The American people have been hearing that the "Surge" has been the main reason why Baghdad is "safer" and why violence has dropped down. But have Americans really known if they have been deceived or not? From what I see and hear here in the U.S. is that they do. Five years after their country's occupation to Iraq, there are Americans who still believe that what their government is saying is true. And the worst part is that there are Americans who have no idea what the hell happened in Iraq, and have no intention to know. Their lives are better off without knowing Iraqis and Americans are dying.
This post is dedicated to the Americans who still believe that the "surge" has "improved" the country's situation. They can see what I -an Iraqi from Baghdad- was shocked to see. I couldn't even recognize my own neighborhood surrounded by walls. Here, I would like to refer to a three-series video reporting by the Guardian's Iraqi reporter, Ghaith Abdul Ahad. Ghaith managed to capture in photos and videos what his British and American counterparts have failed to do: the real story of how Baghdad has turned to be five years after a bloody, ongoing war. (Thanks to BlogIraqi and another friend of mine who blogged about it.)
This post is dedicated to the Americans who still believe that the "surge" has "improved" the country's situation. They can see what I -an Iraqi from Baghdad- was shocked to see. I couldn't even recognize my own neighborhood surrounded by walls. Here, I would like to refer to a three-series video reporting by the Guardian's Iraqi reporter, Ghaith Abdul Ahad. Ghaith managed to capture in photos and videos what his British and American counterparts have failed to do: the real story of how Baghdad has turned to be five years after a bloody, ongoing war. (Thanks to BlogIraqi and another friend of mine who blogged about it.)
For the fifth anniversary of the US/British-led invasion of Iraq, the Guardian's award-winning foreign correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad has teamed up with ITV News to bring us a series of extraordinary films for the ITV News and guardian.co.uk. In these unprecedented films he, as an Iraqi, goes where foreign journalists can no longer go - to the heart of Baghdad's most dangerous sectarian zones. He uncovers Iraq's own killing field where only the 'killers and the killed' can visit; and he reveals the desperate truth of the trafficked children of Iraq.
The Series is as follows:
Baghdad: City of walls: In the first of Ghaith Abdul-Ahad's extraordinary series of films to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, he investigates the claims that the US military surge is bringing stability to Iraq. By travelling through the heart of Baghdad he exposes how, by enclosing the Sunni and Shia populations behind 12ft walls, the surge has left the city more divided and desperate than ever.
Baghdad's killing fields: In the second of Ghaith Abdul-Ahad's series of three films he visits Baghdad's killings fields on the edge of Sadr City. The scene of thousands of sectarian murders over the last three years, it is a desolate and evil place: 'Only the killers and the killed ever come here' says Abdul-Ahad. Here in the thousands of unmarked graves lie the victims of the Shia militia gangs Baghdad's Killing Fields was made by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad with GuardianFilms for ITV News.
Iraq's lost generation: In the final instalment of Ghaith Abdul-Ahad's series of films to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, he travels to an orphanage in Sadr city, where children speak of their hatred of America. A generation of Iraqi children have been radicalised and anti-westernised by the war Iraq's lost generation was made by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad with GuardianFilms for ITV News.
