All Quiet in Najaf
Omar, at Iraq the Model posts a letter that was forwarded to him by the father of a U.S. soldier serving in Najaf:
Yet Najaf routinely appears in AP and Knight-Ridder articles that contrast the "rosy" picture of Iraq painted by Bush and Allawi with the "Realities on the ground." Because this place was taken over by a militia, mostly from outside the city, earlier this year, that means it falls into the media's "Iraq chaos" category. And there it remains, even though the militia thoroughly disgusted the residents, and the U.S. and its allies (including Iraqi military) drove the attackers out while inflicting catastrophic losses.
And all the reporters left with the militias. My friend Katrina, who was working in the Najaf area earlier this summer, and who still has contacts there, reports that, after the U.S. restored order, the people of Najaf staged large protest marches daily -- against the Shi'ite militias who had temporarily held a reign of terror there.
The Al-Sadr uprising was news. So is this. Only one was reported.
Back in mid-September, she wrote that the Shi'ite militiamen in Najaf were "alienating potential supporters simply because of their ability to bring down destruction on normal people wherever they go, not mentioning the extremity of their views, which once practiced seem to gain little appeal from average Iraqis. They're protesting Muqtada in Najaf daily, not because they are impressed with his people. But then you're probably not aware of the size and scope of those protests back in the US."
A couple weeks later, she wrote:
Dear Dad:
1. Not much to report on here in Najaf. Its been quite but we have heard about things being hot in other parts of Iraq so we are still being vigilant. Just recently the Mosques here in Najaf have re-opened and people are returning to them for prayer for the first time in almost a year. When the militia came into the city they took over the Mosques and used them as hideouts, even though it's against their own religious beliefs to use a holy site in such a way, but they did so because they knew that we wouldn't bomb there. The people kept asking us to just go in and get them, but we didn't want to destroy their Mosque, and some of my friends died as a result of sniper fire from inside, but we know it was the right thing to do.
As we were driving through the city on a security patrol the other day we drove by the newly re-opened Mosque. As we drove by many people came out and waved at us and some parents even held up their children and said "thank you America." I remember thinking that how lucky I was to be able to be from a country where I don't have to worry about someone using my church as a battle position, or that someone might shoot me and my family for trying to go to church. Some times I forget how lucky I am and I can't ever believe that I thought of going to church as being a "chore" We should feel blessed to be able to go in and pray as we choose. And I thank God every day that you and my family are safe and sound in the U.S. I love you guys so much that I would gladly lay down my life so that you never loose a single freedom that you enjoy today. And if anything should happen to me, don't worry there are a lot of guys like me out there who will never let that happen.
Lately we have been doing public affairs stuff, going around to different schools and seeing what kinds of stuff they need to be fixed. Things like desks and chalkboards and stuff. The hard part is dealing with all the little kids that come out to see us and they all think that we are going to be giving away food and candy. And it's not like it's just a couple of kids, we get mobbed by like a hundred kids. Instead of more candy or chocolate or stuff me , if you could send some basic school supply stuff to me we can get it right to the school kids. Things like pens, pencils, protractors, rulers, etc and we will get it out. I will also get some pictures of the kids for you that I will send. Oh, and don't forget those little hand held pencil sharpeners. Apparently they need some of those too ....
Love,
David Jr
Yet Najaf routinely appears in AP and Knight-Ridder articles that contrast the "rosy" picture of Iraq painted by Bush and Allawi with the "Realities on the ground." Because this place was taken over by a militia, mostly from outside the city, earlier this year, that means it falls into the media's "Iraq chaos" category. And there it remains, even though the militia thoroughly disgusted the residents, and the U.S. and its allies (including Iraqi military) drove the attackers out while inflicting catastrophic losses.
And all the reporters left with the militias. My friend Katrina, who was working in the Najaf area earlier this summer, and who still has contacts there, reports that, after the U.S. restored order, the people of Najaf staged large protest marches daily -- against the Shi'ite militias who had temporarily held a reign of terror there.
The Al-Sadr uprising was news. So is this. Only one was reported.
Back in mid-September, she wrote that the Shi'ite militiamen in Najaf were "alienating potential supporters simply because of their ability to bring down destruction on normal people wherever they go, not mentioning the extremity of their views, which once practiced seem to gain little appeal from average Iraqis. They're protesting Muqtada in Najaf daily, not because they are impressed with his people. But then you're probably not aware of the size and scope of those protests back in the US."
A couple weeks later, she wrote:
You will not find any journalists in Najaf. Someone said something positive towards the coalition that indicated support from that population, it slipped out onto the AP newswire, and that was all it took to completely clear that city of every western media source and Al-Jazeera.
... Anyone who stopped long enough to think about just how critical the battle in Najaf was would be left to question why the media has decided to completely abandon the place. After such an event, it would certainly be of interest to most people to know just how the population survived, and what they think. But you're not getting it, and most people in the States never seem to question such things.
