Here Comes The
Freedom
By Dahr Jamail
27 January, 2005
Dahrjamailiraq.com
My
friend from Baquba visited me yesterday. He brought the usual giant
lunch of home cooked food he always brings when he comes to see me.
Im still eating it, actually. I had it again for dinner tonight.
Ah, the typical Iraqi meal.
He owns four large
tents, and rents them to people in his city to use at funeral wakes,
marriage parties, tribal negotiation meetings and to cover gardens,
among other things.
During the Anglo-American
invasion of his country back in the spring of 2003, when refugees from
Baghdad sought shelter from the falling bombs, many of the families
inundated his city. After his house was filled with refugees, he let
others use his tents, for free of course.
Refugees from Fallujah
are using them now.
At least 35 US soldiers
have died in Iraq today. 31 of them died when a Chinook went down near
the Jordanian border. At least four others died in clashes in the al-Anbar
province. A patrol on the airport road was bombed, destroying at least
one military vehicle. The military hasnt released any casualty
figures on that one yet.
Bring em
on, said George Bush quite some time ago, when the Iraqi resistance
had begun to pick up the pace.
Today, during a
press conference he spoke about the upcoming elections in Iraq.
Clearly there
are some who are intimidated, he said, I urge alls (not
a typo) people to vote.
Let me describe
the scene on the ground here in liberated Iraq.
With the elections
just three days away, people are terrified. Families are fleeing Baghdad
much as they did prior to the invasion of the country. Seeking refuge
from what everyone fears to be a massive onslaught of violence in the
capital city, huge lines of cars are stacked up at checkpoints on the
outer edges of the city.
Policemen and Iraqi
soldiers are trying to convince people to stay in the city and vote.
Nobody is listening
to them.
Whereas Baghdad
is filled with Fallujah refugees, now villages and smaller cities on
the outskirts of Baghdad are filling up with election refugees.
Yet these places
arent safe either. In Baquba attacks on polling stations are a
near daily occurrence. Mortar attacks are common on polling stations
even as far south as Basra. A truck bomb struck a Kurdish political
party headquarters in a small town near Mosul, killing 15 people, wounding
twice that many. A string of car bombs detonated at polling stations
in Kirkuk, which was already under an 8pm-5am curfew, killing 10 Iraqis.
Here in Baghdad,
although the High Commission for Elections in Iraq has yet to announce
their locations, schools which are being converted into polling stations
are already being attacked.
Iraqis who live
near these schools are terrorized at the prospect.
They can block
the whole city and people cannot move, says a man speaking to
me on condition of anonymity, The city is dead, the people are
dead. For what? For these forced elections!
He is angry and
frustrated because his street is now blocked as he lives near a small
yellow middle school that is going to be used as a polling station.
Nearby some US soldiers
are occupying a police station, as usual. One of them saw me taking
photos and tried to confiscate my camera.
It didnt matter
that I showed him my press badge. After some talking he let me delete
the photos and move on, camera in hand.
Sand barriers block
the end of a street, the school where the insides are already in disrepair
sits just behind them.
At least 90 streets
in Baghdad are now closed down by huge sand and/or concrete barriers
and razor wire. The number is growing daily.
Now Im
afraid mortars will hit my home if the polling station is attacked,
he adds. Hell be moving across town to stay at a relatives
house, which is not near one of the dreaded polling stations.
An owner of a small
grocery shop nearby is just as concerned. He had to negotiate with soldiers
to have them leave an opening on the end of the barrier so people could
access his place of business.
Im already
living off my food ration, and have little business, he says while
pointing at the deserted street, Now who wants to come near my
shop? All of us are afraid, and all of us are suffering now.
A tired looking
guard standing nearby named Salman chimes in on the conversation. I
would be crazy to vote, its so dangerous now, he says with
a cigarette dangling from his hand, Besides, why vote? Of course
Allawi will stay in. The Americans will make it so.
A contact of mine
just returned from spending a week in Fallujah. We shared some of the
food brought from my friend in Baquba.
Id been
in Fallujah for a week and all Id seen was tough military tactics,
he tells me, They are arresting people and putting them in these
trucks, blindfolded and tied up. Everywhere I looked all I saw was utter
devastation.
He spoke with many
families who told him one horror story after another, death after death
after death.
Then today,
the military brings in a dozen Humvees and ground troops to basically
seal off a small area near a market, he continues, In the
middle of them is a CNN camera crew filming troops throwing candy to
kids and these guys in orange vests start cleaning the streets around
them.
He laughs while
holding up his arms and says, Id never seen those guys anywhere
in the city before. I dont know where they came from.
After a pause to
take a drink of soda he adds, Id never seen any boots on
the ground at all, and all of the sudden there are all these marines
standing around like everything was ok. It was the first time Id
seen any soldier not in a Humvee or a Bradley. I was really surprised.
All of it
was 100% staged. Good PR before the election, he says. Then in
a reference to mainstream America he adds, Fallujah is fine, now
go back to sleep.
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