Opinions?
"A few days ago, an American manned check point confiscated the driver
license of a driver and told him to report to an American military camp
near Baghdad airport for interrogation and in order to retrieve his
license. The next day, the driver did visit the camp and he was allowed
in the camp with his car. He was admitted to a room for an
interrogation that lasted half an hour. At the end of the session, the
American interrogator told him: 'OK, there is nothing against you, but
you do know that Iraq is now sovereign and is in charge of its own
affairs. Hence, we have forwarded your papers and license to
al-Kadhimia police station for processing. Therefore, go there with
this clearance to reclaim your license. At the police station, ask for
Lt. Hussain Mohammed, who is waiting for you now. Go there now quickly,
before he leaves his shift work".
The driver did leave in a hurry, but was soon alarmed with a feeling
that his car was driving as if carrying a heavy load, and he also
became suspicious of a low flying helicopter that kept hovering
overhead, as if trailing him. He stopped the car and inspected it
carefully. He found nearly 100 kilograms of explosives hidden in the
back seat and along the two back doors.
The only feasible explanation for this incident is that the car was
indeed booby trapped by the Americans and intended for the al-Khadimiya
Shiite district of Baghdad. The helicopter was monitoring his movement
and witnessing the anticipated "hideous attack by foreign elements".
The same scenario was repeated in Mosul, in the north of Iraq. A car
was confiscated along with the driver's license. He did follow up on
the matter and finally reclaimed his car but was told to go to a police
station to reclaim his license. Fortunately for him, the car broke down
on the way to the police station. The inspecting car mechanic
discovered that the spare tire was fully laden with explosives."
If this were the only example of this type I heard, I might have let it
pass as just a story. But it wasn't.
There was also the sorry tale of the Iraqi man who saw American
soldiers plant a bomb which shortly thereafter exploded, and when he
said so out loud for all to hear, he was hauled away, never to be seen
again.
This story was reported on arguably the most authentic and riveting
source of news from Iraq, the heart-rending "Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog
from Iraq," which is compiled by someone known only as Riverbend or
Iraqi Girl <http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/>. Again, recommended
reading.
She recounts, "the last two weeks have been violent ....
The number of explosions in Baghdad alone is frightening. There have
also been several assassinations � bodies being found here and there.
It's somewhat disturbing to know that corpses are turning up in the
most unexpected places. Many people will tell you it's not wise to eat
river fish anymore because they have been nourished on the human
remains being dumped into the river. That thought alone has given me
more than one sleepless night. It is almost as if Baghdad has turned
into a giant graveyard.
The latest corpses were those of some Sunni and Shia clerics � several
of them well-known. People are being patient and there is a general
consensus that these killings are being done to provoke civil war. Also
worrisome is the fact that we are hearing of people being rounded up by
security forces (Iraqi) and then being found dead days later �
apparently when the new Iraqi government recently decided to reinstate
the death penalty, they had something else in mind.
But back to the explosions. One of the larger blasts was in an area
called Ma'moun, which is a middle class area located in west Baghdad.
It's a relatively calm residential area with shops that provide the
basics and a bit more. It happened in the morning, as the shops were
opening up for their daily business and it occurred right in front of a
butcher's shop. Immediately after, we heard that a man living in a
house in front of the blast site was hauled off by the Americans
because it was said that after the bomb went off, he sniped an Iraqi
National Guardsman.
I didn't think much about the story � nothing about it stood out: an
explosion and a sniper � hardly an anomaly. The interesting news
started circulating a couple of days later. People from the area claim
that the man was taken away not because he shot anyone, but because he
knew too much about the bomb. Rumor has it that he saw an American
patrol passing through the area and pausing at the bomb site minutes
before the explosion. Soon after they drove away, the bomb went off and
chaos ensued. He ran out of his house screaming to the neighbors and
bystanders that the Americans had either planted the bomb or seen the
bomb and done nothing about it. He was promptly taken away.
The bombs are mysterious. Some of them explode in the midst of National
Guard and near American troops or Iraqi Police and others explode near
mosques, churches, and shops or in the middle of sougs. One thing that
surprises us about the news reports of these bombs is that they are
inevitably linked to suicide bombers. The reality is that some of these
bombs are not suicide bombs � they are car bombs that are either being
remotely detonated or maybe time bombs. All we know is that the
techniques differ and apparently so do the intentions. Some will tell
you they are resistance. Some say Chalabi and his thugs are responsible
for a number of them. Others blame Iran and the SCIRI militia Badir.
In any case, they are terrifying. If you're close enough, the first
sound is a that of an earsplitting blast and the sounds that follow are
of a rain of glass, shrapnel and other sharp things. Then the wails
begin � the shrill mechanical wails of an occasional ambulance combined
with the wail of car alarms from neighboring vehicles... and finally the
wail of people trying to sort out their dead and dying from the debris.
Then there was this one.
On May 13, 2005, a 64 years old Iraqi farmer, Haj Haidar Abu Sijjad,
took his tomato load in his pickup truck from Hilla to Baghdad,
accompanied by Ali, his 11 years old grandson. They were stopped at an
American check point and were asked to dismount. An American soldier
climbed on the back of the pickup truck, followed by another a few
minutes later, and thoroughly inspected the tomato filled plastic
containers for about 10 minutes. Haj Haidar and his grandson were then
allowed to proceed to Baghdad.
A minute later, his grandson told him that he saw one of the American
soldiers putting a grey melon size object in the back among the tomato
containers. The Haj immediately slammed on the brakes and stopped the
car at the side of the road, at a relatively far distance from the
check point. He found a time bomb with the clock ticking tucked among
his tomatoes. He immediately recognized it, as he was an ex-army
soldier. Panicking, he grabbed his grandson and ran away from the car.
Then, realizing that the car was his only means of work, he went back,
took the bomb and carried it in fear. He threw it in a deep ditch by
the side of the road that was dug by Iraqi soldiers in preparation for
the war, two years ago.
Upon returning from Baghdad, he found out that the bomb had indeed
exploded, killing three sheep and injuring their shepherd in his head.
He thanked God for giving him the courage to go back and remove the
bomb, and for the luck in that the American soldiers did not notice his
sudden stop at a distance and his getting rid of the bomb.
"They intended it to explode in Baghdad and claim that it is the work
of the 'terrorists', or 'insurgents' or who call themselves the
'Resistance'.
I decided to expose them and asked your reporter to take me to Baghdad
to tell you the story. They are to be exposed as they now want to sow
strife in Iraq and taint the Resistance after failing to defeat it
militarily.
Do not forget to mention my name. I fear nobody but God, as I am a
follower of Muqtada al-Sadir."
