Go Back to the B3 Home Page
Complaints, compliments, arguments? Email me.
[<< "The Obvious."] [Archive Index] [>>"TBTM Radio #18: 'The Revolutionary Music Special'"]
11/09/2003 Archived Entry: "Hearts and Minds."
Hearts and Minds.
Man, ThugCo has got the whole Iraqi resistance thing so wrong. Check this out.
Sarab rolls up her sleeve and looks at the thick scar across her upper arm. The eight-year-old says she was playing in the bathroom of her house when the shots were fired but cannot remember anything else. 'It is their routine,' said her grandfather, Turk Jassim. 'After the Americans are attacked, they shoot everywhere. This is inhuman - a stupid act by a country always talking about human rights.'
Last September, US forces shot dead Sarab's two-year old sister, Dunya, and wounded two other girls in her family, 13-year-old Menal and 16-year old Bassad. The family belongs to the Albueisi tribe who farm the rich land along the Euphrates river south of Falluja. The Albueisi fought against the British and even Saddam Hussein found them difficult to control. Since April, at least 10 members of the tribe have been killed by US forces, including five policemen.
While the US authorities maintain that resistance attacks are carried out by former Baathists and supporters of Saddam, they continue to ignore the tribal nature of the insurgency which has grown steadily over recent months. Deeply conservative clans like the 50,000-strong Albueisi have codes of honour which they complain the American army ignores at checkpoints and during raids on houses.
They also believe that the Koran demands jihad against foreign invaders. Asked how many American lives should be taken if one of their own is killed, the answer is: 'As many as possible.'
Replies: somebody speaks up.
When I think about you, I touch myself.
Posted by Banrey Gumble @ 11/09/2003 10:45 AM NY
