freedom is on the march.......

two stories from inside Iraq, specifically Baghdad, sound exactly the same.....our ongoing occupation is creating a living hell with no end in sight. america is asked to shop more and after we all have a nice holiday the people responsible for this ongoing nightmare are going to roll out their shiney new plan.....just in time for the best weather for warring in the middle east.....hmmmm......my hope for the new year and the future is for people all over the planet to put a stop to all the senseless killing, stealing of resources, and wealth amassing by a handful of men in the shadows. wake up america!!!!!!!! ....freedom is coming here too......

Riverbend from Iraq....

Friday, December 29, 2006
End of Another Year...

You know your country is in trouble when:

1. The UN has to open a special branch just to keep track of the chaos and bloodshed, UNAMI.
2. Abovementioned branch cannot be run from your country.
3. The politicians who worked to put your country in this sorry state can no longer be found inside of, or anywhere near, its borders.
4. The only thing the US and Iran can agree about is the deteriorating state of your nation.
5. An 8-year war and 13-year blockade are looking like the country's 'Golden Years'.
6. Your country is purportedly 'selling' 2 million barrels of oil a day, but you are standing in line for 4 hours for black market gasoline for the generator.
7. For every 5 hours of no electricity, you get one hour of public electricity and then the government announces it's going to cut back on providing that hour
8. Politicians who supported the war spend tv time debating whether it is 'sectarian bloodshed' or 'civil war'.
9. People consider themselves lucky if they can actually identify the corpse of the relative that's been missing for two weeks.

A day in the life of the average Iraqi has been reduced to identifying corpses, avoiding car bombs and attempting to keep track of which family members have been detained, which ones have been exiled and which ones have been abducted.

full post

posted on Thu, Dec. 28, 2006

Reporter returns to Baghdad to find it far different - and worse off
By Hannah Allam
McClatchy Newspapers

Hannah Allam in Baghdad in June 2004.

........Survival is their chief concern, and it's reflected even in greetings. Local custom calls for a string of flowery salutations, but these days the response to "Shlonak?" - How are you? - is shortened to one word: "Alive."

Electricity is on for just a couple of hours a day in most districts. Gas lines stretch for block after block. Food prices are higher than ever, especially for fresh produce, which requires rural farmers to make the treacherous drive to Baghdad markets. The water is contaminated. Gunmen in police uniforms stage brazen mass abductions, evaporating faith in the Iraqi security forces.

full article