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Dah Jamail: Terrorizing those who are praying…
Abu Talat calls me frantic. The deafening roar of hundreds of people in a confined area yelling, “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) reverberate behind his panicked voice.
“I am being held at gunpoint by American soldiers inside Abu Hanifa mosque Dahr,” he yells, “Everyone is praying to God because the Americans are raiding our mosque during Friday prayer!”
“I am being held at gunpoint by American soldiers inside Abu Hanifa mosque Dahr,” he yells, “Everyone is praying to God because the Americans are raiding our mosque during Friday prayer!”
He makes short calls, updating me on the atrocity. After a few sentences of information he hangs up because he is trapped inside the mosque and trying to let me know what is happening. Being Friday, the day of prayer and holiday, this was supposed to be an off day for us.
I just finish typing what he told me before he calls back. “They have shot and killed at least 4 of the people while they were praying, and at least 20 are wounded now! I cannot believe this! I can’t let them see me calling you. I am on my stomach now and they have our guns on everyone, there are at least 1,500 people inside the mosque and it is sealed. We are on our bellies and in a very bad situation.”
Several Humvees and Iraqi National Guard (ING) vehicles showed up and 50 soldiers and well over 50 ING sealed and entered the mosque with the goal of detaining the Imam, Shaikh Muayid al-Adhami. Abu Talat calls back, “We were here praying and now there are over 50 here with their guns on us,” he said. ”They are holding our heads to the ground, and everyone is in chaos. This is the worst situation possible. They cannot see me talking to you. They are roughing up a blind man now.”
The soldiers eventually released women and children along with men who were related to them. Abu Talat was only released because a boy approached him and told him to pretend to be his father.
Shortly thereafter he phones me from his home in tears. “Dahr I cannot believe what has happened,” pausing to collect himself, “I will go back to see what is happening now.” I urge him not to go, but he insists. “This is my mosque and my people. I must go see what is happening to them.”
It is now 2:15pm and the mosque is still sealed. We begin to interview people he is with via the mobile as he describes the scene. “People were praying and the Americans invaded the mosque,” Abdulla Ra'ad Aziz said, who had been released along with his wife and children.
“Why are they killing people for praying? After the forces entered they went to the back doors and we heard so many bullets of the guns. There were wounded and dead, I saw them myself.”
Some of the people who had been at prayer were ordered by soldiers to carry the dead and wounded out of the mosque. “One Iraqi National Guardsmen held his gun on people and yelled, ‘I will kill you if you don't shut up’,” said Rana Aziz, a mother who had been trapped in the mosque. She was now waiting outside for her brother, who was still inside.
She said someone asked the soldiers if they would were hostages. “A soldier yelled at everyone to ‘Shut the Fuck Up,” she said. Suddenly, she laughed amid her tears. “The Americans have learned how to say shut up in Arabic, ‘Inchev’.”
Hammad Mohammed, a 20 year-old man, said, “My uncle’s coffin was taken inside the mosque to be prayed on, and the Americans raided the mosque and went to the Imams’ room. Then they went to the back doors and we heard so many bullets of the guns-it was a gun bigger than a Kalashnikov. There were wounded and dead, as I saw them myself. I saw 4 killed and 9 wounded.”
Abu Talat then breaks the interview and tells me, “Doctors and staff are standing outside but the Americans refuse to let them inside. They can do nothing, and the Americans are not letting them inside while there are wounded people inside the mosque.”
Just like in Fallujah, soldiers denied Iraqi Red Crescent ambulances and medical teams access to the mosque. As doctors negotiated with U.S. soldiers outside, more gunfire was heard from inside the mosque.
About 30 men were led out with hoods over their heads and their hands tied behind them. Soldiers loaded them into a military vehicle and took them away around 3.15 pm. A doctor with the Iraqi Red Crescent confirmed four dead and nine wounded worshippers. Pieces of brain were splattered on one of the walls inside the mosque while large blood stains covered carpets in several places.
Later Abu Talat comes to my hotel to see me. He is distraught, crying while he recounts the story. After listening to the tape he recorded inside the mosque during the atrocity, he says… "I am in a very sad position. I do not see any freedom or any democracy. If this could lead into a freedom, it is a freedom with blood. It is a
freedom of emotions of sadness. It is a freedom of killing. You cannot gain democracy through blood or killing. You do not find the freedom that way. People are going to pray to God and they were killed and wounded. There were 1,500 people praying to God and they went on a holiday were people go every Friday for prayers. And they were shot and killed. There were so many women and kids lying on the ground. This is not democracy, neither freedom.”
After several weeks of relative calm in Adhamiya, the detention of the Imam of Abu Hanifa and killing of worshippers inside their mosque is sure to ignite the fires of revenge in this area, which is already known as the Fallujah of Baghdad.
http://www.ccmep.org/2004_articles/iraq/111904_terrorizing_those_who_are_prayin.htm
I just finish typing what he told me before he calls back. “They have shot and killed at least 4 of the people while they were praying, and at least 20 are wounded now! I cannot believe this! I can’t let them see me calling you. I am on my stomach now and they have our guns on everyone, there are at least 1,500 people inside the mosque and it is sealed. We are on our bellies and in a very bad situation.”
Several Humvees and Iraqi National Guard (ING) vehicles showed up and 50 soldiers and well over 50 ING sealed and entered the mosque with the goal of detaining the Imam, Shaikh Muayid al-Adhami. Abu Talat calls back, “We were here praying and now there are over 50 here with their guns on us,” he said. ”They are holding our heads to the ground, and everyone is in chaos. This is the worst situation possible. They cannot see me talking to you. They are roughing up a blind man now.”
The soldiers eventually released women and children along with men who were related to them. Abu Talat was only released because a boy approached him and told him to pretend to be his father.
Shortly thereafter he phones me from his home in tears. “Dahr I cannot believe what has happened,” pausing to collect himself, “I will go back to see what is happening now.” I urge him not to go, but he insists. “This is my mosque and my people. I must go see what is happening to them.”
It is now 2:15pm and the mosque is still sealed. We begin to interview people he is with via the mobile as he describes the scene. “People were praying and the Americans invaded the mosque,” Abdulla Ra'ad Aziz said, who had been released along with his wife and children.
“Why are they killing people for praying? After the forces entered they went to the back doors and we heard so many bullets of the guns. There were wounded and dead, I saw them myself.”
Some of the people who had been at prayer were ordered by soldiers to carry the dead and wounded out of the mosque. “One Iraqi National Guardsmen held his gun on people and yelled, ‘I will kill you if you don't shut up’,” said Rana Aziz, a mother who had been trapped in the mosque. She was now waiting outside for her brother, who was still inside.
She said someone asked the soldiers if they would were hostages. “A soldier yelled at everyone to ‘Shut the Fuck Up,” she said. Suddenly, she laughed amid her tears. “The Americans have learned how to say shut up in Arabic, ‘Inchev’.”
Hammad Mohammed, a 20 year-old man, said, “My uncle’s coffin was taken inside the mosque to be prayed on, and the Americans raided the mosque and went to the Imams’ room. Then they went to the back doors and we heard so many bullets of the guns-it was a gun bigger than a Kalashnikov. There were wounded and dead, as I saw them myself. I saw 4 killed and 9 wounded.”
Abu Talat then breaks the interview and tells me, “Doctors and staff are standing outside but the Americans refuse to let them inside. They can do nothing, and the Americans are not letting them inside while there are wounded people inside the mosque.”
Just like in Fallujah, soldiers denied Iraqi Red Crescent ambulances and medical teams access to the mosque. As doctors negotiated with U.S. soldiers outside, more gunfire was heard from inside the mosque.
About 30 men were led out with hoods over their heads and their hands tied behind them. Soldiers loaded them into a military vehicle and took them away around 3.15 pm. A doctor with the Iraqi Red Crescent confirmed four dead and nine wounded worshippers. Pieces of brain were splattered on one of the walls inside the mosque while large blood stains covered carpets in several places.
Later Abu Talat comes to my hotel to see me. He is distraught, crying while he recounts the story. After listening to the tape he recorded inside the mosque during the atrocity, he says… "I am in a very sad position. I do not see any freedom or any democracy. If this could lead into a freedom, it is a freedom with blood. It is a
freedom of emotions of sadness. It is a freedom of killing. You cannot gain democracy through blood or killing. You do not find the freedom that way. People are going to pray to God and they were killed and wounded. There were 1,500 people praying to God and they went on a holiday were people go every Friday for prayers. And they were shot and killed. There were so many women and kids lying on the ground. This is not democracy, neither freedom.”
After several weeks of relative calm in Adhamiya, the detention of the Imam of Abu Hanifa and killing of worshippers inside their mosque is sure to ignite the fires of revenge in this area, which is already known as the Fallujah of Baghdad.
http://www.ccmep.org/2004_articles/iraq/111904_terrorizing_those_who_are_prayin.htm
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BAGHDAD: An influential group of clerics last night protested against a raid on a Baghdad mosque by Iraqi and US troops, which killed four civilians. Hundreds of Iraqi troops stormed the Abu Hanifa mosque in the Sunni district of Aadhamiya, firing percussion grenades and damaging the doors, the Muslim Clerics Association said. It said they opened fire when furious worshippers tried to beat back troops. Four civilians were killed and nine wounded. Hospital officials had earlier said two people were killed. More than 17 were detained.
US military vehicles surrounded the mosque but only Iraqi forces initially entered the grounds, witnesses said.
They were followed by Americans who shut the doors of the main building but did not appear to have entered, they added.
The objective of the raid was not immediately clear.
US-led forces have stormed at least two mosques in recent weeks and detained clerics critical of the Fallujah offensive.
The Muslim Clerics Association, some of whose own officials have been arrested, condemned raids by US-led forces on places of worship.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=97012&Sn=WORL&IssueID=27245
US military vehicles surrounded the mosque but only Iraqi forces initially entered the grounds, witnesses said.
They were followed by Americans who shut the doors of the main building but did not appear to have entered, they added.
The objective of the raid was not immediately clear.
US-led forces have stormed at least two mosques in recent weeks and detained clerics critical of the Fallujah offensive.
The Muslim Clerics Association, some of whose own officials have been arrested, condemned raids by US-led forces on places of worship.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=97012&Sn=WORL&IssueID=27245
US forces crudely raid a mosque in Baghdad, and kill and wound several of the worshippers there, after US forces in Falluja were photographed using the rugs on the floors of mosques wipe the crap off their combat boots, and as a holding area for shooting an Iraqi resistance fighter in the back of the head
in other words, somebody in Baghdad, some major, colonel or general of the fundamentalist persuasion, with bigoted views of Iraqis and Islam, decided to launch this raid deliberately to revenge himself upon the Iraqis that he has come to detest
a deliberate provocation, designed to instigate more violence so that US troops can respond with even more overwhelming firepower and kil even more Iraqis
and, it has worked, as today's news from Baghdad attests, with violence erupting all over the city
so, the people who launched the raid will get the chance to kill 3, 4 or 5 times as many Iraqis in response, but, that's not going to help the poor guy who got incinerated in that Humvee today near the mosque
this is quickly degenerating into straight out race and religious warfare (if only Malcolm X were still alive, his analysis would be incisive and a provocation to the white power structure), with the most angry, hostile military officers on the ground unilaterally taking control of it
anyone who cruises this site with kids between 18-25 should be very, very afraid, because we have fundamentalist officers in Iraq that are trying to launch a crusade, and they will come to draft your children to fight it very soon
--Richard Estes
Davis, CA
in other words, somebody in Baghdad, some major, colonel or general of the fundamentalist persuasion, with bigoted views of Iraqis and Islam, decided to launch this raid deliberately to revenge himself upon the Iraqis that he has come to detest
a deliberate provocation, designed to instigate more violence so that US troops can respond with even more overwhelming firepower and kil even more Iraqis
and, it has worked, as today's news from Baghdad attests, with violence erupting all over the city
so, the people who launched the raid will get the chance to kill 3, 4 or 5 times as many Iraqis in response, but, that's not going to help the poor guy who got incinerated in that Humvee today near the mosque
this is quickly degenerating into straight out race and religious warfare (if only Malcolm X were still alive, his analysis would be incisive and a provocation to the white power structure), with the most angry, hostile military officers on the ground unilaterally taking control of it
anyone who cruises this site with kids between 18-25 should be very, very afraid, because we have fundamentalist officers in Iraq that are trying to launch a crusade, and they will come to draft your children to fight it very soon
--Richard Estes
Davis, CA
"US forces crudely raid a mosque in Baghdad"
The new definition of "mosque": a place to store weapons and stage attacks...kudos to the "religion of peace"
The new definition of "mosque": a place to store weapons and stage attacks...kudos to the "religion of peace"
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
American Heroes...
I'm feeling sick- literally. I can't get the video Al-Jazeera played out of my head:
The mosque strewn with bodies of Iraqis- not still with prayer or meditation, but prostrate with death- Some seemingly bloated… an old man with a younger one leaning upon him… legs, feet, hands, blood everywhere… The dusty sun filtering in through the windows… the stillness of the horrid place. Then the stillness is broken- in walk some marines, guns pointed at the bodies... the mosque resonates with harsh American voices arguing over a body- was he dead, was he alive? I watched, tense, wondering what they would do- I expected the usual Marines treatment- that a heavy, booted foot would kick the man perhaps to see if he groaned. But it didn't work that way- the crack of gunfire suddenly explodes in the mosque as the Marine fires at the seemingly dead man and then come the words, "He's dead now."
"He's dead now." He said it calmly, matter-of-factly, in a sort of sing-song voice that made my blood run cold… and the Marines around him didn't care. They just roamed around the mosque and began to drag around the corpses because, apparently, this was nothing to them. This was probably a commonplace incident.
We sat, horrified, stunned with the horror of the scene that unfolded in front of our eyes. It's the third day of Eid and we were finally able to gather as a family- a cousin, his wife and their two daughters, two aunts, and an elderly uncle. E. and my cousin had been standing in line for two days to get fuel so we could go visit the elderly uncle on the final day of a very desolate Eid. The room was silent at the end of the scene, with only the voice of the news anchor and the sobs of my aunt. My little cousin flinched and dropped her spoon, face frozen with shock, eyes wide with disbelief, glued to the television screen, "Is he dead? Did they kill him?" I swallowed hard, trying to gulp away the lump lodged in my throat and watched as my cousin buried his face in his hands, ashamed to look at his daughter.
"What was I supposed to tell them?" He asked, an hour later, after we had sent his two daughters to help their grandmother in the kitchen. "What am I supposed to tell them- 'Yes darling, they killed him- the Americans killed a wounded man; they are occupying our country, killing people and we are sitting here eating, drinking and watching tv'?" He shook his head, "How much more do they have to see? What is left for them to see?"
They killed a wounded man. It's hard to believe. They killed a man who was completely helpless- like he was some sort of diseased animal. I had read the articles and heard the stories of this happening before- wounded civilians being thrown on the side of the road or shot in cold blood- but to see it happening on television is something else- it makes me crazy with anger.
And what will happen now? A criminal investigation against a single Marine who did the shooting? Just like what happened with the Abu Ghraib atrocities? A couple of people will be blamed and the whole thing will be buried under the rubble of idiotic military psychologists, defense analysts, Pentagon officials and spokespeople and it will be forgotten. In the end, all anyone will remember is that a single Marine shot and killed a single Iraqi 'insurgent' and it won't matter anymore.
It's typical American technique- every single atrocity is lost and covered up by blaming a specific person and getting it over with. What people don't understand is that the whole military is infested with these psychopaths. In this last year we've seen murderers, torturers and xenophobes running around in tanks and guns. I don't care what does it: I don't care if it's the tension, the fear, the 'enemy'… it's murder. We are occupied by murderers. We're under the same pressure, as Iraqis, except that we weren't trained for this situation, and yet we're all expected to be benevolent and understanding and, above all, grateful. I'm feeling sick, depressed and frightened. I don't know what to say anymore… they aren't humans and they don't deserve any compassion.
So why is the world so obsessed with beheadings? How is this so very different? The difference is that the people who are doing the beheadings are extremists… the people slaughtering Iraqis- torturing in prisons and shooting wounded prisoners- are "American Heroes". Congratulations, you must be so proud of yourselves today.
Mykeru.com has pictures.
Excuse me please, I'm going to go be sick for a little while.
American Heroes...
I'm feeling sick- literally. I can't get the video Al-Jazeera played out of my head:
The mosque strewn with bodies of Iraqis- not still with prayer or meditation, but prostrate with death- Some seemingly bloated… an old man with a younger one leaning upon him… legs, feet, hands, blood everywhere… The dusty sun filtering in through the windows… the stillness of the horrid place. Then the stillness is broken- in walk some marines, guns pointed at the bodies... the mosque resonates with harsh American voices arguing over a body- was he dead, was he alive? I watched, tense, wondering what they would do- I expected the usual Marines treatment- that a heavy, booted foot would kick the man perhaps to see if he groaned. But it didn't work that way- the crack of gunfire suddenly explodes in the mosque as the Marine fires at the seemingly dead man and then come the words, "He's dead now."
"He's dead now." He said it calmly, matter-of-factly, in a sort of sing-song voice that made my blood run cold… and the Marines around him didn't care. They just roamed around the mosque and began to drag around the corpses because, apparently, this was nothing to them. This was probably a commonplace incident.
We sat, horrified, stunned with the horror of the scene that unfolded in front of our eyes. It's the third day of Eid and we were finally able to gather as a family- a cousin, his wife and their two daughters, two aunts, and an elderly uncle. E. and my cousin had been standing in line for two days to get fuel so we could go visit the elderly uncle on the final day of a very desolate Eid. The room was silent at the end of the scene, with only the voice of the news anchor and the sobs of my aunt. My little cousin flinched and dropped her spoon, face frozen with shock, eyes wide with disbelief, glued to the television screen, "Is he dead? Did they kill him?" I swallowed hard, trying to gulp away the lump lodged in my throat and watched as my cousin buried his face in his hands, ashamed to look at his daughter.
"What was I supposed to tell them?" He asked, an hour later, after we had sent his two daughters to help their grandmother in the kitchen. "What am I supposed to tell them- 'Yes darling, they killed him- the Americans killed a wounded man; they are occupying our country, killing people and we are sitting here eating, drinking and watching tv'?" He shook his head, "How much more do they have to see? What is left for them to see?"
They killed a wounded man. It's hard to believe. They killed a man who was completely helpless- like he was some sort of diseased animal. I had read the articles and heard the stories of this happening before- wounded civilians being thrown on the side of the road or shot in cold blood- but to see it happening on television is something else- it makes me crazy with anger.
And what will happen now? A criminal investigation against a single Marine who did the shooting? Just like what happened with the Abu Ghraib atrocities? A couple of people will be blamed and the whole thing will be buried under the rubble of idiotic military psychologists, defense analysts, Pentagon officials and spokespeople and it will be forgotten. In the end, all anyone will remember is that a single Marine shot and killed a single Iraqi 'insurgent' and it won't matter anymore.
It's typical American technique- every single atrocity is lost and covered up by blaming a specific person and getting it over with. What people don't understand is that the whole military is infested with these psychopaths. In this last year we've seen murderers, torturers and xenophobes running around in tanks and guns. I don't care what does it: I don't care if it's the tension, the fear, the 'enemy'… it's murder. We are occupied by murderers. We're under the same pressure, as Iraqis, except that we weren't trained for this situation, and yet we're all expected to be benevolent and understanding and, above all, grateful. I'm feeling sick, depressed and frightened. I don't know what to say anymore… they aren't humans and they don't deserve any compassion.
So why is the world so obsessed with beheadings? How is this so very different? The difference is that the people who are doing the beheadings are extremists… the people slaughtering Iraqis- torturing in prisons and shooting wounded prisoners- are "American Heroes". Congratulations, you must be so proud of yourselves today.
Mykeru.com has pictures.
Excuse me please, I'm going to go be sick for a little while.
For more information:
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2004_11_...
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