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id="search"><form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/"> <div><input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s"/> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13625"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/05/international-committee-of-the-red-cross-iraq-activities-update/#comments" title="Comment on International Committee Of The Red Cross: Iraq Activities Update">1 Comment</a></span> Posted on July 5th, 2011 by Burhan Aydin</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/05/international-committee-of-the-red-cross-iraq-activities-update/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to International Committee Of The Red Cross: Iraq Activities Update">International Committee Of The Red Cross: Iraq Activities Update</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/1990-1991-gulf-war/" rel="tag">1990-1991 Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-rashad/" rel="tag">al Rashad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-khadra/" rel="tag">al-Khadra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-qosh/" rel="tag">al-Qosh</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/anbar/" rel="tag">Anbar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armed-conflict/" rel="tag">armed conflict</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/babil/" rel="tag">babil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bala/" rel="tag">Bala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/balad/" rel="tag">Balad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/civilians/" rel="tag">Civilians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/detainees/" rel="tag">detainees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/detention-facilities/" rel="tag">detention facilities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/disabled-people/" rel="tag">disabled people</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/erbil/" rel="tag">Erbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/floods/" rel="tag">floods</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-parcels/" rel="tag">Food parcels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gulf-war/" rel="tag">Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hts/" rel="tag">HTS</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/icrc/" rel="tag">ICRC</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-committee-of-the-red-cross/" rel="tag">international committee of the red cross</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-humanitarian-law/" rel="tag">international humanitarian law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran-iraq-war/" rel="tag">Iran-Iraq War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khanaqin/" rel="tag">Khanaqin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kufa/" rel="tag">Kufa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kufa-university/" rel="tag">Kufa University</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-regional-government/" rel="tag">kurdish regional government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/livin/" rel="tag">Livin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mine-clearance/" rel="tag">Mine Clearance</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/missing-persons/" rel="tag">missing persons</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nahrawan/" rel="tag">Nahrawan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/najaf/" rel="tag">Najaf</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prisoners/" rel="tag">prisoners</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/red-cross-messages/" rel="tag">Red Cross messages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rehabilitation/" rel="tag">rehabilitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice/" rel="tag">rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadr-city/" rel="tag">Sadr City</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-al-din/" rel="tag">Salah al-Din</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shirqat/" rel="tag">Shirqat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/students/" rel="tag">Students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wasit/" rel="tag">Wasit</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-purification/" rel="tag">water purification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supply/" rel="tag">water supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treatment/" rel="tag">water treatment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zaidan/" rel="tag">Zaidan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zubair/" rel="tag">Zubair</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="text-align: left; unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr"> <p>Three decades of conflict have left hundreds of thousands of families struggling to find out what happened to their missing loved ones. Abandoning the search is not an option. Since 1980, the ICRC has spared no effort to put an end to their anguish. Operational update, March-May 2011. </p> <p>"Iraq is currently one of the countries with the highest number of missing persons and, as a result, with the highest number of families seeking information on their missing relatives," said ‘Dika Dulic’, the ICRC delegate in charge of issues relating to missing persons in Iraq. A lack of clear statistics, however, makes it difficult to accurately establish the true size of the problem.</p> <div style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; border-left: black 1px solid; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; padding-left: 5px; width: 48%; padding-right: 5px; float: right; border-top: black 1px solid; border-right: black 1px solid; padding-top: 5px"> <h3>How do I report my relative as a missing person?</h3> <p>The Ministry of Human Rights is responsible for collecting information about any person reported missing in connection with armed conflict or internal violence. The ministry has offices in each Iraqi governorate. In northern Iraq, the Ministry of Anfal is in charge of this issue.</p> <p>The Department for missing persons, prisoners of war and human remains has two hotline numbers: <br/>+964 781 375 7020 <br/>+964 781 375 7021 <br/>and can also be contacted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/mailto:d.mom-mhr@humanrights.gov.iq">e-mail</a></p> <p>Information provided by Basra’s Al-Zubair Centre on soldiers exhumed or otherwise known to be dead can be found on the Ministry of Human Rights website: <br/><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.humanrights.gov.iq /">www.humanrights.gov.iq</a>  You can also contact Al Zubair Centre directly.</p> <p>If you believe that one of your relatives has been killed, you can contact Baghdad’s Medico-Legal Institute by telephone: <br/>+964 78 137 57 655 or by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/mailto:mli_bag41@yahoo.com">e-mail</a></p> <p>In an effort to alleviate the agony of those still waiting for news, the ICRC, in its role as a neutral intermediary, facilitates dialogue between the parties involved in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War and in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, who have an obligation under international humanitarian law to account for those who went missing.Baghdad resident Hayat has led a sad life since her husband disappeared on 8 April 2003. "I lost hope," she said. "In the past nine years I have searched every prison. I ended up convincing myself that my husband Abdallah must have died."</p> <p>In an effort to alleviate the agony of those still waiting for news, the ICRC, in its role as a neutral intermediary, facilitates dialogue between the parties involved in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War and in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, who have an obligation under international humanitarian law to account for those who went missing.</p> </p></div> <p>Baghdad resident Hayat has led a sad life since her husband disappeared on 8 April 2003. "I lost hope," she said. "In the past nine years I have searched every prison. I ended up convincing myself that my husband Abdallah must have died."</p> <p>In April, the remains of 17 Iranian soldiers killed in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War were handed over from the Iraqi to the Iranian authorities under ICRC auspices at the Shalamja border crossing, near Basra.</p> <p>As a neutral intermediary, the ICRC facilitates the dialogue between the parties who were involved in the Iran-Iraq war and the Gulf war and who carry the responsibility to clarify the fate of persons still unaccounted for. This includes: <br/>supporting authorities in the collection of information <br/>facilitating transmission of information between the parties chairing meetings <br/>facilitating joint missions in the field and the handover of human remains</p> <p>The ICRC continues to provide training and other support for the Ministry of Human Rights, Basra’s Al-Zubair Centre of Iraq and Baghdad’s Medical-Legal Institute.</p> <h4>Bringing aid to people facing hardship</h4> <p>Many people in Iraq are still struggling to earn a living and support their families. Between March and May, the ICRC:</p> <p>Distributed over 8 million Iraqi Dinars through cash-for-work scheme, to 450 vulnerable displaced people and residents of Deralok in Dohuk governorate; <br/>Awarded 108 grants to disabled people and women-headed households in Ninawa, Kirkuk, Basra, Missan, Erbil, Baghdad and Sulaimaniya, enabling them to start small businesses and regain economic self-sufficiency. <br/>Distributed individual food and hygiene parcels, including essential household items, to 2475 internally displaced households, benefiting some 14850 people, in the group settlements of Ninawa, Kirkuk and Wasit;</p> <p>Following heavy rainfalls and consequential flooding in Ninawa, Erbil and Salah Al-Din governorates in April, the ICRC assisted affected/displaced households, distributing: 4984 blankets, 634 towels, 1340 hygiene parcels, 1315 tarpaulins, 317 kitchen sets, <br/>763 food parcels, and 11.1 metric tons of rice. The ICRC assistance also reached families affected by the floods in Rabea and Baaj districts.</p> <h4>Assisting health-care facilities</h4> </p></div> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/05/international-committee-of-the-red-cross-iraq-activities-update/#more-13625" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13618"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/04/xinhua-iraqi-public-differ-over-planned-u-s-pullout/#respond" title="Comment on Xinhua: Iraqi public differ over planned U.S. pullout">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 4th, 2011 by Haleema Al-Azzawi</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/04/xinhua-iraqi-public-differ-over-planned-u-s-pullout/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Xinhua: Iraqi public differ over planned U.S. pullout">Xinhua: Iraqi public differ over planned U.S. pullout</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/anbar/" rel="tag">Anbar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/autonomous-region/" rel="tag">autonomous region</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombings/" rel="tag">Bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-squads/" rel="tag">Death Squads</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/domestic-security/" rel="tag">domestic security</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/extremists/" rel="tag">Extremists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/logistics/" rel="tag">Logistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militia/" rel="tag">Militia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/national/" rel="tag">national</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/peshmerga/" rel="tag">Peshmerga</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religion/" rel="tag">Religion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resistance/" rel="tag">Resistance</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadr-city/" rel="tag">Sadr City</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua/" rel="tag">Xinhua</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/xinhua-reports/" rel="tag">xinhua reports</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="text-align: left; unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr"> <p>Little less than six months away from a scheduled U.S. troops’ withdrawal, Iraqi public cannot wait to see the occupiers leave and their national sovereignty restored. Yet unwillingly they expect a continued U.S. presence as few believe the Americans will leave such a deeply-invested and strategically-important place. </p> <p>For Iraqis, the debate on U.S. troops’ departure is intertwined with national dignity, security uncertainty and wariness of its coveting neighbors. Some doubt Iraqi security forces have the capability to curb insurgents and defend the country on their own while others fear a residual American force could sanction continued violence by militias. </p> <p>Quite a few worry neighboring countries will swoop in and exploit the vacuum left by the U.S. whereas a considerable number think the U.S. will manipulate the fragile government behind scenes even if they draw down their troops. </p> <h3>"DON’T EVER THINK U.S. WILL LEAVE EASILY" </h3> </p></div> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/04/xinhua-iraqi-public-differ-over-planned-u-s-pullout/#more-13618" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13367"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/05/15/iraqs-current-status-quo-will-not-continue/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq’s current status quo will not continue">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 15th, 2011 by Ali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/05/15/iraqs-current-status-quo-will-not-continue/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraq’s current status quo will not continue">Iraq’s current status quo will not continue</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abdulsalam-fatih/" rel="tag">Abdulsalam - Fatih</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/american-attempts-to-get-permanent-bases/" rel="tag">American attempts to get permanent bases</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/azzaman/" rel="tag">azzaman</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/maliki-nouri-al/" rel="tag">Maliki - Nouri al-</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation-of-iraq/" rel="tag">occupation of iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/political-failure/" rel="tag">political failure</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="text-align: left; unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr"> <p>Those who believe that the current form of government in Baghdad – the outcome of the occupation of Iraq by American forces – is sustainable are hugely mistaken. </p> <p>This is exactly what worries the current nervous prime minister, who is working hard to strike a new deal that will give U.S. military presence an upper hand in Iraq.</p> </p></div> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/05/15/iraqs-current-status-quo-will-not-continue/#more-13367" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12169"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/#respond" title="Comment on Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 10th, 2011 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-jazeera/" rel="tag">al-Jazeera</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/barack-obama/" rel="tag">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/blackmail/" rel="tag">blackmail</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/crimes-against-humanity/" rel="tag">Crimes against humanity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/crimes-against-women/" rel="tag">crimes against women</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religion/" rel="tag">Religion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanctions/" rel="tag">Sanctions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-violence/" rel="tag">sectarian violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarianism/" rel="tag">sectarianism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sex-trafficking/" rel="tag">sex trafficking</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sexual-abuse/" rel="tag">sexual abuse</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sexual-slavery/" rel="tag">sexual slavery</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sons-of-iraq/" rel="tag">Sons of Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/torture/" rel="tag">Torture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment-levels/" rel="tag">unemployment levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unicef/" rel="tag">UNICEF</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/war-crimes/" rel="tag">War Crimes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows/" rel="tag">Widows</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wikileaks/" rel="tag">Wikileaks</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens/" rel="tag">women's</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>More than seven years after the US- and UK-led invasion of their country, Iraqis continue to endure an occupation that has systematically violated their rights to life, dignity, self-determination and economic development. The occupation has been and continues to be so destructive and so violent that one in four Iraqis are estimated to be dead or displaced. One in five Iraqis has been made a refugee or an internally displaced person (IDP). </p> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p>Serene Assir, <i>The Electronic Intifada,</i> 10 January 2011 </p> <p><em>Serene Assir is a Lebanese independent writer and journalist based in Spain.</em></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11723.shtml" class="external" target="_blank">ei: Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></p> </p></div> <p>In particular, the role and situation of women and girls has declined precipitously compared to prior to the invasion. From torture to rape to assassination, from forced separation for mixed couples to women and their children enduring the death of their husbands and fathers, from a loss of educational rights to expulsion from the workplace and public life, and from sexual slavery to forced flight or enforced disappearance, for the past seven years Iraqi women and girls have endured the most terrifying of fates. They are living at the mercy of an occupation that both seeks to terrorize them into submission, and to use them as objects for the terrorization of the whole of Iraqi society. </p> <h3>No security </h3> <p>Dr. Souad al-Azzawi, who authored a study on Iraqi women entitled "Deterioration of Iraq women’s rights and living conditions under occupation," published in January 2008, told The Electronic Intifada: "The most significant loss that Iraqi women have suffered is a complete and total loss of security." She explained that the loss of security entails both the loss of physical security and "the economic, social and civil securities Iraqi women were so accustomed to prior to the occupation." </p> <p>In fact, it appears that the loss of physical and other aspects of security have a Catch-22 effect on the lives of women. The lack of legal and institutional support for women by an Iraqi puppet government which is at best ineffective has meant that in the vast majority of cases the criminals, mafias, militias, death squads, US occupation forces and Iraqi police and army forces committing crimes against women are not held accountable for their actions. This has in turn encouraged the development of a situation characterized by lawlessness and criminality, in which women are prime targets. As such, many women have been forced to leave their jobs and quit their education, for fear that they may be the next victim of rape or assassination. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, Iraqi women have had to resort to "the relative security of their homes," often taking their children out of school too if they were the only parent able to accompany them there and back. </p> <p>Echoing al-Azzawi’s words, an Iraqi refugee speaking on condition of anonymity said that she was forced to leave Iraq precisely because of death threats issued against her by militias who had found out she was actively working as a journalist seeking to expose the injustices taking place against women. Had she stayed in Iraq, the threats likely would have been fulfilled. </p> <p>"Not only was I being targeted, but I was also without protection, given that Iraq has no government to speak of," she explained. She added that "I could have been killed at any moment, and no one would have been held accountable for it. It was for one reason alone that I fled: because I had no choice." </p> <h3>Criminal levels of poverty </h3> <p>The figures speak for themselves. According to a dossier on Iraqi women published by the BRussells Tribunal, prior to the invasion 72 percent of working women were government employees. The dismantlement of state institutions immediately after the invasion meant that these women became unemployed. Instability and ineffective institutions in Iraq render it impossible to pinpoint the total rate of unemployment today, but estimates range from 15 percent to 70 percent. The few stable jobs that exist, according to the dossier, are usually given to men, though a growing number of female-headed households means that many women need to take extraordinary risks in order to try and cater for their children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Women.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi Women Under Occupation</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>The same economic insecurity affects Iraqi refugee families. Aseer al-Madaien, the Protection Officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – Syria, says that out of 139,000 registered Iraqis in Syria, 28 percent are households headed by women. In total, estimates for the total number of displaced Iraqis, including both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), range up to almost five million, according to the international organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, which believes that there are 2.5 million Iraqi IDPs and 2.3 million refugees. </p> <p>IDPs suffer both extreme vulnerability and insecurity, as they seek refuge in the homes of relatives and friends, said Hana Al Bayaty, member of the Executive Committee of the BRussells Tribunal. Many of them are the victims of ethnic cleansing, whereby a country once free of sectarianism is increasingly witnessing the targeting of persons on the basis of their religion or ethnicity. Mixed marriages in these conditions are all too often broken up by force, according to a report published by the UN-affiliated IRIN humanitarian news agency ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=26268" class="external" target="_blank">Mixed Marriages confront Sectarian Violence</a>," 6 April 2006). </p> <p>The majority of Iraqi refugees have headed to neighboring countries Syria and Jordan, where they are not allowed to work, as they are legally considered "guests." In 2007, the UNHCR reported that an estimated 40 percent of Iraq’s middle class had fled the country. Not only have almost half of those with the qualifications and experience to help rebuild Iraq left the country, but they are also suffering from the most extreme form of disempowerment, according to Al Bayaty. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi explained that "For the educated middle class, this situation is shattering as everything we have worked so hard to earn and build up over decades of war and sanctions is being brought down by military force before our very eyes." </p> <p>Unable to work legally, it is often refugee women who take upon themselves the burden and the risk of working as they are less likely to be asked for documentation on the streets of Amman, Damascus and beyond, and they thereby hope to be less likely to be deported. </p> <p>Unemployment levels in Syria and Jordan, however, mean that even illegal work is hard to come by. It is because of this that the phenomenon of forced prostitution is becoming increasingly rife. The growing problem of sex trafficking is partly caused by poverty. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, the lack of work permits, qualifications and opportunities "leads some women to prostitution in order to feed their children and their families." In other cases, the sheer lack of protection faced by some women push them into prostitution. Problems in such cases include threats of kidnapping issued against women should they not accept to prostitute themselves. These threats are issued especially against women whose husbands are dead or missing. "The women of Iraq live in a very fragile situation as a result of the American occupation’s crimes," al-Azzawi said. </p> <h3>Death, torture and enforced disappearance </h3> <p>No statistical reference can adequately convey the sheer suffering experienced by the people of Iraq, as a whole, from the genocidal sanctions period through the invasion and ensuing occupation. Current estimates place the number of dead at anywhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million. </p> <p>According to Iraqi human rights analyst and advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Up to one million Iraqis have been forcibly disappeared." Behind the enforced disappearances are the US army, Iraqi government forces including the army and police, and al-Qaeda and other militias that operate freely across the country, according to a presentation given by Dirk Adriaensens, member of the BRussells Tribunal Executive Committee, at a London conference organized by the International Committee Against Disappearances on 9-12 December 2010. According to calculations by Adriaensens, based on UNHCR statistics, 20 percent of internally displaced Iraqi families have reported cases of missing children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Disappearances_missing_persons_in_Iraq.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Enforced Disappearance. The Missing Persons of Iraq</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>It is also understood that, given that there is a very real and justified fear of retaliation against families who report the disappearances of their loved ones, many others suffer in silence. Thousands of detainees, some of them in secret, illegal prisons, according to al-Azzawi, are women. Estimates published in 2008 by the Iraqi Parliamentary Women’s Committee and the Iraqi Ministry of Women’s Affairs indicate that between one and two million Iraqi women are widows. </p> <p>Inside Iraq’s jails, legal or not, cases of torture and sexual abuse have been widely reported. Revelations by WikiLeaks published on 22 October 2010 were described by Iraqi activists such as Sabah al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers’ Union, as just "the tip of the iceberg," as he said on an Al-Jazeera English interview on 24 October. According to al-Azzawi, women are usually jailed on trumped-up charges of terrorism, where there is no proof and while there is no adequate legal system to ensure their right to a fair trial. "Many are awaiting execution," al-Azzawi added. </p> <p>Further, when it is the man who disappears, whether he is dead or missing, women and their families have to fend for themselves in a hellish situation. Out of this horror comes forth one of the more obtuse trends, inexistent in Iraq up until 2003, of families giving their daughters away in early marriage for fear of being unable to adequately support them. </p> <p>One immediate effect of this phenomenon is the fact that girls aged 13, 14 and 15 sold into early marriage lose their right to education. As figures currently stand, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report published on 1 September 2010, for every 100 boys in school, there are only 89 girls ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MCOI-89RD6Y?OpenDocument" class="external" target="_blank">Girls Education in Iraq 2010</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>"Lots of those little girls are very bright and are willing to finish their education if they are allowed to," said al-Azzawi. </p> <p>Worse still is the flourishing of what are known as "pleasure marriages." These are short-term marriages conducted out of court, whereby separation is also very simple. It is a practice that Iraqi women’s rights advocates describe as linked to prostitution, because of the wrongful abuse of the practice by men in power, often blackmailing fathers into giving their daughters away in a "pleasure marriage," and also because once a girl or a woman has married in this way and has received alimony for her short-term commitment, she will find it very difficult to reintegrate back into her family. </p> <p>"Many girls are forced into prostitution and ultimately sex trafficking this way," al-Azzawi added. </p> <h3>Forced Islamization of society </h3> <p>It is deeply telling that Iraqi society is becoming forcibly Islamized by militias tied to the Iraqi puppet government, which is dependent upon the United States for its survival. Meanwhile, Washington claims to be fighting a war on Islamic terrorism. The reality, as is frequently the case, is the precise opposite. Previously a secular state, Iraqi society is becoming forcibly transformed into a theocracy. In such systems, women and girls inevitably lose. </p> <p>The results of the proliferation of fundamentalist militias are varied. While reports of Christian women veiling in order to avoid attacks are troubling in the Iraqi context, what is potentially much worse is that the notion of an Iraqi state for all its citizens is fast disappearing. Not only does this mean that Iraqi girls are no longer safe on the streets; it also means that if the occupation fulfills its goals, Iraqi "career women" may be a thing of the past. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi notes that "Economically the country has lost a huge, skilled working force, which is exactly what the occupation planned to do, and the lives of millions of working women and families were shattered." </p> <p>Considering that there is not a single right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the US occupation has not violated — as the International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq team found when working in 2009 to bring a legal case for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against four US presidents and four UK prime ministers — it is amazing yet encouraging that the US occupation’s goals have failed. </p> <p>Not only is the US administration under President Barack Obama still battling to maintain control over a country whose people resist in the name of their dignity and their love for Iraq, but many of the most outspoken and brilliant advocates for Iraqis’ rights in general are in fact women. </p> <p>"I have much hope for Iraq," said human rights advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Nothing will make me lose hope." </p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12078"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/a-pivotal-year-for-iraqis/#respond" title="Comment on A pivotal year for Iraqis">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 3rd, 2011 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/a-pivotal-year-for-iraqis/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to A pivotal year for Iraqis">A pivotal year for Iraqis</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" 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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-forces/" rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-problems/" rel="tag">security problems</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/somalia/" rel="tag">Somalia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombings/" rel="tag">suicide bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/transparency-international/" rel="tag">Transparency International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/walls/" rel="tag">walls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Even with a new government finally in place in Iraq, the country is still on the brink of disaster, writes <b><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Salah Hemeid</a></b></p> <p>Ordinary Iraqis expressed their relief last week at the fact that a new government was finally in place after nine months of gridlock, hoping that this will now be a step towards peace and stability in the beleaguered nation.</p> <p>However, while the breakthrough may have ended the governmental impasse, the crisis has only highlighted the fragility of Iraqi state-building more than seven and a half years after the US-led invasion of the country.</p> <p>The year 2010 did not start off well for Iraq as violence persisted and politicians’ bickering raised concerns about the country’s ability to get back onto its feet after the US withdrawal next year. </p> <p>Thousands were killed, including civilian bystanders, army and security officers and government officials, and thousands others wounded in a string of suicide bombings and attacks in Iraq throughout the year.</p> <p>The violence proved that the Iraqi security forces are not yet able to protect civilians in terms of numbers, equipment and training, while insurgents tied to Al-Qaeda continue to launch attacks, spreading an air of danger in many Iraqi cities.</p> <p>Critics maintain that the newly trained Iraqi armed forces are incompetent and sharply divided along ethnic and sectarian lines and that they cannot be expected to succeed in ending the violence, raising questions about whether the remaining US troops in Iraq will be able to exit the country as many Iraqis desire. </p> <p>The United States has reiterated that it will stick to plans to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by December next year, but Washington might have second thoughts if the new government fails to restore stability and insurgents continue their campaign to bring it down. </p> <p>In addition to the security problems, the newly formed government has to end the chaos in Iraq and deal with multiple political, social and economic setbacks.</p> <p>One of the biggest problems is the deep schism facing the country, which needs to be bridged by national reconciliation. Reconciliation of Iraq’s ethno-religious communities is seen as a necessary precursor to stemming the country’s sectarian violence.</p> <p>There are dangers that the country is descending into a situation in which it is becoming less tolerant in terms of religious freedoms and human rights, as the government fails to deal with increasing fundamentalism.</p> <p>An intensifying campaign is putting more pressure on the government to go after religious fundamentalists, operating in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, who seek to impose their strict interpretation of Islam.</p> <p>There have been widespread reports that these groups have ordered social clubs, bars and alcohol shops to close down and that they are intimidating people who do not follow their version of Islamic values. </p> <p>The crackdown has included shutting music and drama departments in arts institutes, banning arts festivals and circuses, and imposing strict codes of behaviour.</p> <p>The moves have heightened concerns among academics and intellectuals that Iraq, now emerging from foreign occupation and war, is displaying all the tendencies of a Taliban-like Islamic state.</p> <p>The year 2010 was also among the worst for the country’s Christians, with thousands fleeing their homes and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the US-led invasion. </p> <p>The latest exodus follows a massacre led by Al-Qaeda at a Christian Catholic Church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left some 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified.</p> <p>Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack.</p> <p>In Baghdad, as well as in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Christmas services have been cancelled for fear of further violence. </p> <p>After more than seven years of war, the Iraqi economy is in tatters, with the country depending largely on imports for nearly everything from cars to tomatoes. Unemployment is among the highest in any country worldwide.</p> <p>The country also still lacks basic services. Electricity is in short supply, medicines are available mainly through the black market, and there are long lines for fuel in a country that has the third largest oil reserves in the world.</p> <p>Another serious problem is corruption, which is spectacular even by world standards. Iraq is ranked fifth from the bottom of the pressure group Transparency International’s list of 180 nations.</p> <p>Bribery and outright theft surround virtually every Iraqi government department, with some of the kickbacks being used by rival politicians to cement their power bases in order to perpetuate their hegemony in the country.</p> <p>Some two million Iraqi refugees are either abroad or displaced inside Iraq after being forced to flee their homes to safe havens because of violence and sectarian threats.</p> <p>Today, most of Baghdad’s neighbourhoods are shielded by high concrete walls from the rubble-strewn streets and are cordoned off by the security forces as residents are trapped in fear of a renewal of sectarian conflict. </p> <p>However, the good news in 2010 was that Iraq increased its oil exports. New Petroleum Minister Abdel-Karim Luaibi said on Wednesday that Iraq’s crude oil production had increased by 100,000 barrels a day to 2.5 million barrels. </p> <p>The ministry had announced earlier that sales from Iraqi crude oil exports during the first 11 months of 2010 had reached $46.9 billion. Last year, Iraq’s oil revenues reached $41.3 billion, compared with $60 billion in 2008.</p> <p>Iraq might have made other small advances in 2010, especially in avoiding civil war, but the country still has a long way to go. At the end of a long and exhausting year, it is hard to see a clear end in sight.</p> <p>Strengthening the Iraqi state will be hard, especially after the March elections that produced a government many Iraqis consider to be weak, fragmented and incompetent.</p> <p>According to some scenarios for post-2010 Iraq, next year will be crucial as it will see the withdrawal of the remaining US troops. The pullout will mean that the US will no longer have a large foothold in Iraq, leaving the country to local forces and interests as it absorbs the after- effects of the American-led invasion.</p> <p>One scenario is that the national partnership government will succeed in holding the country together and that a strong central government will emerge. This will be able to prevent violence escalating and erupting into all-out civil war.</p> <p>A second scenario would be that the instability in Iraq continues, with the growing confrontation between the country’s Sunnis and Shias over power and resources leading the country into chaos.</p> <p>Neighbouring countries will be fearful of the risk of contagion and will try to keep the chaos contained within Iraq’s borders. A proxy war could be the result, along the lines of what is happening in Somalia.</p> <p>Another scenario would be the collapse of the government because of sectarian fighting and the country descending into outright civil war. This would most likely lead to Iraq’s disintegration with instability spreading to the entire region.</p> <p>The year 2011 will be pivotal for Iraq’s future, and that future will be more than anything else determined by the fortunes of the new government. </p> <p>It is to be hoped that Iraq’s politicians will not repeat their previous mistakes and that they will stand together to end the people’s misery and start rebuilding the devastated country.</p> <p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | A pivotal year for Iraqis</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11830"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/01/children-indulging-in-iraqi-violence-to-the-level-of-suicide-aswat-al-iraq/#respond" title="Comment on Children indulging in Iraqi violence to the level of suicide : Aswat Al Iraq">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 1st, 2010 by Hussein Al-Bayati</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/01/children-indulging-in-iraqi-violence-to-the-level-of-suicide-aswat-al-iraq/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Children indulging in Iraqi violence to the level of suicide : Aswat Al Iraq">Children indulging in Iraqi violence to the level of suicide : Aswat Al Iraq</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/early-warning/" title="View all posts in Early Warning" rel="category tag">Early Warning</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" 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align="right"> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p>Armed groups brainwash them, exploiting their poverty, inclination for revenge and family disintegration.</p> <p>By: Milad Al-Jabbouri</p> </p></div> <p>BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Assa’ad and Omran are almost the same age of eighteen. They share a cell at the Juveniles’ prison in Baghdad, away from their families that live in Dawrah, south of the capital. Both boys joined armed groups and participated in bloody acts of violence in 2006. What distinguishes them is that they are members in opposing groups that kill based on identity.</p> <p>Prison may be the best destiny for the two boys. Hundreds of their peers were killed in battles or were blown to pieces in suicide bombings for which they were recruited by armed organizations.</p> <p>Asa’ad Husam Eddin prefers to stay in jail so that he does not become subject to a tribal judgment that condemns him to death for participating in four members of one family. During his childhood, Asa’ad was known by the name “Al-‘Allas”, a term in Iraqi dialect describing children recruited as informers for armed groups. Among his duties was to select a target and monitors its movements so that the armed group could abduct and execute him.</p> <p>According to his confessions, Asa’ad was active in monitoring people in his neighborhood, and informing Al-Qa’eda elements about their moves, in return for $200 per person.</p> <p>Omran Abbas has a similar record, except that he used to work for the opposing group. He is spending a sentence of 15 years in jail after being convicted of committing acts of violence in Abu Dsheir area, one street from Al-Daourah. Residents of the two areas belong to two different confessions. Abbas was fourteen when he joined armed groups opposing Al-Qa’eda. He participated in acts of violence during the peak of confessional violence in 2006. Shortly before that, his father was kidnapped by Al-Qa’eda, and was later found beheaded in the ‘no-man’s-land” separating the two “fighting” areas.</p> <p>As an act of revenge for a lost relative, or to follow in someone’s footsteps, many boys whom we met at the Juvenile Prison, such as Nathem Jabbar, Mahdi Hassan and Sa’doun, and hundreds of others, fell victim to the phenomenon of recruiting children by armed groups that emerged after the battles of the spring and summer of 2004 in Al-Fallujah and Al-Najaf.</p> <p>A number of armed groups emerged in Iraq after those brutal battles, and spread between Sunni and Shi’ite affiliations. Most of these organizations, however, participated in battles over time, but the major part ended after the spring of 2008. <br/>The most dangerous organization, which continued practicing violence with a steady methodology, was Al-Qa’eda that concentrated its operations after 2003 in Al-Anbar region. It then managed to control a number of cities and governorates such as Salaheddin, Ninewa, South Kirkuk, South Baghdad and North Babel.</p> <p>The phenomenon of recruiting children by Al-Qa’eda developed form training them in monitoring, collection of information and transferring messages among combatants, to planting explosive devices and participating in killings, to carrying out suicide bombings, in the peak of sectarian violence between 2006 and 2007.</p> <h3>Suicide, Revenge and Kidnap</h3> <p>Before that, recruiting children in suicide bombings was rare and rather erratic. The first operation was carried out by a child of ten years in the fall of 2005, targeting the chief of Kirkuk police (250 kilometers north of Baghdad). After about two months, two children carried out two suicide bombings against the American forces in Al-Fallujah, Al-Anbar province (110 kilometers northwest of the capital, and Al-Huwijeh of the Kirkuk governorate. In the summer of 2008, a child of ten years, disguised as a peddler, followed one of the most prominent leaders of Al-Sahwah in Tarmiyyeh area, Sheikh Emad Jassem, for three consecutive days, after which he succeeded in detonating himself near the Sheikh, whose leg was amputated as a result of the explosion. In the same year, a girl of thirteen carried out a suicide bombing in Ba’quba, the central city of Deyala governorate (57 kilometers east of Baghdad) resulting in the death of a number of Al-Sahwah followers.</p> <p>The military leader who investigated that operation, as well as a number of child suicide bombings in Deyala, points out that most operations carried out by children are “revengeful” in nature and mostly take place in areas where Al-Qa’eda influence has subsided in favor of Al-Sahwah.</p> <p>The Media official in Al-Anbar police headquarters, however, sees that “some suicide bombings were not vengeful in nature. The last of these operations were carried out by two children, one of whom had been sedated and the other was mentally unstable.”  The two children were fit with explosive belts and sent to checkpoints. However, a mistake in the timing of the explosive belts enabled the security forces to dismantle them, according to the media official. He further explains that “fitting explosive belts around children’s bodies is a tactic used by Al-Qa’eda over the past years.”  Another method used was to send closed explosive packages by hand with children, and to detonate them from a distance the minute the children are in close proximity to security forces or when they board civilian cars or arrive in markets.”</p> <p>The father of the mentally deranged suicide bomber child says that his son Ghazi was kidnapped from in front of the family house in Al-Khaldiyyah area of Al-Anbar, a former stronghold of Al-Qa’eda. His fate was unknown until he was found near the checkpoint with an explosive belt around his waist. Ghazi’s father is now very worried because his younger son was also kidnapped at the beginning of last October, and might be used in the same manner unless he pays the ransom the kidnappers demand.</p> <p>Dirgham, a mongoloid child was booby-trapped by elements from Al-Qa’eda after he was tempted to buy sweets from a shop near a security center where elements from the police force shop during their break. The child was killed, and with him a number of policemen and shoppers. Despite this, the child’s father refuses to criticize Al-Qa’eda in fear that they might return one day.</p> <h3>Fathers Fear Children</h3> <p>Fear from Al-Qa’eda’s revenge is not restricted to Dirgham’s father, but extends to many people with whom this report-writer talked. They refrained from telling their experiences with the process their children were recruited.</p> <p>A high-ranking officer from Al-Anbar says that sleeping Al-Qa’eda cells become active during certain periods, then go back to sleep, which indicates that risking the exposure of details may not be liked by the organization, and may mean paying with lives. This officer tells the story of three children who burnt their father to death.  The father was a moderate religious man. They placed him between old rubber tires and set them on fire, simply because he criticized Al-Qa’eda.</p> <p>We asked one of the fathers if he had made any effort to prevent his children from joining Al-Qa’eda. He answered: “I lived for years hesitating to take any step such as this, afraid that they may kill me if I went too far.”Although the son left Iraq to a neighboring country after the defeats Al-Qa’eda received, the father continues to be careful that the son may one day return.</p> <p>Faris Al-Obeidi summarizes children’s motives in joining armed groups in two words: “poverty” and “revenge.”</p> <p>An official in research at the Juveniles’ Prison, however, believes that “unemployment and family disintegration” are the main reasons, in addition to some sort of “ideological thought” that prevails at home, as the first incubator that attracts children to the circle of violence. Iraq is “eligible for its children to pursue violence, because it lived for decades in a state of conflict and continuous wars.”</p> <p>Fawwaz Ibrahim, the social researcher relates this phenomenon to the period preceding 2003; the date of the American invasion of Baghdad. Years before that date, “children, named ‘Saddam’s Cubs’ participated in operations of killing and cutting hands and tongues in many areas. Militarization of children was part of the militarization of society which the last century witnessed.”  At that time, “Al-Tala’e organization, which was part of the Ba’ath party used to recruit children in groups affiliated with the authority, to monitor the neighbor, street, the school and even the home, reporting periodically about anybody suspected of opposing the regime.”</p> <p>The researcher connects between the practices of the followers of Al-Tala’e and the specialty of most recruited children in reporting to armed organizations about all details going on in their vicinity.</p> <p>He is joined in this rhetoric the researcher Al-Obaidi: “For a person to be a hero in an ideological army is something like a dream that children have when living in a society dominated by violence.”  Hence, Al-Obaidi sees that “recruitment will not be difficult in a society where children boast about flaunting their power, that starts with carrying plastic toy weapons and forming groups to launch imaginary attacks from one street to another, declaring allegiance to armed groups that have a strong grip on areas, attending their events and military parades.”</p> <h3>Going Along with the Party in Power</h3> <p>Ali Al-Massoudi, the activist specializing in armed groups’ thought has documented a number of the features of children joining armed groups. He sees that recruitment depends basically on “the recruited child’s environment”. In most cases, the child gets carried away with the prevailing beliefs prevailing in his home, street and neighborhood where he lives. Al-Massoudi divides this phenomenon into four levels: Information collection or monitoring (less than ten years), carrying firearms, participating in guard duties and checkpoints (13 – 18 years) and getting involved in violent operations such as kidnapping, killing and participating in street fights (15 – 18 years). The more dangerous level, according to Al-Massoudi, is carrying out suicide operations, normally connected to Al-Qa’eda organization.</p> <p>The first level prevails in “areas that are closed ideologically, especially during the period of confessional violence when armed groups enjoyed the sympathy of the area residents.”  Children grouping t crossroads were active in informing armed men about the arrival of American troops, preparing to detonate explosives near them.</p> <p>One specialist at the Ministry of Interior says that recruiting children is not restricted to one armed group and not the other, “despite variation in the level of their concentration.”  This specialist saw for himself large numbers of children carrying arms at the “Jund El-Sama’a (Soldiers of Heaven) camp in the Zarka area, 13 kilometers north east of the holy city of Al-Najaf, holy to Shi’ite Muslims (160 kilometers south of Baghdad), during confrontations that took place between them and Iraqi forces in early 2007. But he believes that the more dangerous organization for children is Al-Qa’eda, which established organizations specializing in enticing children under soft names like “birds of heaven, youth of heaven and cubs of heaven.”</p> <p>The expert mentioned that the “Birds of Heaven” organization, which was active in Al-Anbar and Deyala when Al-Qa’eda controlled them was for the “children of the leadership and elements of Al-Qa’eda in Iraq.”  The Cubs and Children of heaven organizations were used to “lure children with certain specifications that qualify them to indulge in battles and carry out suicide bombings.”</p> <h3>Camps for Brainwashing</h3> <p>After a raid in November of 2006 on a ‘hideout’ for Al-Qa’eda north of Baghdad, the American forces discovered an electronic storage device that had information on children’s sleeping cells, in addition to details regarding recruiting them and training them for armed operations.</p> <p>The Director of Operations at the Ministry of Interior Colonel Abdul Kareem Khalaf asserts that Al-Qa’eda organization is “the major party that depended on child recruitment from poor families, and those who were subjected to intellectual changes towards extremism through religious training courses organized in mosques without censorship.”</p> <p>The most important areas where Al-Qa’eda trained children on armed operations is Al-Mukhaiseh remote area, which falls within the Humrain hills band in Deyala governorate, according to Colonel Khalaf. “Hundreds of children from both genders were exposed to brainwashing and continuous training under the supervision of experts from Al-Qa’eda, some of whom arrived from outside Iraq for this purpose.”</p> <p>According to Colonel Khalaf, recruitment did not target poor families and those transformed to extremism only. There were remnants from those who were known as Saddam’s Cubs. These form a large group that entered continuous training camps until 2003.</p> <p>The most dangerous children who were involved in armed operations and the most vicious were the children and brothers of activists in Al-Qa’eda. All these, according to Colonel Khalaf, were trained in areas with winding roads and orchards with thick trees and vegetation that are difficult to access, in addition to the remote areas extending deep into the desert.</p> <p>Child training camps spread in areas under the control of Al-Qa’eda for years. There are camps in Deyala, Al-Anbar and Al-Mada’en south of Baghdad, in addition to border areas adjacent to Syria in the west and Iran in the east.</p> <h3>A New Generation of Al-Qa’eda</h3> <p>One of the former Al-Qa’eda theorists told the report writer at a detention center run by the Ministry of Interior that recruiting children “is carried out</p> <p>A New Generation of Al-Qa’eda</p> <p>One of Al-Qa’eda’s former theoreticians tells the report writer from his Interior Ministry prison cell that the recruitment of children is “done under the direct supervision of Al-Qa’eda leaderships.”  The first step begins by “encouraging the children to take Quran memorization classes,” especially those who have specific characteristics, such a good build and excessive obedience.  Hikmat adds:  “We take into consideration the family they belong to, whether it is known for radicalism or not.  Then we join them to groups older of age to nourish them intellectually in preparation for giving them assignments, like moving cash and publications for the organization’s members.”  After that, “they are assigned to transport explosive devices and sometimes planting them in certain areas, then we put them in armed operations that sometimes require them to engage in direct confrontations.”</p> <p>One of the dissents of Al-Qa’eda gives an expanded description of the stages of building the children’s networks by specialists in Al-Qa’eda who succeeded in brainwashing the brains of a large number of children whose fathers or brothers had been killed.  Abul Waleed is a nickname that a man in his late forties gave himself who previously worked with Al-Qa’eda, then moved to Al-Sahwah forces before he ultimately abandoned both and secluded himself in a house he rented in a area on the outreaches of southern Baghdad.  Abul Waleed says:  “The first cells specializing in child recruitment launched after the battles of 2004 south of the capital city and included nearly 100 children who were carefully selected to ensure that they fulfill dangerous duties, foremost suicide bombings.”</p> <p>Abul Waleed summarizes Al-Qa’eda’s strategy for recruiting this youth by saying that children are registered in religious classes that focus on “Quranic verses and sayings by the Prophet that encourage fighting the enemies, the infidels and the renegades.”  After that, says Abul Waleed, they are shown videos of suicide operations previously executed by the organization’s members in Iraq and Afghanistan against foreign forces.  Experts seek to convince the youth that they can do this to preserve the faith and that they will be heroes of Islam and remembered by future generations.  This thought in particular “was the obsession that the experts use to influence the thoughts of most of the youth and ensures that the spirit of bravery and courage is raised within them.”</p> <p>The majority of those selected for the child recruitment cells, Abul Waleed discloses, are the offspring of Al-Qa’eda members or who known for their hard-line tendencies at an early age.  Some “begin the recruitment stage with enthusiasm but soon try to backtrack, and therefore Al-Qa’eda is forced to make them continue by threatening to tell their parents or the authorities about their participation in the training or threaten to kill them or liquidate their families if they change their minds.”</p> <p>The most dangerous, says Abul Waleed, are “those that have lost their parents at the hands of the American or Iraqi forces or even as a result of internal strife.”  These “do not need much effort to be encouraged to execute combat and even suicide operations.  It is enough to concentrate on the idea that they will be avenging their murdered family if they execute suicide operations.”</p> <p>Child recruitment serves four purposes: </p> <ul> <li>Ensuring that there are new combatant generation that expand the presence of the organization, increase its power and assault and make up for the deficit of combatants, which the organization suffered from after losing the areas near Syria to Al-Sahwah forces and the security forces. </li> <li>Taking advantage of children’s easy movement and that the security authorities do not pay attention to them or doubt them when they cross check points. </li> <li>Maintaining the momentum of suicide operations that kill more people and give the organization attention in the media, thus increasing the terror it spreads. </li> <li>Bring in more combatants by promoting the idea that children are braver than men who failed to join Al-Qa’eda to fight for the sake of God.</li> </ul> <p>Abul Waleed states here that the leader of Al-Qa’eda in Iraq, Abu Mos’ab Al-Zarqawi, who was killed in American air raid in mid 2006, addressed an audio message chastising the men who did not join the organization after a woman executed a suicide operation in Deyala (see link 2).</p> <h3>The Young Instead of the Old</h3> <p>A high level security source in Al-Anbar province adds a fifth reason that he says he had seen up close and personal.  The majority of children’s suicide attacks were directed at Al-Sahwah men, which means that Al-Qa’eda wanted to terrorize the Al-Sahwah men and tell them they are “killed at the hands of their children.”</p> <p>Researcher Faris Al-Obeidi confirms what Abul Waleed says and adds that Al-Qa’eda did not keep the recruitment of children secret, but rather promoted them and featured trainings on websites and YouTube.</p> <p>Al-Obeidi refers to a videotape of children between 10-12 years of age wearing black clothes and covering their faces with masks as Al-Qa’eda members do, and training on weapons, make-belief kidnapping, breaking into a house after climbing its walls.  The videotape was shown extensively (see link 3) after Al-Qa’eda lost much of its popularity in its home environment, believes Al-Obeidi, and after the process of recruiting local combatants became difficult and bringing in foreign combatants even more difficult because of the control of the Iraqi forces on most of the border line with Syria.</p> <p>The sheikh and speaker of one of the mosques in the city of Ramadi in the center of Al-Anbar province pointed to a “jurisprudence dispute about the dividing line between childhood and manhood”, and believed that “this dispute helped Al-Qa’eda penetrate into the minds of targeted people and facilitated the consideration of children’s recruitment as a legitimate matter.”</p> <p>The sheikh, who is considered one of the leading moderate men of religion in Al-Ramadi city, reminded that Islam “banned the use of children and women in the execution of any acts that anger God and their recruitment for the purpose of executing suicide actions that lead to the killing of innocent people, whether civilians or even policemen, and it is prohibited.”</p> <p>While religious scholars agree that Jihad is a duty of every Muslim, but it is “within conditions specified in the Islamic Sharia Law, most important of which that it must be based on wrong jurisprudence, such as rendering another an apostate or deciding that he has violated religion because he disagreed on jurisprudence issues, as Al-Qa’eda does and which has rendered everyone an apostate, including the followers of the Sunni sects that do not support it.”</p> <p>The sheikh expresses regret that hard-line ideas calling for killing are spreading mostly in the rigid tribal communities, where the level of education is low and the culture of violence is prolific, unlike the moderate environment that is considered strongholds for moderate men of religion who cannot guarantee the security of their lives if they propose their ideas outside of this environment.</p> <p>The word “Jihad” captivated the young boy, Yaser Thanoun, and encouraged him to work with Al-Qa’eda.  His elder brother was killed in Al-Fallujah battles in 2004.  Yaser completely believes that resisting the occupation is a duty for every Muslim, and says:  “I did not join Al-Qa’eda in search of money, as some of my friends have.”  He settled for an income of 70,000 to 100,000 Dinars (around $80) to cover his expenses after blowing up every explosive or carrying out a combat operation against the government forces.  After the death of his combatant brother, Yaser had to join the organization on a full time basis and left his work as a smith that was providing for his family.  “The money was not my objective, but rather the Jihad against the occupiers,” says Yaser, who was captured after he engaged in battle against Iraqi police personnel in Fallujah in 2008.</p> <p>The situation is different for Nuseir.  His belief in the necessity of Jihad was not the thing that pushed him to join the armed groups.  His friends were the ones that convinced him to take part in the armed operations with them under the command of Al-Qa’eda.</p> <p>Nuseir’s father spoke proudly with a tone of sadness of his son.  After Nuseir trained to use weapons and launch rockets, his father says, “he participated in the bombing of American forces in Al-Mazra’a area in the east of Fallujah, then the joint check point at the city’s entrance.”  After that, Nuseir joined the armed factions in battle in the city, and was arrested in 2007 and was transported to Boca prison.  He remained in prison for one year and a half until he was released under the general pardon.  He was soon killed by an unknown group when he was walking in the city.</p> <p>The bereaved father refuses to talk about his son’s movements after he got out of prison.  Yet he confirms that “he received threats from groups that the opponents of the group he belonged to,” in an indication that he was back with his initial group.</p> <p>The mourning father criticizes “the government for releasing so many of the prisoners before they were able to reform them and convince them to abandon the violence.”  He demands the government to monitor “the mosques which have become in their majority lairs that attract the youth.”</p> <h3>The responsibility of the family</h3> <p>Senior Secretary General of the Interior Ministry, Adnan Al-Asadi, however, accuses the children’s families of being the first to bring harm to them because they left them unobserved.</p> <p>Al-Asadi says:  “The boys who got involved in armed groups found the easy money and social influence an earning worth the risk by working with Al-Qa’eda members.”  Al-Asadi however believes, and according to the results of investigations with a large number of the “Birds of Heaven” children and “the boys of heaven”, that the number of suicide operations executed by children is “small” compared to other types of operations such as “monitoring and logistical support for the militants.”</p> <p>The idea of killing, believes Al-Asadi, “is no longer receiving response from the children, especially after the decline of the influence of Al-Qa’eda’s and the armed groups that have lost their strongholds in Al-Anbar, Deyala, Salaheddin, Ninawa and areas south of Baghdad.”</p> <p>Researcher Faris Al-Obeidi believes that rehabilitating hundreds of children who engaged in militant work requires “a great deal of social and government effort and this is difficult to achieve in view of the economic, security and political instability in Iraq.”</p> <p>In the final outcome, these are part of a mobile social system, and if they do not have a sound environment to help them integrate in their societies, “they will definitely go back to the armed groups that had provided them with a sense of belonging.”</p> <p>Juvenile rehabilitation plans currently adopted are not convincing to the prison director, who complains that the building cannot accommodate “the large number of juveniles, given that the current building is a temporary alternative for the original prison that was overtaken by refugees refusing so far to leave it despite all official attempts.”</p> <p>The juvenile prison building is similar to an elementary school.  It is nothing more than a yard surrounded by four prison cells and a few small rooms for the guards, as well as a caravan for the prison director to do his job.</p> <p>The research unit chief in prison that the lack of entertainment facilities and training workshops have not helped the prison staff to lower the number of medical cases that usually accompany imprisonment, such as the depression that many prisoners suffer from because they feel neglected by their own families.</p> <p>The research chief believes that terrorism prisoners are inherently “good” people, but have been exploited and taken advantage of because of their difficult life conditions.</p> <p>A field study by a researcher in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs indicates that family disintegration is responsible for half of the reasons that lead children’s integration in registered organizations.</p> <h3>Field study shows the reasons behind children joining armed groups.</h3> <p>“Family disintegration was the cause that led to the recruitment of 47% of child prisoners into armed groups.”  The researcher attributes this to their residing outside the family home with relatives or friends or in workplaces.  The study found that 63% of those convicted of terrorism have engaged in armed work under influence of friends.</p> <p>The study, which was based on a sample of 80 prisoners convicted of terrorism according to Article 4, indicates that murder represents 56% of the types of crimes committed by children, while 18% of the sample planted and exploded explosive devices, and 15% executed kidnappings.</p> <p>The low educational level was prevalent among the sample.  Half of them did not pass elementary education, and 55% of the sample justified their engagement in armed operation with their belief in the resistance.  Meanwhile, political convictions and affiliations were the cause of 28% joining the armed groups.</p> <p>More than half of the children convicted of terrorism according to Article 4 and are imprisoned in the juvenile prison were sentence to more than ten years.  These are “major” sentences, believes the researcher who criticizes the fact the judges rely on Law number 111 for 1996, which places terrorism crimes under the definition of crimes, stipulating sentences to be five or more years.</p> <p>Indications however show that the rate of children’s engagement in armed groups receded a great deal in the past two years because of improving security conditions in many areas that were previously considered “hot zones.”</p> <p>This improvement, according to researcher Faris Al-Obeidi, “led to economic movement in the country, which in turn contributed to the movement of the majority of youth towards profitable professions and abandoning armed organizations where the work has become dangerous with the increase of the power of security forces.  Moreover, the ideas on which the armed groups were based “receded in a major way and do not have a standing except with religious hard-liners.”</p> <p>Interior Minister Jawad Al-Bolani confirms that Al-Qa’eda’s influence in Iraq was “broken and it has lost control over its old strongholds, which put it in a critical situation that prevents from continuing to recruit children in the manner it has been doing in past years.”  The stage of recruiting children, Al-Bolani says, “is over now, and although there are a few sleeper cells, the intelligence efforts will continue to pursue them and eliminate them in the end, sooner or later.”</p> <p>Researchers Al-Obeidi, Fawwaz Ibrahim, and Al-Massoudi, along with the research chief at the juvenile prison and the researcher in the Labor Ministry, believe that the receding phenomenon of child recruitment is not the end of the story, and that intelligence efforts, no matter how strong it is, will not be able to eliminate this phenomenon completely.  There is always a chance for it to come back if rehabilitation plans that can fortify children and protect them against extremist thinking, which continues to look for an opportunity to prevail once again in Iraq, are not implemented.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=139409" class="external" target="_blank">Children indulging in Iraqi violence to the level of suicide : Aswat Al Iraq</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11700"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/26/exodus/#respond" title="Comment on Exodus">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 26th, 2010 by Ali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/26/exodus/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Exodus">Exodus</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" 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style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; width: 360px; padding-top: 0px"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <strong>From Israel to Iraq, a Christian flight of Biblical proportions has begun.</strong> <p><a title="20100913_cross_with_lights_Arbil by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5117481728/" class="external" target="_blank"><img height="238" alt="20100913_cross_with_lights_Arbil" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459im_/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/5117481728_113dc0d2e6_o.jpg" width="350"/></a></p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>In the centre of the rebuilt Beirut, the massive old Maronite Cathedral of St George stands beside the even larger mass of the new Mohammad al-Amin mosque. The mosque’s minarets tower over the cathedral, but the Maronites were built a spanking new archbishop’s house between the two buildings as compensation. Yet every day, the two calls to prayer – the clanging of church bells and the wailing of the muezzin – beat an infernal percussion across the city. Both bells and wails are tape recordings, but they have been turned up to the highest decibel pitch to outdo each other, louder than an aircraft’s roar, almost as crazed as the nightclub music from Gemmayzeh across the square. But the Christians are leaving.</p> <p>Across the Middle East, it is the same story of despairing – sometimes frightened – Christian minorities, and of an exodus that reaches almost Biblical proportions. Almost half of Iraq’s Christians have fled their country since the first Gulf War in 1991, most of them after the 2004 invasion – a weird tribute to the self-proclaimed Christian faith of the two Bush presidents who went to war with Iraq – and stand now at 550,000, scarcely 3 per cent of the population. More than half of Lebanon’s Christians now live outside their country. Once a majority, the nation’s one and a half million Christians, most of them Maronite Catholics, comprise perhaps 35 per cent of the Lebanese. Egypt’s Coptic Christians – there are at most around eight million – now represent less than 10 per cent of the population.</p> <p>This is, however, not so much a flight of fear, more a chronicle of a death foretold. Christians are being outbred by the majority Muslim populations in their countries and they are almost hopelessly divided. In Jerusalem, there are 13 different Christian churches and three patriarchs. A Muslim holds the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to prevent Armenian and Orthodox priests fighting each other at Easter. </p> <p>When more than 200 members of 14 different churches – some of them divided – gathered in Rome last week for a papal synod on the loss of Christian populations in the lands where Christianity began, it was greeted with boredom or ignored altogether by most of the West’s press.</p> <p>Yet nowhere is the Christian fate sadder than in the territories around Jerusalem. As Monsignor Fouad Twal, the ninth Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the second to be an Arab, put it bleakly, "the Israelis regard us as 100 per cent Palestinian Arabs and we are oppressed in the same way as the Muslims. But Muslim fundamentalists identify us with the Christian West – which is not always true – and want us to pay the price." With Christian Palestinians in Bethlehem cut off from Jerusalem by the same Israeli wall which imprisons their Muslim brothers, there is now, Twal says, "a young generation of Christians who do not know or visit the Holy Sepulchre".</p> <p>The Jordanian royal family have always protected their Christian population – at 350,000, it is around 6 per cent of the population – but this is perhaps the only flame of hope in the region. The divisions within Christianity proved even more dangerous to their community than the great Sunni-Shia divide did to the Muslims of the Middle East. Even the Crusaders were divided in their 100-year occupation of Palestine, or "Outremer", as they called it. The Lebanese journalist Fady Noun, a Christian, wrote a profound article from Rome last week in which he spoke of the Christian loss as "a great wound haemorrhaging blood", and bemoaned both Christian division and "egoism" for what he saw as a spiritual as well as a physical emigration. "There are those Christians who reach a kind of indifference… in Western countries who, swayed by the culture of these countries and the media, persuade eastern Christians to forget their identity," he wrote.</p> <p>Pope Benedict, whose mournful visit to the Holy Land last year prompted him to call the special synod which ended in the Vatican at the weekend, has adopted his usual perspective – that, despite their difficulties, Christians of the "Holy Land" must reinvigorate their feelings as "living stones" of the Middle Eastern Church. "To live in dignity in your own nation is before everything a fundamental human right," he said. "That is why you must support conditions of peace and justice, which are indispensable for the harmonious development of all the inhabitants of the region." But the Pope’s words sometimes suggested that real peace and justice lay in salvation rather than historical renewal.</p> <p>Patriarch Twal believes that the Pope understood during his trip to Israel and the West Bank last year "the disastrous consequences of the conflict between Jews and Palestinian Arabs" and has stated openly that one of the principal causes of Christian emigration is "the Israeli occupation, the Christians’ lack of freedom of movement, and the economic circumstances in which they live". But he does not see the total disappearance of the Christian faith in the Middle East. "We must have the courage to accept that we are Arabs and Christians and be faithful to this identity. Our wonderful mission is to be a bridge between East and West."</p> <p>One anonymous prelate at the Rome synod, quoted in one of the synod’s working papers, took a more pragmatic view. "Let’s stop saying there is no problem with Muslims; this isn’t true," he said. "The problem doesn’t only come from fundamentalists, but from constitutions. In all the countries of the region except Lebanon, Christians are second-class citizens." If religious freedom is guaranteed in these countries, "it is limited by specific laws and practices". In Egypt, this has certainly been the case since President Sadat referred to himself as "the Muslim president of a Muslim country".</p> <p>The Lebanese Maronite Church – its priests, by the way, can marry – understands all too well how Christians can become aligned with political groups. The Lebanese writer Sami Khalife wrote last week in the French-language newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour – the francophone voice of Lebanon’s Christians – that a loss of moral authority had turned churches in his country into "political actors" which were beginning to sound like political parties. An open letter to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, warning him to try to turn Lebanon into a "front line" against Israel, was signed by 250 Lebanese. Most of them were from the minority Christian community.</p> <p>Nor can the church ignore Saudi Arabia, where Christianity is banned as a religion just as much as the building of churches. Christians cannot visit the Islamic holy cities of Mecca or Medina – the doors of the Vatican and Canterbury Cathedral are at least open to Muslims – and 12 Filipinos and a priest were arrested in Saudi Arabia only this month for "proselytism" for holding a secret mass. There is, perhaps, a certain irony in the fact that the only balance to Christian emigration has been the arrival in the Middle East of perhaps a quarter of a million Christian Filipino guest workers – especially in the Gulf region – while Patriarch Twal reckons that around 40,000 of them now work and live in Israel and "Palestine".</p> <p>Needless to say, it is violence against Christians that occupies the West, a phenomenon nowhere better, or more bloodily, illustrated than by al-Qa’ida’s kidnapping of Archbishop Faraj Rahho in Mosul – an incident recorded in the US military archives revealed on Saturday – and his subsequent murder. When the Iraqi authorities later passed death sentences on two men for the killing, the church asked for them to be reprieved. In Egypt, there has been a gloomy increase in Christian-Muslim violence, especially in ancient villages in the far south of the country; in Cairo, Christian churches are now cordoned off by day-and-night police checkpoints.</p> <p>And while Western Christians routinely deplore the falling Christian populations of the Middle East, their visits to the region tend to concentrate on pilgrimages to Biblical sites rather than meetings with their Christian opposite numbers. </p> <p>Americans, so obsessed by the myths of East-West "clashes of civilisation" since 11 September 2001, often seem to regard Christianity as a "Western" rather than an Eastern religion, neatly separating the Middle East roots of their own religion from the lands of Islam. That in itself is a loss of faith.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-exodus-the-changing-map-of-the-middle-east-2116463.html" class="external" target="_blank">Robert Fisk: Exodus. The changing map of the Middle East – Robert Fisk, Commentators – The Independent</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11654"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/21/death-and-body-bags/#comments" title="Comment on Death and body bags">1 Comment</a></span> Posted on October 21st, 2010 by Umm Fatima</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/21/death-and-body-bags/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Death and body bags">Death and body bags</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-ahram/" rel="tag">Al-Ahram</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/american-war-criminals-madeleine-albright/" rel="tag">American War Criminals (Madeleine Albright)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assassinations/" rel="tag">Assassinations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baquba/" rel="tag">Baquba</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/barack-obama/" rel="tag">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/brain-tumours/" rel="tag">brain tumours</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/britain/" rel="tag">Britain</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cancers/" rel="tag">Cancers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/casualty-statistics/" rel="tag">casualty statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/childhood-leukemia-rates-in-basrah/" rel="tag">Childhood leukemia rates in Basrah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cia/" rel="tag">CIA</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/civilian-casualties/" rel="tag">Civilian casualties</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/civilians/" rel="tag">Civilians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-toll/" rel="tag">death toll</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/du/" rel="tag">DU</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/eco/" rel="tag">ECO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/history/" rel="tag">History</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/humanitarian-crisis/" rel="tag">humanitarian crisis</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-committee-of-the-red-cross/" rel="tag">international committee of the red cross</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invader-casualties/" rel="tag">Invader casualties</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invasion/" rel="tag">invasion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-casualties/" rel="tag">iraqi casualties</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-children/" rel="tag">iraqi children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/lancet-survey/" rel="tag">Lancet Survey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/leukaemia/" rel="tag">leukaemia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mag/" rel="tag">MAG</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation-of-iraq/" rel="tag">occupation of iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/opinion-polls/" rel="tag">opinion polls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanctions/" rel="tag">Sanctions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanctions-against-iraq/" rel="tag">sanctions against iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-forces/" rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sewage/" rel="tag">sewage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-contamination/" rel="tag">Water Contamination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/world-health-organisation/" rel="tag">World Health Organisation</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>A new US estimate of the number of Iraqis killed seven years after the US-led invasion serves as a reminder that civilians are dying on a daily basis in Iraq, writes <b>Salah Hemeid</b></p> <p>Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright’s famous quotation apparently justifying the deaths of half a million Iraqi children as a result of the Washington- backed and UN-imposed sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s has often been remembered as a cold-blooded assertion of US policy objectives.</p> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 289px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p><img style="display: block; float: none; margin: 5px auto" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459im_/http://gorillasguides.com/wp-content//20061018_boy_holding_the_feet_of_his_dead_father_hospital_morgue_baquba_october_18_2006.jpg"/></p> <p>Boy Holding The Feet Of His Father Baquba Hospital Morgue October 18 2006. </p> </p></div> <p>The aphorism came to mind again last week when US media reported that the United States had finally released its first official compilation of data on Iraqi casualties, more than seven years after its invasion of the country.</p> <p>The report, posted on the US Central Command website in July, drew little notice until last Thursday, when media outlets published details showing that 63,185 civilians and 13,754 members of the Iraqi security forces had been killed from early 2004 to August 2008.</p> <p>It is not clear why the figures did not include casualties from the immediate aftermath of the US-led invasion in 2003, or from the period after August 2008. It is not clear either how the data were compiled and using what methodology.</p> <p>The figures seem to represent a "policy engineered" anti-climax as the Obama administration, facing a mid- term election challenge, tries to bring an end to America’s misadventure in Iraq.</p> <p>The number of Iraqis killed during the US-led invasion and its aftermath has long been hotly debated, estimates ranging from fewer than 100,000 to more than a million.</p> <p>Knowing how these latest US figures were arrived at would speak volumes about how the United States is faring as it prepares to exit from Iraq.</p> <p>The casualty figures released by Washington are lower than those from Iraqi government sources. Last year, the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights reported that 85,694 Iraqis, including military and police personnel, had been killed from the beginning of 2004 through to October 2008.</p> <p>In January 2008, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that 151,000 deaths had taken place in the country due to the violence, with a 95 per cent confidence estimate of between 104,000 and 223,000 from March 2003 through to June 2006. The figures were based on the results of an Iraq family health survey published in the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>, a respected US journal. </p> <p>Another estimate from the Iraq Body Count, a non- governmental organisation based in Britain that uses media accounts, has put the number of civilian dead in Iraq at 47,668 during the same period as the WHO study. The group’s latest figures for civilian deaths from violence in the country until September 19 2010 stood at between 98,252 and 107,235.</p> <p>A 2006 survey in <i>The Lancet</i>, a British medical journal, estimated that more than 600,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the war, a figure more than 10 times higher than other estimates at the time. </p> <p>Iraq has not officially reacted to any of the studies, though many Iraqis have rejected the new US figures on the number of civilian deaths in the conflict, saying that they are well below the actual numbers who have died. </p> <p>The numbers are misleading, critics say, because they are not based on a well- defined methodology dealing with all violence-related deaths, including assassinations and in operations conducted by the US military.</p> <p>Estimates of casualty figures during the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq have been controversial because of the high political stakes involved and the possibility of manipulation aimed at swaying public opinion. The recent report was prompted by a Freedom of Information Act request from the National Security Archive at George Washington University. </p> <p>Scepticism has arisen about these latest figures not only because of possible discrepancies and the mysterious standards used to establish the magnitude of the casualties, but also because the parties involved have been reluctant to tell the truth about this human tragedy.</p> <p>A fundamental question is why the US military, which bears primary responsibility for the conflict, failed to address the issue start from the start and why it did not keep accurate records on the victims of the invasion and occupation.</p> <p>The military’s apparent incapacity to provide statistics about the causalities of US air bombardments and other related operations is a real and pressing concern.</p> <p>Another question of concern is why the US media, omnipresent in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, has not capitalised on its high standards of professionalism to gather accurate data about the human tragedy in Iraq.</p> <p>The Associated Press kept a record for the period from 28 April 2005 to 30 September 2010 listing some 49,416 deaths.</p> <p>Yet, even more disturbing than these US failures has been the failure by successive Iraqi governments to establish an efficient process of data collection to register the deaths of Iraqi citizens and to compensate their families.</p> <p>Failure to collect data and dodgy statistics are not the only problems. There is also the problem of how to count deaths that are directly related to the war and occupation, separating them from deaths as a result of violence in the country.</p> <p>Absent from the debate is any explanation of the humanitarian crisis that has struck Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, including increasing poverty, unemployment, the deterioration of health services and the destruction of the country’s ecological system.</p> <p>Statistics such as those released by the US military have also largely ignored Iraqi fatalities caused by a lack of clean drinking water and a breakdown in utilities.</p> <p>Humanitarian agencies like the International Committee of the Red Cross have warned that the country’s healthcare facilities face grave shortages of staff and supplies, with the water, sewage and electricity infrastructure being in critical condition.</p> <p>Rates of cancer, leukemia and brain tumours, widely believed to have been caused by US weaponry, have been on the rise, some research suggesting that they rival those reported among survivors of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.</p> <p>The US military’s report on the death toll in Iraq comes at a time when US President Barack Obama has reached his lowest ratings in US opinion polls ahead of crucial mid-term elections next month.</p> <p>The release of the statistics while Obama embarks on a campaign to drum up support for Democratic Party candidates cannot be a coincidence.</p> <p>By publishing a limited number of casualties in Iraq, the Obama administration may be hoping that it can go ahead with its policy of "turning the page" in Iraq, ending the US military presence in the country by the end of next year.</p> <p>Exiting from Iraq would benefit the Democratic Party, whose president vowed to end the legacy of the Republican Party and its president in Iraq. </p> <p>If all goes to plan, Iraq will no longer be front-page news in America, as US soldiers pack up to leave in order to help Democrats achieve some sort of hoped-for victory in next month’s elections.</p> <p>However, the very day this article was sent to print, a spate of bomb attacks across Iraq killed and wounded many people, serving as proof that the threat of death remains a part of daily life in the country.</p> <p>If Albright’s idea that the price paid by Iraqi civilians for US policy "is worth it" can serve as any sort of reminder in this sad chapter of Iraq’s history, then it should be that the US-led invasion has turned into a humanitarian tragedy, as well as an American national predicament.</p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1020/re3.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | Death and body bags</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11646"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/20/what-the-u-s-undid-for-women-in-iraq-a-qa-with-thoraya-obaid-ips/#respond" title="Comment on What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq | A Q&A with Thoraya Obaid | IPS">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 20th, 2010 by Umm Fatima</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/20/what-the-u-s-undid-for-women-in-iraq-a-qa-with-thoraya-obaid-ips/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq | A Q&A with Thoraya Obaid | IPS">What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq | A Q&A with Thoraya Obaid | IPS</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invasion/" rel="tag">invasion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ips/" rel="tag">IPS</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/islam/" rel="tag">Islam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/liberia/" rel="tag">Liberia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation-of-iraq/" rel="tag">occupation of iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rights-of-women/" rel="tag">rights of women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/role-of-women/" rel="tag">role of women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/stereotypes/" rel="tag">stereotypes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/thoraya-obaid/" rel="tag">Thoraya Obaid</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/un/" rel="tag">U.N.</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unfpa/" rel="tag">UNFPA</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence-against-women/" rel="tag">violence against women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wo/" rel="tag">wo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-in-war/" rel="tag">Women in war</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights-violations-of/" rel="tag">Women's Rights - violations of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p><a title="Thoraya_Ahmed_Obaid_captioned by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5099871677/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="border-right: black 1px solid; border-top: black 1px solid; display: inline; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; border-bottom: black 1px solid" height="400" alt="Thoraya_Ahmed_Obaid_captioned" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459im_/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/5099871677_54a4a679e1_o.jpg" width="150" align="right"/></a> <p><b>LONDON, Oct 20, 2010 (<a title="IPS" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53232" class="external" target="_blank">IPS</a>) – The U.S.-led invasion and then occupation of Iraq brought a sharp setback to the rights of women in that country, UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid tells IPS in an interview.</b> </p> <p>The view that Muslim societies are necessarily backward on the position of women arises from stereotyping, she says. And she speaks of herself as a Muslim woman who does not fit the stereotype. </p> <p>Obaid spoke to IPS Wednesday at the launch of the annual UNFPA report, focused this year on the role of women in peace building. Excerpts from the interview: </p> <p><strong>Q: Is there any evidence that women are better than men at peace building and rebuilding? </strong></p> <p>A: There is evidence that not only in peace building and rebuilding but in other areas as with migrant workers, the priorities for women are usually different. As a result women invest in the family, and during conditions where there is war or natural disaster, you will find that women can even cross borders to be able to keep the family together, and are able to negotiate the safety of their families. So in that context we see that women should be a part of any peace building negotiations. </p> <p><strong>Q: Women can play that role when they have an opportunity, but is there any sign that women are getting more such opportunities? </strong></p> <p>A: Sadly, no. Opportunities are still limited because the recognition that women can play that role is still limited. We are saying that if we invest enough in women, in their education, in empowering them to have a voice, to raise their voice, and if we recognise their voices and find space for them to play a role in peace building, then they will do a good job. </p> <p>Liberia is a very good example of that. It’s women who walk the streets saying we want peace. But society still does not recognise the real value of women, and that is a real problem. </p> <p><strong>Q: There is a widespread perception that the position of women in Islamic societies is low. But in Iraq women had many rights, that vanished after the Americans came along. </strong></p> <p>A: I worked in Iraq for eight years until the invasion of Kuwait. We were there as a part of the Economic Commission for Western Asia, and we worked with women’s groups there at that time, and certainly, by the time we left the Federation of Iraqi Women had put together the best family laws you can get from all the different sects, and also labour laws. But then the invasion came and the whole thing went apart. </p> <p>When the U.S. came in, they went back to the family laws of 1958. That tells you how far they have gone back. What they did was to cancel everything that was previous. And that is not really a good judgment for women. It was quite a bit of difference. </p> <p><strong>Q: How does this square with the perception that left to themselves, Muslim societies are backward, and that the U.S is the progressive one? </strong></p> <p>A: That is a political question in many ways. There are stereotypes of Muslim countries, and Muslim women. I’m a Muslim woman, and I don’t fit that stereotype. There are many like me. I come from Saudi Arabia, and see where I am right now. This is the stereotyping of a people and also of a religion, and as a result assumptions are based on such perceptions. In many ways it is perceptions that hinder Muslim women in many places. </p> <p><strong>Q: Is the U.N. making a difference, or does it just produce reports? </strong></p> <p>A: Look at the report we are putting out on Security Council resolution 1325. This has brought the issue of women as peace makers and peace builders into a higher level of political awareness. As a result, at least 19 countries are putting into place their own plans on how to bring women to end violence against women in wars, conflict and natural disasters, in camps and so on. These studies are important because they mobilise political leaders and I think that is a very important role for the United Nations. </p> <p><strong>Q: What does this report say that is significant and new? </strong></p> <p>A: The new trend we are trying to bring into the discussion about women is the three R’s – Resilience, Renewal, and Redefining roles. Women are always seen as victims. We are saying women are not victims. Women have the resilience, they keep the families together. And with renewal, when we are rebuilding after a crisis, we should not rebuild society as it was before, with all the inequalities and inequities in it, but on a new human rights paradigm that will bring equality. </p> <p><strong>Q: How can the MDGs targets be met in relation to conflicts? </strong></p> <p>A: A part of conflicts is poverty, and poverty brings conflict. So MDG 1 on poverty cannot be achieved if there is no peace and security. Each of the MDGs requires peace and security. </p> <p>And with MDG5 on maternal health, for a long time actors in the humanitarian field did not recognise that women have special needs. In war and natural disasters, they do deliver babies, they do have biological functions that require special attention. There is a need to take care of their integrity and their dignity. So we are looking at MDG 5 because we want women to deliver babies in a clean state, and that they are safe. </p> <p>More importantly [is] that they are protected from violence – when violence takes place, that they are provided with the services that support them but also that perpetrators of violence are brought to justice. Violence against women is part of the MDG5 target on universal access to reproductive health. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53232" class="external" target="_blank">Q&A: What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq – IPS ipsnews.net</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11577"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/09/association-with-occupying-powers-makes-christians-targets/#respond" title="Comment on Association with occupying powers makes Christians targets">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 9th, 2010 by Mohammed Al-Hamadani</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/09/association-with-occupying-powers-makes-christians-targets/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Association with occupying powers makes Christians targets">Association with occupying powers makes Christians targets</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arabs/" rel="tag">Arabs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armenians/" rel="tag">Armenians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assassination/" rel="tag">assassination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assassination-attempts/" rel="tag">Assassination attempts</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assyria/" rel="tag">Assyria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assyrian/" rel="tag">Assyrian</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assyrians/" rel="tag">Assyrians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombings/" rel="tag">Bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholic-church/" rel="tag">Catholic Church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholics/" rel="tag">Catholics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldean-catholic/" rel="tag">chaldean catholic</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldean-church/" rel="tag">chaldean church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldeans/" rel="tag">Chaldeans</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-minority/" rel="tag">christian minority</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-population/" rel="tag">christian population</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-killing-of/" rel="tag">Christians - 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Their businesses are targeted by extremists. Their leaders are kidnapped and assassinated. The Christian minority in Iraq, once a community left in peace to prosper, continues to be under threat from a campaign of persecution which has forced as many as 500,000 Christians to flee the country.</p> <p>During the reign of Saddam Hussein, the estimated 1.4 million Christians – many of them Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians, with small numbers of Roman Catholics – were generally left alone if they didn’t oppose the government and they lived in relative peace with the country’s Sunnis and Shiites. </p> <p>Some, such as Tariq Aziz, Saddam’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister, rose to the highest levels of power.</p> <p>Things changed after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq toppled Saddam’s regime. Christians became a target of violence when Islamist groups and ordinary Muslims angered by the military action began seeing them as the enemy, associating with them with the "crusaders" – the invading armies of the United States and Britain.</p> <p>Tensions over their religious ties with the West and their differing beliefs to the strict Islamic majority, which had been simmering for years, spilled over as the occupying forces dug in.</p> <p>"Iraqi Christians became caught up in the overlapping violence and multiple conflicts unleashed after 2003," Dr. Kristian Ulrichsen, an Iraq expert at the London School of Economics and Political Science, told Deutsche Welle. "They became exposed to the similar patterns of kidnappings, extortion, beheadings, rape and forced taxation that affected all other communities as the erosion of central government control left a security vacuum that was exploited by organised and opportunistic criminality and anti-occupation resistance groups." </p> <p>"In addition to this, Christians specifically were targeted by Church bombings and assassination attempts owing to a perceived association with the aims and intentions of the occupying forces."</p> <h3>Association with occupying powers makes Christians targets</h3> <p>In 2004, insurgents launched a coordinated bombing campaign targeted churches in Baghdad. In 2007, after Pope Benedict XVI made comments perceived to be anti-Islam, nationwide attacks on churches hit an all-time high and a priest in the northern city of Mosul was kidnapped and later found beheaded. In January 2009, 40 Iraqi Christians were killed and approximately 12,000 fled their homes.</p> <p>In February this year, at least 10 Iraqi Christians were killed by unknown gunmen in Mosul as the country was preparing for the March 7 elections. The escalating violence ahead of the ballot led to hundreds of Iraqi Christians taking to the streets in a number of protests, chanting slogans such as "Stop the killing of Christians."</p> <p>During the years since the invasion, life for the Christian minority has become beset by danger. The waves of violent attacks against churches, businesses and homes have forced more than half of the Christian population to flee for their lives, according to statistcs from the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Those churches which remain standing are mostly empty, their congregations long gone or too afraid to attend.</p> <p>"The Christian minority in Iraq has been reduced to a shadow of its former self," said Ulrichsen. "Up to two-thirds of the pre-war community has been displaced or forced to flee the country. Although conditions in Iraq have improved somewhat since 2007, the security situation remains intensely fragile and prone to reversal, and the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes has been very slow and halting."</p> <p>"There’s a real possibility that 2,000 years of settlement by Christian communities in Iraq is in danger of near-total extinction." </p> <h3>US withdrawal leave Christians’ fate in Iraqi hands</h3> <p>As the United States steps up its military withdrawal from Iraq, the Christian minority is forced to look at the Iraqi security structure for protection. However, the prospect of being protecetd by the Iraqi police and armed forces fails to instill any confidence in the Christian minority.</p> <p>"The greatest concern about a US pullout is that extremists will exploit any lapses in security and attack vulnerable groups, including Christians," Samer Muscati, an Iraq expert from the Middle East division at Human Rights Watch, told Deutsche Welle. </p> <p>"Although the Iraqi government publicly condemns violence against Christians and other minority groups, it has not taken measures to bolster security in areas where minorities are particularly vulnerable to attacks, and it has not thoroughly investigated attacks," he added. "Iraqi security forces rarely apprehend, prosecute and punish perpetrators of such attacks, which has created a climate of impunity."</p> <h3>Christians search for ways to protect themselves </h3> <p>One muted proposal to protect the Christian minority involves the creation of an autonomous province on a neglected area of land located to the north and west of Mosul, called Ninawah Plain, which would act as a sanctuary.</p> <p>While advocates of the idea say it wouldn’t stop the violence against Christians in the large, high-risk cities of Mosul, Baghdad, and Al-Basrah, it would give the Christians a place where their needs could be met, their beliefs supported and their security guaranteed.</p> <p>The proposals suggest that Ninaweh Plain would an autonomous administrative region in which the Christian minority could govern themselves and would be free to participate in the federalist system which is developing in Iraq.</p> <h3>Creation of autonomous region plagued by problems </h3> <p>However, the idea of an autonomous region for the Christian minority in reality looks unviable. </p> <p>"The image of a real autonomy is unrealistic," Nizar Hanna, director of the Assyrian Democratic Movement’s Baghdad office, told Deutsche Welle. "Up to now, there are no concrete plans which show how this would work. Even in the Kurdish constitution, they have the right to autonomy in the areas where they are the majority but nowhere is this the case. Besides, there are no areas in which only Christians live. Shabak, Yazidis, Kurds and Arabs also live there." </p> <p>"To an extent a safe haven for Christians exists in Iraqi Kurdistan," Kristian Ulrichsen said. "Thousands of internally displaced Iraqi Christians have moved there. Although viable on humanitarian grounds, the creation of a specific region for Christians would be a short-term measure that does not offer a longer-term solution to the reconstruction of Iraqi society and the reintegration of its communities."</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6052335,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-world-4025-rdf" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi Christians fear escalating persecution as US forces withdraw | World | Deutsche Welle | 09.10.2010</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120513233459/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/page/2/">« Previous Entries</a></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a 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