One of Ours

...What kills me is the absence of any serious effort by Iraqi parties, organisations, tribal leaders, or clerics to intermediate or try to put an end to the cycle of violence. All we hear is denunciation and fiery speeches as if those were going to achieve anything on the ground...

...Some Iraqis have been circulating another controversial hossa being used by Mahdi "Excuse us Imam Ali, but Muqtada is our weli". This slogan is considered very insulting and offensive to the majority of Shia, since in their doctrine only Imam Ali (Muhammed's cousin and son-in-law) is considered to be their weli or guardian. There has also been talk about Muqtada being referred to as Al-Mahdi (Shi'ite twelfth lost Imam and Messiah), but Shia regard that as an outrageous allegation...

...it is also hard to believe that a young and inexperienced cleric with no real popular support from the Hawza would succeed in recruiting, financing, and training an army of 10,000 Shi'ites, as well as setting up offices, newspapers, and a huge propaganda machine all by himself. All of his aides and supporters are young and impoverished, a large number of them are known to people as criminals, thieves, looters, and unemployed illiterate slum dwellers. They would never show such dedication to their cause unless they were being rewarded...

...It is becoming increasingly evident from all the violence we have witnessed over the last year, that a proxy war is being waged against the US on Iraqi soil by several countries and powers with Iraqis as the fuel and the fire, just like Lebanon was during the late seventies and eighties. The majority of Arab regimes have a huge interest in this situation continuing, not to mention Iran, and Al-Qaeda...If the 'resistance' succeeded and 'liberated' Iraq, the country would immediately be torn into 3, 4, 5 or more parts with each faction, militia, or army struggling to control Baghdad, Kirkuk, Najaf, Karbala, and the oil fields. It will not be a sectarian war as many would imagine, it would be a war between militias...

...It is the most foolish and selfish thing to say "pull the troops out", or "replace them with the UN or NATO". Someone has to see us through this mess to the end. Only a deluded utopian (or an idiot peace activist) would believe that Iraqis would all cosily sit down and settle down their endless disputes without AK-47's, RPG's, or mortars in the event of coalition troops abandoning Iraq. Please please don't get me wrong, I am not in the least saying that I enjoy being occupied by a foreign force, I am not a dreamer who believes that the USA is here for altruistic reasons, I am not saying that I am happy with what my bleeding country is going through, believe me when I say it tears my heart every day to witness all the bloodshed, it pains me immensely to see that we have no leaders whomsoever with the interest and well-being of Iraq as their primary goal, it kills me to see how blind and ignorant we have all become. Iraqis are dying inside every day, and we are committing suicide over and over and over. Some people call me a traitor or a collaborator for all the above and for speaking the truth as opposed to rhetorical, fiery speeches which have been our downfall...

...A neighbour of mine returned from Jamilah (close to Sadr city) this afternoon and he told me that fierce fighting was still going on over there. American soldiers were involved in a campaign of removing monuments and posters of Muqtada Al-Sadr and his late father Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr when they came under attack from Mahdi militiamen and their supporters. A taxi driver from Sadr city told him that the Americans and IP have abandoned all six police stations in the district as well as the Municipality building, which were all taken over by Sadr supporters. The taxi driver also said that burnt and abandoned tanks were prized by the slum dwellers because their parts can be sold at high prices at the many junkyards in the district, adding that looters often solve their disputes over the 'booty' by AK-47's. My friend said that the driver was enthusiastically lecturing him about the various mechanical parts (of the tanks or APC's) and their respective prices, describing its engine as being similar to that of a Caprice, and with one specific part being sold as high as $200.

There were many tales about M1A2 tanks having some sort of electromagnetic field (or something to that effect) surrounding it which protects it from RPG attacks. Someone said that the Fedayeen have overcome this problem by smearing the rockets with mud, after previous attempts in the past of wrapping them with cloths or nylon failed.

After two days of calm at my neighbourhood, clashes resumed this morning from around 9 in the morning until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. My brother witnessed masked Fedayeen using RPG's against US troops just two blocks from our house. We panicked when three American tanks and two Humvee's parked in front of our house after that...

...There was a solemn looking fellow in a red unmarked Opel driving back and forth on our street during the battle barking into a mobile phone, frequently pulling by near groups of people and talking to them, someone pointed him out as the local Fedayeen commander and that he was evaluating the situation as well as taking notice of US forces positions. There was another bearded guy on a motorcycle who looked suspicious. Every now and then we would hear a rocking KABOOM followed by loud cheers and frantic shooting. Helicopters were circling the area continously. The neighbourhood is a complete wreck, traffic signs and telephone posts have been run over by tanks, pavements damaged, parked cars flatly crushed by vehicles, and shattered glass from destroyed stores all over the place.