Bear with me, today will be light. I'm fine, and back from the Shrine for a third time in three days and I'm just too tired to write too much right now. My apologies.
But at least I was in the Shrine when the pilgrims made it in. Hundreds, thousands of them flooded the war zone and turned what was a burned out neighborhood into something almost festive -- assuming you find RPGs cool (like I do.)
Anyway, I think this cease-fire is actually working. It's giving the Mahdi militiamen time to leave the area and vacate the Shrine. We'll see, obviously. There's no way to ever be sure or anything in this place.
Going to rest a little now. Will try to blog more about today later.
It seems to me, from your description of things that the actions of the Mahdi Army are purely ‘faith based’ and not really strategicallly sound. They can not possibly win this thing militarilly. There must be a better way for Allah to help them.
Peaceful protests combined with boycotts work if you can organize enough people to do it.
It worked for Ghandi and He brought the Brittish Empire to it’s knees.
Christopher, what exactly happened in Kufa today?who led the mortar attack on the mosque? was it the iraqi army/police?…im a little confused by who would attack a mosque whilst it had civilians..and concerned because i have family there.
xris,
more deep breaths. who on god’s green would gripe that you weren’t johnny-in-the-spot with another first-person-in-hell narrative? none of us.
i remember the simple innocence of one of your first posts there, about the art gallery, and the paintings dedicated to the marsh arabs. how fast we age in such short a time. thanks for letting us share you courageous journey.
sleep. dream. survive.
on second thought, screw the dreams, they’ll probably be too stressful. valium, where art thou?
By “the pilgrims” you mean the people Sistani called out — as you are likely writing right now. Actually, you’re likely either sleeping or drinking or using an expensive calling card/cell phone to reassure nervous family members.
Thanks for being the honest broker that you are.
When you’re ready to write though, I’m now deeply curious about what you think of Sistani’s immediate call for the coalition to just go home.
watched bbc news / channel 4 news / irish news and many websites - the fact that crowds made it into the shrine is being completely ignored by media in general that I can get here despite this being comfirmable on web pretty easily from reputable sources. Why?
Hey Dadler,
I also remember the art gallery, marsh arab story and the tree or four paintings with sun baked reds and oranges.
I think that was one ultimate “struggling artist” story.
There is a lot to take in now Chris.
…don’t be lulled to sleep by the possibility of a 1960’s love fest breaking out.
Although it would be nice to report that Sistani’s immediate call for the Mahdi militiamen to stay off sacred ground works.
Chris,
Will the Badir Brigades resume guard duty on the shrine ?
Glad to hear from you - you sound less exhausted; I hope you are. I’m glad you got to see the pilgrims enter - wonderful to see this shrine being used as just that, for a change. Regardless of the reasons people visit a shrine, the fact that they’re there, and there together, is inspiring; it must have been a grand experience. Far from “bearing with you”, I suspect we’re all grateful to you for posting anything, and your posts have been extraordinarily good, compelling and giving a sense of being right there with you - heartpounding stuff, exceptional reporting. Thank you for great work.
I can’t believe you’ve been getting into the shrine the last few days with all the fighting going on. You truly are mad. So far be it from me to cheer you to your death, but it does make for great reading.
Keep it up Chris, do try to stay safe, and keep us updated on whether the militia are really vacating the shrine or not, and what this means for their continued fight against the US forces. Where do they go from here if not protected by the shrine?
what a story!
heard about your adventure here
http://www.majorityreportradio.com/weblog/
thanks for writing it up!
please repost at our
site if you will!
excellent
journalism!
The BBC is reporting that italian journalist and red cross worker Enzo Baldoni was killed by his kidnappers in the last day or so in the najaf area - god rest his soul.
Watch your back Chris mate - no story’s worth dying over, however good.
I need to understand why the Mahdi militia think they need to “protect the shrine”. Who are they protecting the shrine from?
I don’t mean this flippantly. I really don’t understand their position. Is it simply that they are so militant with their faith that they conjure up an enemy trying to take their shrine?