Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Gli occupanti costruiscono un muro a Baghdad

Suona familiare?
Ecco perche' gli Arabi non vedono una "liberazione", ma una nuova
cisgiordania
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/541EF6CC-3BB1-4A7F-B158-2DC893964CD4.htm
Baghdad's barriers imprison civilains
 by Amal Hamdan
 Friday 05 March 2004 5:16 PM GMT 
The military zone has locked in Baghdad civilians 
In occupied Iraq, Baghdad resembles a sprawling military camp. 
Coils of barbed wire snake around many businesses, educational
institutions, government buildings and, of course, US military bases.
Concrete barriers, ranging from one to two and a half metres, have
sliced major streets, surrounded hotels and government institutions.
In upscale neighbourhoods, including Mansur where a number of
embassies are housed, armed men patrol the streets.
US occupation forces carry out their patrols in pairs of armoured
vehicles, zooming through the capital's streets. Usually poised on the
second vehicle is a soldier pointing his machine gun at civilian cars.
Grim reminder
It is a constant, grim reminder for Iraqis of who is in charge.  
Residents of the so-called Green Zone deal with these realities
possibly more than any other Iraqi.
The Green Zone is a heavily guarded area in central Baghdad, including
the main palaces of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, where US
occupation authorities live and work.
Its borders are difficult to determine. A Coalition Provision
Authority spokesman refused to comment on the size of the Green Zone
"or anything that includes operational security".
But this is not a standard military compound: it continues to house
civilians. CPA officials also refused to say how many Iraqis continue
to reside within the Zone.
"This is a prison, not freedom...We used to watch the Palestinians on
television and feel bad for them. Now we are living the same thing"
Baghdad resident
Iraqis living there need to navigate through strict US checkpoints,
where they wait for hours until testy occupation soldiers decide to
start inspections. Soldiers, who often do not speak Arabic, shout
orders in English at approaching cars. Their Iraqi translators are not
always on hand.
As yet another car approaches the checkpoint, a US soldier says
exasperatedly, "They just don't understand the meaning of a
checkpoint."
Palestinian circumstances 
Sayf, Ahmad and Iyad have been waiting at Checkpoint 12 for almost two
hours to get to their homes within the Green Zone. They killed the
ignition of their car long ago and are standing against it, watching
the line grow.
They say the car ahead of theirs, including the one at the front of
the line, have not moved in the past two hours. Sayf, a student at
Baghdad University, says he goes through the same process every day.
Sayf described how occupation forces comb his car on a daily basis:
they open the bonnet, trunk and search the interior before letting him
pass through.
US checkpoints around the capital
have left motorists frustrated 
"This is a prison, not freedom," he says. "We used to watch the
Palestinians on television and feel bad for them. Now we are living
the same thing?They have a wall and we have many walls," he said,
referring to the concrete barrier Israel is constructing cutting off
parts of the occupied West Bank.
They all blame occupation forces for the latest hassles. "It was
better before. We were free to move around," says Sayf.
Humiliation at home
Waiting at a checkpoint in their own country for foreign forces to
wave them through is humiliating, they say.
"We thought things would get better but it seems to be getting worse
and worse," says Ahmad.
He has chosen to rent an apartment outside of the Green Zone "because
I can't wait everyday for two or three hours to get home". Ahmad, also
a student at Baghdad University, visits his parents and five younger
sisters about twice a week.
"Since the occupation we have been locked in," adds Iyad. "Sometimes
at 6:00pm we come here and we don't get in because they (US soldiers)
are not there," he says. In these situations, they either wait for
forces to resume checks or sleep at a relative's or friend's house
outside the area.
Occupation forces have sealed off
vital bridges with concrete barriers
While Ahmad may have the financial means to rent another apartment,
many Iraqis do not. With spring and summer just around the corner, the
delay at the  checkpoint - in a city were temperatures soar to 50
degrees Celsius- could get even grimmer.
"In the winter, we would sit under the rain for three hours," recalls
Ahmad.
Today, however, the weather is pleasant. Reason why Majid Jassim, who
has been waiting for two hours, has abandoned his car to walk back
home with his 12-year-old nephew.
It is five kilometres away but he's forgotten some paperwork he needs
for work. "Maybe we can find someone (with a car) we know or even a
taxi," he says hopefully as he presents the Iraqi policeman his Green
Zone identity card.
All residents were issued a picture ID card in English stating their
names, addresses and a specific number after the occupation took over
the area and can only access the zone with it.
Chaos
The Green Zone has also made Baghdad's streets chaotic. 
One of the capital's seven vital bridges, Jisr al-Muaalaq, has been
sealed off. It provided passage from Karrada in central Baghdad to
other half of the city. Motorists are forced to travel through the
leafy - and once quite - residential area of Qadasiyya.
Strict secure checks are part of
a daily routine for Iraqis 
Residents of this upscale neighbourhood are frustrated by the extra
traffic generated by the diversions and also the concrete barrier
which has sprouted in the middle of their area.
About two metres high and two kilometres long, the wall encloses the
residents of some of the Iraqi Governing Council members, including
Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, and some media outlets, such as the US
government-funded television station al-Hurra.
There are seven US soldiers milling around with members of the Iraqi
Civil Defence Corps at the compound's gates. A US soldier politely
declines to discuss anything about the wall but the Iraqis are more
than willing to chat.
An ICDC member says the barrier is a "security measure" against
attacks. While the concrete barrier would partially absorb the impact
of car bomb and protect the residents within the compound, it will do
little for those outside.
"This wall doesn't offer us security? but it does for those living
inside of the compound," says Qadasiyya resident Saadun Ubaidi.
"It's like having a checkpoint right in your home," he says. "The same
way that Israel is building a wall in Palestine, we now have this
wall."
Aljazeera
 By Amal Hamdan

 cisgiordania
Suona familiare perche' e' l'ennesimo tuo tentativo di fare
disinformazione :)
*LOL*
-Stefano

 ha scritto nel messaggio
news:404A5738...@people.it...

E se lo dice lui... :)
-Pippo