RIVER:'A Modern-Day Fairy Tale.' Iraqi girl discusses the lie used to decimate her country

This person appears to be fairly conservative - she links to Dilbert, The BBC and The New York Times.

She is speaking highly on there of the woman who was recently shot in the Iraqi council who has been described as being a US hand-picked member and part of the Baath Party hierarchy. They say that the assassination may have been by Saddam loyalists who saw her as a traitor.

But here's what she says:

"The FBI in Iraq who examined the site said they had no idea yet who it could be. Why would it be Ba'athists if Akila herself was once a Ba'athist and handled relations with international organizations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the occupation? Choosing her was one of the smartest thing the CPA did since they got here. It was through her contacts and extensive knowledge of current Iraqi foreign affairs that Al-Chalabi and Al-Pachichi were received at the UN as 'representatives' of the Iraqi people. She was recently chosen as one of three from the Governing Council, along with Al-Pachichi, to work as a sort of political buffer between the Governing Council and the new cabinet of ministers"

Okay, so this governing council woman is helping to set-up the puppet government, helping to coerce the UN into accepting an entirely illegitimate government installed by the US, and this is who this blogger supports?

Yes the posting above is interesting, but I think people need to take a close look at where it's coming from.

Who is this person? Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but why repost links to a site where someone is lauding Chalabi being accepted as a 'representative' of the people?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1046433,00.html

Compare this to the blogger's account above.

--"Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but why repost links to a site where someone is lauding Chalabi being accepted as a 'representative' of the people?"

I think you are reading it wrong. The quotes around 'representative' is from River's original post indicating that this is sarcasm.

She does not see Chalabi or the ruling council as representative of the people of Iraq and considers the governing council a bunch of puppets which they are. You can see this from her previous posts.

Also, I didn't see too much of an ideological difference between what River said about the attempted assassination and what The Guardian said.

I think you are being overly suspicious. From what I've read, I think she is a very well educated young Iraqi female and is definitely the kind of person we in this country need to be listening to and in solidarity with.

The bottom line is we need to listen to her and people like her. Here is the solution she proposed:
"Everyone is asking, ‘What should be done?’. Pull out the American troops. Take them home. Bring in UN peace-keeping troops under the Security Council- not led by America.

Let real Iraqis be involved in governing Iraq. Let Iraqis who actually have *families* living in Iraq be involved in governing their country. Let Iraqis who have something to lose govern the country. They aren’t being given a chance. As long as any Iraqi isn’t affiliated with one of the political groups on the Governing Council, no one bothers to listen.

We have thousands of competent, intelligent, innovative people who are eager to move forward but it’s impossible under these circumstances. There’s no security, there’s no work and there’s no incentive. AND THERE’S NO ONE WHO WILL LISTEN. If you’re not a part of the CPA or one of Ahmad Al-Chalabi’s thugs, then you’re worthless. You can’t be trusted."

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A quick search on Chalabi on her site found these statements:
"We have thousands of competent, intelligent, innovative people who are eager to move forward but it’s impossible under these circumstances. There’s no security, there’s no work and there’s no incentive. AND THERE’S NO ONE WHO WILL LISTEN. If you’re not a part of the CPA or one of Ahmad Al-Chalabi’s thugs, then you’re worthless. You can’t be trusted."
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"Today, September 1, 2003, is an important day. Ahmad Al-Chalabi has finally achieved the epitome of his political aspirations. All the years of embezzlement, conniving, and scheming have paid off: he is the current rotating president. He has officially begun his ‘presidential term’."
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"I wish the reporter had posed the following question: Mr. Chalabi, if the neighboring countries close their borders, how will you make your stunning, historical flight in the trunk of a car when it becomes necessary?"
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"Qambar has no political or cultural scruples. He stoops to vulgarity when he can find no legitimate argument. During one debate on Abu Dhabi tv, he was arguing with another politician named Wamidh Nadhmi. Now, Wamidh Nadhmi is an old respected man who is neither Baathist nor loyalist. In fact, he used to speak against Saddam and the whole government long before the war. He was against the war as a way of regime change and against the occupation- that was the whole argument. So after an hour of futilely arguing that the Americans were right and everyone was wrong, Qambar started getting insulting. Wamidh kept his cool but told Qambar that Ahmad Al-Chalabi was a crook and any group being led by someone so infamous was bound to be a failure… suddenly Qambar jumped up and *attacked* Wamidh on tv! I’m serious- he attacked the man. The poor presenter, Jassim Al-Azzawi, found himself caught in the middle of a scuffle being fought over his head and as he tried to separate them, he kept screaming “What is this?! Gentlemen… what is this?!” So you can see why we enjoy Qambar (almost as much as Al-Chalabi)."
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"There’s a famous Arabic saying: “Al ba3*lu bayn al 7ameer raka9*” which basically means- “A camel in the midst of donkeys is a fast runner”. It is said to describe someone who is considered ‘the best of a bad bunch’. If Qambar and Chalabi are the camels of the INC (perhaps of the whole council), I wonder what the donkeys are like…"
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"The Puppet: Ahmad Al-Chalabi
This guy is a real peach. He is the head of the Iraqi National Congress and heavily backed by the Pentagon. He was a banker who embezzled millions from the Petra Bank in Jordan. My favorite part of his life story is how he escaped from Jordan in the trunk of a car… a modern-day Cleopatra, if you will. When asked if he thinks the war on Iraq was justified, even if WMD aren’t found, he immediately (and rather huffily) replies, “Of course- *I* wouldn’t be sitting here in Iraq if it weren’t for the war…” As if he’s God’s gift to humanity. He’s actually America’s gift to the Iraqi people- the crowning glory of the war, chaos and occupation: the looter of all looters."
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"They were hijacking cars in the middle of Baghdad during April, May and June, claiming that the cars they were 'confiscating' at gunpoint were ‘looted’ (hence, property of Al-Chalabi?). The cars were kept in the ‘headquarters’ and smuggled out of Iraq and to the Kurdish territory. The nicer ones were split amongst the 'members' of the INC. Someone or another who wasn't getting a piece of the action complained to the CPA and Al-Chalabi & Co. were given a collective slap on the wrist and told not to do it again.
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"After this was brought up, Ahmad Al-Chalabi was just charming- he promptly sneered and told the reporter that it was all LIES! LIES! LIES! And just how much had they paid that witness!? Then he continued to insult the reporter, telling him that they had stooped to a new low (Al-Chalabi's specialty) or in7i6a6 (in Arabish)! The reporter asked him about Jordanian allegations and the Jordanian parliament wanting to bring him to justice… he said that it was all LIES! And the Jordanian parliament was a disgrace to the people, etc. He wasn’t a crook, he wasn’t a thief, he wasn’t a puppet. The Iraqis and Jordanians are collectively deranged and ridiculous...

In my opinion, the reporter was asking the wrong questions. He should have asked him how he spent the INC funds given to him by the CIA (certainly not on his wardrobe). "
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"Jordan is trying to get Washington to hand Ahmad Al-Chalabi over to authorities in Amman!! That was great to watch... you know what? He's my favorite out of the whole interim government hand-picked by Bremer. If Bremer has learned anything about the Iraqi people he's been attempting to govern these last few months, he would hand Chalabi over to Jordanian authorities with a red ribbon around his neck (as a sign of good will). I haven't seen anyone who likes the rat (and his buddy Qambar is even worse)."

"From what I've read, I think she is a very well educated young Iraqi female and is definitely the kind of person we in this country need to be listening to"

Regardless of her position in relation to the events in Iraq, and her apparent dislike of Chalabi, I can't help but feel suspicious about anyone who - in the middle of this conflict and it's outcome - provides links to only the NYTimes, BBC, Dilbert, The Onion, etc., oh yes, but then the token Al Jazeera and the token 'Alternet' - a Ford Foundation sell-out that pimps for Lets-occupy-Iraq-for-10-years Howard Dean.

Here's what she says:

"Choosing her [Akila, the woman shot yesterday] was one of the smartest thing the CPA did since they got here. It was through her contacts and extensive knowledge of current Iraqi foreign affairs that Al-Chalabi and Al-Pachichi were received at the UN as 'representatives' of the Iraqi people."

So tell me again how this goes against support for Chalabi? Yes the fact that 'representatives' is in quotes suggests sarcasm, I agree, but is the entire sentence sarcastic? No. So it doesn't make sense to support this woman as getting Chalabi to be accepted by the UN.

Besides, why should we only listen to the Iraqis who have the resources to write blogs? Who is she and where did she go to school? Frankly, I prefer to listen to the people on the streets that Fisk interviews. Would those people be directing me to read the BBC, or the NYTimes? I doubt it.

Besides, saying we 'should' be listening to someone is too controlling for me. I listen to who I want to, who attracts me to listen by who they are and what they put out.

So far, I find her to be a centrist in the middle of an occupation, with a writing talent. BFD.

I also listen to Fisk.

I agree with you that NYT is not a good source, but the BBC which is also not that great does occasionally give out a little bit of reality -- like their expose on Israel's WMD arsenal "Israel's secret weapon."

--"Besides, saying we 'should' be listening to someone is too controlling for me. I listen to who I want to, who attracts me to listen by who they are and what they put out."

You're right. You should listen to what sounds right to you. I really didn't mean to be controlling. I can be a control-freak but I try to control that :)

I would love to hear people on the street. Unfortunately, most cannot afford a computer or the little internet access available -- 12,500 users before the occupation. That doesn't mean we shouldn't hear what those few who do have to say. They are all in this together unlike other conflicts in which the elite usually have different agendas than the less fortunate.

The reason I wanted people to hear and see what she has to say is that she gives out some of the reality happening to Iraqis that you just don't get to hear anywhere (with the exception of Robert Fisk).

For example, in the US there is a racist hatred of Arabs which is so prevalent that it goes unnoticed -- like the air we breathe. This hatred has allowed the US government to undertake policies that would be unacceptable elsewhere -- like the sanctions which in addition to the human toll also set back Iraqi progress (healthcare and education --literacy rate-- to a huge degree). In fact, according to the UN, Iraq was on its way to becoming a first world country before the first Gulf War and sanctions.

This racist hatred has manifested itself in the form of many (not all) US soldiers callously killing anyone they encounter -- and what's worse, no one seems to care.

In this post River talks about an email she received from someone who told her that he would have "vaporized" her had he been at the helm of the US:
"Another comment: of the dozens of emails I got sympathizing with my feelings towards Rumsfeld, the *only* one I got defending him had a few choice sentences in it I thought I would share...

Basically it tells me that Rumsfeld is a heroic and very compassionate man and then continues to say that we ungrateful Iraqis should be ashamed of ourselves, etc. It also claims that I must be a Ba'athist because, of course, who else *except* a Ba'athist would be against this noble war?! (Sad, sad, *old* arguement.)

Another fun line:
'You should be thanking your lucky stars that Rumsfeld, and not Saddam, was in the Pentagon when your asshole buddies flew into it. Otherwise you and your whole family would be radioactive dust right now.'

Apparently, I should be grateful Little Dougie, as I am fond of calling him, wasn't in the Pentagon either, because he finishes his compassionate email with the following:

'If it were up to me I would have vaporized you ten minutes after the Trade center attacks.' "

--"Who is she and where did she go to school?"

River:
"A lot of you have been asking about my background and the reason why my English is good. I am Iraqi- born in Iraq to Iraqi parents, but was raised abroad for several years as a child. I came back in my early teens and continued studying in English in Baghdad- reading any book I could get my hands on. Most of my friends are of different ethnicities, religions and nationalities. I am bilingual. There are thousands in Iraq like me- kids of diplomats, students, ex-patriots, etc.

As to my connection with Western culture… you wouldn’t believe how many young Iraqi people know so much about American/British/French pop culture. They know all about Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brad Pitt, Whitney Houston, McDonalds, and M.I.B.s… Iraqi tv stations were constantly showing bad copies of the latest Hollywood movies. (If it’s any consolation, the Marines lived up to the Rambo/ Terminator reputation which preceded them.)

But no matter what- I shall remain anonymous. I wouldn’t feel free to write otherwise. I think Salam and Gee are incredibly brave… who knows, maybe one day I will be too. You know me as Riverbend, you share a very small part of my daily reality- I hope that will suffice."

I hope you take the time to read at least the comments I excerpted down below. Then maybe you can see why I posted her comments here. What she went through was not exclusive to her but affected everyone in that country.

Here are some of the quotes which led me to post her weblog on this site:
"September 11 was a tragedy. Not because 3,000 Americans died… but because 3,000 humans died...
I get emails constantly reminding me of the tragedy of September 11 and telling me how the “Arabs” brought all of this upon themselves...
I am constantly reminded of the 3,000 Americans who died that day… and asked to put behind me the 8,000 worthless Iraqis we lost to missiles, tanks and guns.

People marvel that we’re not out in the streets, decking the monstrous, khaki tanks with roses and jasmine. They wonder why we don’t crown the hard, ugly helmets of the troops with wreaths of laurel. They question why we mourn our dead instead of gratefully offering them as sacrifices to the Gods of Democracy and Liberty. They wonder why we’re bitter.

But, I *haven’t* forgotten…

I remember February 13, 1991. I remember the missiles dropped on Al-Amriyah shelter- a civilian bomb shelter in a populated, residential area in Baghdad. Bombs so sophisticated, that the first one drilled through to the heart of the shelter and the second one exploded inside. The shelter was full of women and children- boys over the age of 15 weren’t allowed. I remember watching images of horrified people clinging to the fence circling the shelter, crying, screaming, begging to know what had happened to a daughter, a mother, a son, a family that had been seeking protection within the shelter’s walls.

I remember watching them drag out bodies so charred, you couldn’t tell they were human. I remember frantic people, running from corpse to corpse, trying to identify a loved-one… I remember seeing Iraqi aid workers, cleaning out the shelter, fainting with the unbearable scenes inside. I remember the whole area reeked with the smell of burnt flesh for weeks and weeks after.

I remember visiting the shelter, years later, to pay my respects to the 400+ people who died a horrible death during the small hours of the morning and seeing the ghostly outlines of humans plastered on the walls and ceilings.

I remember a family friend who lost his wife, his five-year-old daughter, his two-year-old son and his mind on February 13.

I remember the day the Pentagon, after making various excuses, claimed it had been a ‘mistake’.

I remember 13 years of sanctions, backed firmly by the US and UK, in the name of WMD nobody ever found. Sanctions so rigid, we had basic necessities, like medicine, on waiting lists for months and months, before they were refused. I remember chemicals like chlorine, necessary for water purification, being scrutinized and delayed at the expense of millions of people.

I remember having to ask aid workers, and visiting activists, to ‘please bring a book’ because publishing companies refused to sell scientific books and journals to Iraq. I remember having to ‘share’ books with other students in college, in an attempt to make the most of the limited resources.

I remember wasted, little bodies in huge hospital beds- dying of hunger and of disease; diseases that could easily be treated with medications that were ‘forbidden’. I remember parents with drawn faces peering anxiously into doctors’ eyes, searching for a miracle.

I remember the depleted uranium. How many have heard of depleted uranium? Those are household words to Iraqi people. The depleted uranium weapons used in 1991 (and possibly this time too) have resulted in a damaged environment and an astronomical rise in the cancer rate in Iraq. I remember seeing babies born with a single eye, 3 legs or no face- a result of DU poisoning.

I remember dozens of dead in the ‘no fly zones’, bombed by British and American planes claiming to ‘protect’ the north and south of Iraq. I remember the mother, living on the outskirts of Mosul, who lost her husband and 5 kids when an American plane bombed the father and his sons in the middle of a field of peaceful, grazing sheep.

And we are to believe that this is all being done for the sake of the people.

American long-term memory is exclusive to American traumas. The rest of the world should simply ‘put the past behind’, ‘move forward’, ‘be pragmatic’ and ‘get over it’. "

Or this:
"For me, April 9 was a blur of faces distorted with fear, horror and tears. All over Baghdad you could hear shelling, explosions, clashes, fighter planes, the dreaded Apaches and the horrifying tanks heaving down streets and highways. Whether you loved Saddam or hated him, Baghdad tore you to pieces. Baghdad was burning. Baghdad was exploding… Baghdad was falling. April 9 is the American Occupation Day. I can understand why Bush was celebrating- I can’t understand how anyone who values independence would celebrate it.

April 9 was a day of harried neighbors banging on the door, faces so contorted with anxiety they were almost beyond recognition. "Do we leave? Do we evacuate?! They sound so close..."

It was a day of shocked, horrified relatives, with dilated pupils and trembling lips, dragging duffel bags, spouses and terrified children needing shelter. All of us needing comfort that no one could give.

It was the day we sat at home, bags packed, fully dressed, listening for the tanks or the missile that would send us flying out of the house and into the streets. We sat calculating the risks of traveling from one end of Baghdad to the other or staying in our area and waiting for the inevitable.

It was a day of stray dogs howling in the streets with fear, flocks of birds flying chaotically in the sky- trying to escape the horrible noises and smoke.

It was a day of charred bodies in blackened vehicles.

It was a grayish-yellow day that burns red in my memory... a day that easily rises to the surface when I contemplate the most horrible days of my life.

That was the 'National Day' for me. From most accounts, it was the same for millions of others.

Maybe come April 9, 2004, Bremer and the Governing Council can join Bush in the White House to celebrate the fall of Baghdad... because we certainly won't be celebrating it here."

Or this:
"I don’t hate Americans, contrary to what many people seem to believe. Not because I love Americans, but simply because I don’t hate Americans, like I don’t hate the French, Canadians, Brits, Saudis, Jordanians, Micronesians, etc. It’s that simple.

Although I hate the American military presence in Iraq in its current form, I don’t even hate the American troops… or wait, sometimes I do:

- I hated them all through the bombing. Every single day and night we had to sit in terror of the next bomb, the next plane, the next explosion. I hated them when I saw the expression of terror, and remembrance, on the faces of my family and friends, as we sat in the dark, praying for our lives, the lives of our loved ones and the survival of Iraq.

- I hated them on April 11- a cool, gray day: the day our family friend lost her husband, her son and toddler daughter when a tank hit the family car as they were trying to evacuate the house in Al-A’adhamiya district- an area that saw heavy fighting.

- I hated them on June 3 when our car was pulled over for some strange reason in the middle of Baghdad and we (3 women, a man and a child) were made to get out and stand in a row, while our handbags were rummaged, the men were frisked and the car was thoroughly checked by angry, brisk soldiers. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put into words the humiliation of being searched.

- I hated them for two hours on July 13. As we were leaving Baghdad, we were detained with dozens of other cars at a checkpoint in the sweltering, dizzying heat.

- I hated them the night my cousin’s house was raided- a man with a wife, daughter and two young girls. He was pushed out of the house with his hands behind his head while his wife and screaming daughters were made to wait in the kitchen as around 20 troops systematically searched the house, emptying closets, rummaging underwear drawers and overturning toy boxes.

- I hated them on April 28 when they shot and killed over a dozen kids and teenagers in Falloojeh- a place west of Baghdad. The American troops had taken over a local school (one of the only schools) and the kids and parents went to stand in front of the school in a peaceful demonstration. Some kids started throwing rocks at the troops, and the troops opened fire on the crowd. That incident was the beginning of bloodshed in Falloojeh.

My suggestion? Bring in UN peace-keeping forces and pull out the American troops. Let the people decide who they want to represent them. Let the governing council be composed of Iraqis who were suffering the blockade and wars *inside* of Iraq. People are angry and frustrated and the American troops are the ones who are going to have to bear the brunt of that anger simply because the American administration is running the show, and making the mistakes.

It always saddens me to see that the majority of them are so young. Just as it isn’t fair that I have to spend my 24th year suffering this whole situation, it doesn’t seem fair that they have to spend their 19th, 20th, etc. suffering it either. In the end, we have something in common- we’re all the victims of decisions made by the Bush administration.

On the other hand… they’ll be back home, safe, in a month, or two or three or six… and we’ll be here having to cope with the mess of a homeland we have now."

It was dissapointing to also see that this blogger (now apparently hitting stardom-popular and travelling the circuit in the US) has NYTimes at nearly the top of the list. I guess he wants to hear every detail of every Israeli death, and nothing of Palestinian deaths.

No link to any indymedia site, even though they're all over the world. But lot's of 'bloggers,' music sites, photo sites, just like all the bloggers here in the US who link to only the mainstream news and then their other blogger friends, along with some 'cool' music photo sites.

So what?

But he seems more interesting to me than Riverbend, and has more to say about the political ramifications. However, he seems to disagree with the protestors. Meanwhile, he links to music sites.


Sunday, August 31, 2003 ::

Today we shall have a world premier. An Iraqi blog-fight. Roll up your sleeves Riverbend, let’s talk about al-Hakim’s death.

Two posts [Chaos] and [Position Open]
Look regardless of what he stood for and the fact he and his party are very good buddies with Iran, the significance and the gravity of what happened is not to be overlooked. I agree with you, if SCIRI had its way we would end up as an Iran clone. But he is a religious leader, he is a “Marji’i” and at least for the moment they are playing by the rules. They are adopting a more lenient line, they talk about a constitution and they have Adil abdul-Mahdi who is a very clever man, the people who are behind the curtains are always more interesting than the actual puppets. And if we had abdul-Mahdis in all the religious parties believe we would not have had so much to fear, these are people who know how to walk the narrow path.
http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/

Did you read any of the excerpts from my post above?

About Al Hakim's death, she also said this (viz a viz the US occupation):

"People believe that the ancient “divide and conquer” is being employed. Instead of having Iraqis, Shi’a and Sunnis and Christians, united in a struggle (peaceful or otherwise) against occupation, it’s easier to have Iraqis fighting each other. The resulting sentiment will be that occupation forces are not only desirable, but that they are vital for ‘keeping the peace’. I’m not blaming Americans, specifically- it’s the oldest trick in the book. The British attempted it before them (factional differences), and the Ottomans practiced it for hundreds of years (ethnical differences)."

I admit I didn't read most of them - it's too much (James?), and I don't have all day and night.

What I did read didn't draw me in and make me want to read more.

Why? Because I have different genes than you do, a different agenda, and different priorities. Centrist Iraqi bloggers who are likely to become Journalist-Hollywood stars aren't a priority.

Well, Fred, you may not have to worry about anyone quoting "River" anymore.

It looks like her weblog site has been discontinued by http://www.blogspot.com.

It may just be temporarily down right now, but after trying to get to it for several hours, I'm starting to worry that it has been permanently shut down.

I'll check again in a few more hours, but if it really has been censored, it would be a loss for me at least...

Looks like it was just temporary.

I just tried it now and it's back up...

Here's a very interesting site which River links to in her weblog (Iraq Occupation Watch):
http://www.occupationwatch.org/

It has many articles by Robert Fisk on it and is run by people like Caiohme Butterly who is an Irish member of Iraq Occupation Watch as well as the International Solidarity Movement.

In fact, last year Butterly was shot in the thigh by Israeli troops while in the Palestinian Occupied Territories (it's a shame I have to distinguish which *Occupied Territories* by placing "Palestinian" in front of Occupied Territories, but the fact is there are now Lebanese Occupied Territories, Shebaa Farms which Israel is still in, Syrian Occupied Territories, Golan Heights, Israel again, and Iraqi Occupied Territories, which you and I now "proudly" occupy thanks to Bush and his neo-con allies).