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elledark: The City of Deformed BabiesFallujah in Iraq used to...

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:25:59 -0400

The City of Deformed Babies

Fallujah in Iraq used to be known as ‘the city of mosques’ because of its holy buildings. Now it’s known as the city of deformed babies. Remember Fallujah ?

In the bitter depths of the Iraq ‘war’ (illegal invasion and occupation) a group of Iraquis attacked an armed convoy of the notorious and hated Blackwater mercenaries . Four of the mercenaries were dragged from their cars, beaten and killed. The pictures caused outrage in America because, hell, even if these mercenaries were pretty much bad-guys these were godamm Americans those towel-heads were killing .

The need to ‘teach them a lesson’ resulted in Operation Phantom Fury being unleashed punitively against the old city of men, women and children. They were bombarded mercilessly. Vast amounts of explosives and bombs were used. Illegal white phosphorus burned people alive in what some of the troops called ‘shake and bake’. It was claimed that over 1,350 ‘insurgent fighters’ were killed but distinguishing between ‘fighters’ and civilian corpses, especially when they were charred to a cinder, must have been tricky. Nobody counted the injured.

The U.S. military first denied that it had used white phosphorus illegally as an anti-personnel weapon in Fallujah but later, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, retracted the lie and admitted using the incendiary in the city as an offensive weapon. Reports have alleged war crimes, human rights abuses and a massacre by U.S. personnel, including indiscriminate violence against civilians and children. This point of view was presented in the 2005 documentary film, Fallujah, the Hidden Massacre.

The point of bringing this all up again is that now, years later, children with hideous deformities are being born in the shattered ruins of Fallujah. A little girl with two heads. Another with a huge growth across her face. Horrific problems, from abnormalities of the bowels to facial disfigurements. Nearly 50% of babies with birth defects. Many deformed foetuses do not even survive. Doctors blame the huge bombardment of the city and use of chemical weapons by American forces.

Fallujah. A tragedy that need never have happened because let us remember that the whole invasion of Iraq was based on lies. There never was a connection with 9/11. There never was a connection with terrorism. There were no ‘weapons of mass destruction’. All complete and utter lies, told knowingly and cynically. The direct consequences of those lies lives on now in the deformed babies of Fallujah. They are part of the Bush legacy that no-one should ever forget.

There’s an update on this awful story here and here (graphic images)

Girl on the metro the night Mursi was elected. “25...

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:46:00 -0400

Girl on the metro the night Mursi was elected. “25 January” (the day the revolution started) is written on her cheeks.

Living in poverty: Little boy outside of mosque in Cairo.

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:44:56 -0400

Living in poverty: Little boy outside of mosque in Cairo.

Church and mosque share the skyline in Coptic Cairo.

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:42:00 -0400

Church and mosque share the skyline in Coptic Cairo.

Angel mosaic on the outside of a building in Coptic Cairo

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:40:00 -0400

Angel mosaic on the outside of a building in Coptic Cairo

Revolutionary street art in downtown Cairo.

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:36:00 -0400

Revolutionary street art in downtown Cairo.

Announcement of Mursi’s victory on state television.

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:34:02 -0400

Announcement of Mursi’s victory on state television.

Siwan boy sits by his front door.

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:34:00 -0400

Siwan boy sits by his front door.

Protests in Tahrir the week before Mursi was elected.

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:33:22 -0400

Protests in Tahrir the week before Mursi was elected.

Photos from Egypt coming!

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:18:00 -0400

Hi all,

My apologies for the severe lack of updates… school/work/life is my excuse. Not a very good one. I was going through some photos from my visit to Egypt this past summer and thought I would share a few. Take from each what you wish.

Salaam.

Anti-American Uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 22:42:00 -0400

Since Tuesday, groups of angry protesters in Cairo and Benghazi have taken to violence outside of American embassies in Egypt and Libya in response to Israeli-American Sam Bacile’s film “The Innocence of Muslims.” The film portrays the sacred Islamic prophet Muhammad as an immoral, indulgent thug. US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, along with four other Americans, was killed Tuesday in Benghazi by a rocket-propelled grenade. At least eighteen Libyans and twelve Americans were wounded. Suspicions that al-Queda might be behind the attack in Libya have surfaced today. Here’s a photo gallery of Libyans apologizing for their fellow countrymen’s actions. Protesters in Yemen have recently joined in the anti-American violence by rioting outside the American embassy on Thursday. Five Yemenis have died since the violence began this morning.

As Americans, it is important for us to recognize that those involved in the riots make up only a fraction of these countries’ populations and that their actions should not be the sole basis for judging an entire country. I spent two months in Cairo this summer, encountering very few individuals who expressed anti-American feelings. Most had questions about politics, the economy, and whether or not life is really how American Pie makes it seem. But not once did I experience any outright unfriendliness because of my nationality.

A friend of mine in Cairo predicted in June that the next year be filled with uprisings from dissatisfied revolutionaries, after the election in which Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi beat out former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. The overall lack of closure to the Arab Spring has left a very charged public without a specified outlet. Prepare to see more uprisings in the coming days.

Haunting Narrative Account of a Sniping in Syria (CNN)

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:07:00 -0400

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/03/world/meast/syria-desperate-family/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

“The women who were caring for her when the bullet struck — her grandmother and mother — were still at home trying to understand what had happened. On the stairs up to the apartment was Rena’s blood. Inside the apartment was her tooth. In the window was the small hole that the bullet had made…

A sniper’s bullet had killed a four-year-old girl, leaving us wondering how the violence now engulfing Aleppo will ever end, whether its civilians will ever recover life as they knew it.”

Over 100,000 refugees have fled Syria as the country remains war-torn over conflict between dictator Bashar al-Assad and rebel civilian groups.

Army Major Thomas Kennedy makes ultimate sacrifice

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:58:44 -0400

http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/594836/community-mourns-loss-of-maj—thomas-kennedy/

Again, a personal West Point connection makes headlines. My former TAC officer, Major Thomas Kennedy, was killed last week by an Afghani suicide bomber. He had been deployed less than a month after being posted to the United States Military Academy for the past four years. He leaves behind his wife and two young twins. On one hand, I can’t stop thinking about how unfair it is to his family— especially those babies, who were all smiles every time I had the opportunity to play with them. But on the other, I hope it is at least somewhat comforting to those he leaves behind that he died honorably in sacrifice for his country, the epitome of selfless leadership he so often tried to instill in his followers. Though my own personal path has strayed from the Army route, I will never forget the lessons in leadership, compassion, and motivation Major Kennedy taught me. From what I saw in the year I had the honor of being one of “his cadets”, he had a positive influence over everyone he met and made us all want to work to our highest capabilities. In his premature and tragic return to the States, he taught us all one more lesson in sacrifice and duty that I’m sure will have a lasting impact on all who knew him. Be thou at peace, Major K.

Egypt's Morsi ousts top military officials (CNN)

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:30:44 -0400

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/12/world/meast/egypt-morsy/index.html?c=intl-homepage-t

Egypt’s president Mohamed Morsi has sent top military officials into retirement, a surprising, but perhaps necessary motion towards progress. Most officials were in place under Mubarak and Morsi has been at odds with them since he was elected in June. This comes after intense violence last week in the Sinai peninsula between Beduoin radicals and military members.

Army Major Thomas Kennedy returns home

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:28:44 -0400

Army Major Thomas Kennedy returns home

Really cool interactive post by Al Jazeera about Syria´s Defections:

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:25:23 -0400

So I lied about updating apparently… I am checking the news for 10 minutes while I wait for photos to develop to give to some families we´re working with and found this on Al Jazeera. Explore!

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/syriadefections/2012730840348158.html

On hiatus (in case anyone is still checking this)

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 09:53:11 -0400

Hi sooo I was quite absent my last month in Egypt and I’m about to be quite absent this next month in Peru…. So, if anyone is still checking for updates, look again at the end of August!

Adios/ مع سلامة!

Mursi wins presidential election in Egypt (al Ahram)

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 18:07:00 -0400

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/36/122/46087/Presidential-elections-/Presidential-elections-news/Dont-obey-me-if-I-dont-fulfill-promises-Presidente.aspx

Sorry this is a few hours late… we’ve been traveling back from Alexandria to Cairo.

This afternoon, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi was announced President of Egypt in the country’s first democratic and free election. He addressed the country shortly after, promising to be a leader of the people and challenging them to defy him if he fails to keep his word.

“Mursi also dedicated his triumph to the martyrs of last year’s uprising against Mubarak saying he ‘wouldn’t be here today as first freely elected president without the sacrifices of the martyrs and injured.’”

I spent the afternoon waiting for the announcement at a cafe in Alexandria. It took quite a while to get through all the voting numbers, but once Mursi was announced the victor, immediately the streets filled with car horns, shouts of joy, and fireworks. Within the cafe, a younger crowd was visibly excited and emotional, whereas a few older patrons were clearly disappointed.

I spoke with one man who told me “[he is] Muslim, but [doesn’t] want an Islamist government.” He was also quite concerned with our safety traveling via train back to Cairo tonight and gave us his contact information should we run into any trouble (which thankfully we did not).

Back in Cairo we passed through the metro stop at Tahrir Square, where several enthusiastic women and children boarded the “women’s only” car in which we were riding. Within the station, so many people were happily waving flags and shouting excitedly.

The kids on the train all had their faces painted with “25 January” and the Egyptian flag. At one point, a group of teenage girls started chanting victoriously, engaging about 2/3 of our car. I captured a few photos and videos and will upload them once I have a better internet connection.

That’s all for now, folks.

~Tisbah ala khair (goodnight)

Reactions to announcement of Mubarak's "clinical death" (al-Ahram)

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:48:00 -0400

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/45641/Egypt/Politics-/Tahrir-protesters-react-to-reports-of-Mubarak-clin.aspx

The link above takes you to a local newspaper article detailing yesterday’s reactions in Tahrir as news broke about Mubarak’s supposed depose.

“Cheers erupted and fireworks were let off as reports that toppled president Hosni Mubarak was pronounced “clinically dead” trickled into Tahrir Square.

‘After 30 years of a brutal regime, the people wanted to say yes, they won for just a day, of course they are rejoicing’ says Kawsar Abdel-Atti, 40, a house wife form Sharabaya who had taken her six children to Cairo’s flashpoint square earlier that evening to “celebrate Mohamed Mursi’s win.”

‘Large crowds also left the square as they felt sad that an old man had died – we’re Egyptians, it doesn’t matter who it is, we feel bad if someone dies,’ her eldest son, Ahmed Abdel-Atti, a 19-year-old computer science student added.”

Some thought his death was a government ruse:

“‘The military just wanted to make big news that would eclipse the Tahrir protests about the ruling military council, the elections and the amended constitutional,’ Mohammed Tarek, 27, an interior designer said, ‘It worked; the media suddenly started talking about Mubarak, and people started to leave the square.’”

This morning, the military has rejected the statement that Mubarak is “clinically dead”. They say he is only unconscious in Maadi Hospital after suffering a stroke.

Mubarak "Clinically Dead" (al-Jazeera)

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:56:00 -0400

BREAKING: Hosni Mubarak was announced “clinically dead” tonight. He suffered a stroke earlier today and is reportedly on a respirator in a Maadi hospital this evening.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/2012619193851869222.html

Today has been crazy. I don’t even know what to expect for the rest of the week.