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Iraq journals 1-7: blast furnace radio
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 at 9:21 PM
eirene@lm.com
iraq journals 1-7: blast furnace radio from the journalist delegation to iraq march 11-22, 2004
iraq journals 1-7: blast furnace radio
from the journalist delegation to iraq march 11-22, 2004
rough draft
friends,
after almost a year of planning "the journalist delegation to iraq"
is
getting under way...for the next eleven days i will be part of a
delegation with writers, photographers, videographers and audio
jounalists. these folk are, geoff kelly, mark levine, cris toensing, adam
shapiro, naomi klien, andrew stren and shannon service (free speech TV).
for geoff and i our first stop is amsterdam, then onto amman jordon where
we will catch a jeep ride for 12 hours thru the desert to badhdad. once
there i hope to meet iraqi people who are rebuilding there country without
the assistance of the US government or corporations. also geoff and i hope
to meet with local newpaper people and the baghdad independent media
center. we all will be in baghdad for march 20th for the first anniversary
for the beginning of the war and have been informed to expect a huge
protest to the US occupation.
why am i going? to meet the people i have fought for since 1990. people
who have lived thru two wars, 12 years of sanctions and now an occupation.
to interview, tape record / take slides, to bring back what is no long
news.
the hardest part is leaving rebecca, caitlin and chenoa..i have not been
without there company for more than a few days. i have spent alot of time
crying.
i will be enduring for a moment waht the people of iraq have had to live
with for decades. i join with others in pittsburgh on march 20th to
protest this injustice and the war contracting of carnegie mellon
university. i thank pittsburgh organizing group (POG) for there
organizational genius in pulling together people of compassion in our
region.
i trust this piligrimage will strengthen my resolve to leave a legacy for
the next generation that some were not afraid to act against the
unthinkable.
much hope,
vincent scotti eirene
BLAST FURNACE RADIO
http://notowar.com
ps. >>> below are two great articles about the aftermath of the war
with
iraq.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=2997
By Baghdad's ruined sewage plant, a filthy river waters the city's crops
Jordan Times
February 11th, 2004
BAGHDAD (AFP) � Almost in the shadow of a ruined sewage plant, farmers near
Baghdad draw filthy water from a polluted river for the crops oflettuce and
potatoes that help feed the Iraqi capital's estimated 4.5 million people.
Nearly 325,000 cubic metres of sewage water flow daily into the Rustumiya
plant. But the water continues untreated into the Diyala, a tributary of the
Tigris River, raising fears of disease as temperatures rise.
"I'm forced to use this water, the harvest is the only revenue for my
family
of nine," said Kareem Abbas Al Juburi, not hiding his disgust at the
stench.
He said 35 families stuck between the damaged station and the river were in
the same situation.
"Thirty years ago, fish were bountiful in this water. Now we cannot give it
the cows, they would die in no time," said Juburi.
His wife's concern focused on the health of the children. "When summer
comes,
the level of the river drops; the stench becomes unbearable and the children
are covered with flies as soon as they step out," said Fatima, adding that
the
youngsters frequently complained of a rash.
"Flies, mosquitoes and ticks never leave us alone. But where can we go?
We're
poor," said neighbour Bunniya Ibad Fares, surrounded by barefooted
children.
Rustumiya is not the only plant through which raw sewage flows.
Station director Riyadh Naaman Al Shummari said the plant suffered during the
fighting last March-April during the overthrow of president Saddam
Hussein. "Our capacity has fallen to zero," he said.
The same is true at the two other stations of Baghdad � Rustumiya 3 and Al
Karkh, he said. "Since April, about 1 to 1.5 million cubic metres of sewage
water produced in the capital end up in the Tigris."
He said Rustumiya was not in great shape even before last April, as the 1990-
2003 UN sanctions hindered the supply of spare parts needed to maintain the
plant, which was built in 1960.
He said Rustumiya was designed to treat 175,000 cubic metres, but was
receiving double that amount because of population growth. Repairs were not
enough, other plants should be built, he said.
The US Agency for International Development has contracted American
contracting giant Bechtel to undertake rehabilitation of Baghdad's treatment
plants. But there are no plans to increase capacity or build new plants.
According to the agency's website, rehabilitation should allow the three
existing stations to treat around 800,000 cubic metres per day, or roughly the
sewage produced by 3.5 million people, in October.
Baghdad is estimated now to house at least 4.5 million people.
Engineers at the Rustumiya site say they are working hard, but Shummari does
not expect the plant to be up and running before the end of 2004 or early
2005.
Until then, the farmers will have to use the existing waters for their
potatoes, lettuce, greenpeas and tomatoes.
Juburi said that under Saddam Hussein, "a minister wanted to have a chicken
farm here. Experts told him they would not survive the pollution."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iraq Occupation Watch Center
______________________________________________________________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/07/international/middleeast/07DETA.html?
ex=1079598737&ei=1&en=fb37cb22f4493034
THE DETAINEES
As U.S. Detains Iraqis, Families Plead for News
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN / ny times
Published: March 7, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 6 � Sabrea Kudi cannot find her son. He was taken by
American soldiers nearly nine months ago, and there has been no trace of him
since.
"I'm afraid he's dead," Ms. Kudi said.
Lara Waad cannot find her husband. He was arrested in a raid, too.
"I had God � and I had him," she said. "Now I am alone."
In Abu Sifa, a sunbaked village north of Baghdad, entire swaths of farmland
have been cleared of males � fathers, sons, brothers, cousins.
There are no men to do men's work. Women till the fields, guard the houses and
hoist sacks of grapefruit on their backs.
"Essam, come here," said Malaika Hassan, to her grandson. "Show
our friends
who is the new man of the house." Essam nuzzled in her skirt. He is 10
years
old.
Iraq has a new generation of missing men. But instead of ending up in mass
graves or at the bottom of the Tigris River, as they often did during the rule
of Saddam Hussein, they are detained somewhere in American jails.
Although the insurgency has cooled, with suicide attacks against civilians now
eclipsing armed clashes with American troops, American forces are still
conducting daily raids, bursting into homes and sweeping up families. More
than 10,000 men and boys are in custody. According to a detainee database
maintained by the military, the oldest prisoner is 75, the youngest 11.
Military officials say some of the detainees have been accused of serious
offenses, including shooting down helicopters and planting roadside bombs.
But the officials acknowledge that most of the people captured are probably
not dangerous. Of a recent batch of cases reviewed by military judges, they
recommended that 963 of 1,166 detainees be released.
Part of the reason so many are being held is that soldiers' work is not police
work. Tips are not as reliable. Artillerymen are not detectives. The troops
cast a wide net and then sort through the catch, with much of the
investigation coming after the arrest, not before.
"But we have to be careful about it," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt,
the deputy
director of operations for the occupying military forces. "We don't want to
arrest an entire village and come out with one rifle."
"There is an old Arabic expression," he added. "Don't do a good
deed and then
throw it in the river."
The detainee issue is increasingly contentious. Under international law, the
American authorities have the right as occupiers to detain anyone who poses a
security threat, even without enough evidence to prosecute. But in Iraq,
unlike in postwar Japan or Germany, occupation has come without pacification.
The security threat did not end May 1, when major combat was declared over,
and detentions have continued long after Iraqi troops were routed.
But the occupation is scheduled to end June 30, when the American authorities
plan to hand sovereignty back to the Iraqi people. American officials say it
is unclear how that will affect the status of detainees.
The American authorities say they are trying to help people locate detained
relatives, even posting prisoner lists on the Internet.
But computers are strange things to most Iraqis, and many families still have
no idea where their men are. Often they were led away in the middle of the
night, with bags over their heads and no explanation. Many people have said
that when they asked soldiers where their family members were being taken,
they were told to shut up. A few hundred women have also been detained. And
complicating the families' searches, there are several major prisons and
hundreds of smaller jails and bases across Iraq.
"It took the Americans five minutes to take my son," said Fadil
Abdulhamid. "It has taken me more than three weeks to find him."
Adil Allami, a lawyer with the Human Rights Organization of Iraq, said
security detainees had essentially no rights. None have lawyers, and most are
denied visits.
"Iraq has turned into one big Guant�namo," Mr. Allami said, referring
to the
United States military prison in Cuba where hundreds of terrorism suspects are
being held, mostly without charges.
iraq journal #2
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 at 9:21 PM
eirene@lm.com
email to my children
To: Rebecca Reid Cc: notowar
hi caitlin and chenoa
i now am in amsterdam....far over the ocean, all the roads are made out of
cobble stones and everone wheres wooden shoes... lookeeeee
http://www.exploitz.com/pictures/4296/index.php?pix=15
i miss you ALOT and the cats and webster the guard dog
say your prayers
i will soon be in amman jordon soon, lotz of sand
http://travel.discovery.com/convergence/jordan/jordangallery/gallery_zoom1.html
then tommorow i take a car ride to baghdad, here is a neat picture of the
city of baghdad http://architecture.about.com/library/bl-baghdad01.htm i
will talk to everyone about the war and and tell the soilders how we need
peace and tape all of it on my tape recorder with my microphone.
i will be home in ten days...be good for mom and eat lots of fruit and
tofu and juice and tomatoes
your daddy
iraq journal #3
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 at 9:21 PM
eirene@lm.com
m20 reflection
TO BE READ AT M20 PROTEST IN PITTSBURGH)
HELLO FROM BAGHDAD FROM BLAST FURNACE RADIO
I have been here with a delegation of journalists from across the US
and Canada for the past week.
With the help of the Occupation Watch organization, I have visited
hospitals with no medicine, in dire need of staff to care for the sick.
I have interviewed doctors, and have seen countless patients afflicted
with cancer or birth defects caused by depleted uranium residue from
weaponry used by American and British forces in Gulf Wars 1 and 2.
I have seen a town filled with soldiers and commissioned police who
have plunged the city into a state of fear.
I have met scores of unemployed people over half the population of
Baghdad.
I have walked around this bombed-out city, its theaters, schools,
mosques all looted and burned. I have experienced the constant
blackouts the people must endure all day long.
I have seen the prisons holding 10,000 detainees, with no way for
families or lawyers to assist them.
for the last four nights i have felt the bombs shake our hotel, one
explosion smashed out our windows
BUT...
I have also met determined students planning how to rebuild their
culture.
I have met handicapped people who have built their own center without
funding from the provisional government.
I have met with squatters, writers, intellectuals and homeless people, all
determined to rebuild what has been destroyed by two wars, 12 years of
sanctions, and now the occupation.
I am bringing their testimonies home with me.
Today, the first anniversary of the beginning of the war, we must raise
our voices for peace. Today is the beginning of the work of peace that
will allow Iraq to live...
I have experienced for just a moment what the people of Iraq have had to
live with for over a decade. I join with others in Pittsburgh today
protesting this injustice and the war contracting of Carnegie Mellon
University. And I thank Pittsburgh Organizing Group for their
organizational genius in pulling together people of compassion from all
over our region.
Vincent Scotti Eirene'
journalist delegation to baghdad
march 11-22, 2004
iraq journal #4
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 at 9:21 PM
eirene@lm.com
birthday
back from baghdad...
have spent alot of time ripping audio interviews from iraq into mp3's,
what i have done so far can be found and downloaded at
http://www.notowar.com/nightflighttobaghdad
back safe with my family has been comforting to all, for all your support
thank you. geoff kelly and i will be giving a presention about our visit
to iraq sunday april 24th at the Quiet Storm at 3.30
mark you calendars!
this saturday, the 27th i turn 52, zow!
pick up the phone and sing this old man happy birthday
1-888-NOTOWAR
the following is a refection i wrote upon arriving home
i have visited a ruined city with destroyed lives. it would have been
easier if they were angery with me amd my complicity.
instead they have treated me as an honoured guest. it will take a lifetime
to return this gesture of unmerited kindness.
at the center of the storm we find our calm
iraq journal #5
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 at 9:21 PM
eirene@lm.com
orientation
As I sat there in the Occupation Watch Office, I drifted away as people
explained the week's activities...
I was enveloped in a city crushed by the stupidity of war; there was no
relief from this assault on one's senses. The power going off and on all
day, being trapped in elevators, diesel fuel generators that caused my
asthma to flare up, the disbelief in the eyes of people as we passed them
in the car... The piercing look was not one of anger but curiosity at
seeing unveiled, beardless foreigners, and non-embedded journalists.
There was no garbage pick up, so trash was burned in vacant lots.
Everywhere armed police, in the hotel, on street corners, everywhere long
rifles, many with the saftety off. Traffic, traffic, traffic, traffic...
roads had been blown up and not repaired, two out the main bridges in
disrepair, gas lines that made the gas crisis in the US during the 70's
look like a dress rehearsal. Bumper car madness, hours and hours and hours
just to travel to another part of Baghdad. Burning tires sent up a solid
wall of thick, sticky black smoke to throw off laser-guided missiles.
Little girls jumping on the side of the car begging for a few dinars, eyes
intense, smiling, refusing to let go...
This was the fish bowl our delegation was trapped in, not even a
satellite phone call home would offer a bit of relief as we were made
to sit on the roof, for fear of being seen and shot if we stood up. For
a brief moment I experienced what others must endure for a life time, a
culture and city destroyed and rebuilt and destroyed, a determination
no gringo will ever realize...for now this was home.
As I came out of my day dream, the orientation was almost over. In mocking
fashion I shot up my hand and asked where could we get a falafel. The two
serious, serious young women draped in traditional garb broke their
silence and giggled, the room burst into laughter... Apparently falafels
are not and Iraqia fare but Jordanian dish. So in honor of the ridiculous
request, we headed to a Jordanian restaurant for lunch. Our first day in
baghdad had begun.
vincent scotti eirene'
iraq journal #6
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 at 9:21 PM
eirene@lm.com
war criminal
i am a war criminal...
my finger prints are all over the battle plans,
on the trigger, on the button that launches the missles.
no court has indicted me, but i know...
i watched on as the baghdad museum and library were being looted and set
fire. articles and writings dating back to the mesopotamian civilization
and ottoman period. here civilization began at the tigris and euphates and
i watched as its memory ended.
outside of baghdad rice is raised for the city since no imports are
permitted. this short grain white rice has a nutty taste, somewhat amber
in color. i went with a platoon out to the rice paddies and bulldosed the
new crop. the farmers came out screaming and yelling. i turned to our
translator and told him to tell the farmers that this had to be done in
case snipers were hiding in the fields...our translator stood there in
disbelief and couldn't bring himself to translate my explanation...
i am a war criminal and no court will ever bring me to trial, no court
will comvict me, i will never see the inside of a prison cell or face
execution. these are not the first rice paddies i have seen destroyed...
i am a war criminal
iraq journal #7
by vincent / blast furnace radio
Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 at 9:21 PM
eirene@lm.com
winking at fullija
Since the "journalist delegation to Iraq" and our visit to Fallujah in
mid-March the war has escalated...
This escalation was triggered when an old US military warrant was pulled
out of the moth balls for a staff member of Moqutada al-Sadr's newpaper.
Not a very good publication at that, with a whopping circulation of
10,000+ . Why chief honcho Bremmer would do such a thing we will never
know. But so as to demonstrate to the world the US's intent to bring about
democracy to Iraq, the US of A was to close a newspaper. This periodical
had suggested rising up against the occupying forces. After this failed
attempt to close the young ayatollah's obscure rag, an uprising ensued,
and the US military would end up killing 300+ Iraqis. The empire has once
again set an example of military intelligence, that is, loose talk of
rebellion would not be tolerated.
April 8th, 2004.
On this day in 2004, battles raged from north to south in Iraq:
Baghdad: Sard city, clashes kill four Iraqis and wound seven others.
Fallujah: Fierce fighting. At least 25 killed in US bomb and rocket
fire on mosque.
Ramadai: 12 marines killed on Tuesday.
Kirkuk: Fighting leaves 8 Iraqis dead and 10 wounded.
Kufa: Mahdi army is in virtual control.
Kerbala: Clashes with Polish patrol, at least seven people killed.
Senior official in Sard's army among the dead, as well as two Iranian
pilgrims.
Mosul and Rashad - Peaceful protests in support of Sadr.
Najaf: Militiamen battle Spanish soldiers. Taxi driver dies in
crossfire. Sard aide says a number of coalition soldiers were captured.
Youssifiya: Two policemen killed.
Donald Rumsfeld assured the world that this was not an uprising but the
work of a few isolated thugs. Soldiers were informed the end of their
hitch would be delayed.
By April 12th 600 I+Iraqi "soilders" were killed and about 70 of the
US
military. "In the al-Thawa hospital reporter Naomi Klein Met Raad Daier, a
36-year old-ambulence driver with a bullet in his abdomen, one of 12
shoots fired at the ambulance from a US Humvee. According to the hospital
officials, at the time of the attack, he was carrying six people injured
by US forces, including a pregnant women who had been shoot in the stomach
and lost her child.
source: "The Guardian", April 8/12, 2004, front page and page 15
http://guardian.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now to my journal...
#7 Iraq journal: winking at Falluja
Many people asked me why I was going to Baghdad. My response was to give a
jump start to my heart, to shock me out of my complacency. I needed to
meet and befriend "the enemy" so I could put a human face to my years
of
education and direct-actions against the war on the people of Iraq as an
impetus to continue fighting for peace. Another reason was to see the
rebuilding of the water treatment center in Iraq. In 1991 students for
peace thru Rusted Root concerts over 2,000 dollars was raised to rebuild
bombed water treatment centers in Iraq. To witness an injustice that no
one could deny. Originally I was to visit Oxfam's water project. But
because of security problems, that was not to be, and in the fall of 2003
Oxfam UK left this project. So it was to my surprise, upon arriving in
Baghdad, that our journalist delegation's host, Global Exchange /
Occupation Watch, had arranged for us to see such a completed and ongoing
project in Fallujah.
As the delegation made its way to Fallujah, a city north of Baghdad, the
landscape seemed to change, I was informed that we were in Sunni country,
an anti-American stronghold. As we made our way to this complex of big
thick colorful pipes I was amazed. Amazed how such a small water purifying
station could supply water to over 60,000 people. A price tag of 22,000
dollars for rehabbing these facilities and the fact that the "Vietnam
Veterans Against the War" financed the project, made the trip to Iraq
worth it. Whether the water treatment station was a former target of the
US military's last two wars or whether it fell into disarray because of
the US / UN sanctions does not matter. The end result was the same. No
clean water was available to this town, a violation of the Stockholm
Convention� a treaty signed by the US�which states that to destroy
facilities like this amounts to destroying a nation�s infrastructure, a
violation of International law. This atrocity is unimaginable to those of
us in North America, for a city to be without clean, drinkable water, and
the disease and social upheaval that comes from such an unthinkable
shortage.
But my moment of Zen at Fallujah was interrupted... one driver excitedly
suggested we were in danger and that some Sunnis were gathering across the
street. I told him that in fact was not true. That I saw one Sunni winking
at him. He actually jumped backwards at such a suggestion. As we rode up
and down the highway with Falluhjah to our back, the other driver /
translator, Mahr, mockingly winked at the other driver and we all laughed
hysterically.
Vincent Scotti Eirene'
Blast Furnace Radio
http://notowar.com
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