This is a country where almost half the popluation
are under 16 years of age.
are under 16 years of age.
"We asked Ali about the Shula, which is situated past Khadimaya to the north-west of Bagdad. He said it was a big district with a mixture of Shia and Sunni Muslims, but mainly Shia. At first it was just the Shia fighting, but now the Sunni men have joined in.
There is staunch support for Moqtada Al Sadr - his photos are everywhere.
Have you heard about Shula in the news? No.
And here is our poor Ali trying to make a new life, while the Americans terrorise the area - but it is not big enough news for TV - you just need to know the big things that go on.
And did you know that the Public Security (secret service) Centre near New Bagdad was bombed - No? And did you know that yesterday, the Ministries of Oil, Sport and Youth came under attack form the Resistance - No.
Over the past few days, since the church bombings, there have been many many more bombs in Bagdad. Many of them have been closer and louder than before. We had one a few nights ago at around midnight, followed by a gun battle (we could hear reply fire). Then five mortars were heard, probably towards the Green Zone. Then two mornings running there were huge explosions at around 6.45 am - the 'morning bombs' don't usually go off that early, they are usually between 7.45 am and 9.30 am. Then last night, at about 11 pm, there was a big bomb not far away and this was followed by the definite sound of a rocket attack, also close by - we didn't know what was being hit though. At midnight there were 3 more explosions. One was huge and extremely close. I have told you before how
Iraqis don't even look around if there are bombs going off, unless they are close. Well, all of these, initiated a response - people looking and stopping what they were doing. The last one in particular got our whole street up and about."
Future of Iraq Portal
