Dahr Jamail

The dump is a dusty wasteland. Heaps of Baghdad’s rotting wastes are strewn about several square miles of the battered capital city. Engaged in their futile battle to remove the endless amounts of garbage from streets, blue garbage trucks rumble through the stinky dump, adding their loads of filth. Thirty-two-year-old Hattim lives in this wasteland … Continue reading “From Saddam’s Camp to America’s Dump”

BAGHDAD – The U.S. military has been preventing delivery of medical care in several instances, medical staff say. Iraqi doctors at many hospitals have reported raids by Coalition forces. Some of the more recent raids have been in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, about 10 km (6.2 mi.) to the east of Fallujah, the town to which U.S. … Continue reading “US Military Obstructing Medical Care in Iraq”

While billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been awarded in lucrative contracts to companies such as Bechtel and Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), there are few signs that any reconstruction has actually taken place in war-torn Iraq. The infrastructure is in a state of collapse, with 70 percent unemployment. One reason for this … Continue reading “Rebuilding Iraq: ‘Somebody Has to Do It’”

Last weekend alone, over 70 Iraqis were killed in violence around their country. Yet these are only those reported as a result of spectacular, "newsworthy" incidents like car bombs or clashes between the resistance and occupation forces. Iraqis are dying everyday from other things, like violent crime, kidnappings where families can’t afford to pay the … Continue reading “Those Left Behind”

BAGHDAD – The Baghdad Medical City has begun to look nice in its new coat of paint. It does not look that nice to Dr. Hammad Hussein, ophthalmology resident at the center. "I have not seen anything which indicates any rebuilding aside from our new pink and blue colors here where our building and the … Continue reading “Iraqi Healthcare Given A ‘New Look’”

We are driving across Baghdad when a GMC full of armed men races past our car, missing it by inches. Along with guns pointed out their windows at us (and all the other cars), a couple of the men hold their hands out, waving them down toward the ground in order to instruct the traffic … Continue reading “Fallujah as a ‘Model City’”

Yesterday, before the usual morning gunfire in the streets that has become my morning alarm clock, Abu Talat phoned me. There is very heavy fighting over in al-Adhamiya. Two giant explosions occurred around 6:15 a.m., followed by mortar blasts, then constant, heavy gun battles that went on into late morning. The Hamid al-Alwan mosque, a … Continue reading “Trophy Hunting in Iraq”

It’s a late morning start today. As I’m waiting for Abu Talat, who calls to tell me he is snarled in traffic and will be late once again, huge explosions shake my hotel. Shortly thereafter, mortars are exploding in the "Green Zone" as the loud warning sirens there begin to blare across Baghdad. Automatic weapon … Continue reading “The Quiet of Destruction and Death”

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi ministry of health is failing to provide enough support to hundreds of thousands who fled Fallujah. Doctors in Baghdad are perplexed why there has been little or no assistance from the health ministry to residents or refugees. "During the Najaf fighting this summer things were not like this," says Dr. Riad … Continue reading “Neglect Follows Siege of Fallujah”

The cold winter winds sweep over Baghdad and the refugee camps strewn about the city. Date palms sway as dust blows down the clogged streets where people huddle in their cars while waiting in petrol lines several miles long. The cost of fuel now in the black market is 10 times what it normally is, … Continue reading “‘We Are Living a Disaster’”