I Gave Your Address to a Friend

[Synnical]

Hope you don't mind.

Some friends of mine are traveling and need a place to crash for a couple of days. I didn’t think you would mind so I gave them your address. They travel light, are quiet, and no trouble at all. Look for them sometime this coming Wednesday.

They will be in two vehicles, one green, and one silver.

I have attached a photo so you can recognize them.



With thanks to Edwin Kagin



Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.

www.edwinkagin.com

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1. They look like refugees

fleeing from violence my taxes have financed.

They can stay with me...least I can do. :shrug:

[Synnical]

2. Thousands are fleeing Iraq daily: UN agency

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=112787&version=1&template_id=42&parent_id=18

GENEVA: Thousands of Iraqis are fleeing the country every day in a "steady, silent exodus" and a spike in sectarian violence has stopped others from returning to their homeland, the UN refugee agency said yesterday.

More than 50,000 exiled Iraqis returned from neighbouring countries last year in the hope that calm might return after the country’s first post-war elections in January 2005.

That number has fallen to 1,000 this year.

"Far more are leaving," Ron Redmond, chief spokesman for the UN Hig

[Synnical]

3. Baghdad Burning

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Summer of Goodbyes...
Residents of Baghdad are systematically being pushed out of the city. Some families are waking up to find a Klashnikov bullet and a letter in an envelope with the words “Leave your area or else.” The culprits behind these attacks and threats are Sadr’s followers- Mahdi Army. It’s general knowledge, although no one dares say it out loud. In the last month we’ve had two different families staying with us in our house, after having to leave their neighborhoods due to death threats and attacks. It’s not just Sunnis- it’s Shia, Arabs, Kurds- most of the middle-class areas are being targeted by militias.

Other areas are being overrun by armed Islamists. The Americans have absolutely no control in these areas. Or maybe they simply don’t want to control the areas because when there’s a clash between Sadr’s militia and another militia in a residential neighborhood, they surround the area and watch things happen.

Since the beginning of July, the men in our area have been patrolling the streets. Some of them patrol the rooftops and others sit quietly by the homemade road blocks we have on the major roads leading into the area. You cannot in any way rely on Americans or the government. You can only hope your family and friends will remain alive- not safe, not secure- just alive. That’s good enough.

For me, June marked the first month I don’t dare leave the house without a hijab, or headscarf. I don’t wear a hijab usually, but it’s no longer possible to drive around Baghdad without one. It’s just not a good idea. (Take note that when I say ‘drive’ I actually mean ‘sit in the back seat of the car’- I haven’t driven for the longest time.) Going around bare-headed in a car or in the street also puts the family members with you in danger. You risk hearing something you don’t want to hear and then the father or the brother or cousin or uncle can’t just sit by and let it happen. I haven’t driven for the longest time. If you’re a female, you risk being attacked.