Last of the Iraqis

I found this site on the BBC. Mohammed, a 25 year-old dentist, writes about life in Baghdad. According to his profile on Blogger:

i’m a 25 years old dentist i live in iraq (Baghdad) i was born and raised here but unfortunately i’m thinking that the iraqis are going to extinct so i made this blog wishing that i can make a difference or even share my greif with the whole world and give them an idea about what’s happening here from the point of view of a civilian living in the war zone not from the politicians nor people who gets their benefits from the conditions.

According to Mohammed, Al Qaeda is very strong now in Iraq:

Yesterday I heard that al-Qaeda also distributed fliers in Adhamiya, saying they wanted the best for the people, and end to the sectarian violence and getting life back to normal.

They told shop owners to open their shops again and said they would protect them. They even mentioned that Shias shouldn’t be afraid of anything if they had done nothing bad.

It’s a struggle for power and control between the Ba’ath party, al-Qaeda and the Salvation Council, each one trying to prove they are better than the others, were they in charge.

Mohammed writes about the quality of life in Baghdad, including the drinking water – this from a September 25, 2007 entry:

I went to the kitchen and was filling the kettle from the tap water … I decided to fill a glass so I could see it.

What a shock. I immediately brought the camera and took the picture and video.

Is this drinking water or is it rice water? What are those floating things? I know about the cholera, I know it might be epidemic in Baghdad but I’d be so lucky if this water only contained cholera bacteria!

How could they give us this water? Why should I respect, obey or even recognise my government if they are not providing us with electricity, water, or even security?

Each Iraqi house should be a country and have a flag and its own government. I depend on myself for electricity, water and even security. What a farce.

His most recent entry speaks of the prominence of Al Qaeda in American prisons in Iraq:

I was watching TV few days ago when I saw a show that really got my attention, it was on Alarabyia satellite news channel, it was about how AlQaeda had a great influence inside the American jails in Iraq and there was statements from witnesses who were prisoners in these jails, they described how the conditions are, and what is really happening there, it was a real shock to me….. here is a small part of the show…..I’ll write about the important things they mentioned….. I haven’t translated it in the video but I’ll talk about many thing that they said…..they brought four witnesses and they talked about things I didn’t think was possible, and I believe many don’t know these things too.

I don’t know how accurate Mohammed’s information is. His is just one part of the overall reality. This is certainly a perspective I haven’t seen before.