Gorilla’s Guides

I will start by quoting the American invaders:

Air strike in Sadr City, three secret cell terrorists killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces killed three terrorists and detained four suspected terrorists Thursday morning during raids in Sadr City.

The individuals targeted during the raid are suspected members of a secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training.

One of the three  wounded Iraki civilians
The other seven wounded civilians were
the same age as this one.

Upon arrival at the targeted area, ground forces received small arms fire from two separate buildings. Coalition Forces, using appropriate self-defense measures, returned fire and engaged the armed terrorists.

Despite efforts to subdue the armed terrorists, Coalition Forces continued to receive enemy fire.  Using appropriate escalation of force to react to the perceived threat, Coalition Forces called for close air support, killing three armed terrorists.

During the course of the morning’s operations, Coalition Forces targeted a concentration of buildings associated with the terrorist network, detaining four suspected terrorists during the raids.  Three Iraqi civilians were also injured during the operation.  The three injured individuals received medical attention on scene from Coalition Forces.

Intelligence reports also indicate the secret cell has ties to a kidnapping network that conducts attacks within Iraq.

“Coalition forces strike at the terrorists where they hide, not waiting for them to inflict violence on the Iraqi people,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson.  “The Iraqi people continue to reject the methods of the terrorists and choose instead a stable, peaceful Iraq.”

Source: Multi-National Force - Iraq - Air strike in Sadr City, three secret cell terrorists killed

(Emphasis added by me.) The Americans attacked what they knew to be a densely populated civilian area from the air again, and wounded Iraki children again. I am only grateful that today they didn’t manage to kill some children like they did yesterday when they bombed a school.

CAIRO, Egypt, May 10 (UNHCR) – Two Iraqi Christians were beginning a new life in the Netherlands on Thursday, eternally grateful to the young Egyptian woman who took them in more than five months ago after finding the two old ladies alone and bewildered at Cairo International Airport.

The women, Rose*, 78, and her 76-year-old sister Georgette*, flew out of Cairo International Airport on Wednesday for a reunion in Amsterdam with the older woman’s daughter, perhaps their only living relative. The siblings fear that Rose’s son, who put them on a plane for Egypt at the end of December, has been killed in the Iraqi cauldron along with his family.

Seeing them off was Amal*, the devout 23-year-old Muslim who had been dropping off relatives at the airport on New Year’s Eve when she spotted the distressed women and offered them shelter, help and friendship.

While the Iraqi women were looking forward to a reunion with their relative, they were also distraught at leaving behind the young Muslim woman and her Saudi husband, Mohamed,* who had done so much for them, including putting the women in touch with UNHCR to help find a lasting solution.

“What can I say? Where in the world can you find someone who will host you for five months, feed you, take care of you and worry about you?,” Rose asked, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I am indebted to this man, whom I consider a son now, and his wife and their 20-month-old daughter.”

She was also crying for her son and his family. “All we want from life now is to see my daughter and to hear news about my son. We want to rest in peace,” Rose stressed.

BAGHDAD, 10 May 2007 (IRIN) - Eleven-year-old Seif Abdul-Rafiz and his two brothers were left with no choice but to leave school and work so as to help their unemployed parents make ends meet.

Photo: Afif Sarhan/IRIN

Because of poverty and desperation, some Iraqi children end up working for armed groups

Unable to find a job, Seif resorted to making bombs for Sunni insurgents who are fighting US troops in Iraq.

“We work about eight hours a day and are supervised by two men. They give us food and at the end of the day we get paid for our work. Sometimes we get US $7 and sometimes we get $10, depending on how many bombs we make,” Abdul-Rafiz said.

“The bombs are used to fight American soldiers. I was really afraid in the beginning but then my parents told me that it was for two good causes: the first is to help our family eat; and the second is to fight occupation forces,” he added.

Thousands of poor children in Iraq are forced to work to help their families. Many of them work in one way or another for a variety of armed groups that operate in the war-torncountry.

“If I had choice, I would have preferred to be in a classroom but we need to eat. In the beginning, they were very kind with us but later they started to threaten us, saying that if we leave our work they would kill our family,” Abdul-Rafiz said.