Khadamiya is usually a bustling, crowded and busy area in Baghdad. Today, the day after fighting here left three soldiers and at least one Iraqi dead, the streets are eerily empty.
I'd come here to talk to folks to get the Iraqi side of the story about what happened during the fighting. Shortly after entering the area, I found myself sitting with Sheikh Hassam, the Imam for Sadr's mosque in Khadamiya. A gentle, soft spoken man in his 30's, the Sheikh was more than happy to entertain questions about the recent horrific events caused, primarily, by his leader's reaction to Bremer's order to close Sadr's newspaper.
He is the Friday prayer leader, and the carrier of Sadr's messages to his followers in Khadamiya. While most of the predominantly Shia population in Khadamiya follow Sistani, there is still a large following for Sadr here.
According to the Sheikh, yesterday one Iraqi here was killed, and the US military entered Sadr's office and took all of the pictures of Muqtada Al-Sadr. He claimed that the people who attacked the Americans when the military opened fire were not from Sadr's Mehdi militia, but were other resistance fighters from outside the area.
However, when asked how the followers of Sadr would respond if he were arrested by the Americans, he replied, "Our country will be full of blood if Al-Sadr is arrested." He also claimed that he and Sadr are simply following in Sadr's dead father's footsteps, and that the Mehdi militia was only formed to protect the mosques and Imams. He said that the fighting we are seeing now are not the Mehdi, but an Intifada (uprising) against the Americans. Funny thing, that so many reports and photos of the Mehdi militia marching in Sadr City and fighting against the military over the last days directly contradict.
Never underestimate the power of propaganda on either side in a war. He also claimed that there has never been a problem between the Shia and Sunni people before in Iraq until the Americans came. The souls in the mass graves of Saddam would beg to differ.
Stopping in a small jewelry store near the main mosque, Abu Du'a, a Shi'ite, is a staunch follower of Sistani. He feels that 3/4 of the Shia in Iraq disagree with Sadr and his fiery talk and militant opposition to the occupation. He said, "Many people die these days. Why? Everyone followed his father, but we cannot say that because his father was great, he is great."
Both Abu Du'a and his friend talking with us, Abu Zahar, agreed that this current violence is useless. They both will wait as long as Sistani asks them to, even if it means more years like the chaotic, bloody one which just passed.
Out the window a small but vocal group of Sadr followers marches down the street chanting support for their embattled leader.
Both men believed Sadr's followers were poor, uneducated thieves. The prejudice between the sects continues to rear its ugly head.
But Sistani's continued waiting... how long will it last? How many more Shia will die before an Intifada is called? How will Iraqis react when watching their countrymen slain en masse by the Americans on a daily basis?
Driving home past the Abu Hanifa mosque in Al-Aadamiyah, a mostly Sunni and very pro-resistance area of Baghdad, throngs of upset people are crowded about the mosque. Small trucks outside are being loaded with bags of food, boxes of bottled water, and death shrouds for the slain. The people of Aadamiyah, in solidarity with the people of Falluja currently under siege by the U.S. military, are gathering supplies to attempt to get it inside the city which is currently sealed off.
Omar Khalil, speaking with great conviction, tells me, "This is Islam! We give all of this aid on our own. We are calling for more trucks, because we already have 5 lories full of supplies."
Meanwhile the loudspeaker from the nearby mosque is giving instructions as people frantically load bags of potatoes, rice, flour, and other foodstuffs into the trucks. Each time a truck fills, another empty one pulls up and begins to be filled.
I begin walking into the mosque and a man named Khalil pulls me aside and passionately says, "This is the second Halabja! This is worse than what Saddam did in Halabja! Where is the freedom? Saddam did Halabja, but the Americans are doing a greater Halabja now!" (Halabja refers to the horrendous gassing of the Kurds by Saddam, estimated at 10,000 deaths.)
He then looks me in the eye and firmly says, "Why are 60 innocent people in Falluja killed because 4 Americans were killed there? If the American Army wants to stay in Iraq, you must kill all of the Iraqi people!"
After this rally, people are pushing their way to the blood bags, and men sit in small groups while doctors jab needles in their arms. Men sit furiously pumping their hands while their blood flows into the bags on the ground.
While I type this the blood of Al-Aadamiyah is trying to make its way into the veins of bleeding Iraqis in Falluja, Ramadi, and elsewhere where it flows throughout Iraq tonight.
Dahr Jamail is Baghdad correspondent for The NewStandard. He is an Alaskan devoted to covering the untold stories from occupied Iraq. You can help Dahr continue his crucial work in Iraq by making donations. For more information or to donate to Dahr, visit The NewStandard.
