Yet another day of insurgency in Baghdad.
A suicide car bomber has become a martyr to his cause on the road to the airport, killing two Iraqis and injuring others who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Peter: not too close mate theres exploding ammo
His intended victims were the American soldiers in this Humvee.. now almost unrecognisable as it blazes next to the crater left in the roadway.
This time the soldiers survived, with severe injuries which spell the end of the war for them. Nearby a woman blinded by the blast pleads for news of her mother. A young girl.. possibly her daughter is dead. As we film snipers open fire on those whove gathered to help.. one Iraqi guardsmen is wounded.
Louie: Oh theres a bloke down Peter.
There were five car bombings in and around Baghdad on this day.. on most days there are suicide bombings, shootings and attacks using remote controlled bombs.The insurgency has been growing steadily since President George Bush declared the invasion phase of his occupation of IRAQ over.This is epicentre of the resistance..Sadr City has become a breeding ground of the armed opposition.Its a vast slum in the northern suburbs of Baghdad.. a place where the Americans will not go without support of armoured columns and helicopter gunships.
Peter PTC(DELETED IN INTERNATIONAL VERSON): This is as far as the influence of the US and IRAQI security forces extends .the roundabout outside of sadr city. Beyond here the streets belong to the footsoldiers of the MEHDI army, many of them poor , unemployed and fervently religious. The new IRAQ holds nothing for them and a martyrdom is an attractive choice.
These young men ritually flagellating themselves with chains are from SADR city.Theyve come to town to join tens of thousands of others marking the death of MUSA the 7th holy imam of their Shia faith.. who was poisoned by his enemies in 799.V/O Theyre also applauding a relatively new spiritual leader.. a young firebrand cleric whos become the most potent enemy of occupying American forces.Moqtada Al Sadr is the grandson of a former prime minister of IRAQ.His father was a venerated religious leader murdered by Saddam Hussein. Now, Moqtada has also become a hero of Shiite resistance.Hes an influencial figure as well ..in the eyes of more senior clerics.. like Sheikh Abdul Jabbar Manhell.
Sheikh Manhell: This family represents freedom in the eyes of the Shia. This is one of the reasons why they obey Mouqtada, why they are rushing to death and sacrifice themselves- because of Mouqtada
Back in Sadr city.. the warriors of Moqtadas so called Medhi army are the real enforcers on the streets.Their authority springs from the barrel of a gun.The Medhi army directs traffic and does a lot of the work in Sadr city.Our Iraqi cameraman arrived for what appeared to be some roadwork.In fact Mehdi Army followers were digging holes to plant bombs to attack American military vehicles. Upsot dramatic drums
Ive come to meet two members of the MEHDI army in a safe house in BAGHDAD.An interview in SADR city would not be safe for me or them.
They call themselves MOHAMMED and WASSIM, theyre barely into their 20s but they are already veterans of the battle for the holy cities of NAJAF and KUFA.
Peter: What do you think of Mouqtada Al Sadr?
Mohommed: For us Assayed Mouqtada Al Sadr is a leader and he is a courageous man and we by Gods will hope that we will be his loyal soldiers and what he says we will obey Assayed Mouqtda Sadr.
Mohammed and Wassim are neighbours and sworn enemies of America and the west because of what has happened in Iraq.
Peter: Would you prefer the situation with Saddam Hussein still in charge?
Wassim: No, Saddam Hussein hurt us before. He hurt us in every way. And then the occupation came and in the beginning they cared for us a little, and then ignored us. And now they are hurting us and the Americans are hurting Sadr City.
SADR city has become a war zone.. with US forces and their IRAQI National Guard allies fighting pitched battles against the SHIITES.They were persecuted by SADDAM HUSSEIN ..but now see their so called liberators as oppressors whove failed to make life better.
Mohammed: You have seen the rubbish in the streets and there is no water and gutters are overflowing. Everyone is sitting down but only the Medhi army is cleaning it.
Peter: Why not join the Iraqi army.. why not join the national guard?
Mohammed: They are traitors
Mohammed and WASSIM are local heroes .. who take on a menacing appearance as they prepare to take part in another insurgency attack. Theyve joined other young men from their block.. to form a neighbourhood unit of the Medhi army.
Theyre all angry and disaffected.. and no strangers to the AK47 and the rocket propelled grenade.This is a community army.. some in the unit have odd jobs but no steady work. Comrade in arms Mohammed ABDULLAH tries to keep himself busy fixing doors and windows. Another fighter Mohammed ABBAS is trying to set up a business installing satellite TV.The dishes were banned under SADDAM.. now theyve sprouted on every rooftop.It provides Mohammed and Wassim with information they could never access under the old regime.But they dont like what they see in their window to the world.. for them there are very few choices.
Peter: What will make things better?
Wassim: For things to become better, we want our freedom. And we want to work and God willing, God willing the Americans will leave and the occupation, God willing, will end from Sadr City and from Iraq. God willing
Crime is rife in the suburbs of Baghdad.. but instead of policing the streets.. these Iraqi officers have an unpopular and thankless task.
Theyve have been assigned to protect electricity workers who move in to disconnect tens of thousands whove illegally tapped into electricity mains.Residents will be left without the lights, cooking and the means to cool their homes in the 45 degree heat.
Its no way to win hearts and minds.. but the occupation forces have been trying to build bridges with mainstream clerics.. encouraging them to draw followers from the more radical clerics. Saddam Hussein wanted this to be the worlds biggest Sunni Mosque, but the US led invasion interrupted its construction when it was just 70 percent complete. Its now been handed over to the Shiites. The new imam is Sheikh ABDUL JABBAR MANHELL.
Peter: How many workers do you think it would take to finish the mosque?
Shiekh: Thousands of workers I think and the engineers of this mosque who built this mosque visit us from time to time and they say we are ready to complete this mosque.
Americans came, they thought that the Americans had a magic stick that America will solve the problems overnight. But they discovered they are cheated and America didnt solve the problems, of the country.
Sheikh Manhell wants government money to complete his Mosque and provide tens of thousands of jobs in the process. Its not as if theres a shortage of labour though. Each day thousands of men queue in public squares and parks.. hoping to be picked up for work.For the lucky few .. a price is agreed.. guaranteeing food on the table for a few days at least.Many of the workers who cant get a government job are some of the estimated 400-thousand members of Saddams disbanded armed forces.HUMAM SHAMAA is an economist from BAGHDAD University.He claims one of the biggest mistakes was breaking up the Iraqi military.
Prof Shamaa: If we can reconstitute this army and if we can assure a good level of standard for the people who are now without any kind of work we can break down this vicious circle.
This is an army of a different kind.. a familiar sight in the cities of Iraq.The men in orange overalls.. are among 87,000 workers enlisted to collect the garbage.Their job is to make cities more liveable. . its supposed to keep the unemployed away from the insurgency groups.The make work scheme is administered by HUMAM SHAFIQ MISCONI.
HUMAM SHAFIQ MISCONI: There are tens or even hundreds of thousands of unemployed, they are angry, they are hungry people, they want to provide for their families and they re willing to do anything even to participate in this insurgency activities, just to provide for their families.
Its HUMAN MISCONIs job to hand out 125 million US dollars to 350 municipalities but the money and the jobs run out in November.
misconi: An unemployed person can be a very angry person? Yeah hes a potential terrorist for example
Wassim and Mohammed dont see themselves as terrorists.. but freedom fighters holy warriors fighting the United States and their puppet forces.Theyre battling for a better standard of living.. even though they have no idea how it can be won.
Peter:What do you want for the future?
Wassim:I want a job for my future. I am sitting now, I go out from the morning until the afternoon to look for work and I cant find it. And Im sitting, not working.
Peter: Being in the Medhi army is very dangerous , do you worry about dying?
Wassim: I am not thinking of death. By Gods will, Im with Mouqtda Sadr until death. What he does we do. What he asks us to do we do.
Iraq is largely a middle class society with middle class aspirations.But the promised prosperity which was supposed to follow the toppling of the former dictator has not materialised.The lack of security in this ravaged nation is the biggest impediment to Iraqs recovery.There can be no peace here whilst unemployment and squalor provide fertile ground for the insurgency groups.
A suicide car bomber has become a martyr to his cause on the road to the airport, killing two Iraqis and injuring others who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Peter: not too close mate theres exploding ammo
His intended victims were the American soldiers in this Humvee.. now almost unrecognisable as it blazes next to the crater left in the roadway.
This time the soldiers survived, with severe injuries which spell the end of the war for them. Nearby a woman blinded by the blast pleads for news of her mother. A young girl.. possibly her daughter is dead. As we film snipers open fire on those whove gathered to help.. one Iraqi guardsmen is wounded.
Louie: Oh theres a bloke down Peter.
There were five car bombings in and around Baghdad on this day.. on most days there are suicide bombings, shootings and attacks using remote controlled bombs.The insurgency has been growing steadily since President George Bush declared the invasion phase of his occupation of IRAQ over.This is epicentre of the resistance..Sadr City has become a breeding ground of the armed opposition.Its a vast slum in the northern suburbs of Baghdad.. a place where the Americans will not go without support of armoured columns and helicopter gunships.
Peter PTC(DELETED IN INTERNATIONAL VERSON): This is as far as the influence of the US and IRAQI security forces extends .the roundabout outside of sadr city. Beyond here the streets belong to the footsoldiers of the MEHDI army, many of them poor , unemployed and fervently religious. The new IRAQ holds nothing for them and a martyrdom is an attractive choice.
These young men ritually flagellating themselves with chains are from SADR city.Theyve come to town to join tens of thousands of others marking the death of MUSA the 7th holy imam of their Shia faith.. who was poisoned by his enemies in 799.V/O Theyre also applauding a relatively new spiritual leader.. a young firebrand cleric whos become the most potent enemy of occupying American forces.Moqtada Al Sadr is the grandson of a former prime minister of IRAQ.His father was a venerated religious leader murdered by Saddam Hussein. Now, Moqtada has also become a hero of Shiite resistance.Hes an influencial figure as well ..in the eyes of more senior clerics.. like Sheikh Abdul Jabbar Manhell.
Sheikh Manhell: This family represents freedom in the eyes of the Shia. This is one of the reasons why they obey Mouqtada, why they are rushing to death and sacrifice themselves- because of Mouqtada
Back in Sadr city.. the warriors of Moqtadas so called Medhi army are the real enforcers on the streets.Their authority springs from the barrel of a gun.The Medhi army directs traffic and does a lot of the work in Sadr city.Our Iraqi cameraman arrived for what appeared to be some roadwork.In fact Mehdi Army followers were digging holes to plant bombs to attack American military vehicles. Upsot dramatic drums
Ive come to meet two members of the MEHDI army in a safe house in BAGHDAD.An interview in SADR city would not be safe for me or them.
They call themselves MOHAMMED and WASSIM, theyre barely into their 20s but they are already veterans of the battle for the holy cities of NAJAF and KUFA.
Peter: What do you think of Mouqtada Al Sadr?
Mohommed: For us Assayed Mouqtada Al Sadr is a leader and he is a courageous man and we by Gods will hope that we will be his loyal soldiers and what he says we will obey Assayed Mouqtda Sadr.
Mohammed and Wassim are neighbours and sworn enemies of America and the west because of what has happened in Iraq.
Peter: Would you prefer the situation with Saddam Hussein still in charge?
Wassim: No, Saddam Hussein hurt us before. He hurt us in every way. And then the occupation came and in the beginning they cared for us a little, and then ignored us. And now they are hurting us and the Americans are hurting Sadr City.
SADR city has become a war zone.. with US forces and their IRAQI National Guard allies fighting pitched battles against the SHIITES.They were persecuted by SADDAM HUSSEIN ..but now see their so called liberators as oppressors whove failed to make life better.
Mohammed: You have seen the rubbish in the streets and there is no water and gutters are overflowing. Everyone is sitting down but only the Medhi army is cleaning it.
Peter: Why not join the Iraqi army.. why not join the national guard?
Mohammed: They are traitors
Mohammed and WASSIM are local heroes .. who take on a menacing appearance as they prepare to take part in another insurgency attack. Theyve joined other young men from their block.. to form a neighbourhood unit of the Medhi army.
Theyre all angry and disaffected.. and no strangers to the AK47 and the rocket propelled grenade.This is a community army.. some in the unit have odd jobs but no steady work. Comrade in arms Mohammed ABDULLAH tries to keep himself busy fixing doors and windows. Another fighter Mohammed ABBAS is trying to set up a business installing satellite TV.The dishes were banned under SADDAM.. now theyve sprouted on every rooftop.It provides Mohammed and Wassim with information they could never access under the old regime.But they dont like what they see in their window to the world.. for them there are very few choices.
Peter: What will make things better?
Wassim: For things to become better, we want our freedom. And we want to work and God willing, God willing the Americans will leave and the occupation, God willing, will end from Sadr City and from Iraq. God willing
Crime is rife in the suburbs of Baghdad.. but instead of policing the streets.. these Iraqi officers have an unpopular and thankless task.
Theyve have been assigned to protect electricity workers who move in to disconnect tens of thousands whove illegally tapped into electricity mains.Residents will be left without the lights, cooking and the means to cool their homes in the 45 degree heat.
Its no way to win hearts and minds.. but the occupation forces have been trying to build bridges with mainstream clerics.. encouraging them to draw followers from the more radical clerics. Saddam Hussein wanted this to be the worlds biggest Sunni Mosque, but the US led invasion interrupted its construction when it was just 70 percent complete. Its now been handed over to the Shiites. The new imam is Sheikh ABDUL JABBAR MANHELL.
Peter: How many workers do you think it would take to finish the mosque?
Shiekh: Thousands of workers I think and the engineers of this mosque who built this mosque visit us from time to time and they say we are ready to complete this mosque.
Americans came, they thought that the Americans had a magic stick that America will solve the problems overnight. But they discovered they are cheated and America didnt solve the problems, of the country.
Sheikh Manhell wants government money to complete his Mosque and provide tens of thousands of jobs in the process. Its not as if theres a shortage of labour though. Each day thousands of men queue in public squares and parks.. hoping to be picked up for work.For the lucky few .. a price is agreed.. guaranteeing food on the table for a few days at least.Many of the workers who cant get a government job are some of the estimated 400-thousand members of Saddams disbanded armed forces.HUMAM SHAMAA is an economist from BAGHDAD University.He claims one of the biggest mistakes was breaking up the Iraqi military.
Prof Shamaa: If we can reconstitute this army and if we can assure a good level of standard for the people who are now without any kind of work we can break down this vicious circle.
This is an army of a different kind.. a familiar sight in the cities of Iraq.The men in orange overalls.. are among 87,000 workers enlisted to collect the garbage.Their job is to make cities more liveable. . its supposed to keep the unemployed away from the insurgency groups.The make work scheme is administered by HUMAM SHAFIQ MISCONI.
HUMAM SHAFIQ MISCONI: There are tens or even hundreds of thousands of unemployed, they are angry, they are hungry people, they want to provide for their families and they re willing to do anything even to participate in this insurgency activities, just to provide for their families.
Its HUMAN MISCONIs job to hand out 125 million US dollars to 350 municipalities but the money and the jobs run out in November.
misconi: An unemployed person can be a very angry person? Yeah hes a potential terrorist for example
Wassim and Mohammed dont see themselves as terrorists.. but freedom fighters holy warriors fighting the United States and their puppet forces.Theyre battling for a better standard of living.. even though they have no idea how it can be won.
Peter:What do you want for the future?
Wassim:I want a job for my future. I am sitting now, I go out from the morning until the afternoon to look for work and I cant find it. And Im sitting, not working.
Peter: Being in the Medhi army is very dangerous , do you worry about dying?
Wassim: I am not thinking of death. By Gods will, Im with Mouqtda Sadr until death. What he does we do. What he asks us to do we do.
Iraq is largely a middle class society with middle class aspirations.But the promised prosperity which was supposed to follow the toppling of the former dictator has not materialised.The lack of security in this ravaged nation is the biggest impediment to Iraqs recovery.There can be no peace here whilst unemployment and squalor provide fertile ground for the insurgency groups.