Three Iraqi bloggers help tell the Iraqi story

Three Iraqi bloggers sharing their perspectives, hopes and fears.

1) From Alive in Baghdad, a video featuring interviews with Iraqis returning after facing hardship in Syria.

Video: Refugees Return by the Busload
5/19/2008

2) Dr. Mohammed, a 25 year old dentist living in Baghdad, records in his blog, Last of Iraqis, a terrible scene reminiscent of Blackwater that he witnessed while shopping .

Urgent….Attention Required. Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 9:35 PM

Today I have been an eye witness of one of the cruelest crimes committed against innocent Iraqis…I’ve seen something very similar to the crimes of

Black water….

I was shopping at about 11:30 am from a compound of super markets and I saw the Turks shopping, they have parked their cars (armored navy blue Mercedes A class) and they were on foot; carrying their guns and wearing armors, it’s something ordinary to see them there, they always do shopping from there …I was going to that compound when I remembered I want to buy meat so I entered the butcher’s shop which is 50 meter away from the supermarkets, after 5 minutes I went out of the shop and as soon as I stepped out of the butcher’s shop I noticed that the rifle of one of the Turks shot accidentally (or that’s what I think it was) then the other Turks started shooting randomly (I think they though they were attacked), they were shooting at people like they are not humans, they were shooting like they were shooting at dogs…people started to run and others tried to hide and I immediately went back to the Butcher’s shop…they continued shooting and the whole crime took about 1 or 2 minutes then they ran back to their cars and went away without thinking of what have they caused and who was injured or killed, few minutes later I went to the site and I saw the people who were there carrying two men…one of them was an old man injured in the head and was unconscious (most probably he was dead) and the other one was covered with blood but I think he was injured in the leg and torso (I think he will not survive)

…I can’t describe what my feeling was…no words can be satisfactory to see innocent people killed like this for nothing they have done…and the ones who killed them just went away like nothing happened…IRAQIS ARE HUMANS ….the ones who were killed are HUMANS not sheep….

then the people who were carrying the injured stopped taxis and they took them to hospitals…I saw two casualties but some say there were more on the other side of the street…I’m not sure but I saw two…and blood was allover the place…WHY? I just want to know why the Iraqi blood is so cheap in the world’s eyes…I’m sure it wasn’t mentioned in the news and that what makes me even angrier…I swear I felt a deep urge to write this post…this post is one the posts that I really needed to write….I want to expose what happened and I beg anyone who reads it to spread the word because this is the only thing Iraqis can do…there is no one to ask justice from…no where to press charges…justice can’t be obtained in Iraq and justice is not for innocent Iraqis…so the only thing we can do is spreading awareness…Who gave the authority to those Turkish bastards to shoot in a crowded street? Who are they to do that? I want justice…I want revenge for those poor innocent Iraqis who died in front of me and I want justice’s revenge, at least I want the whole world to know what they did, although I’m sure nothing will be done like in the case of Black water…I can’t describe what I felt today…it was a combination of fear (during the incident) and anger, disgust and an urge for revenge after it…I’m in real sorrow for what Iraq is now, I’m in sorrow for the Iraqis who get killed every day in crimes like this and their families can’t do anything, I’m in deep sorrow for those innocent people who died today…I’m in sorrow for the way Iraqis are treated in the "new, liberated, democratic and luxurious" Iraq !!!!

I WANT THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD TO KNOW.

3) An Iraqi 15-year-old girl, “Sandybelle,” writes in her blog, Iraqi Plume, about her plans for the summer, her dream of being a doctor, and her experience of checkpoints and American tanks.

Excerpt from My Hope, Thursday, May 01, 2008 @ 8:45 PM

Cherish for life, for hope and peace.

This academic year is over, and the words filled it with life, hope and peace.

We don’t really know , why we should stand against, but we just know that there is something waiting for us, and we are here to do it.

My dear friend, C.H. asked me about my plans for the vacation. Mmmmm

……

…Situation is not that good, the prime minister announced that the new operation against the terrorists will get started during five or seven days. So, we expect curfews , and inspections.

Today I went to the doctor clinic ( he is very good man, and when I told him about my dreams he kept smiling and praying for me, he said " oh, dear, please go to the college rapidly and let us create our own clinic together!!! I’m sure that you will help me and get the better of me, hehehehe) , and on my way, there were many checkpoints and police cars, we were so afraid and I kept walking saying prayers, and American tanks suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and the soldiers began to shout, they were too angry, I really was soooooo afraid and I could hear them cursing. Later, we could take our home safely.
These days, I can spend happy moments with my sisters, some changing are taking place at our home, new furniture and paintings.

My hope is to become a doctor, and be free and can visit many Iraqi cities to see how the patients are, to support them and create the hope inside them. To visit all the Iraqi gardens and take share in planting roses and trees, in playing with the quarters children, soccer and handball, in seeing all the Iraqis smiling and saying that there is nothing impossible and nothing unreachable.

My hope,
Sandybelle