President Obama in Cairo – “A New Beginning” … or the Same Story?

By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif
July 2009, The Independent Monitor

The run-up to President Barack Obama’s first Middle East address, entitled “A New Beginning,” was wrought with curiosity and speculation. His views on the Middle East during his campaign and early presidency had been difficult to pin down, and reactions to his statements were, thus far, polarizing. He had made outreach to the Muslim world a top priority, releasing aid to Gaza and appearing on Arabic television within days of taking office; but he had also stayed quiet about his Muslim roots and his level of support of Muslims during his presidential campaign, even failing to speak out against negative comments referring to him as an Arab – and by extension, a negative view of Arabs in general – on Arizona Senator John McCain’s campaign trail. His comments to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in June 2008 were also unsettling to the Arab and Muslim world, as they seemed to exhibit a bias toward Israel – even claiming Jerusalem the capital of Israel – and therefore potentially another four-to-eight years of difficulties and disappointments for them.

His address in Cairo focused largely on cases of Muslim extremism; Israeli and Palestinian peace talks; and Pres. Obama’s efforts to remake the image of Islam in the West. But one subject that was largely absent from the speech was that of the current state of, and military pull-out from Iraq.

He made a point of stating that Iraq was a war of choice – a choice made by the previous administration – and that his philosophy was to “leave Iraq to the Iraqis,” claiming that he would stick to the current plan of removing troops from Iraqi cities by July 2009, combat brigades by August 2010, and all remaining troops by December 2011.

In Iraq, a referendum to be held in July 2009 would decide whether U.S. troops should leave sooner than the previously agreed-upon dates. The referendum was expected to pass, with many in Iraq eager to see U.S. troops leave, as they believe that will bring some normalcy to their lives. Still, there is fear that U.S. troops leaving too soon would only open the door to further takeover by militia groups, an increasing Iranian influence, and the collapse of an already weak government and under-trained security forces.

And there was mixed reaction from Iraqis about his motives and true intentions, as well as the tone of his address to the Muslim world.

"Obama said that the war on Iraq was [the U.S.’s] will, and this fact is undisputed, as they came to occupy Iraq for oil and energy, not to liberate the Iraqi people,” said Sheik Saleh Mohammed, a Sahwah (Awakening) Council leader in Saab Al Bour, in northern Baghdad. “I don’t think they will develop Iraq. These are just empty promises. I think that he will withdraw troops in 2012 because he promised the American people and he will fulfill his promise. But he will not withdraw all the troops. He wants to ensure control over oil and energy from Iraq. He said he will make Iraq a real partner and friend, but I ask, why do they have to stay in Iraq? Why do you want a strong relationship with us, if not only for our resources?”

Sheikh Mohammed al-Khafaji, a leader in the al-Sadrist movement, agreed that Obama’s words were empty and, at times, misused, pointing out his apparent misunderstanding of Islam.

"I would disagree with Obama that Islam is an integral part of America,” he said. “It would have been better to say that Muslims are an integral part of America. The establishment of Islam is imposed on Muslims; while in America, there is freedom of religious observance. And it sounds like Obama doesn’t know much about Islam, as he interpreted the claims of Islam wrong.”

In his speech, Pres. Obama said, “The Holy Koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind.” Al- Khafaji feels that he missed the point.

“The verse cited by Obama allows the killing of Obama himself, because his forces in Iraq kill innocent people and steal public money,” he said. “This is the interpretation of that Quran verse.”

He also thought that such a short timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq would cause problems not only for the country, but for the troops as well, stating that he believed there could be violence toward them during the pull-out.

But Dr. Ismail Haddad, a political analyst from Baghdad, was encouraged by Obama’s choice of words.

“He didn’t mention the word terrorism,” he said. “He replaced it with the words extremism and violence, which indicates a change in American policy towards the war on terrorism, focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan, home to al Qaeda activity, and not focusing only on the military aspects of the fight against extremism and violence. Obama's policy is based on the side of military force to aid the development of areas of activity to undermine the chances of extremism, because extremists use those conditions to recruit new members."

"The world waited a long time for Barack Obama's speech; it was truly unprecedented,” said Dr. Rahman Alkurani, a professor of politics at Sulaymaniyah University in Iraqi Kurdistan. “He wanted to send a message, to launch a new phase of friendly relations between his country and the world – the Arab and Muslim relationship based on mutual trust, respect and common interests – and work to end the conflict between the peoples of the region, and to guide the energies of the development and evolution, rather than being squandered in wars and destruction. He has achieved significant success in winning the hearts and minds of this segment and, in particular, young people.

”We have achieved a victory with President Obama as a senior diplomat, and his country as a superpower, and managed to pull the rug from under the feet of extremists,” he added, “creating a civilization that can accept the ideas of pluralism and a spirit of tolerance and peaceful coexistence between followers of different religions and sects.”

He said he believed Pres. Obama exhibited strength and wisdom, and repeated the words of Thomas Jefferson, that he had cited in his speech: "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be."

Iraq’s Poorest Finding it Harder to Survive

Huda, in the cast, will lose her arm if she cannot get treatment soon. (Photo: N. Latif)


By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif

IRAQ, July 15, (Pal Telegraph) - Asime is 13 and lives in east Baghdad. He has lost both his parents in the last two years, and is now taking care of a sick uncle. With no job opportunities and insufficient help from the Iraqi government, he has had to turn to crime to survive. He hates to steal, but knows that without this, he and his uncle will starve.

"My father died two years ago and then my mother died six months later, so my uncle took me in," he says. "He is poor, but said he wanted me with him because he doesn't have any children, and he knew the orphanage couldn't care for me well. But now, my uncle is seriously ill and cannot work. So, now I have to steal - from shops, or from older people. I steal valuable things, because they can be sold for money.

"I hate to steal. It's bad and I don't have the right to do it. But I have the right to life, and the government doesn't provide enough for me and my sick uncle, so I am compelled to steal, for money and food. My uncle doesn't know what I do. I told him I clean up some of the shops in the market for the money."

But he has been offered work - as part of a gang, which is very active in eastern Baghdad and is known for abducting children of the rich.

"I felt very scared, because this work is very dangerous," he says. "It is reasonable to steal and get the money, but it is not reasonable to engage in terrorist acts for it."

But while he will not turn to kidnapping, he cannot stop stealing. He says he will stop when he can earn enough from a job, or when the Iraqi government will provide enough money to allow him to. But he knows his days are numbered. The Iraqi police will catch him eventually.

Asime is one of approximately 2.5 million children in Iraq who have lost one or both parents due to the war, or sectarian or militia violence. The lack of available work and support from the government or humanitarian organizations has led many children to theft, and some of their mothers to prostitution, just to have food. Those who cannot buy food sift through garbage to find something to feed their families, leading also to health problems that they cannot afford to treat.

Umm Ali lost her husband three years ago. She lives in a very old building in a poor and dirty district in the city of Kut, in southern Iraq. Her apartment has no furniture, does not contain electrical appliances, or cold water to drink to endure the deadly heat of the Iraqi summer.

"My husband was working in the men's clothing store in downtown Kut, when a clash between the Mahdi Army and the U.S. military broke out in the market center of the city," she says. "He was killed in the crossfire. Since then, I have tried to make a better life for my children, but life is very difficult and I cannot provide them with the most basic requirements of life. Sometimes we do not have food for days, and the children have to search for food from the garbage."

Umm Ali talks about the death of her son, Ali, in the photo behind her (Photo: N. Latif)

Sometimes she gets temporary work, which helps feed her six kids, but when she can't work, they find themselves begging for money and help. What money she does get from work lasts only long enough to feed the family for a few days.

In addition to the daily struggles of raising her children alone, she is dealing with a new family tragedy: her son, Ali, 13, was killed by a guided missile that fell near their house, and her daughter Huda, 7, injured by the shrapnel in it, while they were playing outside one day. She could not afford to bury Ali, and had to rely on the help of neighbors and friends. And she has not been able to get medical care for Huda. As a result, Huda's arm is infected, and without prompt medical attention, she could lose it altogether. She says that due to the lack of adequate medical treatment in Iraq, the care Huda has been able to get has not helped her. Her flesh is rotting, and every day that passes without medical attention makes her prognosis worse.

"Our lives were much better when my husband was alive," says Umm Ali. "He was very involved. He provided food and clothing for the family, and solved the problems of my sons, and he was interested in all the details, large and small. But since his death, I think I've lost control of my family, and I worry that they could become criminals and dangerous when they grow up, because I couldn't give them a decent life."

She does get help from some humanitarian organizations, she says, but it's not enough.

"My wish was to see my children get a good education and study in universities and become important people in their community," she says. "But instead they are beggars on the street, and they hardly have any food to eat. They could lose their future and become dangerous to people in their community."

Nisreen al-Musawi, director of the Anwarul organization, which takes care of widows and orphans in Wasit Province in southern Iraq, says, "Widows and orphans suffer total neglect by the Iraqi officials, and the problem has increased significantly over the past three years, especially after the events of community violence, which affected all segments of Iraqi society and the increased numbers of widows and orphans across Iraq."

She points out that while some organizations are trying to help, it is not nearly enough to curb the problems caused by this epidemic:

"We're getting support from some international organizations such as the United Nations and other groups that attempt to provide assistance to widows and orphans," she says, "as well as some support from the Iraqi government, some Iraqi officials, the American forces, and some support from the rich, but the Iraqi support is not sufficient for the needs of this large army of widows and orphans."

She feels that there could have been preventative measures taken to stop this situation from occurring, but that the government did not take care of it when it should have. She fears for the future of these families, as well as the impact it could have on the country.

"Terrorist organizations, militias and al-Qaeda are trying to recruit the largest possible number of widows and orphans to their side in the fight against the U.S. military or Iraqi security forces, and they have succeeded in that because widows and orphans are suffering from neglect in Iraq and suffering from hunger and difficult living conditions," she says. "This is what makes them easy targets for al-Qaeda and militias. There is a huge number of widows and orphans at their disposal."

Umm Mohammed is a widow who lives next door to Umm Ali. The fatigue her life causes her shows on her face and can be heard in her voice. She is the mother of four young boys - Mohammed, 12, Ahmed, 10, Mazin, 8, and Moualk, 3. She has a job cleaning a school nearby so she can provide for them, but comes home so tired she finds it hard to do much more. She is considering taking them out of school so they can work and help her, as school and living costs have risen steeply, and state funds don't cover enough of the expenses.

"The state provides less than $100 per month, which is not enough to take care of the family for three days," she says. "Iraq is a country very rich in resources, sufficient to provide a decent life for all Iraqis. The Iraqi officials should stop the theft of Iraqi funds and channel these funds for the widows and orphans, because we are ready to do anything to get food and clothing."

But she is concerned that her children will also be willing to do anything for money, including turning to crime, and she is very concerned about their future.

"I have many friends who are widows, and they are all suffering from ill-treatment by the Iraqi government," she says. "There are no jobs for them or their children, and they are living in very difficult circumstances. Some of them have to work as prostitutes.

"We do not have the simple necessities of life. We live in apartments built in the sixties, and these apartments may collapse at any moment. We do not have any furniture in my house, and we eat very bad food. Perhaps some animals eat better meals."

With tens of thousands of families living below the poverty level in Wasit Province alone, and no government solution on the horizon, al-Musawi fears the humanitarian crisis will only worsen.

Sameh Habeeb: A Voice from Gaza Speaks to the World

By Sarah Price
July 2009 (The Independent Monitor)

It’s January 2009, and Israeli bombs have been devastating the besieged Gaza Strip for days. Hundreds are dead and injured; thousands are homeless; and the UN school in Gaza City, where civilians have been told to go for shelter, has just been bombed.

23-year-old journalist Sameh Habeeb is looking for a way to tell the world. But it is not easy: the power remains out in most of the strip, and as he searches Gaza City for somewhere to connect to the internet – often his only link to life outside Gaza – bombs fall around him.

When he finally manages to transmit his daily reports over a slow and unreliable dial-up internet connection, his words are picked up by friends and readers waiting to hear the updates, but more importantly, waiting to see if he has made it through the night. From his blog – Gaza Strip, the Untold Story – and his Facebook page, his words spread like wildfire throughout the internet:

“Day 9 of Israeli War On Gaza - Death toll 470, injured 2600, disastrous humanitarian situation. The operation started Saturday 8pm accompanied by heavy coverage from
artillery machine, naval gunboats and Air Force. Five key access witnessed the advancement of Israeli army. In the north, a group of tanks and soldiers advanced from Erez crossing and another group from Beit Lahia…”

His reporting began immediately after the bombing started on Saturday, December 28, 2008, as children were walking home from school.

“I was outside with my friends when the bombing started, and we went quickly to our houses and our families,” he recalls. “But it was very sad for the children that were killed that day, because the children were killed and no one knew about them. When they were going out from their schools, the schools were hit, because some of their schools were beside the police stations.”

At the Islamic University in Gaza City – one of the schools bombed during the war – he had studied English Language and Literature, but with the effects of the siege and what he perceived as an international blackout of news from Palestine, especially in English-language news outlets, he knew he needed to find a way to transmit word of Gaza’s suffering to the world. So, two years ago, he began to use his English skills to become a journalist. His experience, contacts, and growing readership helped support his efforts during the war, but it was still a challenge.

“It was very complicated. You had to write, you had to collect news and information about the war, and you had no power, no internet connection, and all these things you need for journalism were not available in the Gaza Strip - especially the power,” he explains. “So, when you are able to collect the news, you are not able to send the news. This is what happened to me.”

His family worked together and became a media unit, gathering news and calling hospitals and ministry departments, then translating the news into English and finding a way to transmit the details. Sameh also gave phone interviews around the clock to outside news agencies.

His family survived the onslaught, but some of his friends did not.

“Some friends of mine were killed, and I witnessed how they were killed,” he remembers. “I witnessed all the suffering. I witnessed how the people were scattered and their bodies were amputated. I saw the blood flowing in the streets near Shifa Hospital. I saw the children crying, fleeing to their houses when the bombing started that Saturday.”

His daily updates on the war brought him international attention, and when the war was over, those who had followed his reports wanted to meet him, and he accepted several European invitations to speak and give presentations about the war and on life in Gaza. Securing a visa to the UK was an ordeal in itself, but he finally made it out of Gaza through the Rafah border to Egypt in early March. He has spoken in more than 15 cities in England, and conducted meetings with parliament members, some of whom have responded very positively to his message. He has also toured Holland and France, and has more trips planned for Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Greece. He is also trying to obtain a student visa, so he can stay and earn his masters degree in England.

But where he really wants to make an impact is in the United States. He believes it is important to show the reality of this life to Americans who may only hear Israel’s side of the story.

“Imagine if Americans were living in the situation we are living in,” he says. “Imagine if you had in Florida, or in Texas, a separation wall in the neighborhoods. Imagine if you had in Washington, DC, 600 checkpoints. Imagine if you could not travel from Miami to Oregon. This is what the American people should be aware of - that we are suffering, we are under occupation, and we are being killed and massacred. We’re not trying to be victims. This is the truth. This is a fact being sent out by Desmond Tutu, by Jimmy Carter, by John Ging, the UNRWA field operations director, all these guys and many others. The American people should change the mentality. Not only listening to Ha’aretz, and not only listening to Fox News, and Israeli-controlled media.”

But, he says, he strives to keep his reports unbiased.

“I am a citizen journalist. I don’t want to be one-sided; I want to be fair in my points. I believe what I do is sacred, because I send out the suffering of the people. I am speaking on their behalf, and no one is doing this mission. I’m not being paid by the government, I’m not being paid by an organization. What I do is personal. I just narrate the stories and accounts from the ground, and let them judge.”

On President Obama’s recent assertions about Palestine, he said he gives him credit for talking about a Palestinian state when so few before him have done so, but he doesn’t want to get his hopes up.

“I want to be realistic about Obama. I don’t want my aspirations to reach the sky, out of nothing,” he says. “Obama is saying there should be a Palestinian state, but he is saying it in an abstract way. He won’t be able to stop the settlements, I’m sure of this. They have continued to build the settlements, despite the Oslo Agreement.

“In Netanyahu’s speech, he was talking about a Palestinian state in which we won’t have control of the borders, we don’t have an army, we don’t have control over the sea or the airspace, we have nothing. So, Obama is positive when he is talking about a Palestinian state, but he is negative when you go into the details about the meaning of the Palestinian state.”

Sameh hopes to make it to the U.S. in the next few months, and is currently accepting invitations from organizations here. He would also like to work in the U.S. as a journalist, translator or interpreter. But his mission remains one of education – the education of a world that has been told that Palestinians are terrorists and undeserving of a homeland of their own, and who will remain without one, if those who know better don’t continue to stand up and be heard.

Iraqis Fear an Uncertain Future

Mohsen Ali sleeps on a Baghdad street corner (Photo: Nizar Latif)

By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif
July 2009 (The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs)

As June 30 nears, Iraqis are waiting to see whether Washington will observe the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraqi cities. According to the agreement, all U.S. troops (except for an estimated 70,000 who will remain in Iraq as trainers and advisers) are to be withdrawn from the country by December 2011.

Under Sunni President Saddam Hussain, Iraq’s minority Sunnis were favored over the majority Shi’i. Even though Shi’i Iraqis are now more proportionately represented in government and other sectors, however, Sunni and Shi’i Iraqis alike expressed mistrust of U.S. intentions. None of the Iraqis interviewed for this article seemed to feel that their lives had improved since the U.S. invaded in 2003.

“U.S. forces entered Iraq six years ago and have not improved my life—ever.”

Mohsen Ali, 50, is a former teacher in Baghdad who now calls the city’s streets home.

“Saddam Hussain executed my two sons in 2000 after they refused to join the Ba’ath party. They cursed the party and said bad things about it in public, so Saddam executed them,” he explains. “After their death, my wife left me. Now I’m homeless. I sleep in the streets and public squares every day and ask people to help me, so I can live a normal life. This was my life prior to—and since—the arrival of U.S. forces.”

Ali, a Shi’i Iraqi, believed his life would improve greatly after the fall of Hussain’s regime. “I thought it would be possible to live in a house, even get a small stipend of aid from the new Iraqi government or from the Americans,” he says, “but the truth is that my life has not changed. President Bush, before he entered Baghdad in 2003, promised the Iraqi people a better life and a better future.”

That future now seems uncertain.

“I do not believe the U.S. troops will get out of Iraq at all,” says Mazen Shojaa, 33, “because the goal of America is to control the wealth of Iraq. The U.S. claims that it will leave in 2011, but this is merely an anesthetic for the Iraqi people. They are lying to themselves and the world.”

Shojaa, a Sunni from the area of Ghazaliya, west of Baghdad, was unhappy with the entry of U.S. troops into Iraq, because he opposed the country’s rule by a foreign force that cared nothing about his people.

“Prior to the occupation,” he recalls, “we had a good and normal life, despite some difficulties brought on by the economic blockade imposed by America, and we had freedom, safety and stability.”

Shojaa says he now fears for his life every day. While he once hoped that U.S. troops would leave soon, with the emergence of Iranian intervention in Iraq and what he sees as the hegemony of some of Iraq’s ruling parties, Shojaa has changed his mind. He now hopes U.S. troops will stay to help Iraqis ward off Iranian influence and interference.

Jamal al-Din Yassin, 56, a grocer from the Karrada district in east Baghdad, disagrees that the U.S. will remain in Iraq past the SOFA deadline, and feels more hopeful about Iraq’s future.

“[They will leave] because the U.S. has suffered much from the occupation of Iraq and has had many of its soldiers killed and wounded,” he argues.

Like his fellow Shi’i Mohsen Ali, Yassin’s life before the occupation was difficult.

“I was bitter and there was a lot of poverty,” he says. “We thought the arrival of U.S. troops could change the reality of the situation, but now I’m afraid for myself and my family because of the loss of security and stability in Iraq.”

Unlike Shojaa, however, Yassin believes Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has made great strides in rebuilding and strengthening Iraq’s security forces, enabling them to take a leadership role in establishing stability in their country.

“I feel that the exit of U.S. troops will not affect the security on the ground much,” he explains, “because Iraq in two years will be far more powerful than it is now.”

Muhammad Ali Ghani, 36, a Shi’i schoolteacher from Sadr City, also had high hopes for what the U.S. troops could do for Iraq, but disagrees that al-Maliki’s government is ready to take over.

“We were pleased with the entry of U.S. troops in Iraq, because we thought America would save Iraq from the dictatorship and abuses of Saddam,” says Ghani. “I was one of the first ones running to welcome the U.S. forces.”

But it soon became apparent that the U.S. didn’t know much about occupying a country, he continues, and the mistakes made in disbanding the Iraqi security forces opened the door to lawlessness, benefitting al-Qaeda and other militia groups.

“The loss of security in Iraq and the spread of corruption in the country and the decline of industry and agriculture all made me feel scared in Iraq,” Ghani says. “I don’t know where to go or what to expect in the future. The Iraqi government’s performance so far is weak. If Iraq doesn’t help itself with national political reconciliation, and by building strong army intelligence and security forces that can function on their own when the U.S. leaves, it could lead to renewed instability. Iraq may disintegrate and become subject to the small neighboring countries.”

Samah Moueen, 48, a Shi’i widow from the new Baghdad district, lost her husband in the Iraq/Iran war. She supports her two daughters by working as a cleaner in a small school in east Baghdad.

In Moueen’s opinion, “It would be very difficult for the U.S. troops to leave Iraq; I think they will stay more than a hundred years. American policy will not change with the Democrats in power. It won’t change no matter what the circumstances. The Americans have been planning to occupy Iraq for more than 40 years. They waited patiently for Iraq to be weak so they could have control over oil resources. America obtained the Iraqi cake and the victim is the Iraqi people, who have suffered the terrorism of al-Qaeda and the militias because of the U.S. occupation.

“I imagine that Iraq will be a real battlefield when the U.S. troops leave, because it doesn’t currently have security forces that can take control,” she worries. “And we also have Iran, which carries a significant weight. Its influence is strong and plays a very negative role in Iraq. So, I hope that the U.S. troops do not leave in 2011. The worst thing for women in Iraq would be if the party that took control was from Iran, or the Islamic government in Iraq.”

As for Mohsen Ali, he says he will continue to hope for the best.

“When the U.S. troops leave Iraq, I hope to find a safe place to live away from the fighting, because I expect that there will be a very bloody sectarian war,” he says. “I will stay sleeping on the streets for the rest of my life, and I have to find a street where I can sleep better. I dream for a good future, either by the Americans or the Iraqi government.”

As Temperatures Rise, Iraq Faces Continued Power Outtages

By Sarah Price and Rawsam Latif
June 12, 2009 (The Palestine Telegraph)


Yasser Rahman extends wires from a large generator in a neighborhood to surrounding homes, whose families, without his help, would spend a lot of time in the dark.

"The work is very serious but we have to work to live," he says. There are few job opportunities in Iraq right now, he explains, and even fewer for those, like him, who lack a degree. So, he takes the work he can get - powering homes and government buildings by extending wires from large generators to the waiting buildings. In addition to extending power from his own generator to houses and government buildings in the area, he also extends power lines from other districts. But it is a rigged operation, and things could turn dangerous for him at any time during the process.

"I know that this work may put my life in danger," he says, "but it's better than being out of work."

With the continuing problem of dropped electrical service in both the public and private sectors, there is an increasing demand for those with Yasser's talents. The labor sector in Iraq is growing jobs and businesses associated with this crucial occupation. Workers earn an average of $50 a month per home for their effort.

"The work I am doing is a kind of humanitarian service to the citizens," says generator owner Omar Rafed Maamuri, who has been unable to get a government job for the past five years. This work, he says, allows him to provide for his family, while making life a bit easier for his fellow Iraqis, who are displeased with the government's lack of service and solutions to the ongoing electricity crisis, and the fact that the citizens have had to take this job on themselves. But the generators are no long-term solution, he says. "They are expensive, unreliable, and use a lot of fuel."

"It's not a process that is fully adequate, but it is better than nothing, with the scarcity of the national power supply," says Abu Ala Al-Zubaidi, 44, from the Noaab Zbbat neighborhood, east of Baghdad. It is not a perfect solution, he explains, but it at least allows them to run a fan and have cold water in the hot summers.

"The Iraqi government must work hard to repair the electrical energy and rehabilitate the dilapidated infrastructure," he says. "We rent electricity from those big generators and we spend so much money. When the summer comes, it's hell for us. Iraqis can't continue to cope with these large and frequent interruptions of power."

However, according to Iraq's Aswat al-Iraq news agency, an official from the Ministry of Electricity announced on June 10 that electricity production has increased by 25% in 2009, and that "this year's production will provide two-thirds of the country's electricity needs... A fair distribution will supply all citizens with electricity for 12 hours a day."

But according to Sultan Aziz, Director of the Media Office of the Ministry of Electricity, the efforts are marred by a lack of funding by the prime minister. The ministry has contracts in place with companies that would facilitate providing the services, but they are awaiting funding from the prime minister towards the signing of the contracts.

There is also a dispute over the division of duties. "We bear the burden of providing fuel for power plants, but this work is the prerogative of the Ministry of Oil, and we need to protect the power lines, and that is the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior, not us," says Aziz. "The road has been difficult for the Ministry of Electricity of Iraq to keep the electric system alive, but we are optimistic about a prosperous future."

In the meantime, Iraqis face months of temperatures expected to be upward of 110 degrees, and in some areas of the country, no more than an hour of electricity a day.

Al-Qaeda Preys on Iraqi Widows and Orphans for Suicide Missions

By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif
Tuesday, 05 May 2009 (The Palestine Telegraph)

WASIT, IRAQ - The number of widows in Iraq due to the war has now topped 2,100,000, according to Iraq's Women's Rights Organization. The Ministry of the Interior estimates that approximately 100 of those recruited by al-Qaeda have carried out suicide bomb missions."

Al-Qaeda uses them for military operations because it's a weak point in Iraqi society; women can pass through without inspection checks at military checkpoints due to Islamic rules, which forbid men to touch women. If they do, they'll be punished," says Samira Mohammed Al Shammari, director of the Office of Women's Rights in Wasit Province in southern Iraq. "Therefore, al-Qaeda personnel, taking advantage of this point, have been successful in the recruitment of dozens of these women to carry out suicide attacks against the Iraqi army and the U.S. military, especially women who have lost their husbands during the fighting, because these women are very sad and hopeless, and they are easier to influence."

According to Al Shammari, widows who have lost their husbands due to violence account for an estimated 40% of the women of Iraq.

Umm Nahla's husband joined al-Qaeda in 2004, under the threat of death. They lived with their daughter in Diyala, in northern Baghdad, and the organization had a stronghold in the region then, making resistance very difficult.

"Al-Qaeda was supported by Arab tribes in Diyala to fight the Americans out of Iraq. They organized several attacks each day in Baghdad, Diyala, Mosul, Tikrit and other cities," she says. "Al-Qaeda threatened to kill him if he didn't join, and said they would kill me and our daughter. So my husband joined them, fearing for his family. He became involved in many attacks on the U.S. military and Iraqi army, and he was absent sometimes for days."

In 2007, he was among a group of 100 fighters in an attack against the U.S. military in northern Baghdad, and was killed in the battle. The group was led by Prince Ameer, a military leader who trained with the Republican Guard under Saddam Hussein.

"The prince told me that he wanted to take care of me and my daughter, and that his wife would provide us with money and food and everything we needed," she said. "I began to fear for the future, and the future of my daughter. Not only did I not know how to find a way after the death of my husband, I did not have any idea how I would continue life and get back any pleasure and happiness. It had been hell since the arrival of the base to our city, especially when my husband joined al-Qaeda."

But the support of Prince Ameer and his wife was not to come without a great cost.

"One day, the prince's wife came to my house and she told me that she would take care of me and my daughter and we started to talk, and I started to complain to her about our future, and she told me to not be worried, and that she and her husband would support us," she says. "We became friends, and she talked about my husband and how he had fought bravely, and that it was now in the hands of God, and how he is in the right place now, because he fought and died for Islam, religion and principle.

"Then she invited me to her house to visit her, and she had invited all the wives, mothers or sisters who lost their husbands, sons or brothers, fighting the U.S. military or the Iraqi army. She said that your husbands have their rightful place with God, and you should get the right place for you, and she started to recruit us to be suicide bombers."

She asked what would happen to their children, should they die as suicide bombers, and was told that they would be taken in by the prince and his family, and cared for as if they were their own children.

"Most of the wives who lost their husbands are unhappy in their lives and have lost hope in life, and you see the misery and unhappiness in their eyes as well," she says. "One of the widows, Umm Mohammed, was always telling me that she wants to die and get rid of this miserable life. She says she has always been eager to bomb herself, as revenge for the death of her husband."

But Umm Nahla was not satisfied with this option. She felt that al-Qaeda had destroyed Iraq and taken it backwards. "I was more concerned about the future of my daughter. I wanted her to get a good education and a great future and a happier life than mine. So I waited for the opportunity to run with my daughter to the south, in order to be safely out of the hands of al-Qaeda, and when I had the chance, we fled to Wasit, for a better life and a happier future."

Al Shammari says, "The Iraqi government should be very serious about the development of the lives of these widows, and provide them with protection and the amount of money they need to live, and provide them with programs to develop skills and find employment for them, because these widows may constitute a significant risk to the Iraqi people, if they are being used by militias or al-Qaeda."

Wasit Province is currently the home of an estimated 1500 Iraqi widows.

However, widows are not the only group still targeted by al-Qaeda for suicide missions; orphans are not immune, either.

19-year-old Zahra's parents were killed in an air strike during an army attack. She lived with her family in Diyala City. Soon after her parents' death, she was taken in by women with connections to al-Qaeda, who later recruited her for a suicide mission.

Wearing a bomb belt and approaching an Iraqi checkpoint in Baquba City, she panicked and wanted out of the mission. Crying, she called over an Iraqi soldier, and told him she was wearing a bomb belt. He calmed her down, telling her everything would be OK, as other soldiers removed the belt from her. She is currently being detained in a women's prison in Baghdad. Women's Rights Organization is arguing on her behalf, that since she was forced into the mission by al-Qaeda, she should not be imprisoned. But the government wants to keep her in the facility until they feel it is safe for her to be out.

According to Ali al-Dabbagh, an official spokesman for the Iraqi government, there are an estimated 2.5 million orphans in Iraq, and, he says, it's more than the Iraqi government can handle. There has been great interest internationally in adopting the orphans, but for many reasons, it is not allowed.

So, with few options for these children, and a government that can't provide for them, they are prey to al-Qaeda and other militia groups who have a use for them. And those who have already lost the most - the widows, the orphans, and the mothers who no longer have children - are still those who have the most to lose.

As U.S. Troops Prepare to Leave Iraq, Who Will Take Control?

By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif
April 22, 2009 (The Palestine Telegraph)



BAGHDAD - The current U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) dictates that U.S. troops must vacate Iraq by December 31, 2011, although it is understood that there may be as many as 70,000 troops left behind as "advisers and trainers;" and a referendum is expected in Iraq in mid-2009 that may require U.S. troops to leave 18 months earlier. Nevertheless, however the U.S. occupation ends, it is expected that this is when the next battle for control of Iraq will begin.

Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army (Jaish al Mahdi) was formed in Iraq in June 2003, but came to prominence the following year, after a major military conflict with U.S. troops in the Battle of Najaf.

The Sunni paramilitary force has maintained its influence in Iraq, and has been a factor in ameliorating the level of violence through al-Sadr's cease-fire declarations.

Last November, he demanded that all U.S. troops leave Iraq unconditionally, or he would lift the cease-fire and "support the resistance against the occupier." However, last summer al-Sadr announced plans to expand the army into a social, political, and religious organization, while still maintaining the militia.

He has left Iraq to study in Iran, raising questions about his continued authority, and whether Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking to bring his own influence to the new Iraq. Who has the power now, and who will have it later, is debatable.

Abu Raed, 44, is a former commander in the Mahdi Army, in the al-Ameen district in east Baghdad. He recently left the militia and is now a member of the Sadrist Independent Liberals political bloc.

He believes the U.S. made its first mistake in Iraq when it invaded and occupied a country it didn't understand.

"Their worst failure was when they tried to divide Iraq into three states: northern, southern and middle, in order to weaken and control Iraq," he says, adding that Bush wasn't expecting the level of resistance that came from the various militias that rose up in Iraq, following the invasion.

"We have not benefited from the occupation - we only got killing, displacement, and robbing Iraqi money and oil," he says. "I believe life will improve greatly with the exit of the American occupation."

He also believes the Mahdi Army is the solution for improving Iraqi lives: "The Iraqi people are currently waiting for relief, and we find the Al-Sadrist line is the salvation and sanctuary to the Iraqi people because it is a line of Arabic people. Many of [al-Sadr's] followers have been thrown into prison, but we won in the last election in many Iraqi provinces, and we have the ability to return to the political arena in the next elections."

28-year-old Malik al-Mohammadawi is a former Mahdi Army fighter who now works in a milk factory in east Baghdad, and is married with children, but still holds the beliefs of a Sadrist follower.

"When the Americans leave, life will become normal, business will return, and Iraq will become more secure than ever before, because the cause of evil and chaos is the U.S. occupation, which wanted to make Iraq a client state. The Americans tried in various ways to eliminate the Mahdi Army, but they failed in their efforts, despite the support of police forces and the Iraqi army. To the U.S. forces, we were still strong."

But, he says, when al-Sadr called for a cease-fire and asked his militia to stop all military operations against U.S. troops, it opened the door wide for the U.S. forces to hunt down the Sadrists, but says they did what they could to ensure that not all of them would be caught, and he still believes in al-Sadr's influence over the Iraqi people.

"I have a great belief that al-Sadr can keep the unity of Iraq and its people, and he can stop the calls for dividing Iraq, and stop the spirit of sectarian division."

But Dr. Malik al-Noimee, a specialist in the study of the militias in Iraq, disagrees about al-Sadr's power in the communities. He believes that with al-Sadr's decision to expand the Mahdi Army from a militia into an organization that also has social, religious and political sects, he is trying to imitate Hassan Nasrallah, commander of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"The power of the Mahdi Army in the community is close to zero," he says. "There is no effect and a lot of militia members in the past are now wearing uniforms and they were forbidden to, before. I am afraid that leaving the Mahdi Army without observing and without control measures by the government will not lead to canceling this phenomenon, and we must exploit this situation. The Iraqi government has to establish new values to replace the sense and ideas belonging to the militia in the Iraqi community, because now militias are closer to death than life."

He also doubts al-Sadr's influence at election polls. "The election results gave a clear size of the popularity of Moqtada al-Sadr in Iraq, although there is a part of those who elected [The Independent Liberals] who are not necessarily in favor of Moqtada al-Sadr; in their eyes, they made the situation worse and there were a lot of missed opportunities for the people of the southern region, in the field of construction and progress."

A U.S. study in 2007 estimated the Mahdi Army force was about 60,000 strong. But al-Noimee believes if al-Sadr called his militia to action today, only about a quarter of that number would show up.

"If Moqtada al-Sadr ordered them to fight, not more than 15,000 fighters would show on the scene." He also notes that the leaders of the Mahdi Army are driven much more by money than by religious ideology, and that an improvement in Iraq's economy could actually hurt the Mahdi Army's popularity and influence.

"The first factor is the strength of the central government, and the prestige of the government in a citizen militia, and then across the country in general; the second is the economic factor: if the government immediately improves the economy of the individual and the national economy, then Moqtada al-Sadr will never get people who listen to him from the communities that are considered the source of militias, such as the poor communities." He claims that many of the Mahdi Army leaders have links to Iran, and that it is having a source of money that really keeps them invested in the cause. "[There are] a very few who are driven by religious passion."

With al-Sadr now living in Iran, there are questions as to his continued influence - but also to Ahmadinejad's increasing persuasion - in Iraq, as Ahmadinejad tries to widen his power across the region.

Abu Raed thinks this is a temporary situation, and one that will be alleviated once the U.S. troops leave: "Iran has very clear power on the Iraqi arena by virtue of its relationship with some Islamic parties, which found Iran to be a safe haven, when they were being pursued by Saddam Hussein. Therefore, those parties have roots and links with Iran one way or another.

I think that after the departure of U.S. troops, Iran would be a stronger influence on the Iraqi arena, by virtue of being a neighbor, an Islamic state, and as a Shiite sectarian. But, Iraq remains an independent, free country.

"There is a difference between Ahmadinejad, who is the leader of a political and military fields and al-Sadr, the religious and spiritual leader for most of the Shiites in the region. I do not think there will be conflict between them."

Al-Mohammedawi agrees: "I imagine that Iran has a major intervention in Iraq by virtue of their many parties on the Iraqi arena, as well as their relationship to those who are of Iranian origin in Iraq, and who are not ashamed, and they do not hide their links to Iran," he says. "But after the departure of the Americans, I believe that the Iranian influence will be less than ever before, because Iran now interferes because of their fearing that U.S. troops should stay close to its borders.

If the U.S. troops are gone, Iran will pull its hands out of Iraq, and its relations will remain good, based on good-neighborliness."

But independent Iraqi Parliament member Dr. Haider Al-Sewedi is not so sure.

"The Iranian influence is very significant," he says. "There is a hidden conflict between al-Sadr and Ahmadinejad, because Ahmadinejad is trying to strengthen Iran's influence in the region, but al-Sadr doesn't accept any external interference in the Iraqi affairs, even if it is a Shiite state like Iran. Al-Sadr sought asylum in Iran in terms of security, only to save his life from the U.S. military. Now al-Sadr has little effect in the Iraqi arena."

With so many disparate opinions about who holds the power now in Iraq, only time will tell who will step forward as a leader after the pullout of U.S. troops in 2011 - or whether anyone will have enough power to step forward at all.

Los Angeles Protests Gaza Massacre

By Sarah Price

The Independent Monitor, February 2009

Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive in Gaza on 27 December, there have been hundreds of protests, with hundreds of thousands of participants, staged worldwide. The first two in Los Angeles were held on 30 December.

The first was organized by LA Jews for Peace and was held at the Federal Building at Wilshire and Veteran in Westwood; the second, organized by the ANSWER Coalition, was staged in front of the Israeli consulate at Wilshire and San Vicente. Unlike demonstrations in protest of previous Israeli sieges on the Gaza Strip, these ones are garnering a lot of attention from local and national media, and many of them have been present for the protests that have been occurring since the start of the war.

There were many supportive car horns, but one protester at the Federal Building held a sign that read, “Honking is not enough” on one side, and “Stand with us” on the other.

The demonstration attracted protesters who were a mixture of Jews, Arabs, and other backgrounds. As well as standing together in protest, many of them found themselves in discussion with each other, until one man approached them to make his own message clear: he claimed the Palestinians could have shared in the prosperity, but chose not to, so they now have what they wanted.

“They just hate Jews and want to kill them all,” he shouted, “so they have to have a wall to keep them out. If they didn’t follow the Quran so much, they could live in harmony with them. But they don’t look at Jews as human beings – they look at them like a space alien would look at a human.”

One journalist, a young Muslim woman, asked for his name, but he refused to give it.

“You don’t want your name associated with your comments?” she asked.

He replied, “No, not really.”

Code Pink representatives were there collecting signatures for a petition they intend to deliver to Condoleeza Rice at the State Dept. At the time of the protest, they had collected more than 3000 names. They have been involved with protests all over the country, including one in front of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s house in San Francisco. But, says one organizer, it isn’t just about the current situation.

“Our call is bigger than this moment,” said Code Pink’s Jodi Evans. “Israel is unconscionable and we need to speak to that.”

She is just back from Iran and says that Palestine is the big issue there. “This started with the way we have treated human rights. Allowing people to be kept in a prison affects our relationships in the Middle East. The US leadership has corrupted the leadership in the Middle East with its ‘you’re with us or against us’ policies. Leaders in the Middle East who want a relationship with us are forced to turn a blind eye to what’s happening. That this can happen in the 21^st century is unconscionable. They haven’t learned that the more you kill, the more you foster hate.”

Jerry Rubin, a Jewish protester, said that whenever he speaks out, he’s called a self-hating Jew. “As a Jew, it is incumbent on us to speak out for peace and that’s what I’ve been doing for decades. People say if we don’t live in Israel we shouldn’t have an opinion, but I don’t agree. The heartbreaking thing is that the closer we get to peace, there are always people there to ruin it. This is the time we should be doubling our efforts.”

He was planning a Bye-Bye Bush Fast for Peace and Positive Change, to last from New Year’s Eve until Inauguration Day.

An Arab protester who identified himself as Hamoud said, “the American media is very selective. In the international media you see more reason. The US government unconditionally supports Israel, right or wrong. All Americans, whatever their background, are for justice, but they are not well informed about the Palestinian people. Our government is always supposed to be for justice, human rights and respect for international law, including the UN resolution related to the Palestinian issue, number 338 [UN Security Council Resolution 338, passed in October 1973, for a ceasefire in the Ramadan War]. But there is no justice applied to them. Hamas elections were monitored and democratic. You have to deal with the whoever the people choose. You have to deal with your enemies, not just your friends. When you bomb and kill women and children and call it collateral damage, you dehumanize them.”

At the Israeli consulate, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters were challenged by a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, kept separate, and on opposite sides of the street, by police in riot gear. Rush hour traffic was backed up for a mile, approaching the site. Crowds were loud and passionate, but peaceful and caused no problems. Despite a large police presence, there were few incidents. One man was arrested after a scuffle with an officer, reportedly because the officer had asked his wife to move back, putting his hand up and inadvertently touching her. The man was offended by this and reacted physically to him. The organizers saw the arrest, made an announcement about it to the crowd and got the crowd chanting, “Let him go!” He was later released and returned to the protest site, to the cheers of the crowd.

Carlos Alvarez, a 22-year-old legal assistant running for mayor of Los Angeles in March 2009, spoke to the crowd. He is very pro-Palestinian, and says Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is absolutely not, and should be removed from office immediately for his blind support of Israel. Mayor Villaraigosa has recently defended his support of Israel, saying, “If someone was launching rockets at us, do you think we would wait for 6,000 rockets to respond? Of course not. We would respond almost immediately.”

At the time of the protests, the bombing campaign was entering its 5^th day in Gaza, and the death toll had reached 400, with nearly 2000 injured. Due to the lack of medical equipment, supplies and medicine, and space and medical personnel in the hospitals, many of the injured were not expected to survive. An aid boat carrying needed medical donations, as well as doctors who planned to stay and help in the hospitals, was intercepted by the Israeli navy, rammed three times by one of the vessels, and forced to dock in Lebanon.

At the time of press, two weeks later, there were more than 900 dead and nearly 4500 injured. More than 1300 of the dead and injured were children.