Ever wonder what it's like in Fallujah?
 

Probably not. The powers that be would like you to believe the entire city is insurgents. It's not.

If you're interested, there's a blogger in Baghdad with very good English skills.

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Baghdad Burning

Saturday, November 13, 2004

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Murder...
People in Falloojeh are being murdered. The stories coming back are horrifying. People being shot in cold blood in the streets and being buried under tons of concrete and iron... where is the world? Bury Arafat and hurry up and pay attention to what's happening in Iraq.

They say the people have nothing to eat. No produce is going into the city and the water has been cut off for days and days. Do you know what it's like to have no clean water??? People are drinking contaminated water and coming down with diarrhoea and other diseases. There are corpses in the street because no one can risk leaving their home to bury people. Families are burying children and parents in the gardens of their homes. WHERE IS EVERYONE???

Furthermore, where is Sistani? Why isn't he saying anything about the situation? When the South was being attacked, Sunni clerics everywhere decried the attacks. Where is Sistani now, when people are looking to him for some reaction? The silence is deafening.

We're not leaving the house lately. There was a total of 8 hours of electricity today and we've been using the generator sparingly because there is a mysterious fuel shortage... several explosions were heard in different places.

Things are deteriorating swiftly.

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http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

If our military said it was coming to my neighborhood, I would get the hell out.

Sucker Saddam loyalists are the ones who stayed. . . .Zarkawi told them to stay. . . .as he fled.

Well, of course, you're right. they should have all gotten into their RVs and headed off to the nearby Howard Johnsons.

Since the military cut off all power several days ago and is targeting generators via their infrared heat signatures....I suspect this guy is actually in Cleveland....hence the good english skills. Strange that he cannot spell the name of his hometown, huh?

So you are saying that they would rather risk death, than discomfort?

Island

Respectfully, there is no place for these people to go. Here in AZ, for example, if people were urged to leave the metro area and did not have a vehicle, where could they go? The desert is not the most hospitable place to be out in the open. Dehydration is a terrible death.

In addition, for some of these folks, the only thing that have is their home, and they would, like most people, try to defend it.

Every day I am grateful that I live here rather than there.

Regardless of the authenticity of the report, the situation is grim for anyone subjected to a battle zone.

Give me a break Moneyguy1. With regard to people in AZ - if they don't have enough self fortitude to do what needs to be done to get the hell out then they deserve to suffer the consequences.

That's what's wrong with our society. There are a lot of whimps out ther who look to someone else for their needs

As an example - people in FL are complaining and living in vehicles. If my house was destroyed, I would make damm sure I would at least have a tent to sleep in and if there wasn't one available at the local store, I woud travel to find one.

The younger people of this country are whipms. They have not respect for themselves, what they own or other people they come in contact with.

Just my thoughts

Steve

"A Porsche does more then just go fast in a straight line"

The OT peanut gallery imagines that every place in the world is just like their neighborhood. Or that translating from Arabic results in only one spelling... and that every piece of news not carried by Fox is linked to a plot.

Virtually all territory outside major cities in Iraq is lawless and ruled by warlords/bandits (same with Afghanistan). So residents without nearby relatives to impose on face the possibility of death whether they leave or stay home.

Really? Why do so many terminally ill people choose it as "a way to go" then?

It's so easy to thow out some form of death, point to it and say "that's terrible." But really, is it . ... in relative terms?

Myself; I would choose Dehydration over burning to death. Kind of like those who jumped out of the WTC. The thinking people can choose the lesser 'bad outcome.'

None of us get out alive. In the mean-time, when the winds of change blow, all we can do is trim our sails. I would have sailed right out of that place . . . just like Zarkawi (among others) surely did.

Storm

You are talking about an entirely different situation. I was referring to my home state as an example of the climate and environment which is similar to that in most of Iraq. I was simply stating that in a similar environment, without the advantages of vehicles, a good road system and nearby safe area to go to, people have very little chance for survival in the open. I see you are from Georgia where there are large trees and plenty of water. Come on out to the desert and try living for a week without access to shelter or water

Please read an entire comment, try to understand it before you misinterpret it. Also please note that my comments were respectful, and simply offered as another take on the situation over there.

As far as Flordia, I feel no different. Those who could or wanted to, got out. Those who stayed, took their chances, but had the opportunity to leave if that had chosen to do so. And those currently inconvenienced will, for the most part, have their homes restored. They have hope (and insurance).

Sorry if you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I hope this makes it a bit clearer.

70% of Faluja did just that... LEFT...

Tech and Money WHAY ARE YOU BOYZ SO ANTI AMERICAN?

Island: I didn't know that about dehydration and the terminally ill. Do they just refuse fluids, knowingly? Interesting stuff as usual.

I'm very confused by this thread's question: "Ever wonder what it's like in Fallujah?" Subjectively, literally, figuratively.

IMVP: Fallujah is probably the most dangerous city on the planet right now. Marines who are bent on vengeance and insurgents who are polluted with ideology. I'm certain we wouldn't know what it's like there to be a soldier and have to enter every structure in the building, expecting the worst. As well, we wouldn't know what it is like to be a resident and have our city invaded. And I don't think anyone on this board could place their thoughts in the mind of a desperate insurgent. I believe "scary" is the best way to imagine Fallujah. An urban horror story.

I'm with fint, far more likely from Detroit than Falluja or Baghdad. Probably Micheal Moore's personal blog. Oh well, it's on the internet it must be true.

Island

Sometimes I agree with you, sometimes I do not. This time, I respectfully disagree. Your operative words were that dehydration is chosen by terminally ill people. The people in a war zone are not dying of some terminal illness, but are only hoping that somehow they will be spared being shot, blown to pieces or burned. Most people, in that kind of situation are not thinking of the future, they are surviving and thinking on a short term basis.

The people in the twin towers had no hope, and probably did make a rational decision. No exits, fire racing upward, no alternatives, no chance. Not the case in a war zone. There is always the chance your house will be spared, your block will not be bombed, that the attack will be called off. Living from moment to moment. A tried and true survival technique.

You BOyz all live in the Greatest Country on earth..You enjoy the fruits of generations of proud Americas labour. Your standard of living is the HIGHEST in the world ...and yet you knock the very foundations of what made this country GREAT. I doubt that any other country would be as forgiving of those who constantly criticize thier nations actons.

Depending on how you measure standard of living, we are not the greatest country in the world.

If you are talking about cheap consumer products and fuel you might be right though.

You live in the country with the most stable government and most stable currency in the world...You want for nothing in this country..

BTW..Do U boyz know what stands between a stable world, one in which ideas and commerce can travel freely and a world in chaos ....the US MILITARY..it guarntees world stability....Our troops are not out there wantonly killing innocent people..they are not even fighting for the fun of it ...they are on a mission to defend the freedoms that you boyz seem to take for granted...

You Boyz seem to think that all the things and opportunities you have in the USA come for free...well guess again...If there wasn't somebody willing to stand guard duty for you boyz to keep the bad guy away from your door....you wouldn't have the job you have, the education you have, the house you have, the car you have, the money in the bank you have, the medical care you have...you'd be luck to have running water and a crapper out in the back yard...