Photographs From Iraq: February 22 - March 6, 2006
The occupiers of Iraq take a deep breath, relax, and keep a low profile as the civil war they have strived for two years to incite appears finally to get off the ground.
Photographs From Iraq: February 22 - March 6, 2006
The occupiers of Iraq take a deep breath, relax, and keep a low profile as the civil war they have strived for two years to incite appears finally to get off the ground.
In late September and early October of 2004, the U.S. military - with support from some Iraqi collaborators - launched an assault on the city of Samarra. As seen in this picture of the hospital there on October 3, perhaps hundreds of people were killed.
Before.
After. The shrine, resting place of three Shiite Imams, decendents of Mohammad, is located in the ancient city of Samarra, where the Imams were sent by the Sunni Caliph of Baghdad more than a thousand years ago so that he could keep a close eye on them. Nearby is the well where the mythical Mahdi, the last Imam, disappeared; Shiites believe that he will return to lead them into a new age of power, peace and prosperity.
A hospital in Baghdad on the 21st after a carbomb, apparently targeting Shiites, killed at least 22 people and injured dozens.
Same day, a rocket hit a sheep market, injuring six people and killing 51 sheep; also in Baghdad
The wedge between Sunni and Shiite muslims in Iraq seemed deeper than ever before after the shrine was destroyed, as many people took even greater offense at the attack on the sacred mosque, in which no one was injured, than at the regular suicide bombings against people. Thousands of people were on the streets February 22, in Sadr City.
At least 120 people were killed in riots and sectarian assassinations in Iraq in the first days after the shrine was destroyed. One of the bodies pictured here, in Samarra, is that of Atwah Bahjat, an Iraqi correspondent for al-A rabiya TV who was killed, reportedly, when rioters found her interviewing people and shot her.
Moments before her death, Atwar, who was born in Samarra to a Sunni father and Shiite mother, reported on the tremendous tension on the streets of the city, which she was not able to enter.
Numerous Sunni mosques, such as this in Baghdad, were attacked in retaliation.
On the 24th, the U.S.-installed Iraqi government imposed a full time lockdown on the capital, forbidding everyone to leave their homes. Besides a few brave individuals, the only people on the streets were heavily armed militia members and, if you could tell the differe nce, Iraqi police and soldiers.
On the first day, the curfew, which theoretically covered most of the country, put a stop to the new outbreak of violence; but by the second, the killing resumed at full clip. In Baqouba on the 25th, a dozen farm laborers were killed.
It wasn't really clear if people stayed home because of the curfew, or simply just to save their skins. Significantly, despite the current rationale that U.S. troops must stay in Iraq to prevent civil war, the occupiers kept a very low profile as sectarian violence ramped up - knowing full well that they were liable to attack from all sides.
A carbomb appare ntly targeting Shiites killed at least six people in Karbala on the 25th, injuring dozens more..
Baqouba on the 26th, after an unexplained drive-by shooting.
Ali, a 6 year-old victim of a mortar attack on a Shiite neighborhood on the 27th.
February 28, Ramadi. "They're made to kneel in very uncomfortable positions, and they're hooded right away. That's one of the things they always specify is the time and conditions of arrest. You begin to break them down. You create this artificial environment of control, and then the techniques always vary." Pro. Alfred McCoy, author of a book about the history of CIA interrogation and tortur e techniques. McCoy says that the CIA has found that the most effective techniques do not involve extreme physical pain, but rather a slow degrading of the will - and humanity - of the victim.
At least 50 people were killed in Baghdad on the last day of February by several huge carbombs.
Nine people were found shot in the head and dumped near Baqouba, same day.
Also on the same day, a Brit was killed in Amara. A British military commander said on March 7 that all of their soldiers would be out of Iraq by the summer of 2008, with the first withdrawals beginn ing immediately.
C-130 gunship planes, a more murderous version of the transport model seen here at Balad air base on March 1st, have been brought to Iraq by the U.S. military so that they can do more killing with impunity from the air.
Many Iraqis, such as these Shiite kids pictured in Baghdad on the 2nd, have had to flee areas where their sect is a minority, with the effect that regions, cities, and even neighborhoods are more divided than ever.
March 2, in Kerbala. The military forces of the U.S.-installed Iraqi government also seem to have been taught CIA techniques, although they are widely known to use more classic forms of torture to extract information.
Iraqi border guards bring Abdullah Salah al-Harbi, a Saudi citizen, before the media, in Najaf, March 2, 2006. Abdullah Salah was captured Feb. by Iraq border guards after he crossed the border. He fled into Iraq after Saudi authorities chased him for his involvement in an attack on an oil facility in eastern Saudi Arabia, a military spokesman said.
Thousands of members of the al-Fadhila Shiite party demonstrated against the U.S.-installed government in Basra on March 3, demanding better security and services. They also threatened to cut off oil production and exports in the Basra region.
The ban on driving in Baghdad was re-instated on Friday the same day..
Thousands of people held an anti-government protest in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, on the 5th. Apparently the main issue was the increase in gasoline prices forced by the IMF, and the general shortage of fuel..
An Iraqi man walks past a burning car, in Basra, Monday, March 6, 2006. Two men were burned to death in their car after shootout with Iraqi police in the southern city Monday, and security officials said the victims were British citizens.
In Baghdad that day, explosions killed at least four people.
News:
At least eight people have been tortured to death by U.S. soldiers since 2002 according to Human Rights First; four cases have resulted in punishment for the torturers, with the worst offender receiving a five-month sentence. Forty-eight more deaths-of 108 total- were the result of "undetermined or unannounced" causes. (Full Report)
"Although a U.S. Army medical examiner found that Hatab had died of of strangulation, the evidence that would have been required to secure accountability for this death - Hatab's body - was rendered unusable in court. Hatab's internal organs were left exposed on an airport tarmac for hours..th e throat bone that would have supported the Army medical examiner's findings of strangulation was never found."
U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq might not be the brightest people on earth - almost 90% think they are there "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9/11 attacks" - but they aren't as dumb as Americans as a whole: 72% of soldiers in Iraq think that the military should end its occupation (i.e., "withdraw") within a year according to a new poll.
An interesting story from a right-wing British newspaper tells the story of how British occupiers "legitmately" shot dead Iraqi protesters who were "throwing petrol bombs".
Help
There are a few ways that you can help this project: First, if you, or someone you know, has a New York City library card, you can help the author vastly expand the number of photos available to Photographs From Iraq. NYC P.L. hosts a huge archive of high quality Associated Press photos, and makes them available online to anyone with a card number online. So..I need a card number. Contact irakfotos a yahoo.com.
Also, PFI needs a new host. If you know of a website that would host this archive, as well as new additions, with FTP access available to the author, please contact the author. Or if you have fancy webpage skills and would like to help develop a free-standing site, do the same.
And, as always, any new source for Iraq photographs, preferably with details, would be immensely appreciated.
Photos from Iraq Archives:
February 8 - 20
January 26 - February 7
January 7 - 26
December 1 2005 - January 5, 2006
November 19 - December 3
November 6 - 17>
October 27 - November 4>
October 11 - 25
September 23 - October 10
September 5 - 20
August 23 - September 3
August 12 – 22
July 30 - August 10
July 15 – 29
July 1 – 14
June 13 – 28
May 27 – June 12
May 12-25
May 4 – 11
April 26 – May 3
April 13 - 24
March 28—April 10
March 21--27
March 12--20
March 1–11
February 21--28
February 11--20
February 3--10
January 25 – Feb 1
January 15--24
January 3--14
November 23--Dec 6 (2004)
November 16 – 24
November 13–18
September 25--Nov 10
September 1-21
(some photos may be broken due to external sites moving images around)
selected sources:
Cryptome's Iraq-kill-maim.org, which has just started to archive AP photos from Iraq. High quality.
Yahoo Iraq photos
Getty Images (type ‘Iraq’ and re-search)
Crisis pictures (Defunct)
TheNausea.com
Dahr Jamail
