Zeyad: Sadr City bombings just as bad a catalyst as Shrine bombing

[beachmom]

I'm sure you have all been reading the horrors going on in Baghdad. That bombing in Sadr City has sparked the absolute civil war people keep denying has already been underway. Zeyad is still in NYC; NO OTHER blogger that I read has done a post. Right wing hack bloggers Omar and Mohammed of Iraq the Model have disappeared -- Zeyad can't find them, but thinks since their neighbor was kidnapped, that they have fleed to somewhere unknown. Radio silence from all of the other bloggers. Zeyad's brother is in imminent danger because he is a young male -- Zeyad is begging his parents NOT to allow Nabil to go to school anymore since he is a prime target for abduction.

Then, there are the Iraqi message boards. Imagine if you opened up DU, and this is what you read. Zeyad said these are the voices of Sunnis asking for instructions on how to defend their neighborhoods from militiamen.

http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/archives/2006_11_01_healingiraq_archive.html#116454273430101928

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 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 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 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 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 Army in the Safarat district preparing to attack the Qudhat district.

Zeyad is also begging on his brother's behalf for donations to get him out of Iraq as soon as possible. Zeyad is friends with Jeff Jarvis (founded Entertainment Weekly and was a TV critic for TV Guide) at www.buzzmachine.com, so I can tell you that this is not a scam.

http://nabilsblog.blogspot.com/

[Inuca]

1. NOT a civil war?!?!?!?!!!!

Horrifying. Poor people, poor and stupid people. Apologies for the lack of political correctness, but though the pot was stirred by our government idiotic and criminal policies, this horror of neighbor killing neighbor is only indirectly of our making. This is blond fanaticism that kills and maims bodies and souls. And that I was never been able to comprehend, not eben a tiny bit, and I hope I never will. But it's horribly discouraging... man's inhumanity to man... Also I keep wondering if it is still possible for anybody, JK included, to come up with a way out of this that will not result in even more pain and suffering and mindless killing. Saddam was/is a monster, but a place like this needs a strongman, hopefully somebody more enlightened than that monster, but still a strongman. Tito and what happened to Yugoslavia shortly after his demise comes to mind. Is it still the "right thing to do" to bring the troops home ASAP? I sincerely do not know anymore....

[beachmom]

4. No doubt that when/if our troops withdrawal, the killing will intensify

I have my eyes wide open to that fact. The idea that the violence will suddenly end with an American pullout is just a delusion. However, it does seem like we can't stop the civil war and there's not a DAMNED thing our troops can do other than contain it temporarily in certain sectors. And 70% of Iraqis think it's okay to blow up Americans. Support for our troops there has plummeted. In fact, the Iraqi Sunni insurgents not only blow up our troops; they BLAME our troops for not protecting THEM from the militias (how bizarre is that kind of thinking). I think we should pull out of the streets, and contain the civil war to Iraq and let it burn itself out. And, yeah -- that is very morally troubling -- any lefty who thinks it's all pure and good to pull out hasn't bothered to learn what's going on there.

IMO, it's too late for diplomacy -- when people are lit on fire in a mosque, well, I'd say that's the point of no return. Only exhaustion will begin to ebb the hate.

[rockymountaindem]

2. This part really got to me:

"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."

That's a lot to think about, knowing that if I were in their position, being a young man myself, I would be tasked with defending my family and my neighborhood. Thinking of fighting alongside my friends from high school, to defend my home and my parents... good God that's a lot to think about, and it's pretty powerful. I would fight to my death for all of them, and I'm honored to think that in the same position I can name at least five of my friends who would do the same for me. I'm also thinking about my good friend in the Marines and how glad I am that he survived both of his tours in Iraq with no injury, thank God.

People look for progress in the world, some sign that today is better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today. It's hard to find it in passages like that, but this kind of interscene bloodshed is ages old. I suppose the only progress we can ever hope for is to make situations like this increasingly rare. Having any kind of "limited war" or "police action" just keeps sounding more and more like a fantasy.

[beachmom]

3. Exactly. And it's important not to particularlize it to the Sunnis

The Shi'ites were oppressed for a long time and aren't as "wired" as the Sunnis so I have been unable to find a Shi'ite Iraqi blogger to hear "the other side". But no doubt, there is panic in their neighborhoods, too, fearful of bombs and the Mujahideen who behead people.

The Americans have gotten into horrible situations in the past where they think they are fighting insurgents when, in fact, they're fighting people like the above who are just defending their neighborhood from the militias (ever seen pictures of them -- they remind me of the Taliban in Toyota pick up trucks). How the heck our troops are expected to stop this is beyond me.

[ginnyinWI]

5. I flipped on MSNBC this morning:

They are now officially calling it a civil war, for what that's worth. Both NBC and MSNBC have made the decision, at last, to call it a civil war. It's something I suppose--that a major network is finally calling it what it has been for almost a year.

Everything I've been hearing lately echoes what John Kerry has told us long ago. Why people won't pay attention or believe, I don't know--unless the media has been able to poison their attitudes toward him. People just won't believe that a politician will sincerely tell the truth I guess. Cynical times.

[karynnj]

6. It may backfire that they spentso much time this summer

labelling him as cut and run - people may at least remember he had a position.

[TayTay]

7. I agree with Juan Cole

What is the mission?

What is the military mission? I can't see a practical one. And if there is not a military mission that can reasonably be accomplished in a specified period of time, then keeping US troops in al-Anbar is a sort of murder. Because you know when they go out on patrol, a few of them each week are going to get blown up or shot down. Reliably. Each week. Steadily. It is monstrous to force them to play Russian roulette every day unless there is a clear mission that could thereby be accomplished. There is not.

http://www.juancole.com/ 11/27/2006

This is what Sen. Kerry said, back 7 months ago at Faneuil Hall in Boston:

We are now in the third war in Iraq in as many years. The first was against Saddam Hussein and his supposed weapons of mass destruction. The second was against terrorists whom, the administration said, it was better to fight over there than here. Now we find our troops in the middle of an escalating civil war.

Half of the service members listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after America’s leaders knew our strategy would not work. It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion. We want democracy in Iraq, but Iraqis must want it as much as we do. Our valiant soldiers can’t bring democracy to Iraq if Iraq’s leaders are unwilling themselves to make the compromises that democracy requires.

As our generals have said, the war cannot be won militarily. It must be won politically. No American soldier should be sacrificed because Iraqi politicians refuse to resolve their ethnic and political differences.

Our call to action is clear. Iraqi leaders have responded only to deadlines—a deadline to transfer authority to a provisional government, and a deadline to hold three elections. It was the most intense 11th hour pressure that just pushed aside Prime Minister Jaafari and brought forward a more acceptable candidate. And it will demand deadline toughness to reign in Shiite militias Sunnis say are committing horrific acts of torture every day in Baghdad.

So we must set another deadline to extricate our troops and get Iraq up on its own two feet.

Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to deal with these intransigent issues and at last put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military. If Iraqis aren’t willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, they’re probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave.

Kerry was right to call it a civil war and oh so right to try and get the US out of there. BTW, there have been 530 deaths of US troops in Iraq since 4/22/06. There have been 388 deaths of US troops (alone, we can't even count the Iraqi deaths) since the Iraq Withdrawal Resolution (the Kerry/Feingold Amendment) failed on 6/22/06.

[beachmom]

8. Yep -- he was right. But I do wonder if he is going to alter his

rhetoric as to the prospects of Iraq getting better. Back in June, when he debated Sen. Warner on the Senate floor, he said that he hadn't given up on Iraq -- that there was still hope. He also said that if the Maliki government failed, then even his plan wouldn't work (I am relying on my memory here -- but he said his diplomatic plan, the training, the timetable for withdrawal which could bring about some success in Iraq relied on the Maliki government being a legitimate one.)

What will he say now, I wonder? Because, I do not think Maliki has ANY political capital or control over his country. And, yet, all the news reports still act like he does. Like his meeting with Bush this week has any meaning. I just don't think it does, because the REAL power brokers in Iraq won't be in Jordan.

[TayTay]

9. The last we had in the local newspapers

was this:

Mass. senators taking control, pledge to set Iraq deadline
Sun, The (Lowell, MA) (11-10-2006)
By Evan Lehmann. The Sun, Lowell, Mass.

Nov. 10--WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts' two senators -- who are in commanding positions now that Democrats have taken control of the Senate -- pledged today to champion middle-class families and turn the direction of the Iraq War.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, in line to become chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, would have the power to push a minimum wage increase, expanded stem cell research, enhanced health care and a strengthened No Child Left Behind program.

"The American people voted their hope and their dreams -- and as Democrats we are determined to not let them down," Kennedy said in a statement.

Control of the upper chamber was decided yesterday by fewer than 8,000 votes in the nation's narrowest election this year, a dramatic Virginia race in which Democratic challenger Jim Webb ousted Republican Sen. George Allen.

Allen, who made national headlines this summer when he called a Webb volunteer "macaca," conceded yesterday after two days of uncertain election results. The outcome propels Senate Democrats into power for the first time since 2002.

"With both the House and Senate led by Democrats, we have a chance to get America back on the right track," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said in a statement. "I will first and foremost focus on the disaster in Iraq, setting a deadline so we can end the war and bring our brave heroes home."

Kerry is in line for the chairmanship of the Small Business Committee. He would also control several subcommittees, including the East Asian and Pacific Affairs panel of the Foreign Relations Committee.

[beachmom]

10. From GD, here's a YouTube of Michael Ware reporting for CNN

He actually quotes similar messages to the ones Zeyad posted. The fact that the MSM keeps acting like "civil war" is a controversial phrase shows how far removed from reality they are. Not only have they lacked credibility on their treatment of Kerry, but on something as serious as war, they're just disgusting (luckily, Michael Ware sets that dingbat straight) in how they're never willing to speak with confidence on something so basic as the nature of a civil war. Tell the truth!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7yruTD3amk