Local screening of film showcasing struggles in Baghdad (click here)
..."This is a hard one to leave behind," says Susan Consentino, who notes that she and her husband have developed personal relationships with several of the Iraqis involved in its production, all of whom are in danger from the random violence characteristic of post-invasion Iraq.
"The situation is every bit as terrible as has been reported," says Joseph Consentino, "but the film isn't about pointing fingers -- who's to blame and what went wrong.
"It's about people, and what a terrible thing war is, how much it costs in human terms -- not only for those who lose their lives but those who survive and must deal with that reality day after day."
This is nothing new. While an estimated 600,000 minimally are dead in Iraq due to an illegal invasion and the realities of life in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq are tenuous; the Bush White House has demanded the USA media does not show enough of the 'Good Iraq.' This type of celebration has gone on ANYWAY in Iraq from the beginnings of the invasion. This has been documented for years, including hour to two hour editions of "Report Card On Iraq" produced by CNN years ago.
By enhancing the propaganda from Iraq as upbeat and progressing to civility, it diminishes the suffering that still exists there as if we are to believe all is right with the world and everyone has every reason to be ashamed of opposing the war and demanding the troops come home.
If Iraq is so flowery and stable than there is 'the real war' in Afghanistan that demands attention and there are still enormous amounts of people; women, children, men and the elderly dead, displaced and maimed due to one of the worst human rights violations the USA has ever pulled off in the name of National Security.
Honestly ! Where does this stop?
Hello? Anyone home at The New York Times or is it simply dominated today by Michael Powell and the Giuliani railroad? Wait, the one about Cuban health care is even better !
Suicide attack kills 3 US soldiers, 3 Iraqi children (click here)
By Kim Gamel, Associated Press November 19, 2007
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives as American soldiers were handing out toys to children northeast of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least three children and three of the troops, US and Iraqi authorities said.
Seven children were wounded in the attack near Baqubah, where US soldiers wrested control from Al Qaeda in Iraq last summer. The attack, along with a series of other blasts in the capital and to the north, underlined the uncertainty of security in Iraq even as the US military said violence is down sharply across Iraq.
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a US military spokesman, said yesterday that terrorist attacks in Iraq are at their lowest levels since January 2006. He said overall violence has dropped 55 percent since a US troop buildup began this year.
Police said the bomb attack occurred as US soldiers were handing out toys, sports equipment, and treats in a playground near Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Few details were available, but the US military said it was a "suicide vest attack" and that three American soldiers were killed.
Rasoul Issam, 16, said he and his friends were playing soccer when the US soldiers called to them from their vehicles to come get gifts. "We ran toward them and I caught a ball when suddenly an explosion took place about 20 [yards] from us," Issam said from his hospital bed in Baqubah.
Mohammed Sabah, 11, was hit by shrapnel in his hand and chest. "The soldiers gave me pens and I thanked them. After this, the explosion took place and I was hit by shrapnel," he said.
As of yesterday, at least 3,871 members of the US military have been killed since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The US military attributed the suicide attack to Al Qaeda in Iraq. "This is another example of how Al Qaeda in Iraq cares nothing about the Iraqi people," said Major Peggy Kageleiry, a spokeswoman for US forces in northern Iraq.
Iraqi children frequently converge on American troops who usually carry soccer balls and stuffed animals crammed in their armored vehicles as they seek to garner good will.
In July 2005, a suicide car bomber sped up to American soldiers distributing candy to children and detonated his explosives, killing as many as 27 people, including a dozen children and a US soldier.
That occurred about nine months after 35 Iraqi children were killed in a string of bombs that exploded as American troops were handing out candy at a government-sponsored celebration to inaugurate a sewage plant in Baghdad.
Rocket and mortar barrages also hit several US bases in Baghdad overnight Saturday.
Smith said the attacks caused some casualties but no deaths. "The fight we're up against has not gone away. Today's mortar and rocket attacks demonstrate that the enemy has the capacity to wage violence," he said.
At least 29 people were killed yesterday, including the three soldiers. The deadliest attack was a parked car bomb targeting a convoy carrying Salman al-Mukhtar, an adviser to the Iraqi finance minister. Mukhtar escaped injury, but the blast in the predominantly Shi'ite district of Karradah in central Baghdad killed at least 10 people and wounded 21, including two of the official's bodyguards, according to police and hospital officials.
Sattar Jabbar, the chief editor of an independent daily newspaper, al-Bayan al-Jadid, was in the car with the minister's adviser when the explosion occurred but also was not hurt, said Jabbar's brother, Abdul-Wahhab.
Smith said overall attacks in Iraq have fallen 55 percent since nearly 30,000 additional American troops arrived in Iraq by June, and some areas are experiencing their lowest levels of violence since the summer of 2005.
Iraqi civilian casualties were down 60 percent across the country since June, and the figure for Baghdad was even better - 75 percent, he said. But he acknowledged the "violence is still too high" and warned that Iraq still faces serious threats from Shi'ite militants and Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Smith told reporters that Iran continues to be the principal supplier of weapons, arms, training, and funding of many militia groups.
"A large number of Iranian weapons still exist here in Iraq. We do believe there are still individuals who are coordinating activities. . . . The degree to which Iran has ceased completely its training, equipping, financing, and resourcing has yet to be witnessed or determined on the battlefield, but the trends are going in the right direction," he said
