In A Town Called Mahmoudiyia

But you can't complain, Georgie bought you democracy American Style, didn't you know, and he sure as hell is the decider. May his judgement day come soon, which will never be soon enough for me.

iraqi screen

In a town called Mahmoudiyia, south of Baghdad, people used to live together in peace for ages, no one ever there raised the question of Sunna or Shiite, locals are busy with farming, some of them joined Mahmoudiyia factory for bikes, but the town became busier with the establishment of Al-Q’aq’a Compound there during the eighties. The compound itself is an image for the intimate relations among the people there, as you can find, Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and Christians families work and live together. After the US invasion, troubles engulfed the town, car bombs, IEDS, kidnapping and assassinations, still Sunni and Shiite kept living together because they believe that common Iraqis did not dare to do that to cause harm to their own people. After the formation of Al-Ja’aferi government and the disastrous ministry of Interior who brought all the Shiite militias, equipped them with weapons and uniforms to kill with official approval, Mahmoudiyia became a hell for its people, particularly the Sunnis...

continua / continued