"Baghdad
Is A Smashed City..."
By Dahr Jamail
28 May, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Below
is an email I have just received from my close friend and translator
Abu Talat. While he has fled Baghdad with his family and is now a refugee
in Syria, he recently had to return to Baghdad in order to try to salvage
what is left of his former life (his car, belongings from his house,
etc.) before returning back to Syria. His note is instructive as to
the current living conditions in the capital city of Iraq. Here is the
full text of his message:
Baghdad is a SMASHED city,
no roads to drive , most of them are closed off by concrete obstacles
with concertina wire. In addition, the presence of the Iraqi military,
who cover their faces with black masks and hold their guns in such a
way that when you see them you will definitely be afraid that they will
shoot you.
The shops in most of the
area I went to see are closed. I asked one of the shop owners I know,
55-year-old Abu Fadhil, since I heard that his shop was robbed. I found
his door closed and locked and he was nowhere to be found.
Later, on my way to Sadr
City, I found that two of the three roads which lead all the way from
south to north Baghdad are either partially or totally closed in some
places. You still remember the highways in Baghdad…well
now most of them are closed, or at least fenced off with obstacles,
yet they say there is some progress in the security situation inside
the city! Everyday two or three cars explode across Baghdad, killing
big numbers of civilians.
When I returned to my neighborhood
of al-Adhamiya, I couldn't get in unless the soldiers checked my ID
and my car, even though the guards are from the same neighborhood and
they know me personally. But they had to check it to ensure that no
car bombs might happen. Nevertheless, daily mortars shell my neighborhood
and those are out of control, despite this concrete wall placed by the
Americans which now surrounds our neighborhood. Despite all that they
do, they cannot bring security to our small neighborhood.
Needless to say, Baghdad
has been changed into THE CITY OF GARBAGE. You can find it everywhere.
You can smell the stench of dead bodies wherever you go.
Talking of electricity, there
is now only one hour daily. That's it. From where we're staying in the
city center, in Bab al-Muadham, I can see from the balcony that people
sleep nearly naked on their rooftops because it is so hot and there
is no electricity to run fans or air conditioners. Thank God that there
are two large generators that maintain electricity in our building.
Everyday by 2-3 pm the buildings
where we are staying are closed so that noone can leave or enter. That
way it is kept secure, and this is how it remains until the next morning.
As far as my family life
in this condition, we are as though we are in jail from 2-3 pm until
the second morning where the doors are opened at 7 am.
My son goes to the hospital
to work, but for the last two days he finds it without any running water.
[His son works in Baghdad Medical City, the largest hospital in Iraq]
For the last 2 weeks, as he told me, the hospital has been without any
air conditioning and almost without patients, although it's the biggest
hospital in Iraq.
My sons wife, who is also
a doctor, has to go to another hospital just to try to assist since
there is a drastic lack of Gynecologists. She stays in her hospital
for three days continuously before my son picks her up with his car
on the fourth day to bring her home, in order to insure her safety so
she doesn't have to take a bus or taxi.
As for my daughter, she has
not passed out the doorway of this apartment where we are staying for
the last week except for one time for some work she had to accomplish.
My wife left here only once,
when she went to her job (which she has been on leave from since we
left to Syria) in order to apply for a full year vacation. Thank God
she got it.
As for me, I found my car
ruined, so I had to repair it. For that I called the mechanic to come
to my home and repair it, since I couldn't take the car to him since
all the mechanics shops are closed and there is no place to have a car
repaired. All of those shops are totally closed.
When I saw the mechanic he
said, We cannot live anymore, and there is no job we can find.
Dahr, this short letter gives
you just a glance of the current situation in Baghdad. With the next
letter I will tell you some more.
Leave
A Comment
&
Share Your Insights
Comment
Policy
Digg
it! And spread the word!
Here is a unique chance to help this article to be read by thousands
of people more. You just Digg it, and it will appear in the home page
of Digg.com and thousands more will read it. Digg is nothing but an
vote, the article with most votes will go to the top of the page. So,
as you read just give a digg and help thousands more to read this article.