NAJAF -- I don't know what the news is from the rest of Iraq or even what's going on with the governor of Najaf. I do know what's happening with the police department, however. They're raiding the Sea of Najaf hotel and rounding the 100 or so journalists at gunpoint and subjecting them to mass arrest.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We started out to the shrine again today, using a different route. The front is constantly shifting and the fighting is very fierce between the Mahdi, the Americans and the New Iraqi Army. Several times my group -- which included reporters and photographers from the New York Times, the Observer and CNN -- had to turn back because of tanks and Bradleys firing on Mahdi positions. It seemed a little presumptuous to ask them to stop firing so a gaggle of journalists could cross the street.
We ended up going through the Sea of Najaf, the forest and village on the skirts of the old city. In typical Iraqi humor, it's not a sea at all, but a hot, burning furnace of a destroyed village. It was a 2-hour walk through rubble and sniper positions, constantly being on the lookout. It was here that my trouble started.
We didn't encounter any firing, but I fell victim -- again -- to heat exhaustion. It set in and I was able to hold it together until we got to the front gates of the Imam Ali Shrine, but from there, I just had to sit and rest.
Then the bombs started. Massive munitions were landing no more than 50 or 100m from us, and a photographer said a missile struck the barricade that protected the people running in and out of the shrine, setting the barrier on fire. I didn't see it, but there was so many things exploding. We stayed with a group of Mahdi who gave me ice and water to cool me off while my translator did a few interviews for me. I felt like the biggest loser on the planet that I was so wiped just as we had gotten where we wanted to go.
We couldn't get into the Shrine; the path was under too much fire. The entrance to the Shrine sits at the meeting point of two streets which end at the Shrines gate. We rested in a protected area on one street, and the other street contained Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's offices. As I sat, we heard incoming screaming in, but I was too exhausted to do much but cover my ears and lean closer to a wall. We kept having to fall back as the Americans bombed closer and closer to our position.
There is a small alleyway connecting the two streets. Feeling a little less wiped, I crossed over to the other street to catch up with the others. As I rounded the corner, I heard one of the other reporters say, "We can wheel him out of here in a trolley."
"You're not doing that," I said as I approached them. "I'm walking out of here."
CRACK CRACK! Scramble, dust in the eyes, yells of "sniper!" and we all scrambled for cover. My fixer and I dove into a open store front, pushed by three Mahdi guys who were nearby. My colleagues ran round the corner. We were pinned.
The Mahdi militants were as friendly as they could be under the circumstance and urgently pressed me to the ground, protecting me. One stuck his head out the door only to be answered with more sniper fire. He jerked back.
As I sat on the floor with the three armed me around me, I looked up at them. "So," I said. "Shaku maku?" (Iraqi slang for "What's happening?") They started to crack up and then turned serious again and told me how they were fighting to protect the Shrine. At the moment, they were protecting me and I thanked them.
After a few minutes, we gingerly crept out and reunited wit the others. After the sniper fire, my adrenaline was pulsing and I wasn't exhausted anymore. We decided it was time to head home.
However, we had to go back through the Sea of Najaf again. And I gave out again from the heat. Luckily, we found a taxi and were able to get back to the hotel where I re-hydrated, rested and felt a bit better.
Until tonight. I was on the roof trying to get my BGan to connect when Najaf's finest burst onto the roof with a Kalashnikov and order me and the other journalists down to the lobby. The cops had raided the hotel and forced all the journalists out onto the street. We were terrified. The cops yelled at us and pointed their weapons toward us. Several large trucks were waiting and knew we would be loaded onto them. Then they started shooting.
"Yella, yella" they ordered us. BANG BANG! They fired their weapons just over our heads forcing us to crouch. The foreign journalists and the Arab media were separated into separate trucks and we were all brought to the police station at gunpoint. On the way, they continued to scream at us and point their weapons in our faces. I tried to put my money in my bag, but a young police officer thrust his Kalashnikov at me and rifled through my bag.
Finally, we made it to the police station. My friend Phillip urged me to ride it out, be calm, smile a little. Then we were herded into the police chief's office for the most bizarre press conference of my life.
The Shrine would be stormed tonight, he said, and we would be allowed to get on a bus and go visit it tomorrow to see the damage the Mahdi Army had done to it. The Sistani protesters in Kufa were really Mahdi guys and they had to be killed. Oh, and thank you for coming.
A few of us put up a fight, demanding why they couldn't just invite us down for a presser instead of kidnapping us. Oh, no, the commander said, that must have been a mistake. I just asked them to bring you to me... There was no order to brandish weapons, push journalists around and fire into the air. One cop, a lieutenant, just smiled at us when we pointed our fingers at him and said he was the one leading the raid, yelling and pointing his side arm at us.
These are Najaf's finest. They're like the old regime, only less disciplined. They're terrifying and they're the most dangerous element in this conflict. The Americans and the Mahdi Army have pretty set positions and you know they're not targeting journalists. But the police here have been engaging in a systematic intimidation of us for three weeks now. The governor of Najaf has reportedly threatened to jail journalists who don't write down exactly what he says when he says it in interviews.
So we were returned to the hotel on bus. This was another warning to stop covering the Mahdi Army. To get out. My office manager in Baghdad is urging me to leave, but I really want to stay. I'm unsure what to do, and the cops' unpredictability is unnerving.
(Sorry this is not better written; I'm still pretty exhausted and it's late here.)
The writing’s terrific, actually. Thanks for bearing such witness — with analysis I’ve come to rely on. I hope I’m half the journalist you are someday.
I would be interesting to see how this plays out. It would be great if you stayed in Najaf but not if the cops are so unpredictable that you fear for your life.
Your writing and reporting is excellent. Keep it up.
chris,
the ironies and power-plays at work there, and the suffering of the invisible “people” who live in the city, and all the police bullsh*t, how on earth can all this violence be worth the outcome? where is the NEXT najaf? where is the next mortar landing? more likely your concern. peace be with you, man. gripping stuff. you’re crazy tho, you know that, right? as a friggin’ loon. breathe deep and i hope you have some good headphone tunes to get lost in every once in awhile. stay in one piece, or enough pieces to stay alive.
Geeze, Chris! Stay hydrated and for Heaven’s sake, keep your head down!
Great work. Keep it up. Be sure and come home, hear?
Wow is all I can say. CNN and the BBC show me the pictures but you tell the story.
Stay safe, you have already proved your courage.
Chris:
I admire your dedication to your profession and your courage. But, is getting “this story” worth the risk? Please try to stay safe.
Chris:
These are impressive stories; no need to apologize. Take care of yourself, though. We don’t want to lose you. And even getting the most incredible story in the world doesn’t do you much good if you’re not alive to file it.
Wow. Keep safe, keep yer head down, and don’t worry about your writing - it’s terrific. Most of all - please keep your head down! No story is worth your life dude!
I have not always agreed with your point of view, but you are following in the highest tradition of journalism in your refusal to be intimidated. I pray no harm comes to you in your quest to report what you see, and in your refusal to be just a propaganda mouth piece.
I just wanted to second what PLS said. Stay safe.
This post is everything journalism should be — truth.
could ya listen to your manager!! We love the stories but if something happens to you there go the stories anyway,you remain in our thoughts,keep safe
Nana
Chris- I admire your dedication as well, but please do not get hurt. No story is worth losing you. I am glad you are able to see the Iraqi’s in a different light than they are portrayed in the media.
I don’t always agree with you but be safe.
Chris
Still think we are backing the right horse?
Ron
Seriously wow. I can’t believe what you are putting yourself through. Stay safe.
Ben P
Fantastic. This is the stuff that nobody hears about. America is full of half wits I swear. War is Hell and its one thing to defend what’s yours, but quite another to bomb the daylights out of somebody who is trying to hold on to their land and remove an occupying force. Sadly, we have become Russia….what’s next, dissolve the Union into 50 states that can be properly managed?
Bravo! Now, get back to Baghdad!
Amazing reporting Chris. Stay safe, there is always another story tomorrow that will need to be told too.
It is really amazing the difference between the different areas of Iraq. So many things happening and it seems for a variety of reasons, nothing is really clear cut or simple. No easy explanations. No easy solutions.
take care
Hey Chris,
Seems you enjoy the rush. I don’t know if that is a good thing.
From your closing comments it looks like you are forced into doing split decision soul searching and ask yourself a question;
“—
—>This was another warning to stop covering the Mahdi Army. To get out. My office manager in Baghdad is urging me to leave, but I really want to stay.
…….I’m unsure what to do, and the cops’ unpredictability is unnerving.Hey Chris,
Seems you enjoy the rush. I don’t know if that is a good thing.
From your closing comments it looks like you are forced into doing split decision soul searching and ask yourself a question;
“—
—>This was another warning to stop covering the Mahdi Army. To get out. My office manager in Baghdad is urging me to leave, but I really want to stay.
…….I’m unsure what to do, and the cops’ unpredictability is unnerving.<——
—”
Sounds like you have to figure out how to fix things with the cops….
…
or just bug out.
The IP job description doesn’t promise them anything called job security.
That is, they are putting it on the line more than we back in the states comprehend.
They have to trust you big time. What can you possibly pull out of yer azz to convince them you are on the level ?
Didn’t you post sometime back that you didn’t like the idea that those Al-Jazeera “journalists” were being ejected and should have the right to report ?
?
What has life been like for the IP in the areas where Al-Jazeera has vacated ?
Anybody you could call who knows IP in those places ?
THAT is an riveting post - thank God you’re alive to post it. Maybe you should listen to your body (and your manager) - Dadler had a good point; have you considered whether this is something you want to risk your life for? Since the situation is as hairy as you say, are you unnecessarily compromising yourself by trying to power yourself through the situation while suffering heat prostration? I’d like to second ErikaEM’s post, especially the last sentence. And thanks for an incredible piece of work, too.
I first read of your latest post on Juan Cole’s site. I must say that this is where you need to be. What will happen in Najaf in the next 48 hours is going to be critical to the future of Iraq, and by consequence, the world. Hang in there.
Get a water bottle and bring it with you at all times.
I’m afraid you now will be be addicted to covering wars for the rest of your career. Nothin’ like it!
Good Luck.
Chris: I saw these 2 British accounts before I tuned in here. Glad to hear you’re okay. The main mosque (and another?) at Kufa WAS hit, with many dead and wounded reported among the throngs who were gathering for Sistani’s march.
Welcome to democracy, Allawi-style! (Or should that just be, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”?) :-(
Police abduct journalists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1291174,00.html
Iraqi police last night abducted around 60 journalists in the city of Najaf, after bursting into the hotel where they have been covering the battle in the city for the Imam Ali shrine, and dragging them off at gunpoint.
The police moved into the lobby of the Sea of Najaf hotel at 9.15pm last night. As they fired shots into the air, they ordered all journalists to leave immediately. …
The police officer who burst into the Guardian’s room, wearing a balaclava and pointing a Kalashnikov, said in Arabic: ‘We’re going to fuck the lot of you.”
Sistani mobilises his ‘believers’ to march on Najaf in peace bid
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=555155
… armed police ordered about 50 journalists - including The Independent’s correspondent - to leave their hotel at gunpoint and herded them into trucks and pick-ups to be driven at high speed to the police headquarters.
Police, some masked, shouted threats and abuse at the reporters, along with their Iraqi drivers and translators, and fired about a dozen shots inside and outside the hotel before taking them before the police chief, Major-General Ghaleb al-Jazaari, to hear his emotional complaints about media coverage and the sufferings of police officers during the present crisis. There were no injuries. One policeman declared: “You are responsible for many deaths”, while another repeated earlier threats to blow up the hotel. …
Dear Chris,
This is the first time I read a report from you. From now on I’ll do it daily.
I’m an Iraqi from Karbala living in the Netherlands. Knowing my people and the new Boss Allawi ( the old baathist ) I know that his days are numberd. It just depends how much blood it will take to get him out. US military has signed his end in Iraq with his actions. Iraq is now a bomb waiting to explode. Is like we didn’t have sufferd enough till now. I hear disturbing news from family when i have a connection ( rarely possible) . It sets my blood in fire.
Keep up your job man and be safe. I think by now you have exprienced the different mentalities of Mehdi Army and the police/Iraqi army.
Hope to see more reports.
The killed today more than 25 people in Kuffa Mosk. That’s the place Imam Ali ( Najaf Shrine ) was assasinated during a praying. One more black page in our history.
Pray for your safety
Ali
I second what Carol said about the water bottle.
Don’t forget salt tablets and something on your head, too.
Not to play second-guessing assignment editor, but have you considered covering Sistani? He could be the Big Developing Story at the moment.
Thank you! Words cannot express the appreciation that I feel. I can hardly believe how you risk your life to tell the world what is really happening in Iraq. We need more like you. Be safe.
Dude - no apologies needed. I wouldn’t be able to form two coherent sentences after a day like that.
And in reference to yesterday’s post — standing on an IED? Damn. I’d start crying too.
You journo people amaze me (that’s said in a positive tone of voice). At least the soldiers can shoot back when someone tries to kill them.
You’re doing great work, Chris.
Nice reporting, Chris. And much better without that “run Moqtada out of town on a rail” stuff you were writing last week. Had his people read that, I wonder? Did you apologize to them? Anyway, I’m glad they saved your life there.
One other thing. You write: [the Sadrists] gave me ice and water to cool me off while my translator did a few interviews for me. I hope the person in question gets full credit (= the by-line, plus compensation equal to yours) for his work. I’ve worked in ways too many situations where the “local informants” do most of the donkey work, run greater risks than the gringos— and then the gringos get all the glory, the by-lines, and the high pay. But I’m sure you wouldn’t be like that, right?
uh, Chris, easy for me to say, sipping coffee in the family room while my kids watch tv - but you’re effing insane!
God bless you and keep you safe. You had my adrenaline pumping reading your story today. I guess only you can make the decision as to whether it’s worth your life or not. Take care, I want to read more.
Chris, you are the real hero. Not a marine sitting inside a Bradley. What you do takes guts, courage and a little bit of insanity I think. be safe and thanks for the reporting!!
I want to echo the many expressions of gratitude for your survival, Chris.
I think I have some useful advice to give. We Americans tend to look for good guys and bad guys and align with them. But for Iraq to make its way to democracy, it will have to choose its own leaders. Some of them will be bad guys. Certainly Sadr is no bundle of joy. But he represents some authentic sentiment. (And naturally the people of Najaf express resentment against Sadr: it’s their houses burning in the Sea of Najaf. But at some level, they probably also support him.)
The Iraqi police are almost certainly acting at the direction of American authorities. They want no witnesses to what they plan to do. While Sadr is no bundle of joy, the willingness to eliminate witnesses is probably more dangerous to the eventual democratization of Iraq.
In any event, stay safe, so that we can argue the intellectual points later.
Chris, having been in Iraq for that long, I hope you do understand how these people think. They got used to swift action, Saddam did not give one warning after another, he just went in, I saw pictures of how he bombed the Imam Ali gate and another with a gaping hole in the dome. No one said anything that time, and no journalists were available to talk to the rebels. Most Iraqis think that Sadr and his followers are spoilers and anarchists, and they should not be given that much freedom in talking to foreign journalists. You might want to write an article about why Sadr was sidelined over the past year.
Mark
wow! sorry, that’s the most intelligent thing i have to say after reading today’s report from you. thank you so much for putting yourself on the line to set the record straight about what’s going on in real time. i admire your courage and professionalism — not to mention your talent! be safe.
Wow, great post.
Keep your head down. It sounds like some of those bullets comin at you are from the ING (or our guys?) You have a sign on your vest that says “reporter”, right? I’m sure a sniper scope would have picked that up.
Now I now why journalists are now being released by their captors. They realize they cannot kill the PR/marketing staff.
Mark (pacsailor) writes, “Most Iraqis think Sadr and his followers are spoilers and anarchists…”
“Anarchists?” “Anarchists” want no government at all. Sadr and his followers, as far as I know, what a totalitarian government, based on Islamic principles as they see them.”
“Totalitarians” or “fascists.” Not “anarchists.”
…amazing reporting! Thank you for being there - and writing this for us.
Actually, I was reading this blog for a while, but this is my first comment. Also, do you met any Polish troops, or do you know what Iraqis think about them?
Thanks, again. Be safe.
Chris, take care and stay safe. Great reporting, and I know to do it there’s no way around risk, but we want you back safely.
I wrote the satirical essay based on a fictional dialogue between myself and Saddam “Just wait till you have Shi’ites of your Own” before Saddam Hussein was captured and before the “prisoner abuse” scandal made the news…it has turned out to be eerily prescient…
http://www.geocities.com/westbrighton/InMyLivingRoom.htm
Keep safe. As always, thank you for being an objective voice.
down usa tanks (“!”) … i’m sure the Mahdi guys are quite courtious towards you journos, but are they themselves (as militants) any better than the US tanks? the US tanks are at least in place to help enforce what little authority the Free Iraqi People have.When Iraqi Police stormed your hotel a week or so ago, did you not realise they were serious about your coverage inciting diasters (such as the shrine)? I personnally have found the media to be guilty of the above accusation. I really feel the media should be behaving more responsibly and ethically in this delicate affair. The opinionated way you braudcast events causes deadly repercussions. Lives are on the line. Less opinion, more basic and true facts, please. I appreciate the dangerous situation journalists in the region are in, but your lives are nothing compared with the fatal consequences of your biased “reporting”.
uh, oliver— I wasn’t the one saying “down, down USA tanks.” It was the Mahdi guys. The caption was reflecting that, and I don’t think anyone thought I was advocating blowing up tanks.