For another ‘of thousands’ of these stories, see:

http://hometownbaghdad.com/index.php?page=videos&v=37

Iraqi dignity, facing barbarism.

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In the face of all that chaos and suffering, what does Al-Kazily think should be done?

He pauses before answering. It is, obviously, not an easy question.

“It cannot be fixed with occupation forces in place,” he says. “The main fighting in Iraq is against the occupation forces, and the occupying force is terrified of shadows. They think everyone is their enemy by now. Whenever they see somebody, they shoot. The American young soldier is told that whatever moves is your enemy, and they shoot because they are protecting themselves.

“But the worst part of it is the Blackwater kind of situation, and the U.S. government says that the Iraqis have no right to expel those private mercenaries who are not responsible to civilian or military justice. The occupiers have to leave so Iraqis can solve their own problems by themselves. But before they leave, the U.S. has an obligation to see the light and be human. We’ve been in Iraq for five years. Why haven’t they been able to ensure electricity, or water? They are only there to destroy. The only construction that has gone on is the U.S. embassy and the military bases.”

What does he say to those who still argue that abandoning Iraq would virtually turn that nation over to Al Qaeda?

“First of all, there is virtually no Al Qaeda in Iraq at all,” he answers. “What there is is a resistance to occupation, like the resistance that arose against the French in Algeria. Nobody anywhere seems to like a foreign power telling them what to do. Iraq is no different. Three or four million Iraqis have left Iraq. When are they likely to come back?”

And he has an answer to those who would question his loyalty to his adopted nation, or deny him the right to question American policy.

“I’ve probably been an American citizen nearly as long as George Bush has been alive,” he says, “and I know I’ve voted in more elections than he has. And I suppose I’m at an age when I cannot stay quiet, though I was vocal in my opposition to the Vietnam War, too. I cannot stand injustice. We live in a world capable of taking care of everybody, and yet we’ve fallen into a circumstance where greed has won, has triumphed over justice, and we cannot allow that.”

Suddenly, bombs fell, and people ran, as recorded in the vid, and as I sat and watched the mayhem, my friend told me, see, lost my uncle there, as I sputtered, uh, duh, yah, guess you did.

Who is doing this? I asked, and he answered:

You are. The Americans.

For reasons I’ll never understand, we remain friends.

I was struck by the roots and branches analogy, because it’s one I’ve often employed in a sense a bit larger than that of your friend, to wit:

We are all children of this region. The meeting of the Tigris and Euphrates is traditionally referred to among anthropologists as the “cradle of civilization.”

Pausing a moment to let the irony sink in, I presume the symbolism of bombing the cradle is not lost among students of human behavior here.

Activists call plan by Los Angeles police to map Muslim communities racial profiling

By: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Civil rights advocates criticized plans by the Los Angeles Police Department to map the city’s Muslim communities, calling it racial profiling.

The LAPD’s counterterrorism bureau plans to identify Muslim enclaves in order to determine which might be likely to become isolated and susceptible to “violent, ideologically based extremism,” said Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing on Thursday.http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/10/news/state/9_40_3211_9_07.txt

As to the depleted uranium…our soldiers are dying from that as well. So will their children.
They won’t be counted either.

Published on Saturday, August 12, 2006 by the Associated Press
Is an Armament Sickening U.S. Soldiers?
by Deborah Hastings http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0812-06.htm

God bless you and your family and friends.

The branches are killing the roots, yet we were told the Iraqis would have it made in the shade.

For such a kind soul, imagine a person like him being put on a waterboard list for saying such things in public.

Imagine his relatives being detained for such a statement.

Imagine someone wanting his slot at a teaching institution falsely accusing, to try and fast track their shot at his job here or his property there, had he been in Iraq.

All of those are concrete, and can be considered as possibilities, and not hypotheticals; with the system Bushco. has in place.

However, please do not think about helping Iraqis to immigrate to the U.S. That is not the answer. The answer is to help them to manage for now with the ultimate goal of repatriation.

I very much was touched by what Shirin wrote and by the story of her friend. Our consciences require we respond.

Thanks for sharing it with us…….

The utter lack of compassion by most Americans of what we have done and are still doing to your homeland in unconscionable. I constantly find myself vacillating between extreme sadness and extreme anger.

I would ask to you is there some way we on NQ could help the refugees in Syria though a fundraising effort on NQ? I’m sure all of would love to be able to contribute something. I get hit every day for contributions from all kind of well meaning groups but I would much rather think that my monies were going directly to help some refugees. Could we sponsor helping some family emigrate to the US???

Susan, Leslie, Larry what do you think???