Fewer Iraq links today. Not a whole lot to add to the last two day's posts here and here. Kut has been retaken but the Marines are stalled at Fallujah. People continue to die, American and Iraqi, while Bush is on vacation. There are a lot of sites with information and pontification on Iraq. There is one that stands out. It's written by a young woman in Baghdad. She goes by Riverbend. Her eloquence is heart rending...

One Year Later - April 9, 2004

Today, the day the Iraqi Puppets hail "National Day", will mark the day of the "Falloojeh Massacre"… Bremer has called for a truce and ceasefire in Falloojeh very recently and claimed that the bombing will stop, but the bombing continues as I write this. Over 300 are dead in Falloojeh and they have taken to burying the dead in the town football field because they aren't allowed near the cemetery. The bodies are decomposing in the heat and the people are struggling to bury them as quickly as they arrive. The football field that once supported running, youthful feet and cheering fans has turned into a mass grave holding men, women and children. The people in Falloojeh have been trying to get the women and children out of the town for the last 48 hours but all the roads out of the city are closed by the Americans and refugees are being shot at and bombed on a regular basis… we're watching the television and crying. The hospital is overflowing with victims… those who have lost arms and legs… those who have lost loved ones. There isn't enough medicine or bandages… what are the Americans doing?! This is collective punishment … is this the solution to the chaos we're living in? Is this the 'hearts and minds' part of the campaign? A convoy carrying food, medication, blood and doctors left for Falloojeh yesterday, hoping to get in and help the people in there. Some people from our neighborhood were gathering bags of flour and rice to take into the town. E. and I rummaged the house from top to bottom and came up with a big sack of flour, a couple of smaller bags of rice, a few kilos of assorted dry lentil, chickpeas, etc. We were really hoping the trucks could get through to help out in the city. Unfortunately, I just spoke with an Iraqi doctor who told me that the whole convoy was denied entry... it seems that now they are trying to get the women and children out or at least the very sick and wounded. The south isn't much better… the casualties are rising and there's looting and chaos. There's an almost palpable anger in Baghdad. The faces are grim and sad all at once and there's a feeling of helplessness that can't be described in words. It's like being held under water and struggling for the unattainable surface- seeing all this destruction and devastation. [...] The American and European news stations don't show the dying Iraqis… they don't show the women and children bandaged and bleeding- the mother looking for some sign of her son in the middle of a puddle of blood and dismembered arms and legs… they don't show you the hospitals overflowing with the dead and dying because they don't want to hurt American feelings… but people *should* see it. You should see the price of your war and occupation- it's unfair that the Americans are fighting a war thousands of kilometers from home. They get their dead in neat, tidy caskets draped with a flag and we have to gather and scrape our dead off of the floors and hope the American shrapnel and bullets left enough to make a definite identification… One year later, and Bush has achieved what he wanted- this day will go down in history and in the memory of all Iraqis as one of the bloodiest days ever...

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Occupation Day - April 9, 2003

The last few days, I've been sorely trying to avoid a trip down memory lane. I flip the channel every time they show shots of Baghdad up in flames, I turn off the radio as they begin to talk about the first few days of occupation, and I quietly leave the room as family members begin, "Remember how…" No, I don't *want* to remember some of the worst days of my life. I wish there was some way one could selectively delete certain memories as one does files on a computer… however, that's impossible.

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The convoy Riverbend mentions was one of the most amazing things that happened yesterday. The signs of a country coming together. Too bad it was against us.

NO TO OCCUPATION

Iraqi men shout during a rally, as thousands of people in Ghazalia's Umm al-Qura mosque prepared supplies destined for the besieged residents of Falluja Thursday 8 April. The poster reads in Arabic, 'No occupation'.

Building a nation-state -- the bloody way

One of the things that distinguishes nations from states, and both from nation-states, is the assimilation and shared identification among ethnic and/or religious factions. Nations typically transcend state borders (e.g., the Kurds), and almost every state is nationally pluralistic (e.g., The United States). Only in the rarest of cases (e.g., Iceland) are the Ven Diagram circles of nation and state virtually identical and overlapping. Hence the inevitable bloodshed in Africa, or the Balkans, where colonialists imposed often-arbitrary state borders on disparate, even rival nations. Iraq's colonial path to its modern history is, of course, no different. The formerly ruling, Hussein-led Sunnis dominated the majority Shiites mostly south of their central "triangle," while oppressing with more ruthless methods the Kurdish minority to their north. And thus it is simply stunning to read this piece, entitled Shiites Rally to Sunni 'Brothers', by Karl Vick in Friday's Washington Post. Vick reports the details of Shiites donating supplies and even blood to support insurgent elements of the once-ruling Sunni class now fighting in Fallujah:

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Thousands of Iraqis March to Fallujah

U.S. Forces Fire At Aid Convoys To Fallujah

The U.S. soldiers opened fire on aid convoys taking relief supplies to Fallujah, sealed off by occupation forces for the fourth consecutive day, eyewitnesses said.

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Here are links on what is happening and some analysis...

Fighting Rages in Fallujah, Najaf, Karbala; 6 US Troops Dead, Hundreds of Iraqis

US commander will not take blame for unrest

America's top commander in Iraq has warned Washington that he will not be "the fall guy" if violence in the country worsens, it emerged yesterday, as word leaked out that US generals are "outraged" by their lack of soldiers.

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Analysis

Now it is America that desperately needs rescuing
The limits of raw military power are being learned again in Iraq

Castles made of sand
Hunkered down inside their massive Baghdad fortress, U.S. officials have no idea why the Iraq occupation has turned into a nightmare.