Category Archives: Iraq

So al-Qa’ida’s defeated, eh? Go tell it to the marines

Afghanistan, Iraq, Iraq War, Journalism and Media

Robert Fisk, The Independent, Sunday, 1 June 2008

So al-Qa’ida is “almost defeated”, is it? Major gains against al-Qa’ida. Essentially defeated. “On balance, we are doing pretty well,” the CIA’s boss, Michael Hayden, tells The Washington Post. “Near strategic defeat of al-Qa’ida in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al-Qa’ida in Saudi Arabia. Significant setbacks for al-Qa’ida globally – and here I’m going to use the word ‘ideologically’ – as a lot of the Islamic world pushes back on their form of Islam.” Well, you could have fooled me.

Six thousand dead in Afghanistan, tens of thousands dead in Iraq, a suicide bombing a day in Mesopotamia, the highest level of suicides ever in the US military – the Arab press wisely ran this story head to head with Hayden’s boasts – and permanent US bases in Iraq after 31 December. And we’ve won? Continue reading So al-Qa’ida’s defeated, eh? Go tell it to the marines →

Hometown Baghdad

Film and Video, Iraq, Iraq War, Journalism and Media

Hometown Baghdad is an online web series about life in Baghdad. It tells the stories of three young Iraqis struggling to survive during the war.

The series premiered on March 19th 2007 and the final episode went live on June 17. All episodes are viewable here.

The series was acclaimed in press throughout the world. See the press page for more.

Hometown Baghdad was produced by global youth dialogue company, Chat the Planet. Find out more about Chat here.

The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #21

Iraq, Literature, Poetry


The Iraqi Poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab

[Note: This is the 21st in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]

Letter #21

Al-Ma’qil, 9/17/1964

My Brother, Adunis. Dearest Beloved (along with Muhyi al-Din Muhammad). May I be lucky enough to find Muhammad.

O Dearest Friend,

How are you? Correspondence between us has stopped for about nine months now. The two reasons for this are bad luck and my incurable disease. My general health is not bad, but my two paralyzed legs are still the same. My soul is overflowing with poetry, but it is poetry that flows from the fountain of deep pain and dejection, not of delight. Just yesterday, I wrote a poem void of sadness, despair, and pain because our brother, ‘Ali al-Sabti, met with my loved ones in Lebanon and carried joyful news about them to me with a promise that they will send me a letter. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #21 →

Mullah Atari

CyberOrient, Iraq, Iraq War

Since the U.S.-led take-over of Iraq, now more than five years ago, a wide range of Iraqis have become mad as hell, or perhaps more accurately mad enough to make hell with both the U.S. military and against each other. Some are even mahdi as hell, resulting in the Mahdi Army virtually commanded by Muqtada al-Sadr, the grandson of a well-known shi’a grand ayatollah. This renegade militia is the major homegrown thorn in the side of President Nuri al-Maliki’s Green Zone republic. Starting in October, 2003, Muqtada put into play a shadow Islamic government and by August of 2004 he called on his supporters to fight the Coalition forces. For almost three years there has been a loose ceasefire, but that was shattered recently when al-Maliki attempted to oust the Mahdi Army from Basra. Continue reading Mullah Atari →

The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #20

Iraq, Literature, Poetry


The Iraqi Poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab

[Note: This is the 20th in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]

Letter #20

al-Ma’qil 10/15/1963

My Dear Brother Jabra (Ibrahim Jabra),

Welcome to Iraq. I hope you enjoyed your summer in Lebanon. I am certain that you continued your literary activities while there. Besides Taoufiq Sayigh and Yusuf al-Khal, with whom did you meet? Did you see Salma al-Khadra’ al-Jayusi and Laila ba’albaki? Can you write me the details of the different phases of literary activities in Lebanon?

I heard, actually, I read, that you are going to deliver a series of literary lectures on Baghdad Radio. This is a good thing. Something like rust has begun to cling to literary life here, and it is the duty of great writers to remove this now when the field is wide open for those who are creative and innovative. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #20 →

The occupation has frozen Iraq.

Iraq, Iraq War

by Simon Jenkins, The Guardian, April 9 2008

The British troops encamped outside Basra resemble Davy Crockett’s colleagues in the Alamo. Nobody will come to their rescue. Their position is hopeless. They cannot win. They cannot escape. Their boss, the defence secretary Des Browne, has emphasised their political entombment by reneging on Gordon Brown’s pledge to reduce their numbers by a half this spring. The American general, David Petraeus, yesterday said the same of his troops. He wants 140,000 of them to remain at the end of the current surge, dashing hopes that their numbers might come down. The occupation of Iraq is now officially indefinite. Too many politicians have too much to lose by contemplating retreat. Continue reading The occupation has frozen Iraq. →

The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #19

Iraq, Literature, Poetry


The Iraqi Poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab

[Note: This is the 19th in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]

Letter #19

Basra 9/11/1963

My Dear Brother ‘Asim (al-Gindi),

I have been silent too long because I have been going through the final stages of treatment. Neither British nor French medicine has been able to cure my illness, so I finally resorted to popular Arabic medicine, and I followed the saying of our noble Prophet: (cauterization is the last resort of treatment). Yes, I have tried it with hot metal skewers at the hands of a Bedouin healer. The complete results of this treatment have not appeared yet because the wounds caused by cauterization have not healed in spite of the twenty days that have passed. Nevertheless, there is a glimpse of hope. Let us leave all this behind. Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #19 →

The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #18

Iraq, Literature, Poetry


The Iraqi Poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab

[Note: This is the 18th in a series of translations of selected letters of the noted Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. For more information on the poet, click here.]

Letter #18

al-Ma’qil
20 July, 1963

My Dear Brother Abu Arwad (Adunis),

Your letter made me very happy because it came to me from my dearest friend after a long interruption. It also brought me the news that I have long been hoping for. It is rather a pity, Adunis, that the starlings should soar in the sky of poetry while the eagles remain with their wings folded and for no good reason other than incrimination and falsification.

My health is improving extremely slowly; nevertheless, there is an improvement. I hope it improves enough so I can come to Beirut this winter.

Currently, I am not writing anything. I am experiencing a period of stagnation after the period of that worthy activity in England where I produced “ Manzil al-Aqnan,” which has already been published. I will send your copy as soon as my personal copies arrive. I also have a new poetry collection still waiting for a publisher.
Perhaps it will be the best that I have written so far. [He is referring to “Shanashil Ibnat al-Halabi.”] Continue reading The Letters of Badr Shakir al-Sayyab: #18 →