The Hostage
Crisis
By Baghdad Burning
19 April, 2005
Baghdad Burning
I'm
sure many people have been following the story of the moment in Iraq:
Dozens
of Shia hostages taken by Sunni insurgents in a town called Medain?
The first time we
heard about it was a couple of days ago. I was watching the news subtitles
on Arabiya but the subtitle was vague. It went something like this,
"Sunni guerrillas capture 60 hostages in Iraqi town and will kill
them if all Shia do not leave the town." It said nothing about
which town it was, who the guerrillas claimed to be representing and
just how the whole incident happened.
We kept watching
the channels and hoping for more information. I remember reading that
subtitle and feeling my heart sink with worry. I kept checking other
news channels and then finally decided to check the internet. There
was another vague news article on Yahoo. This one had a few more details-
the town was Madain, south of Baghdad and the person who had called
in the hostage situation was some sort of high-profile Shia politician.
News channels were
still being vague about it. The only two channels who were persistently
talking about the hostage situation were Arabia and Iraqia- but the
numbers had risen. It was now 150 Shia hostages in Medain and the Iraqi
National Guard and the American army were taking their positions on
the outskirts of the town, preparing for a raid.
Medain is a town
of Sunnis and Shia who have lived together peacefully for as long as
anyone can remember. The people in the town come from the local "Ashayir"
or tribes. It's one of those places where everyone knows everyone else-
even if only by name or family name. The tribes who dominate the town
are a combination of Sunni and Shia. Any conflicts between the townspeople
are more of the tribal or family type than they are religious.
The whole concept
of a large number of Sunni guerrillas raiding the town and taking 60
150 of its members (including women and children) was bizarre,
frightening and by the second day of the rumor, a little bit suspicious.
People in Baghdad
didn't believe it. Most of them waved a hand dismissing the report and
said, "They just want to raid Medain." It's a town that has
been giving the Americans quite a bit of trouble this last year, a part
of the Sunni Triangle . Many attacks were reported to have come from
the area, but at the same time, it's not like Falloojeh, Samarra, or
Mosul- it's half Shia. It wouldn't be as easy or politically correct
to raid.
Yesterday, there
were actually Shia demonstrators from the town claiming that the rumors
were false and the town was peaceful and there was no need for a raid
or for door-to-door checks.
The last few days,
Iraqi officials have been on television claiming that the whole hostage
situation was "under control" and things were going to be
sorted out, except that apparently, there's nothing to sort out. There
have been no reports of hostages, even from the majority of Shia residents
themselves. Someone mentioned that it was possible a couple of people
had been abducted, but it had nothing to do with Sunni guerrillas chasing
out Shia.
Now, Associated
Press is claiming,
"The
confusion over Madain illustrated how quickly rumors spread in a country
of deep ethnic and sectarian divides, where the threat of violence is
all too real."
Uhm, no. Not really.
See, this whole thing didn't start out as a rumor. Rumors come to you
through actual people- the guy who brings you kerosene spreads rumors,
that neighbor next door brings you rumors, the man you get your rations
from spreads rumors. This came to us, very decidedly, from a news source.
It first made its debut as breaking news and came from an "Iraqi
Shia official who wished to remain unnamed". The official should
have to answer to the rumor he handed over to the press.
And now
Shiite
leaders and government officials had earlier estimated 35 to 100 people
were taken hostage, but residents disputed the claim, with some saying
they had seen no evidence any hostages were taken.
We know a lot of
our new officials and spokespeople are blatantly lying and it's fine
to lie about security, reconstruction and democracy- we've gotten used
to it. In fact, we tell jokes about it and laugh about it at family
gatherings or over the telephone. To lie about something as serious
as Sunni-Shia hostage taking is another story altogether. It's unacceptable
and while Sunnis and Shia were hardly going to take up arms against
each other over this latest debacle, but it was still extremely worrisome
and for people who wish to fuel sectarian violence, it was a perfect
opportunity.
We have an Iraqi
government that bans news channels and newspapers because they *insist*
on reporting about such routine things as civilian casualties and raids,
yet the Puppets barely flinch over media sources spreading a rumor as
dangerous and provocative as this one.