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<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Dear list members and friends,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The following is from Helen Williams who has been
in Iraq since before the invasion. Helen and her partner Kevin (a friend of mine
from Newport, South Wales) set up an organisation called Youth Aid Iraq, working
in the slums of Baghdad with orphans, homeless and street kids. Helen was in
Fallujah in April with Jo Wilding and others when their ambulance came under
attack from US snipers. Helen is now in Amman, Jordan. This dispatch was written
before the arrival of British troops at Camp Dogwood in the Sunni Triangle and
before the brutal deaths of 3 young Scots soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter
(who was due to be married on the day he was blown to pieces by a lone suicide
bomber).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Peace and solidarity,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>David McKnight</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>**********************</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana
size=2>Hi
Amman <BR>22 October 2004<BR><BR>I have spent time in the "Triangle
of Death" and have suffered great <BR>personal tragedy there. I cannot express
how deeply I am opposed to the <BR>deployment of British troops to that area. I
hope that the following piece <BR>will enlighten people to some Iraqi's
opinions, as well as my own. In my <BR>view it is a political deployment, and
it's about time our military "boys" <BR>acted like the big "men" that they claim
to be, and stop getting pushed <BR>around by our politicians.<BR><BR>So Tony
Blair's democratically elected government has decided to accede to <BR>the Bush
Administration's request to send British troops to Iskendaria, 50 <BR>km south
of Bagdad.<BR>Once again, this decision taken by our government flies in the
face of the <BR>wishes of the majority of the British people who are opposed to
such a troop <BR>redeployment.<BR>Just like when we stood 'should to shoulder'
with America to pay a 'blood <BR>price' during the Invasion and Bombardment of
Iraq in March 2003, this <BR>decision to move soldiers north is more about
pleasing Bush and his cronies <BR>than about listening to the views of the
British electorate.<BR>The decision was made by Hoon and Co. before the voting
public were even <BR>told of the request - the troops are already on the move
and some are <BR>already in place following orders that could take them to
Hell.<BR>So why doesn't Tony Blair listen to the electorate, to public opinion?
Why <BR>should he? There is no viable alternative to elect in our country, his
<BR>majority is huge and can do nothing but suceed in 2005's General Election.
<BR>So if he doesn't need to please or listen to us, why not please and listen
<BR>to Bush and stay buddies with the USA? Why not help George W win his
<BR>election? After all, that's what this is all about. Far too may US troops
<BR>have been killed or injured and it is time for us to pay our price in terms
<BR>of casualties as part of the 'coalition of the willing'.<BR>The 850 or so
troops that are sent north will free up American soldiers for <BR>the final
assault on Fallujah, a city of some 250,000 people, whose daily <BR>diminishing
population will never tolerate an American presence in their <BR>city. The final
push/slaughter in Fallujah could begin in days before the <BR>2nd November US
election. Bush probably wants to see the rebel city <BR>'pacified' before he
goes to the polls and who knows, if Kerry was to win, <BR>maybe the final
slaughter would not happen in such a grotesque way. Maybe <BR>Kerry will care
about US soldier casualties, even if he also is not too <BR>concerned about the
spiralling number of Iraqi civilian deaths. Maybe, just <BR>maybe ....<BR>(But
one thing is for sure, I just want to say it here. America might kill <BR>every
man, woman, child and baby in Fallujah and thereby physically crush <BR>the
resistance in this noble city, but the spirit of Fallujah's struggle <BR>will
live on in future history in the hearts of all Iraqis.)<BR>The record of
American atrocities committed in Fallujah is astounding - how <BR>they get away
with it is beyond me. When I was there in April this year <BR>there was supposed
to be a ceasefire. But in the clinic where I was, I <BR>watched a 10 year old
boy die in front of me - he was hit in the head by a <BR>bullet from an American
sniper. His family had left their home, believing it <BR>to be safe. Then two
middle aged women who thought it was safe to go out to <BR>the shop were killed,
again by American snipers, even though they were <BR>waving a white flag. During
this false ceasefire, cluster bombs were dropped <BR>on homes and we saw
victims, burnt all over their bodies, rushed to the <BR>clinic in any car
available. I say any car available because the clinic, by <BR>this time, no
longer had an ambulance. Before we had arrived in Fallujah in <BR>the morning,
the last ambulance had been shot at and damaged badly, but was <BR>still
drivable. The driver had been seriously injured. And then in the <BR>afternoon
the snipers had finished it off as some friends were trying to <BR>reach a woman
in labour to bring her to the clinic. Only Ghareeb's quick <BR>thinking and
driving had managed to get the ambulance away from the snipers' <BR>sights
before any of them were killed as bullets flew all around them, as <BR>the
American soldiers committed yet another atrocity - actually firing on a
<BR>clearly marked ambulance. Twelve people in that clinic alone, that we know
<BR>of, were killed that night, during a ceasefire!<BR>So when the British
troops move to Iskendaria to free up US soldiers to <BR>attack Fallujah, they
will be complicit in the atrocities and human rights <BR>abuses that the
Americans continue to commit in Fallujah.<BR>And soon they will, no doubt, be
looked upon in the same way as the American <BR>soldiers - despised and feared
as violent overlords all over Iraq. At the <BR>moment, amongst many Iraqis, the
British soldiers enjoy a better reputation <BR>than their American counterparts.
I am constantly told "the British troops <BR>understand us - our way of life,
our tribal system and our traditions" and I <BR>am assured that British soldiers
are more polite, less abusive and more <BR>sympathetic to the plight of the
ordinary Iraqi.<BR>Indeed, just last night I met eleven young men from Basra,
living right by <BR>me here in Amman. All had left their homes and families for
<BR>economic/employment reasons and all missed Basra and their beloved Iraq.
<BR>Most of them had left pre-war, but one of them had left just six months ago.
<BR>I asked him how the British troops behaved in Basra and he told me "very
<BR>good, no problems", although he did not like the occupation.<BR>Of course,
the British soldiers do not enjoy a completely squeaky clean <BR>reputation
everywhere. Just ask the residents of Amara what they think of <BR>the British
soldiers who continually humiliate them and grind them down on a <BR>daily basis
- you will get a completely different response then. Or you <BR>could ask the
prisoners and their families murdered and abused by British <BR>troops if they
think that they are any better behaved than American <BR>soldiers. Or you could
try asking the families of victims gunned down in <BR>error on the streets of
Basra what they think of 'our boys'. Or what about <BR>asking any member of the
28 families detemined enough, to have the chance to <BR>take our own Ministry of
Defence to court for injuries and killings. By June <BR>the MOD had been forced
to admit to 120 cases where they had paid out <BR>compensation to prevent a
court case. But if this "good" reputation is not <BR>as good as it should be
now, just wait until 850 British troops come under <BR>the command of the brutal
Americans in a place like Iskendaria. The <BR>soldiers, obeying their new
American commanders are sure to be put in very <BR>uncomfortble situations and
be made to carry out orders that they are not <BR>really happy with. I wonder if
they will be ordered to fire on ambulances, <BR>children or women carrying white
flags.<BR><BR>Why do I say 'in a place like Iskendaria'?<BR>Iskendaria is
situated 50 km south of Bagdad on the way to Hilla (Babylon). <BR>Between Bagdad
and Iskendaria lies Mahmoudya, 30 km south of Bagdad and 20 <BR>km north of
Iskendaria. Lattifya, another town, is just 15 km south west of <BR>Mahmoudya.
This whole area has recently gained a reputation for 'bad'
<BR>resistance.<BR>Unlike the Mujahadeen in Fallujah, Ramadi or Samarra or the
Mahdi Army all <BR>over Iraq, but mainly in the south, the resistance here seems
to have lost <BR>its way. While the Mujahadeen and Mahdi Army remain focussd in
their brave <BR>efforts to rid Iraq of this heinous occupation and try only to
attack <BR>coalition forces, the resistance in the Mahmoudya area attack
anything <BR>associated with America, the West or indeed anything/anybody
foreign to <BR>Iraq, even other Arabs, and even Iraqis assumed to be working
with anything <BR>foreign from NGO's to soldiers.<BR>I did not realise this fact
for many months, passing safely and happily on <BR>buses back and fro to
Hilla.<BR>It was not until I was sitting in the back of an Italian Red Cross
ambulance <BR>with Wejdy, my translator, on the way to Najaf to deliver medical
aid, that <BR>I was rudely woken up to this fact. As we passed Lattifya there
was a huge <BR>explosion which hit the water lorry in front of us and the
ambulance that we <BR>were in. (See report: Iraq: Aid work in Najaf). It was
either a roadside <BR>bomb or RPG (rocket propelled grenade) and it was
definitely aimed at our <BR>convoy - clearly Red Cross, clearly humanitarian. We
were lucky to survive <BR>the attack - 10 or so metres nearer and we would be
dead now. And we were <BR>fortunate that the drivers of the lorry and ambulance
were so calm and <BR>skilful in the circumstances, managing to control their
smashed vehicles <BR>after the attack, keeping them on the road and avoiding
crashing.<BR>I say this about the drivers because on the way back from Najaf and
Kufa we <BR>were hit again, about 5 km from the same spot as the day before in
Lattifya. <BR>This time the explosion caught Ghareeb's car and engulfed it
making control <BR>of the vehicle impossible. We could not even see his car in
the middle of <BR>the dust and mud thrown up all around it - it was horrible. We
still do not <BR>know the full facts of what happened, but Ghareeb and his
passenger, Enzo <BR>Baldoni, ended up being killed. And this shows how off-track
the insurgents <BR>are in this area.<BR>Ghareeb was one of the best people in
Iraq, in my opinion (see report: <BR>Ghareeb) - brave, kind and compassionate.
He made endless trips into <BR>beseiged Fallujah, for example, taking in much
needed medical supplies and <BR>other aid and bringing out women, children and
injured victims of American <BR>voilence. He took medical aid to Najaf and Kufa
and helped children and <BR>adults get the medical attention they needed.
He helped countless people <BR>who now, like us, miss him so deeply.<BR>Enzo
Baldoni, the Italian journalist, killed by the Islamic Army in Iraq in <BR>this
area, was an anti-war, anti-occupation, left-wing journalist. He was <BR>trying
to tell the truth about the continuing occupation.<BR>How wrong can the
insurgents be to kill these two men and to attack Red <BR>Cross vehicles trying
to help the Mahdi Army and citizens of Najaf?<BR>When we were attacked the
second time on the return journey to Bagdad, I saw <BR>ordinary Iraqis bloodied
and cut up by the bomb aimed at us. They were <BR>trying their best to drive
their damaged vehicles onwards. The ICDC (Iraqi <BR>Civil Defence Corps) that
stopped us 2 km further up the road from the <BR>attack did not care, asking us
what we wanted them to do about it when we <BR>told them what had
happened.<BR>Then the two French journalists disappeared, kidnapped in the same
area on <BR>the same day, while travelling back from Najaf - also taken by the
Islamic <BR>Army in Iraq. Now, whether or not they are good (like Enzo) or bad
<BR>journalists does not really matter, they were still brave enough to leave
<BR>their comfortable countries and come to Iraq and risk a trip to Najaf to
<BR>report on what they witnessed there, and they did not deserve to be
<BR>kidnapped.<BR>Many others have been kidnapped in this area by various
groups, including <BR>ithe Islamic Army in Iraq. And so brutal are these hostage
takers, that many <BR>of the kidnappings have ended in murder and tragedy.<BR>A
week later Ayotollah Ali Al Sistani returned to Najaf and led a peace <BR>rally
there. Some Western peace activists that I know went to Najaf to take <BR>part
and witness events there. As they approached Mahmoudya, their driver <BR>told
them all to remove their sunglasses so that they would not be too <BR>obvious as
Westerners and would not let them put them on until they had <BR>cleared
Iskendaria. The reason he gave them was that this was a very bad and <BR>violent
area with high levels of roadside bomb and RPG attacks and indeed <BR>they saw
many burnt out vehicles littering the roadside.<BR>Just after this, the
Americans with Iraqi National Guards and Iraqi Police <BR>raided the
Lattifya/Mahmoudya/Iskendaria area arresting 500 so called <BR>resistance, which
resulted in the deaths of 12 Iraqi Police.<BR>But the troubles did not stop
there.<BR>Just before we left Bagdad we were arranging our transport out of Iraq
along <BR>the highway to Jordan. It was essential that we went with someone we
trusted <BR>completely in the circumstances - no good getting into a taxi/GMC
with a <BR>kidnapper, when that is the reason you are leaving. So we decided we
would <BR>use a company that we had used in January to leave Iraq situated up on
<BR>Saduun Street, owned by Mahdi who also worked with Italian TV. During my
<BR>time in Bagdad we had sat with him several times for chai and a chat in his
<BR>office when we had been walking past. He seemed like an obvious, trustworthy
<BR>choice. Imagine our disappointment when the night before we were due to
<BR>leave, Mahdi called to say that he could not take us. The next day he had to
<BR>go to a funeral in Najaf for 2 of his uncles. They had been shot dead
<BR>earlier that evening in Mahmoudya. The level of violence there is so
high.<BR>And even here in Amman we met a man from Basra, now living in
Mahmoudya. He <BR>sells chai on the main square here and misses and worries
about his family <BR>so much in Mahmoudya. He told us that whenever he rings
them, they always <BR>tell him of American airstrikes or other violence in the
area.<BR>So, the area where the British soldiers are to be redeployed is not a
safe, <BR>peaceful one at all. It is just an area that does not feature too
often in <BR>the Western media. Vicious, brutal kidnappers operate there and
misguided, <BR>violent insurgents attack anything they can. And this is where
America is <BR>ordering British troops to be stationed.<BR>British troops are
not used to these levels of hostility down in Basra. They <BR>will not be ready
for it and British soldier deaths and injuries are sure to <BR>esculate
sharply.<BR>I am not one to be particularly worried about 'our boys' - after all
they <BR>signed up to take orders and kill on demand. It was their choice. You
may <BR>think this a little callous of me, but I am much more saddened, upset
and <BR>concerned about innocent, unnamed Iraqi lives that are ended brutally
every <BR>day because of the war and ongoing occupation and because of American
and <BR>coalition violence. Once the American election is over, the US forces
will <BR>hit Fallujah with everything. Fallujah is the size of Cardiff, my
Capital <BR>city. Hundreds more civilians are sure to die.<BR>I think the
British people should stop sleeping and start shouting louder <BR>and louder and
they should get onto the streets daily. If the illegal war <BR>was not bad
enough for us to be involved in, if the occupation does not <BR>disgust your
very soul, then surely British troops being sent to such a <BR>dangerous place
to appease a war-hungry US Administration should get you <BR>going, should make
you do something - a letter to your MP, anything.<BR>Maybe 'our' soldiers did
sign up to take orders and kill on demand, but I <BR>don't think they signed up
to help Bush get re-elected, do you?<BR><BR>All for now<BR>Helen
Williams<BR>Amman,
Jordan<BR><BR>_________________________________________________________________<BR>Use
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