Gorilla’s Guides

The cuffed and blindfolded boy together with the two cuffed and blindfolded adults are residents of Karbala they were arrested today Thursday May 11th, 2006 by Iraqi police for “suspected insurgent activity.” In the second section of the graphic which I’ve made by simply joining the the two original photos together in sequence he is seen being led away to whatever fate awaits him.

He is, according to Reuters, a teenager. Well if so he’s only just barely a teenager. It can be hard to tell the age of young Iraqis from photographs, so many of them have grown up chronically malnourished because of the sanctions imposed upon Iraq by the UN at America’s behest that they’re often very small for their age.

For the purposes of this posting I’m going to make a very big assumption.

I’m going to assume that there was some reasonable grounds for the arrest, some evidence, and not as so often happens in Iraq under the American occupation an informant meeting his quota.

I don’t actually know whether that’s the case or not, I’m just assuming it for the purposes of this posting. I do know that he’s going to be brutalised either by Iraqi interrogators and/or by their American “handlers”, I do know that he will terrorised either by Iraqi interrogators and/or by their American “handlers” and I do know that while he may not be a fully fledged “insurgent” now that he damned well will be one and with bloody good cause for it if he ever gets out. That’s the inevitable result of what I know is going to be done to this boy . Even when there are valid grounds for arrest, even if he’s as guilty as the day as long of attrocious crimes and not just of being unlucky as to who his relatives were (how much choice do you think a boy that young has? - Just asking.) The treatment that will be meted out to this boy by Iraqi jailers and interrogators and/or by their American “handlers” is guaranteed to fill him with a burning rage and hatred, particularly of Americans whom he will rightly blame for what is going to be done to him.

So I confidently predict that if and when he gets out. The first thing he’ll want to do is to kill or maim an American or one of their Iraqi sidekicks but an American, any American, would be better, more satisfying, more just, and that in the blood soaked hell that is the Iraq created by the USA he’s very likely to get lots of chances to do just that.

There’s something else I know and it leads me to make another prediction all his relatives know what sort of revolting treatment is going to be dished out to him by his Iraqi jailers and interrogators and/or by their American “handlers” and they’re not going to wait ’til he gets out before striking back.

There is nothing nothing that America can do to make things better in Iraq. America is the problem in Iraq everything else is a symptom, an effect, not a cause.

Leave.

markfromireland

All of Us Participate in a New Iraq

US

Last Friday I was at the University of Texas, Austin, giving a presentation on Iraq. After dumping an hour’s worth of horrible “real news” about Iraq, I was asked the question I have by now learnt to expect: “Is there anything good happening there at all?” I understand why people ask this. There must be some hope, somewhere, right?

I suggested that there are always the military press releases folks can go to, for an “upper” about Iraq. Here I recounted one of these bogus “news” reports. Released during my second stint in Iraq, a report of May 21, 2004, stated: “The Coalition Provisional Authority has recently given out hundreds of soccer balls to Iraqi children in Ramadi, Karbala, and Hilla. Iraqi women from Hilla sewed the soccer balls, which are emblazoned with the phrase, All of Us Participate in a New Iraq.”

THEM

That same evening after my presentation, I received an email from a doctor friend in Baghdad. The email pertains to the question I was asked, so I quote it here:

“Dear Mr. Dahr, I am wondering why? Americans and coalition forces were supported by pro-Iranian Militias, like the Badr Organization! The support and help of Iraqi Shiites at first helped to somewhat stabilize and maintain the occupation. Death squads trained by the coalition forces are working day and night under cover of the Ministry of Interior, attacking innocent people: both Sunnis and Shiites!!!! In spite of knowing very well who is doing what, we still see no improvement in the security situation. On the contrary, the situation is getting worse. I have many colleagues, doctors and other professionals, who are now begging for help to get out of Iraq for their lives and for their families’ lives! The only losers are the Iraqis. The only Iraqis who are benefiting from this war are those who spend all their life outside Iraq and are now living in their big castle, the green zone!!!!! Everyone now knows that the invasion of Iraq was carried out upon falsified testimonies and lies!!!! What is going on on the ground differs a lot from what the media tells!!!!! I mean that.”

As bad as things are in Iraq today, it may come as a surprise to many people in the US, including many who never supported the illegal invasion and occupation to begin with, that Iraq has been a disaster from the first day of the invasion.

Each time I hear this question, several scenes from my time there flash through my mind, and I am left pondering whether anything good has happened in Iraq since the beginning of the US-led invasion.

That’s just the first few paragraphs the complete article is here.

markfromireland