“Two Iraqi women risked their lives to make this film, recording what life is like for Iraqi civilians and the heroic efforts of Iraqi women doctors and nurses.” You can view it via the Google video above or at BrasscheckTV. Special thanks to MarkfromIreland for pointing me to this video.

For another view – from the US troops perspective – take a look at this new video up on YouTube showing the activities of US troops – from today’s ICH update.

It’s been a particularly sad week in Iraq. While Tenet plays CYA instead of taking responsibility for the launch of the invasion and the MSM continues their “It’s all about us” mode of coverage, you have to look hard to find news of the murders of four more Red Crescent workers and harder to learn that US forces were bombing Baghdad for three hours this morning:

The Iraqi capital awoke to a series of loud detonations on Sunday as US artillery pounded targets in the violent southwest districts of the city. “Eighteen rounds of artillery were fired from Forward Operating Base Falcon,” said US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver, without identifying the target of a salvo that could be heard 10 kilometres (six miles away). Occasional blasts could still be heard three hours after they began, and Garver could not say whether or not the operation would continue. Falcon is a US base in the Rasheed district of south Baghdad, surrounded by neighbourhoods that have seen some of the bloodiest attacks on civilians and fiercest fighting between rival gangs in Iraq’s sectarian war. Shockwaves rumbled over the city and blasts were audible in the heart of the war-torn capital, which has seen no let up in insurgent bomb attacks despite a 10-week-old security operation by Iraqi and US forces.

While our media makes certain we do not hear about these bombs falling today on Iraqi neighborhoods, conditions – particularly for the women and children who live in those neighborhoods – continue to worsen. When will we be told the real stories? The stories of the women in the video or of women like “Amal al-Mudarris, a well known and loved radio journalist and announcer is reported to be in ’semi-stable’ condition following emergency surgery for a brain injury caused by a bullet.”

Even in the reporting on the latest UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) report on Human Rights in Iraq, we heard about the refusal by the Iraqi government to release real casualty numbers (which might show what a compete failure the US “surge” is) but the actual conditions reported have gotten almost no attention. As Human Rights Watch summarizes:

The UN report released today covers the first three months of 2007. It documents serious human rights abuses by insurgents and various armed groups, including the targeting of civilians, law enforcement personnel, and government officials. The report cites some improvements by the Iraqi government but it criticizes the authorities for the ongoing use of torture and possible collusion between armed militias and Iraqi security forces.

Amongst the concerns the UNAMI report (pdf – see p. 17 for coverage on women’s issues) mentions are the increase in honor killings, particularly in Kurdish regions of Iraq:

In the governorates of Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimainiya, women’s right to life and personal security remained of serious concern to UNAMI, given the high incidence of “honor killings” and other abuses against women. According to the newspaper portal source, Awena, injuries and deaths by immolation and suspected honor crimes were on the rise. In its 27 January issue, Awena reported on data gathered by the Duhok criminal court and the Duhok Azadi Hospital, revealing that in the governorate, there were 289 burns cases resulting in 46 deaths recorded in 2005, and 366 burns cases resulting in 66 deaths recorded in 2006. In most cases, the extent of injuries and overall circumstances appeared to exclude routine claims of accidents or suicides.

And Amnesty International calls attention in particular to the recent stoning of a 17 year old girl:

Du’a Khalil Aswad’smurder is said to have been committed by relatives and other Yezidimen because she had engagedin a relationship with a Sunni Muslim boy and had been absentfrom her home for one night. Some reports suggested that she had converted to Islam, but others deny this. Initially, she was reportedly givenshelter in the house of a Yezidi tribal leader in Bashika, but her killersstormed the house, took her outside and stoned her to death. Her death bystoning, which lasted for some30 minutes, was recordedon video film which was thenwidely distributed and is available on the internet. The film reportedly shows that members of local security forces were present but failed to intervene to prevent the stoning or arrest those responsible.

Amnesty has launched a campaign to Stop Violence Against Women with a particular focus on violence against women in conflict zones like Iraq. You can help out by joining AIs efforts here. And you can support the efforts of Red Crescent whose workers – even in the face of horrific danger – continue to provide essential relief to the people of Iraq here (select Iraq Humanitrian Aid in the contribution box.) And please make time to watch the video – the women who made this film deserve to be heard and we need to know the real story.

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  3. Compare and Contrast Reality to Bull****
  4. Remember Iraq or Ray Odierno is Still Wrong
  5. Changing of the Guard: US Troops Withdraw from Iraqi Cities; Maliki Declares “Sovereignty Day”