Zeyad A. - To grasp how dire the situation in Baghdad has become over the last few days, here is a sampling of posts to Iraqi message boards where people ask for instructions on how to defend their neighborhoods from marauding militiamen.
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Ali - Khadhraa district: Please inform us about the areas that are expected to be targeted, so we can be prepared. Also please inform us on the necessary steps we should take to protect our families and ourselves.
Ibn Al-Iraq - Jihad district: Salam Aleikum. I live in the Jihad district. A group from the Mahdi Army tagged Sunni residences and collected their weapons today. God is witness to what I say.
Mustafa - Ghazaliya: We have been under mortar fire for two days. It is 10:50 p.m. now and we can hear heavy gunfire and an attack against mosques in the area. May God save us all from the injustice of aggressors.
A Mujahid for Allah - Baghdad of Al-Rashid: In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.
They want it a war, so be it. We are up to it, God willing.
My brothers, heed these recommendations:
1- Prepare weapons and ammunition.
2- To avoid their mortar fire, do not gather in large numbers at one place in your areas.
3- Spread out in small groups, and assign a commander to each.
4- Always take cover behind a barrier (anything that can protect you from enemy fire).
5- If there is an attack against your area, try not to waste your fire (make maximum benefit from the ammunition you have available).
6- Assign duties to your brothers.
7- Maintain communication with other groups in your area so you can respond to any breach of the area by the attackers.
8- Have courage and patience when you face them. They are cowards and will be defeated.
Remember that your brothers, the Mujahideen, will be with you in your fight against the murderous criminals. May God save us and save Iraq.
The son of Anbar - Baghdad: Dear brothers, the Khadhraa and Jami'a districts are in need of ammunition. Please come to our aid.
Ali - Ghazaliya: Groups from the evil Mahdi Army are preparing to enter Ghazaliya from the direction of the Centre Street and near the Muhajireen mosque, but residents are in control of most of the streets, despite assistance from the National Guard [for the Mahdi Army] and their cover for the mortar attacks from the Security Street. A woman was injured there from their damn mortars.
Abu Al-Hassan Al-Samarra'I - Baghdad: To the Mujahideen brothers in all areas, attack them and let the initiative be yours so that you can relieve the pressure from other districts. Have no mercy for them. Be careful of their spies in your areas.
Anonymous - Jihad district: Urgent. Please intervene to save the Jihad district from another massacre. Interior Ministry commandoes have been transporting fighters and mercenaries from the militias with their buses to their headquarters in the district. They are estimated to be around 500 mercenaries, fully armed with medium and light weapons. And now some of them are taking attack positions in preparation for a new massacre in the district. The buses have not stopped arriving, even though terrified residents have called the police and governmental officials.
Abu Mohammed - Baghdad: I recommend to my brothers the following:
1- Trust in God, and defend your family, your possessions and your honour. Whoever is killed is a martyr for God.
2- Never surrender, because in that case they will kill us after maiming and torturing us. We should fight to the last breath.
3- Ensure surveillance for every area, especially main streets and entry points, and maintain communication to follow the movement of vehicles used by militias. Attack them wisely without wasting ammunition.
4 - Prepare ambushes for these militias on the streets they are expected to pass. Finish them off and take their weapons.
Remember that those militias are former looters, thieves and shoe shiners. Do not make such a big deal of them because, by God, they are lowly animals.
Salim Hussein - Raghiba Khatoun: There is a large gathering of Mahdi Army militiamen at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib husseiniya at Raghiba Khatoun, where they came from the Dilfiya area of the Qahira district. They intend to attack the residents of Adhamiya, Raghiba Khatoun and Sulaikh. Please be alert.
Ahmed Al-Janabi - Baghdad: Salam Aleikum. I'm a resident of Yarmouk and I can hear gunfire from the Four Streets area as if in warning of an attack of sorts. God knows. Please come to our aid if the situation worsens.
Abdul Rahman Abdul Qadir - Karkh:
Salam Aleikum. Over 40 vehicles with Mahdi Army militiamen have gathered near the Dora police station. They started arriving at 7 p.m., and at 7:45 p.m. we could see about 40 vehicles preparing to attack Dora.
Abdul Rahman - Iraq: Please keep these steps in mind:
1- Deploy snipers on the rooftops of buildings that lie close to the main entry points for each area.
2- Prepare positions for medium weapons at a distance from the entry point, and make pincers with sniper and PKC fire. When you choose a position, make sure you can retreat to alternate positions from it, in case the enemy overruns the area (do not choose a building that is not adjacent to another, or use ropes to quickly slide down the building).
3- RPG carriers should maintain their positions on side streets and take cover behind barriers. Do not fire just for the sake of it (attack the first and last vehicle).
4- Create heavy fire density to force the enemy to take cover, and then eliminate them by sniper fire.
5- Provide hand grenades and distribute them to the Mujahideen.
6- Fighters with light weapons should always change positions, fire from different angles and not stay at one place.
7- Prepare and plant roadside bombs on the entrance to every area.
8- Bomb the gathering locations for the army of filthy Muqtada.
9- Prepare a special group to deal with any breach, and it should be armed with RPGs, PKC machine guns and KIA vehicles.
10- Plan ambushes and lure the enemy by using bait vehicles that they chase to be dragged into the killing zone.
Iraqiya - Dora: Urgent. Dora has been breached. There was an attack by the ragtag militias against residences, and we can now hear women screaming. They are raiding the Tu'ma district, which is inhabited by the Jubour tribes. There is also an attack against the Arqam mosque.
Ali - Dora: Elements of the Interior Ministry commandos are attacking Dora (the Mechanic, Tu'ma, Sahha and Asia districts). But do not fear, for we are engaging them. Our battle cry is "They came for death, no one brought them."
Ahmed - Jamila district: Barbaric groups of the Antichrist [Mahdi] Army, and the Iranians that are with them, have killed dozens of Sunni youth at the Jamila district in the exact spot of the car bombing, in a mass execution orgy in front of people. This was broadcast on Sharqiya TV by an anonymous security source. The honourable Shi'ites from east of the [Army] Canal have told us that these groups are moving freely, and that they are preparing for a wide-scale assault on Sunni districts. Be prepared to confront the infidels.
Mohammed - Jami'a district:
Mahdi Army followers have been seen gathering at [MP] Sallama Al-Khafaji's residence in Jami'a in preparation for an attack against the district.
Abdul Rahman - Iraq: For the brothers who have not used weapons before, please take this advice:
1- Check your weapon if you have not used it before. You can ask your neighbour to teach you how to attach the magazine and to load and fire. Do not be ashamed that it would be said you don't know how to use a weapon, as many people have not had a chance to.
2- Choose the appropriate spot on your roof that can provide you with cover and make it hard for the enemy to target you.
3- It is best if every two families gather in one house when the alarm of an attack is raised to keep spirits high.
4- When you shoot, try to make it intermittent so you do not waste your ammunition. Be patient until more fighters arrive and your neighbours start shooting too.
5- You may feel fear upon using a weapon for the first time or that something bad would happen to you, but think of your family and what awaits them if you are hesitant. Keep your honour and your children in front of your eye, and remember that they have burnt children with kerosene.
6- Make sure that you have an extra magazine because in the midst of action you may take away your weapon and forget your extra magazine. It is preferred that you tape two magazines together. Ask your neighbours how to do that. Practice with it several times.
7- Fear of using weapons will disappear with the first shot. Do not hesitate to pull the trigger and concentrate on hitting the enemy.
Omar Al-Rawi - Baghdad: Salam Aleikum. Mosques in the Adhamiya and Khadhraa areas have started chanting "Allahu Akbar" and reciting Quran through their loudspeakers to encourage residents to confront the Safavid militias.
Ibn Al-Mansour - Mansour: Residents of Mansour, large groups of armed militiamen have been seen heading from the Washash and Iskan districts to attack Mansour. Prepare to defend yourselves and your neighbours, Sunni and Shia, from the attack of the treacherous Mahdi Army militias.
Al-Anbari - Baghdad: Several mortar shells have hit the Jami'a and Khadhraa districts after the evening prayers. And there is news that militias are now gathering to prepare for the attack against these districts. Additionally, there are groups of the Antichrist [Mahdi] Army in the Safarat district preparing to attack the Qudhat district.
The author of this post is a Sunni dentist and one of the first Iraqi bloggers. His website is http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/.
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March 4, 2007 5:18 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on March 4, 2007 17:18
I DO believe it's time to do the same thing to Iran. This is neat stuff!
November 28, 2006 12:30 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 28, 2006 12:30
These entries provide additional proof that the conflict in Iraq is absolutely a civil war. For all the talk, very little concrete evidence has been presented anywhere for the argument that Iran and Syria are the source of the violence. These entries only reinforce the facts that internal Iraqi groups are fomenting the ongoing violence. The US occupation simply fans the flames.
The only possible solution is a regional approach involving Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The policing of post WWII Germany could possibly serve as a model. If no similar solution is implemented in the next 6 months expect the violence to spread to all of the above mentioned states as well as overseas.
November 28, 2006 10:47 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 28, 2006 10:47
RawQuip.blogspot.com
Of Flowers, Chocolates, and Broken Hope
For three years, Iraqis have been throwing flowers and candy thanks to a liberation bestowed to them by the imperialistic George Bush, yesterday they decided to purchase the diamond in a pursuit of an unholy matrimony of death and carnage. The grand experiment of democratizing a nation with howitzers and Abrhams has been blown to dust, the ashes of an ancient civilization swirling in the winds of the desert.
Children often play a game of what if, taking objects apart just to see what happens. Caught up in a world of conjecture without regard to consequence and uninhibited by the sagacity of reality, they often destroy valuable items for the sheer fulfillment of their intellectual curiosity. They have no use for adults who preach the value of discernment and wisdom, and tend to blame others once the folly of their actions is revealed.
This administration has operated in much the same manner, playing a juvenile game of machismo--taunting whenever possible, dismissive in nature, and name calling at all times. The Middle East has been set afire by a pharisaic administration whose assurance in their moral righteousness was surpassed only by their disdain for alternative views. The awful reality is...
continued:
http://rawquip.blogspot.com/
November 28, 2006 9:38 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 28, 2006 09:38
I've sold you the finest weapons. Learn how to use them or shut up.
November 28, 2006 7:38 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 28, 2006 07:38
Very simple..Bush and his administration goofed big time....Impeachmetn?
November 28, 2006 6:41 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 28, 2006 06:41
¡Bring back Saddam!
November 28, 2006 5:52 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 28, 2006 05:52
let them kill each other, retreat our army to the north, build a very strong kurdistan nation to control the area. support them 100% as we support israel
November 28, 2006 4:50 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 28, 2006 04:50
Thanks (if that be the right word) to features like this, the world can read the screams of a dying society. During the massacre by Hulagu, and the many other times of terror that Babylon has endured throughout history, only the people within earshot could hear the screaming. Now everyone on the planet with a computer is able to know what men are thinking when they pick up a gun and get ready to shoot people who are coming down the street where they live. The horror, the horror! What has the U.S. wrought? And if there is such a thing as karma, something like this will eventually happen in America...
November 27, 2006 11:34 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 23:34
There is no doubt that Iraq is in civil war.
A war of armed militias including the Coalition army against Iraqi civilians.
The US army is doing everything to pour oil in the fire and incite one group of militia men against another and all against the Iraqi civilians: New and more "ennemies" are invented with every day to keep the civil war going. The US appears to see that as its chance for an "honorable" exit. For the militias it is a way to survive. The US invasion didn't bring any capacity for livelihood, only disorder, justified as "rooting out" the Saddamists. For the Iraqi people it is only a way to death.
From the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the solidification of the invasion into occupation, the Iraqis now must go the bitter way back to toppling the US government policies and evict its army, then convince the militias to use their arms to rebuild Iraq, in order to create a new capacity to live for all. So much for this much praised democratic freedom promised by Bush. He can't deliver. Crusades intend to destroy, not liberate.
The liberation from the US-plus-coalition-allies invaders and warring militias will be infinitely much more difficult to reach than it was for the US to topple Saddam, and the Iraqis are alone in it and the only ones who can realize it. The US failed Iraq, judging by the US actions over the last four years, deliberately and designedly.
The French and Russian revolutions produced hundred years of turmoil and suffering each before resulting in an agreement to civilization based on an equal right to exist for all.
I wish the Iraqi people a faster resolution of their suffering. It is inhuman and unbearable. I admire their strength and courage to resist and hope for their own success after the ignominious letdown by the West.
November 27, 2006 11:00 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 23:00
Slingshots make excellent methods of launching homemade explosive devices. Pepper spray, bleach and ammonia is easily made, contained in a small plastic bag style container or condom and exploded by way of a firecracker. Nuts and bolt bombs are easily configured and either pre-set, hand thrown or slingshot launched. Sand mixed with pepper is an excellent deturrent and thrown, dropped or launched easily. Remember, if your attacking enemy can't see, he becomes a liability in any offensive operation.
November 27, 2006 10:14 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 22:14
James Baker and his cronies are thieves.
They should be hung for treason...
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20041101&s=klein
When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq's debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker's job "a noble mission." At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker's extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts owed to them by Iraq. Of particular concern was his relationship with merchant bank and defense contractor the Carlyle Group, where Baker is senior counselor and an equity partner with an estimated $180 million stake.
Until now, there has been no concrete evidence that Baker's loyalties are split, or that his power as Special Presidential Envoy--an unpaid position--has been used to benefit any of his corporate clients or employers. But according to documents obtained by The Nation, that is precisely what has happened. Carlyle has sought to secure an extraordinary $1 billion investment from the Kuwaiti government, with Baker's influence as debt envoy being used as a crucial lever.
The secret deal involves a complex transaction to transfer ownership of as much as $57 billion in unpaid Iraqi debts. The debts, now owed to the government of Kuwait, would be assigned to a foundation created and controlled by a consortium in which the key players are the Carlyle Group, the Albright Group (headed by another former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright) and several other well-connected firms. Under the deal, the government of Kuwait would also give the consortium $2 billion up front to invest in a private equity fund devised by the consortium, with half of it going to Carlyle.
November 27, 2006 10:08 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 22:08
This is really awful and certainly no example or model which any people in the region are likely to be envious of.
What are the US troops doing while all this is going on? Are there any non-partisan obersvers reporting what is actually going on?
November 27, 2006 9:16 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 21:16
Iraq is a tragedy. Bush has taken a
very bad situation and made it much
worse. I hope that those responsible
for starting this disaster are held
accountable for their actions.
November 27, 2006 8:28 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 20:28
And the Whitehouse says there is no civil war in Iraq.
All killing must stop.
November 27, 2006 6:40 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 18:40
The neighboring countries are responsible for the escalating sectarian violence and the current mess in Iraq. Most of the terrorist activities inside Iraq are being funded by Iran Syria and Turkey. They provide terrorist groups with arms, ammunitions and training.
If the neighboring countries cease interfering in the domestic affairs of Iraq, we, the Iraqi people will be able to settle our differences. The only thing we need from the US is securing and watching our boarders.
November 27, 2006 5:34 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 17:34
The reason the militia's are gaining popularity is because of the inability of the Iraqi/Coalition forces to protect Shia civilians from Sunni Arab terrorist attacks.
To address the militia's, one must address the Sunni Arab terrorism first, since that is the reason the militia's are gaining support.
Also, I have yet to see any guest blogs publicizing the plight of Shia civilians, who after four years of brutal attacks on their innocents, have much more reasons to be heard.
November 27, 2006 5:06 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on November 27, 2006 17:06