Two Sides of the Cemetery

     This is the tale of two Shiite fighters buried in the same cemetery in the holy city of Najaf. In the Valley of Peace, the largest Muslim cemetery in the world, these men’s bodies were buried, blessed and mourned. One was an Iraqi soldier. The other was a Mahdi Army fighter from Muqtada al Sadr's army.

     Mohammed Sami was a father of three little girls and a boy. His wife will now raise them alone. Iraqi Security Forces descended on Basra last week to wrest control of the city from Shiite militants. The Mahdi Army fought back and the battle spread to Baghdad and neighboring provinces. Sami, a militia member, was killed in battles in Karbala with the Iraqi Security Forces.

     His cousin, Ahmed Moussa Hassan, buried him in one of the 100 graves dug for dead fighters by their Mahdi Army peers.

     "Mohammed was defending himself when they came to detain him, and the Sayed (the honorofic title for Muqtada al Sadr) told us that to defend one's self is a duty," Hassan said. "All the blood that has been shed is upon the conscience of Maliki and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, because it is them who caused this strife."

      He refers to Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the most powerful Shiite party in Iraq, ISCI. But ISCI is a party of mostly exiles who are much less popular than Sadr's national movement.

      "Our martyrs will gain the afterlife; God will defeat injustice and render us victorious," he said.

      Across the cemetery a poor Shiite family from Najaf laid their son to rest. The 28-year-old's job as an Iraqi soldier supported his sisters, brothers and his parents. His father, Malik al Shimmeri, paid a $500 bribe to get his son, Zuhair, his job. Now he is riddled with the guilt that the job ultimately killed his son.

      "He never wanted the job, he hated the violence," said Al-Shimmeri. "I wanted him to help with money. I made him do it and now he is dead."

      His son’s death filled him with both guilt and anger at the Shiite Mahdi Army that many people now support more out of fear than love.

      "My son, Zuhair, was martyred at the hands of the criminal terrorists in Kut," he said. "Maliki must pursue the criminals and execute them."

      Both of their families call their dead martyrs.

Curfew

It's the second day of curfew in Baghdad. We can't go anywhere, although the government who imposed the curfew is still scheduling press conferences.

On Thursday in a drive through Baghdad areas controlled by the Sadrists, followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr, were sealed off either by the militia or Iraqi Security Forces. People trying to reach their homes got out of their cars and walked.

In parliament on Thursday Sadrists tried to speak about the battle in Basra, an offensive that began Tuesday mainly between Iraqi Security Forces and their militia, the Mahdi Army. They couldn't get enough votes to speak.

They disrupted the session screaming, "Maliki's a dictator," referring to the Iraqi Prime Minister. Ali al Adeeb, a lawmaker from Maliki's Dawa party spoke up.

"Let them speak, but let's do it in a civilized manner," he said.

The Sadrist lawmaker Falah Shanshal stood up.

"You're not civilized," he said. Then threw a water bottle at him. The session was adjourned.

While the government claims it is going after outlaws in Basra, the southern oil hub, it is clear they are targeting Mahdi Army controlled area. With the group under attack they are reacting and a freeze that Sadr put on his militia is unraveling.

Sadrists feel targeted and isolated among the Shiite parties. They believe that this battle is to undercut their reputation and popularity before the provincial elections in October. Their Shiite rival, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, (ISCI), retains control of much of the south but is far less popular than the Sadr trend. Provincial elections would take ISCI's monopoly on power in the south away.

While the President is calling this a "defining moment in the history of a free Iraq," he is not acknowledging that the battle is forcing the Mahdi Army to react in perceived self-defense. It's unraveling a months-long ceasefire that U.S. officials said was a huge factor in a drop in violence in Iraq. In Baghdad violence is climbing, two U.S. citizens were killed in attacks on the Green Zone.

Maliki will not backdown and the Mahdi Army will not disarm.

We'll see what the coming days bring.   

War and Sightseeing

On my first day back after a break in Beirut we walked the streets of Kadhemiya near the Shiite shrine. Vendors sold pickles from colorful bowls and women and children shopped for silver, gold, food and toys. Street vendors sold everything from rosaries with clay beads taken from the holy Shiite city of Karbala to modern leather belts with skulls and cross bones. It was the first place I visited almost three years ago when I came to Iraq. Something about it always makes me feel at home. 

At the shrine Iranian tourists took pictures and searched for their compatriots and a man offered to take pictures of you in front of the gold-domed mosque for a price.

Inside Abu Ali's silver store he picked out pieces to show us. I picked out beautiful silver charms with verses from the Q'uran, a paper prayer encased in a glass case like a tiny scroll and another filled with holy water from Mecca.

But before we left he looked at me and another foreign reporter and warned in Arabic that times had changed. It's good that we were wearing scarves and the long black Abaya, this is a good cover, he said. People had changed in the market. Their minds did not work the same way, he said. He offered us juice and asked us to come back for a meal at his home.

The day was peaceful and fun, punctuated by searches to ensure no suicide bombers got into the crowds of people.

Back at the bureau big news was looming. The government announced a plan to control Basra. The city is largely controlled by the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr, and to a lesser extent a few other Shiite militias. In Baghdad the Mahdi Army was forcing people to stay home from school and work in protest of the Iraqi government. Battles broke out in the south that Monday night and lasted into Tuesday night and today.

A ceasefire that Sadr called for in August and renewed in February seem to be unraveling. And a Shiite power struggle was coming to a head.

Today half of our staff couldn't make it to work because of the forced protest. Ali, who works in the hotel, snuck around the Mahdi Army checkpoints to come to work. He cannot afford to miss a day. He worried about the road home.

"We'll see what happens to me," he said.

Road Blocks

I've written a lot about the President of Iran, Mahmoud Admadinejad's visit. He told the media Iraqis don't like Americans and Americans should leave. It was expected and he's right, many Iraqis don't like Americans.

Of course he didn't mention that Iraqis have very similar feelings towards Iran. Both nations are generally seen as imperialists here. Many Iraqis fear the rise of Persian rule and many feel that most Shiite and Kurdish officials are more loyal to Iran than Iraq.

But this is not what I want to write about. What I want to explain to you is the inconvenience of his trip. To have Ahmadinejad safely cruise around Baghdad, the capital shut down.

I walked into the office on Sunday and our newsroom was empty, nearly our entire staff didn’t make it to work. Hussein, one of our Iraqi reporters, tried to take a taxi. Halfway through the trip he was stopped by security forces. No vehicle traffic was allowed on the roads to secure Ahmadinejad's path to President Jalal Talabani's compound.

So, poor Hussein walked nearly a mile. But when he reached a central Baghdad bridge close to Talabani's compound he was turned away. No one was allowed to walk on the roads ahead to ensure the safety of the Iranian President.

So he waited for two hours under the bridge before giving up and going home. He spent the day sleeping off the exhausting walk.

I asked a visiting reporter to postpone her trip, worried that we wouldn't make it to the airport. I couldn't go to the grocery store to stock my refrigerator.

It may sound trivial, but this is the reality of life here.

To secure visiting dignitaries and show them the improvement in the capital, roads are blocked and life comes to a halt for a while. When Ahmadinejad was whisked to the airport, our staff applauded. No more road closures.

Ahmadinejad did not experience the violence in the capital during his two-day visit. But as he wrapped up his trip at least 16 Iraqis died in two car bombs. Fifty six more were injured.