

BTW, I've updated Is Something Burning...

- posted by river @ 12:50 AM

 
Difficult Days...
They've been bombing houses in Tikrit and other areas! Unbelievable… I'm so angry it makes me want to break something!!!! What the hell is going on?! What do the Americans think Tikrit is?! Some sort of city of monsters or beasts? The people there are simple people. Most of them make a living off of their land and their livestock- the rest are teachers, professors and merchants- they have lives and families… Tikrit is nothing more than a bunch of low buildings and a palace that was as inaccessible to the Tikritis as it was to everyone else!

People in Al Awja suffered as much as anyone, if not more- they weren't all related to Saddam and even those who were, suffered under his direct relatives. Granted, his bodyguards and others close to him were from Tikrit, but they aren't currently in Tikrit- the majority have struck up deals with the CPA and are bargaining for their safety and the safety of their families with information. The people currently in Tikrit are just ordinary people whose homes and children are as precious to them as American homes and children are precious to Americans! This is contemptible and everyone thinks so- Sunnis and Shi'a alike are shaking their heads incredulously.

And NO- I'm not Tikriti- I'm not even from the 'triangle'- but I know simple, decent people who ARE from there and just the thought that this is being done is so outrageous it makes me want to scream. How can that ass of a president say things are getting better in Iraq when his troops have stooped to destroying homes?! Is that a sign that things are getting better? When you destroy someone's home and detain their family, why would they want to go on with life? Why wouldn't they want to lob a bomb at some 19-year-old soldier from Missouri?!

The troops were pushing women and children shivering with fear out the door in the middle of the night. What do you think these children think to themselves- being dragged out of their homes, having their possessions and houses damaged and burned?! Who do you think is creating the 'terrorists'?!! Do you think these kids think to themselves, "Oh well- we learned our lesson. That's that. Yay troops!" It's like a vicious, moronic circle and people are outraged…

The troops are claiming that the attacks originate from these areas- the people in the areas claim the attacks are coming from somewhere else… I really am frightened of what this is going to turn into. People seem to think that Iraq is broken into zones and areas- ethnically and religiously divided. That's just not true- the majority of people have relatives all over Iraq. My relatives extend from Mosul, all the way down to Basrah- we all feel for each other and it makes decent people crazy to see this happening.

There have also been a string of raids all over Baghdad, but especially in Al-A'adhamiya. They've detained dozens of people with the excuse that they own more than one weapon. Who owns less than two weapons? Everyone has at least one Klashnikov and a couple of guns. Every male in the house is usually armed and sometimes the females are too. It's not because we love turning our homes into arsenals, but because the situation was so dangerous (and in some areas still is) that no one wants to take any risks. Imagine the scene: a blue mini-van pulls up… 10 dirty, long-haired men clamber out with Klashnikovs, pistols and grenades and demand all the gold and the kids (for ransom). Now imagine trying to face them all with a single handgun… if Baghdad were SECURE people would give up their weapons. I hate having weapons in the house.

I'm so tired. These last few days have been a strain on every single nerve in my body. The electricity has been out for the last three days and while the weather is pleasant, it really is depressing.

No one knows why the electricity is out- there are murmurings of storms and damage to generators and sabotage and punishment… no one knows exactly what's going on. There are explosions everywhere. Yesterday it was especially heavy. Today there was a huge explosion that felt like it was nearby but we can't really tell. How do you define a war? This sure as hell feels like war to me… no electricity, water at a trickle, planes, helicopters and explosions.

We didn't send the kids to school today. My cousin's wife spent last night talking about horrible premonitions and it didn't take much to convince my cousin that they would be better off at home.

It's hard for adults without electricity, but it's a torment for the kids. They refuse to leave the little pool of light provided by the kerosene lamps. We watch them nervously as they flit from candlelight to lamplight, trying to avoid the dark as much as possible. I have flashes of the children knocking down a candle, hot, burning wax, flames… I asked the 7-year-old the other night if she was afraid of 'monsters' when she shied away from a dark room. She looked at me like I was crazy- monsters are for losers who don't need to fear war, abductions and explosions.

We (5 houses in the neighborhood) all chipped in and bought a generator immediately after the war. What we do now is 2 houses get enough electricity for some neon lights, a television, a refrigerator and a freezer. We asked them to 'save our electricity up' and give us a couple of hours after futtoor and that's how I'm typing now. But my time is almost up and I'm afraid if the electricity goes off suddenly, it'll damage my computer.

E. and I hang out on the roof after futtoor and only duck inside when the helicopters begin hovering above. We watch the main street from the roof. One of the merchants has a little generator and he sets up chairs outside of his shop, in front of a small black and white tv. The guys in the neighborhood all stream towards the lights like ants towards a sticky spot. They sit around drinking tea, and chatting.

You really can't appreciate light until you look down upon a blackened city and your eyes are automatically drawn to the pinpoints of brightness provided by generators… it looks like the heavens have fallen and the stars are wandering the streets of Baghdad, lost and alone.

I have to go now. Hope the electricity is back tomorrow, at least.



- posted by river @ 10:52 PM

 
Some Links...
People have been asking about the casualties in Iraq. Check out this report: Continuing Collateral Damage: The health and environmental costs of war on Iraq.

As for the deaths of troops in Iraq, the best page that summarizes these is Today in Iraq- I know nothing about the page beyond the fact that it gives a daily summary of the main newsworthy events and gives links, brief commentary and occasional rants. It is worth checking daily.

I updated the recipes page.

Danny Schechter has a new page called "Dissectorville".


- posted by river @ 5:50 AM

 
Update...
These last few days have been tense- gunshots, helicopters, and explosions. A couple of days ago, we counted around 23 explosions. My cousin, his wife and their two daughters were at our house when the commotion began. A few explosions were so loud, the windows began to rattle with each impact and I had flashbacks of March and April.

The kids reacted differently- the older one, ran to sit beside her mother, as far away from the living-room window as possible. She once confided to me that the glass terrified her; four of the windows at her grandparents' home cracked during the 'shock and awe' phase of the bombing and she still remembers the incident. The younger one was silent and stoic. You can hardly tell she's scared except that if you sit particularly close, you can hear her grinding her little teeth, which is what she does when she's frightened. It drives my cousin crazy because the kid loses herself in a sort of trance when she does that and it's all we can do to keep her mind off of whatever she's brooding about. At one point she asked, "Is it war again?" No, it isn't war, dear… the helicopters, tanks, missiles, rattling windows and explosions aren't war- they are 'protection': they are Operation Iron Hammer, not to be confused with war.

When it got particularly heavy, and the helicopters began hovering above, E. wanted to go out to the roof and see what was happening and what exactly was being bombed. My mother declared NO ONE would go up to the roof- the helicopters were flying low and the troops haven't been too discriminating lately when it came to civilians- especially the ones in helicopters and tanks.

At one point, the helicopters got so loud, it felt like they were going to land on the roof. E. was restless, pacing between the house and garden, trying to catch a glimpse of the commotion. We found out later an old Republican Guard facility had been bombed- though no one understands why: who would use *that* as a meeting place?! Other areas were bombed and one of the areas was evacuated- although some people preferred staying in their homes.

The 14th of July Bridge was closed again. The 14th of July Bridge is also known as the "Mu'alaq Bridge", or the suspended bridge. It's the bridge I described in one of my earlier posts. The bridge was closed to civilians during the war (after the 9th of April, I think) and was re-opened about two weeks ago. I haven't been on the bridge since late March. I dread having to cross it again because it was the scene of many horrible deaths- many civilian cars were burned on that bridge. A friend of ours lost his wife and dog on that bridge when a tank fired at his SUV in April. It was 5 days before he was allowed to remove her corpse from the burnt vehicle and give her a proper burial.

I heard about the new 'acceleration to transfer power' to the GC. I'm not sure how it's going to work. Chalabi gave his speech in English today with Talbani on his right and Pachachi peering over his shoulder on the left. I read Juan Cole's blog and he describes a report given by ABC, which didn't sound like the speech. From the speech, I gathered that by June, the GC would nominate and elect a 'sovereign government'. But, again, who elected the GC? Someone asked Talabani, I think, whether the same GC members would actually be in the 'elected' government, the answer was "Yes, if our parties still want us as their representatives". I'll have to look into it more. I'm still not sure what this means. There's still some confusion here as to how this whole new government will be chosen by June...



- posted by river @ 5:21 AM

 
Iraqi Governing Council...
I have to post this fast. The electrical situation has been hellish today. There's no schedule… in our area the electricity is on 30 minutes for every two hours of no electricity. People suspect it's a sort of punishment for what happened in Nassiryah this morning and the bombings in Baghdad this last week. There were also some huge explosions today- the troops got hit by mortars, I think, and retaliated by bombing something.

Also, Mohammed Bahr Ul Iloom was shot at today. Bahr Ul Iloom is one of the Shia clerics (a 'rotating president') and the father of the Minister of Oil. He was unharmed, it seems, but his driver is wounded. While I'm sure Bahr Ul Iloom would love to blame it on loyalists, Ba'athists and Al-Qaeda, the shots actually came from American troops- it was a 'mistake'. Oops.

Bremer is currently in Washington, explaining why the Governing Council are completely useless. The Washington Post article on the diminishing popularity of the Governing Council came as no surprise:

"The United States is deeply frustrated with its hand-picked council members because they have spent more time on their own political or economic interests than in planning for Iraq's political future, especially selecting a committee to write a new constitution, the officials added."

I think it's safe to say that when you put a bunch of power-hungry people together on a single council (some who have been at war with each other), they're going to try to promote their own interests. They are going to push forward their party members, militias and relatives in an attempt to root themselves in Iraq's future.

"Bremer noted that at least half the council is out of the country at any given time and that at some meetings, only four or five members showed up."

Of course they're outside of the country- many of them don't have ties in it. They have to visit their families and businesses in Europe and North America. For some of them, it sometimes seems like the "Governing Council" is something of an interesting hobby- a nice little diversion in the monthly routine: golf on Saturdays, a movie with the family in London on Fridays, a massage at the spa on Tuesdays, and, oh yes- nation-building for 5 minutes with Bremer on the Xth of each month.

People here never see them. Most live in guarded compounds and one never knows what country they are currently in. For example, Chalabi is presently missing. I haven't seen him on the news for… I don't know how long. If anyone has seen him, please send an email- I'm dying to know what he's up to.

I can imagine Bremer preparing for a meeting with the pioneers of Iraqi democracy, the pillars of liberty… the Iraqi Puppet Council. He strides in with his chic suit, flowing hair and polished shoes (the yellow nation-building boots are only for press conferences and photo shoots in Iraqi provinces). He is all anticipation and eagerness: today will be the day. *This* meeting will be the productive meeting which will make headlines.

He strides into the lavish room, Italian heels clicking on the marble floor- there will be 25 faces today. Twenty-five pairs of adoring eyes will follow him around the room. Twenty-five pairs of eager ears will strain to hear his words of wisdom. Twenty-five faces will light up with… but where are the 25? He stops in the middle of the room, heart sinking, ire rising in leaps and bounds. Why are there only 5 unsure faces? Did he have the schedule wrong? Was this the wrong conference room?!

And Bremer roars and rages- where are the Puppets? Where are the marionettes?! How dare they miss yet another meeting! But they all have their reasons, Mr.Bremer: Talbani is suffering from indigestion after an ample meal last night; Iyad Allawi is scheduled for a pedicure in Switzerland this afternoon; Al-Hakim is jetting around making covert threats to the Gulf countries, and Chalabi says he's not attending meetings anymore, he's left the country and will be back when it's time for the elections…

People have been expecting this for some time now. There's a complete and total lack of communication between the Council members and the people- they are as inaccessible as Bremer or Bush. Their speeches are often in English and hardly ever to the Iraqi public. We hear about new decisions and political and economical maneuverings through the voice-overs of translators while the Council members are simpering at some meeting thousands of miles away.

We need *real* Iraqis- and while many may argue that the Council members are actually real Iraqis, it is important to keep in mind that fine, old adage: not everyone born in a stable is a horse. We need people who aren't just tied to Iraq by some hazy, political ambition. We need people who have histories inside of the country that the population can relate to. People who don't have to be hidden behind cement barriers, barbed wire and an army.

Their failure has nothing to do with attacks on troops or terrorism. It has to do with the fact that many of them are only recommendable because they were apparently very good at running away from a difficult situation- and running into the right arms. Another problem is the fact that decent, intelligent people with political ambition refuse to be a part of this fiasco because everyone senses that the Governing Council cannot do anything on its own. Bremer is the head and he's only the tip of the iceberg- he represents Washington.

A national conference is a good idea, but it will fail as miserably as the Puppet Council, unless… there's a timetable. The occupation forces need to set a definite date saying, "We're going to begin pulling out on *this* month, next year- let's get organized before that." A timetable is vital to any progress, if any is going to be made. Only then, will things begin to move forward.

Prominent, popular politicians and public figures don't want to be tied to American apron strings- this includes lawyers, political scientists, writers, and other well-known people. Not because they are American apron-strings per se, but because this is an occupation (by American admission, no less). No matter how much CNN and the rest try to dress it up as a liberation, the tanks, the troops, the raids, the shootings (accidental or otherwise), and the Puppet Council all scream occupation. If it were French, it'd get the same resistance… just as if it were a Saudi, Egyptian or Iranian occupation.

It is also vital that all interested political parties be allowed to be a part of the national conference. Any political conferences in the past have been limited to American-approved political and religious parties which have left a large number of political groups outside of the circle- groups that have more popular support. Furthermore, the conference can't be run and organized by occupation forces (troops and the CPA). If there's one thing Iraqis are good at- it's organizing conferences. Why should vital political decisions critical to Iraq's independence be made under the watchful eyeball of an American Lieutenant or General? Everyone wants a democratic Iraq, but that just isn't going to happen if people constantly associate the government with occupation.

Why should any Iraqi government have to be christened and blessed by Bremer? He wasn't Iraqi, last time I checked…

Juan Cole and Joshua Marshall both have some interesting things to say on the subject (they both give some good links too).


- posted by river @ 2:35 AM

 
Food...
I updated the Is Something Burning?! page and have added it to my sidebar -->

- posted by river @ 5:27 AM

 
Galub Memdeshen...
These last few days have been a bit tiring- a few visitors (relatives) and a couple of friends who we haven’t seen since July. It’s ridiculous- we live in the same city but it feels like we’re all worlds apart. Everyone is so consumed with their own set of trials and tribulations these days- the son that lost a job, the daughter that lost a husband… the problems feel endless and everyone has their own story to tell. As my mother constantly says, “Kul wahid yihtajleh galub memdeshen”, or “every person [you listen to] requires an brand new heart”. This is usually said when anticipating a sad, frustrating story. Every story begins with a deep *sigh* and ends with an “Allah kareem”.

Our latest visitor has left us more than perturbed. A friend of E. passed by, a junior in the electrical engineering department at Baghdad University. He sat, for an hour, describing an incident that occurred last week at the university which we had heard about, but didn’t know the details. It has been the biggest problem yet in Baghdad University.

Just some information on Baghdad University: Baghdad University was established in the ‘30s, I think. It is Iraq’s oldest, contemporary university and its most famous. It started out small and kept on expanding until it became one of the largest universities in the region. There are 6 different campuses spread all over Baghdad and I’m not sure just how many colleges there are. The main campus is the one located in the leafy, elegant area of Jadriya, in the center of Baghdad. The colleges of engineering, science, political science, physical education, and women’s education are all located on the Jadriya campus, as is the university president’s office.

The Jadriya campus was designed in 1961 by Walter Adolph Gropius, a German who emigrated to America in 1937. The campus is huge, and beautiful. The buildings are sprawling and punctuated with little gardens planted with palms and other trees and grass. There are also several dormitories that provide living quarters for out-of-town students, and in the physical education college, there are football fields, basketball courts and a pool.

My favorite feature on the Jadriya campus is the arc framing the entrance. The arcs, which look like a pale, elongated rainbow that doesn’t quite meet in the middle, symbolize Arabic architecture. The opening in the middle of the arcs symbolizes open minds, allowing for the entrance of knowledge. Or that’s what they say it symbolizes. The whole campus is a wonderful contrast of green trees, and beige buildings swarming with busy students. Even during difficult times, it was an oasis.

Up until the early 1990s, the majority of the teaching staff had gotten their post-graduate degrees from abroad. The College of Medicine leaned towards an English curriculum because most of the doctors were graduates of British medical schools, the College of Engineering leaned towards an American curriculum because the majority of the professors and teachers were graduates of American colleges. The College of Science was a combination of American/British-taught teachers and professors, and most of the syllabuses were in English.

After 1991, the university began deteriorating, like all other universities. Chemicals weren’t purchased for the science labs because many of the basic experimental materials were ‘banned’ according to the sanctions resolution. The physics labs suffered the same fate. Engineering departments complained of a lack of equipment and books. Because curriculums were American or British, the books also originated from these countries. Major publishing houses refused to sell books to Iraqi universities because their governments considered it illegal (apparently, you can make WMD using a calculus book…). We had to wait until someone brought a copy of the necessary book in, by chance, and make dozens of photocopies of it, which would be sold in little ‘makatib’ or bookshops all over Baghdad.

Many of the professors started emigrating after 1991 because the economic situation was so bad, they could barely afford to support themselves, let alone their families. They started leaving to places like Jordan, Yemen, Libya, Syria and the Emirates, hoping to find a decent position in a university or research center. The ones who remained were highly appreciated… we still talk of the mathematician from MIT, or the programmer from Berkeley.

In spite of all this, Baghdad University remained one of the best universities in the region. It was well-known throughout the Arab world and its graduates were welcome almost anywhere. It’s reputation, more or less, remained in tact. About 90% of the college applicants always put Baghdad University at the top of their application form. It accepts the highest grades because, as a total, it accepts only around 10,000 students a year and every year, 75,000 students graduate from Iraqi high schools and apply for college. So, in addition to some of the best teachers in Iraq, they also get the smartest students.

The University was looted heavily during the days immediately after April 9. Some campuses were worse off than others. The Jadriya campus was looted, the first few days, but because American troops were posted nearby, the looting was lighter than in other places. Many professors quit working after the occupation, while others were fired. The ones remaining in the university got together and had a ‘democratic’ vote, choosing specific staff to head the departments, colleges and they even chose a university president.

The problem was that many of the professors were former Ba’athists… some of the best teachers were Ba’athists (we had over 6 million). Sami Mudhafar, who was chosen as university president, was respected, competent and… anti-Ba’athist. A few weeks into the occupation, Chalabi started insisting on the implementation of his ‘de-Ba’athification plan. The first place it began in was the universities. Any Ba’athists, with administrative positions, were asked to step down and hand over the reigns. The next step the CPA insisted upon, was that any Ba’athists professors should be made to quit. That was too much. Sami Mudhafar realized that making all the ex-Ba’athist teachers and employees quit would mean that he’d have too big a shortage of academicians to continue classes. Things were already tough before the war, this would make things impossible. So, he refused. He told the representative for the Ministry of Higher Education that it was a mistake and he couldn’t be responsible for the result of an action like that…

Sami Mudhafar was promptly changed. He was asked to resign his post and the Minister of Higher Education, appointed by the Governing Council, chose someone else to fill his post. The Jadriya campus was in an uproar. Students and teachers protested, holding signs that said things like, “The Minister of Higher Education was appointed- Sami was elected.” And it was a good point: one of the first buds of democracy was promptly squelched by a minister appointed by the CPA and the Puppet Council.

The problems started after that. It seemed like every day brought a new story of some minor dissent or some major disagreement between the staff, the students and the new administration- and sometimes, even the American troops at the university got involved.

Before the troops pulled out of the Jadriya campus, they assigned ‘campus security’, which some say were trained by the soldiers. The campus security are a bunch of men between the ages of 20 and 40 (the majority, they say, are in their twenties). Students have been annoyed because the campus security seem to be there not so much to ensure safety, but to watch the students. Almost every day, there has been a new skirmish with the campus security, and any time someone tried to take the matter to higher authorities, they had to go through even more security to make an official complaint.

A few days ago, one of the students got into an argument with one of the security members over a parking space. The student apparently pulled in to a ‘reserved’ parking spot and was rushing off to class when one of the security members asked him to remove his car. The computer engineering student argued, the campus security guy yelled, angry words were spoken, another security guard joined in- and suddenly the three were fighting. Friends of the student joined in the scuffle, and the security people suddenly pulled out knives… more students joined in- everyone was enraged- and the security people asked for back up. The back up came in the form of several security guys in two pick-up truck. They pulled up to the road leading to the department of computer and electrical engineering, pulled out their Klashnikovs and opened fire on the department building!

Students began dropping to the ground, windows were broken, chunks of beige plaster were dropping from the balconies and teachers rushed to herd students out of classes and into the corridors (to avoid windows). One of the students got into his car, and went to get the dean of the college and some Iraqi Police. A few minutes later, the police pulled up yelled and yelled at the security people to stop shooting. The security people then turned and began shooting in the direction of the police. The police pulled out their guns and began firing threatening shots to get the campus security to stop. The dean came along- a small, earnest man, pale and bewildered, wondering what the problem was and was instantly greeted by terrified students, angry security guards and the IP.

The students went home that day, enraged and disoriented, unable to continue classes. Luckily, injuries were minor. A few scrapes from the knives, a few bruises, and some mental scars, probably, but nothing else. Since that day, they have been on a strike- demanding an official apology from the campus security and a limit to their power, i.e. they shouldn’t get to fire at a bunch of students over a parking space…

Today (well, yesterday, technically- it’s almost dawn here) there were some more explosions in the city center… not sure where it’s coming from but someone said it was near the Green Zone again. Nothing on the internet about it.

But, other than irate security guards, explosions in the capital, bombing in Tikrit, strikes in Nassriya over the security situation, a few assassinations, some abductions, car bombs, frightened humanitarian organizations, and exhausted people- everything is just rosy… *sigh*… Allah Kareem.


- posted by river @ 5:06 AM

 
Is Something Burning?!
Due to the overwhelming number of requests that I post some Iraqi Ramadhan recipes, I'm going to start posting recipes on this page: Is Something Burning?!. I'm still trying it out and I think I'll change the links to link to recipe pages (especially Middle Eastern food). We'll see how it goes. I'd love to hear some feedback if anyone tries the recipes.

- posted by river @ 2:19 AM

 
Between a Hammer and an Anvil...
I haven’t written these last few days for several reasons. I could barely get an internet connection and when I did connect, it was very slow. I gave up yesterday. I’ve also been a bit tired with Ramadhan. It’s not the fasting that makes me tired, but the preparing for breaking the fast in the evening. There’s always so much to do. After we’ve eaten, I’m just to exhausted to do anything besides sit around with the family, drinking tea, abusing the smokers and discussing the usual topics families discuss while gathered together these days- the occupation and politics.

Even the kids are involved with the news and current situation, but in a smaller way. My cousin’s younger daughter is infatuated with one of the anchors on Al-Arabia. Every time he’s on tv, the usually loud 7-year-old stands, bedazzled, in front of the television, absorbing every word of the dry, detached commentary. Her mother, who can be impressively conniving, is tricking the poor kid into being good simply by saying things like, “But what would that nice man on Al-Arabia say if he saw you didn’t eat your potatoes?!”

So many things have been happening this last week. The various UN organizations began pulling out their volunteers and employees. The Red Cross is currently doing the same. Someone asked me why Iraqis seemed to have so much faith in UN organizations. It’s not that we have unrealistic views about the capabilities of the UN or humanitarian organizations; it’s simply that when organizations begin to pull out their people, you know things are going downhill. While being threatened with war, we used to watch the UN people very carefully and when they’d start packing up and leaving in helicopters, we’d know things are going to get difficult.

People started going back to work today. Saturday, Sunday and Monday everyone was basically stuck at home because of the fliers going around talking about 3 days of resistance. Some say the fliers have no definite threat- just a vague order for people to stay at home for three days in protest of the occupation, others claim that there’s an underlying ‘warning’ in the words.

Baghdad was eerily quiet, besides the occasional explosion (yesterday near the CPA headquarters and tonight within the ‘Green Zone’). Everything seemed to be at a stand-still- relatively few cars in the streets, hardly any children in the schools and even government employees deciding to remain safe in their homes. Colleges were also practically empty, although the students started going back today. There are troops just about every where- check points, road blocks and soldiers waving the cars back, back, back, “Take another road…”

My cousin and his wife spent the last two days with us. They had kept the girls home from school just to be on the safe side. My cousin’s wife was more relieved than I had seen her since the academic year began. She’d just as soon have the girls under her watchful eye than at school and this is a perfect excuse for her. The other day she was debating the sanity of keeping them at home the whole year and tutoring them. We told her she was crazy because our educational system doesn’t allow for that in elementary school. Unless there’s a great reason, the child is required to actually be at the school. I told her they would lose a year, and considering her older daughter is an excellent student, it would be a shame. She doesn’t seem to care- all she wants is to sense that they are safe. I think many parents had to have that debate this year. Young girls, especially, have been prone to kidnappings and abductions.

I don’t envy parents during this crisis.

Unviersities are facing their own set of problems. We heard there was some sort of student demonstration because the situation in the universities isn’t much better than on the street. Students complain of being made to miss classes because of the long lines while cars and people are being checked before being allowed to enter the university. There are also complaints that the deans and presidents of certain universities are so concerned with their physical safety, they refuse to see students, hear complaints or tour the facilities to find out about certain problems. University faculty complain of everything from receiving death threats from students for giving bad grades, to bad attendance by students due to the security situation.

The latest today is that missiles were fired inside of the Green Zone (the press says it could be mortar). We heard the explosions which were LOUD, but I think the majority have gotten used to hearing them. Even the kids hardly flinch any more. The moment we hear explosions, there’s a rush to get to the roof and try to determine the general direction of the smoke (there is usually smoke). Then there’s a rush to check the news, if there’s electricity. If it’s in a residential area, we immediately think of all our relatives and acquaintances in the area and wonder if everyone is alright, how close it was to a specific home/person/shop/school. Almost everyone has relatives living all over Baghdad- there’s always someone to worry about. We then try to contact someone from the bombed area and if there’s no telephone, we try to contact someone who might have extra information. The process has become too familiar.

There have also been a number of assassinations these last few days. The ones that are making headlines are the judges. Yesterday, a judge was kidnapped and killed in Najaf. Today, a judge was killed outside of his home in Mosul and another judge was shot twice in the head in his car in Kirkuk. It seems, these days, that judges in Iraq are caught ‘bayn il mattraqa wil sindan’, as one Arab reporter said, which means ‘between a hammer and an anvil’. This is because while the judge in Najaf was killed by loyalists, it seems, the one in Kirkuk was killed by American troops who said he got caught in 'cross fire'. The one in Mosul is still a mystery.

These last few days have been particularly difficult. There’s a strain on everybody. People are tense and worried. They’re worried about their children, worried about their jobs or lack of employment, worried about the security situation, worried about jumpy troops. The attacks are becoming more sophisticated and the troops are becoming more brutal in some areas... It’s like we graduate from one phase to another. Everyone is so tired.


- posted by river @ 2:15 AM

 
Link...
Remember "Malcom Lagauche"... the author whose site was shut down after he got too many hits? You can now find him here: Lagauche is Right

- posted by river @ 12:25 AM

 
Ramadhan...
Ramadhan is the 9th month in the Islamic year (which also has 12 months, but only has around 358 days). Ramadhan is considered one of the holiest months of the Islamic year- in my opinion, it is the most interesting. We spend the whole of Ramadhan fasting, every day, from the first rays of light at dawn, until the sun sets. In other words, we can neither eat, nor drink, nor smoke, nor chew gum until it is time to ‘break the fast’ during the evening.

Ramadhan is the month during which the angel Gabriel first visited our Prophet, with the message of Islam and the Quran. That is why it is celebrated by Muslims all over the world. The exact date of the momentous occasion can’t be calculated exactly, but it is believed that ‘Laylet il Qadir’ (the night the Prophet was first visited by Gabriel) is towards the end of Ramadhan (many believe that it falls on the 27th night).

Ramadhan is a festive month, in many ways. It’s like the last two weeks of December- a little bit hectic, but important, all the same. It’s that month where you get to see all the family you never you knew you had- the intolerable cousins, the favorite aunt, the grandparents, nieces, nephews, uncles and even the great-uncle you thought had died last year. The whole month is sort of a ‘family month’.

The fasting works like this: at the break of dawn, we simply stop eating and drinking. This lasts through the whole day until ‘al maghrib’ or dusk. Fasting is considered one of the ‘arkan’ of Islam, which means it is required of all Muslims. There are certain exceptions- people who are ill aren’t required to fast during Ramadhan, and people who are traveling. If the fasting affects a person’s health in any way (i.e. if the person is diabetic, or pregnant, etc.), they are excused from fasting.

Of course, the ‘moral fasting’ comes with the physical fasting. In other words, a person can break their fast without using food. Gossiping, fighting, lying, cheating, angry words and more have to be avoided during Ramadhan, otherwise your fast, or ‘siyam’ is considered useless. Prayer and Quran reading are also stepped-up during the whole of the month because it is believed to be a ‘blessed month’.

Someone might ask, but why fast? What is the point of denying yourself food and drink for over half a day? Fasting is supposed to teach tolerance, patience, and hunger. Yes, hunger. The average person forgets what it’s like to be hungry… and I don’t mean the, wow-I-could-really-use-a-burger-and-some-fries type of hunger. I mean the hunger you feel when you haven’t had anything to eat or drink for over 12 hours and your stomach feels ready to cave in and your head feels like exploding because you didn’t get that zap of caffeine you need to function.

The point of being hungry is to help you appreciate food more. It helps you realize that food and water shouldn’t be taken for granted, especially when there are people who feel like this every day regardless of it being a holy month or otherwise. Many doctors also believe fasting is healthy, as it often lowers blood pressure and keeps people from smoking or drinking. I currently have an uncle who swears he's going to give up smoking this Ramadhan (like he gave it up last Ramadhan- and the one before).

We begin preparing for the ‘futtoor’, or the meal with which we break our fast, over an hour before its time. Traditionally, most people break their fast on a date, and then proceed to whatever is on the menu. Often, people begin the meal with some sort of soup because it warms the stomach without shocking it after all those hours without food. The most popular Ramadhan soup is lentil soup, or ‘addess’. It is a pale, yellow soup that is both light and flavorful. There are dozens of different ways to make it, but I enjoy it with a squeeze of lime and ‘khubz’.

After the soup, comes a whole procession of often traditional foods… maybe I should post the recipes. There’s so much food because the ‘futtoor’ is more of a daily celebration than it is an ordinary meal. During previous years, we would spend almost every day breaking our fast with various family or friends. This year is different because the security situation doesn’t allow for traipsing around Baghdad or other provinces on a daily basis. It’s also not the same because, under normal circumstances, our ‘futtoor’ gatherings often last well into the night, sometimes past 12 am, before the group breaks up to go home.

The neighbors are often a big part of the month. If they’re not dropping by to sample futtoor, then they’re sending over a plate of something for you to sample. We also get together to agree who will be sending food over to the local mosque to feed the mosque keepers and the Imam, and to arrange who will be sending what to the more destitute families in the neighborhood. Ramadhan is the time of year when we put aside neighborhood differences (like the fact that Abu K.’s dog howls at anyone who goes down the street), and combine culinary skills and a general feeling of empathy.

The most active part of the whole day is the quarter of an hour directly before breaking the fast… the whole family is often in a flurry of action, with someone setting the table, someone carrying the food, someone giving orders about where to put everything… and everyone impatient with hunger. The last five minutes before you hear the call for prayer signifying the end of the fast are always the most difficult.

Every second of those last five minutes passes with the heaviness of an hour… you can literally see every one strain to hear the sound of the call for prayer echoing through the Baghdad streets. And then it is finally time for futtoor… and we begin to eat with relish. The platter of rice that seemed ridiculously small 15 minutes ago, is now ‘too much’ and no one eats as much as they had hoped they were going to eat- everyone is exhausted with simply contemplating the food, the choices and the possibilities.

After futtoor, the smokers fall upon their cigarettes with an enthusiasm only other smokers can appreciate. We watch them taking puff after puff with a contentment that even screaming kids, and loud televisions cannot taint.

The rest of the night is spent in eating snacks and sweets, like baqlawa saturated in syrup, and warm kunaffa (a cheese sweet). Everyone moves somewhat slower and the general mood is one of contentment and joviality (no one can get up the energy to be angry after a large meal). .. the only thing that can thoroughly ruin a futtoor is an air strike (like in 1998) or an electricity cut.

Tomorrow we’re expecting to break our fast with an uncle’s family and one of our neighbors (who are Christian). Christians don’t fast during Ramadhan, but they do often join us while breaking the fast and many refuse to eat and drink in places like college and school (where eating is allowed) out of solidarity and respect.

And now you’ll excuse me… they’ve just warmed the kunaffa drenched in a sugar syrup and if I don’t hurry, there’ll be nothing left for Riverbend…


- posted by river @ 12:20 AM

 
Riverbend and Multiple Personalities...
No, I do not have Multiple Personality Disorder. Many of you have pointed out a fake "Baghdad Burning" site at riverSbend.blogspot.com (notice the 'S'). It is not being run by me in parallel to my own site- I knew it existed for some time now (a friend pointed it out to me in late September). Apparently, someone was so angry at my site, they decided to make an identical site named "Baghdad Burning" being written by, supposedly, me. The contents are almost completely opposite to what I write- and most of the posts are just copied and pasted from different sources (mostly USA government sources).

When I first noticed it, the first post was on September 11, I think. It was about American troops and Iraqi women falling in love with each other, etc. etc. Apparently, someone pointed out the fact that while the fake BB site began in September, my site began in August. Soooooooo, our fraud backdated his posts and created some hollow, silly archives dating back to July. Anyone who uses Blogger knows how easy that is.

I wrote to Blogger, telling them about the site and how the person was pretending to be me, they said that if I wanted to make an official complaint, I had to mail in (by snail-mail) a letter complaining that someone was stealing the contents of my site. Besides my identity, the only thing the fraud has stolen is the line I use, "I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend" And yes, this is MY line- it's a line from a poem I wrote for a friend? perhaps one day I'll post the complete poem.

A great guy named Brian has been following this fraud carefully. Check out the site http://suzerainty.blogspot.com for details. Another blogger has more information on the culprit, check out: http://www.gorenfeld.net/john/blog.html Thank you both of you.

Now, while I am very flattered there are people out there taking so much trouble to prove me wrong, I am rather annoyed that it wasn't all done with better style. I mean, the guy who runs the fake site is retired, for God's sake- he has all the time in the world to make me look bad. I think it only fair to demand he should have put in a little more effort. Furthermore, I don't like the way many words are misspelled and that the grammar is just atrocious in an apparent attempt to make it look more "Iraqi"- or maybe that's just the way this person actually writes.

My favorite post is the first one, supposedly written on July 6:

"Time to Blog!

We finally returned to my Baghdad. The evening walks along the river are much refreshing. We were living with relatives near Erbul for the better part of five months. al-Jazeera kept us informed regarding the war. I gasped and held my breath not believing as we watched Baghdad burning."

The Real Riverbend's Comment: Huh? Erbul? Where is that? Somewhere between Kirkuk and Erbil?! Give me a break. Another part I loved was one of the posts describing how the dear 'girl' got a tour of Baghdad Airport (which no one is allowed near): please don't miss that one- the blogger might change it. I can't decide which is worse- the dry stuff copied and pasted directly from governmental sites, or when Troy gets lyrical and writes how 'walks along the river are much refreshing'.

The writer of the fake riverSbend site is someone named Troy who is ex-military, retired, and a GOP Team Leader (?):

El Solerito Troy,

Artist, HAM, Korean War, Reg. Army & USAF Retired, MOPH L38342 Unit 1849, Phi Theta Kappa, RNC 146441197-D186, GOP Team Leader, NRA 040959746


One thing our friend Troy didn't take into consideration while writing the blog was the following: Even if you backdate your archives, the month you originally started with won't contain the faked archives. If you check out the September archives for the fake riverSbend blog, you'll see that the list of archives on the left only dates back to September- which is when the blog originally started!!

Finally, thank you, dear Troy- the fake riverSbend- for trying to imitate Baghdad Burning- I am flattered. However, 1. You make a horrible 24-year-old girl from 'Erbul', 2. When you copy and paste stuff from articles and sites, try to make sure the date *you* post them on isn't before the original date the material was posted, and 3. Find a hobby- get a cat, grow a garden, play chess, golf- i.e. Get a life.

Drop Troy a line- he obviously has lots of time to correspond- he has several email addresses, this is one of them: buleria@enesaca.net
Brian over at suzerainty.blogspot.com has several more.





- posted by river @ 9:31 PM