Baghdad burning; blogger in Baghdad tells her life story.

Source: the Baghdad Burning blog

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.

The above is the chant broadcasted three times when a mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, is under attack.

How did I learn this?

Not from CNN or (Faux)Fox News but from the live, tell-all blog maintained an Iraqi citizen entrenched in the civil war we helped to create.

From the Baghdad Burning Blog:

Monday, February 27, 2006

Volatile Days...

The last few days have been unsettlingly violent in spite of the curfew. We've been at home simply waiting it out and hoping for the best. The phone wasn't working and the electrical situation hasn't improved. We are at a point, however, where things like electricity, telephones and fuel seem like minor worries. Even complaining about them is a luxury Iraqis can't afford these days.

The sounds of shooting and explosions usually begin at dawn, at least that's when I first sense them, and they don't really subside until well into the night. There was a small gunfight on the main road near our area the day before yesterday, but with the exception of the local mosque being fired upon, and a corpse found at dawn three streets down, things have been relatively quiet.

I'm reading, and hearing, about the possibility of civil war. The possibility. Yet I'm sitting here wondering if this is actually what civil war is like. Has it become a reality? Will we look back at this in one year, two years...ten...and say, "It began in February 2006..."? It is like a nightmare in that you don't realise it's a nightmare while having it--only later, after waking up with your heart throbbing, and your eyes searching the dark for a pinpoint of light, do you realise it was a nightmare.

And much later, a very detailed post about the bombing of the "Askari Mosque" which is important because it is believed to be the burial place of two of the twelve Shia Imams: Ali Al-Hadi and Hassan Al-Askari (father and son) who lived and died in Samarra.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Tensions...

Things are not good in Baghdad.

There was an explosion this morning in a mosque in Samarra, a largely Sunni town. While the mosque is sacred to both Sunnis and Shia, it is considered one of the most important Shia visiting places in Iraq.

We woke up this morning to news that men wearing Iraqi security uniforms walked in and detonated explosives, damaging the mosque almost beyond repair. It's heart-breaking and terrifying. There has been gunfire all over Baghdad since morning. The streets near our neighborhood were eerily empty and calm but there was a tension that had us all sitting on edge. We heard about problems in areas like Baladiyat where there was some rioting and vandalism, etc. and several mosques in Baghdad were attacked. I think what has everyone most disturbed is the fact that the reaction was so swift, like it was just waiting to happen.

All morning we've been hearing/watching both Shia and Sunni religious figures speak out against the explosions and emphasise that this is what is wanted by the enemies of Iraq--this is what they would like to achieve--divide and conquer. Extreme Shia are blaming extreme Sunnis and Iraq seems to be falling apart at the seams under foreign occupiers and local fanatics.

This definitely sounds to me like a free and happy Iraqi nation.

No one went to work today as the streets were mostly closed. The situation isn't good at all. I don't think I remember things being this tense--everyone is just watching and waiting quietly. There's so much talk of civil war and yet, with the people I know--Sunnis and Shia alike--I can hardly believe it is a possibility. Educated, sophisticated Iraqis are horrified with the idea of turning against each other, and even not-so-educated Iraqis seem very aware that this is a small part of a bigger, more ominous plan.

Several mosques have been taken over by the Mahdi militia and the Badir people seem to be everywhere. Tomorrow no one is going to work or college or anywhere.

People are scared and watchful. We can only pray.

This blog details an extremely horrific and sad state of affairs in Iraq right now. I was going to think of something incredibly witty to put here, but I'm just at a loss for words right now.