'This is the only fun the kids get - shooting at the US sitting ducks'

[MrPrax]

(the kicker)
Who exactly are the Iraqi resistance? In a remarkable essay, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad joins the front-line anti-American fighters in Kerbala, Falluja and Sadr City, and discovers that they are not always the well-trained, highly motivated fanatics we imagine

Friday June 25, 2004
The Guardian

By the time I arrive in Kerbala, in the last week in May, the clashes between Moqtada al-Sadr's Shia militia and the Americans have been going on for weeks. Apart from the scores of Shia militiamen running around the streets with RPGs on their shoulders, the streets are empty. The police have evaporated, leaving only their burned-out cars from previous skirmishes with rebel fighters.

<snip...>
The main street leading to the shrine is terrifyingly empty, with shattered windows and piles of garbage everywhere. As we start along the street, a bunch of militiamen from the Badr brigade, one of the main Shia factions, demand our press passes. They are all dressed alike - in flip-flops, black T-shirts and pyjama pants - and all are carrying AK47s. "I'm sorry," says one ugly militiaman. "You are not allowed in. We have instructions not to allow journalists to take pictures of the shrine because this will compromise the safety of the shrine." As if the hundreds of Americans and militiamen shooting at each other just metres from the shrine are not compromising its safety.

We ask him to check; after a few minutes of creaking noises from the radio, he comes back with a big grin: no journalists allowed.

<snip...>

That is when we catch sight of a small boy with a stunned look on his face. He says his name is Amjad and he is 11 years old.

"How long you have been here?"

"Ten days. Since my brother was killed. There, at the end of that street."

"And why are you here?"

"To become a martyr like my brother."

I ask him why he wants to die. "We should all die for the sake of our leader!" shouts one of the militiamen who have gathered around us.

<end of snipping...>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1246771,00.html

Grippingly!! good journalism from the folks that practice it best--real journalists...

[MrPrax]

1. Just Because...

and Wolfie called them cowards...

The Apology© from a Craven ChickenHawk

http://www.wonkette.com/archives/thursdays-with-wolfie-smallest-violin-edition-016786.php

[Matilda]

2. But - an eleven-year-old who wants to die a martyr.

This is tragedy.

[TacticalPeek]

3. Interesting article. Thanks for posting. n/t