Video: Baghdad Hospital Children's Ward -
Alive in Baghdad - Iraq
AliveInBaghdad
September 20, 2007
In war and peace children are always amongst the most
vulnerable of communities.
Iraq has been no exception.
In this episode, Alive in Baghdad takes you to the children's
ward of Baghdad Hospital, to make visible the plight of some
very sick children, stricken with cancer by the presence of
Depleted Uranium munitions, left over from the last to US
wars in Iraq.
Despite official claims that so-called "Depleted" Uranium is
mostly harmless, evidence continues to mount to the
contrary. Rates of cancer and deformities in Iraq's children
have sky-rocketed since 1991.
Here are just a few of their stories.
click for video:
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m36488&hd=&size=1&l=e
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In Hurriya, Shiites Protest the US Surge - 09.17.2007
http://www.aliveinbaghdad.org/
It is contentious whether or not the US Surge has made Baghdad any safer.
Many Iraqis have complained that the US’ version of security has led to vast
divisions within Baghdad, and that sectarian violence has even further
divided Baghdad’s already tense residents. Hurriya, a neighborhood on the
western side of the Tigris was at one time a mixed neighborhood where Sunni
and Shi’a lived together, married together, and existed peacefully, like any
other neighborhood.
In 2007 Hurriya became almost entirely Shi’a. Some blame the Mahdi Army for
sectarian attacks and cleansing the area of it’s Sunni population, such as
in this article from December 2006. Others say the cleansing couldn’t be
stopped, holding Sunnis responsible for starting the violence.
Parliamentarian Shatha Al-Musawi told The Scotsman that Shi’ites had no time
to sift the innocent from the guilty because Sunnis were killing Shi’ites.
Because of the cleansing, Hurriya has become mostly quiet, but because it is
believed to be a haven of gangs using the name of the Mahdi Army, the
Americans have been involved in numerous incursions into the neighborhood.
Hurriya’s residents are unhappy with a recent turn of events which led to
the death of Jawad Kadhim Al-Sultani, a well-known and beloved member of the
community. His neighbors claim that Al-Sultani was an example of tolerance
and brotherhood amongst Iraqis, and that he would help Sunni neighbors as
well as Shi’a. Anecdotes such as these abound and are constantly referenced
as examples that there is no civil war, or that Iraqis will succeed at
eliminating sectarian conflict. Other anecdotes aren’t so positive,
intermarriage is all but a forgotten fairytale in Baghdad today.
One thing is certain, the US Surge itself has failed to reconcile the
sectarian conflict. Death squads and militias are still prevalent on
Baghdad’s streets. Iraqis in Hurriya have been quoted saying that these
militia patrols are the only thing that allows them to feel safe. Murders
are continuing, and they are leading many Iraqis, such as the demonstrators
in Hurriya, to ask why the United States forces are there at all. During the
demonstration they demanded that the US be forced to withdraw from Hurriya,
and replaced with Iraqi security forces. Some might cynically claim that
what they really want is the Mahdi Army’s protection.
Throughout the protest many attendees expressed anger and frustration at the
Iraqi Government as well. Its questionable whether the residents of Hurriya
and other Baghdadis will put any more faith in the government’s security
forces than in the politicians themselves. Across Baghdad, Iraqis continue
to be embroiled in sectarian conflict, hoping some semblance of the ordinary
will return to their lives. Now that Sunnis have been forced out of Hurriya,
it is only the Americans that these residents worry about.
…
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