Bullets and Bodies in Baghdad
With bodies showing signs of torture turning up every day on the streets of Baghdad, we set out this morning to gain permission to shoot video at the city's morgue.
First, I started my day by going to the media office of the Ministry of Health to get permission for the shoot. All went well; in about 45 minutes I had the permission I needed. This felt especially good since we'd been trying for three days to get into the morgue or be allowed to shoot at one of Baghdad's hospitals where bodies are taken.
From the Ministry of Health building, I drove over to the morgue's parking lot, where I met my camera man, audio technician and our two Iraqi security advisors.
We grabbed all of our gear and walked to the checkpoint at the entrance to the morgue complex.
Here, a Facilities Protection Service officer examined the paperwork granting us permission to film at the complex. The Facilities Protection Service (FPS) is a guard force that works for each ministry; since the Ministry of Health is run by a supporter of Muqtada al-Sadr, the Ministry of Health Facilities Protection Service is known to be thoroughly infiltrated by militiamen from Sadr's Mahdi Army.
The FPS officer glanced at my paperwork, told me to leave my crew at the checkpoint and to follow him inside. There I met with a commander of the morgue's FPS platoon, a short man dressed in civilian clothes. He made a phone call to a higher-ranking official and said it was okay for us to film.
As I was walking back outside, gunfire erupted all around us. It turns out the Ministry of Health FPS had gotten into a firefight with nearby FPS officers from the Ministry of Electricity, which is not run by a al-Sadr supporter. Unfortunately, my crew was caught in the middle.
Firefight at the morgue
With bullets crackling overhead, I yelled at my crew to run towards me and take cover behind a concrete barricade. The Ministry of Health FPS also took cover behind our barricade and continued to fire at the Electricity FPS officers about 100 feet away.
One of the Health FPS officers near us was furiously firing a PKC machinegun and yelling, "I will kill every one of them. I will kill every one of those Sunni bastards."
For two or three minutes, the firing was intense, mainly by the officer with the machinegun. A crowd of 40 or so people, who had come to the morgue to recover the bodies of loved ones, were also caught up in the middle of all of this. Most dove to the ground, while others ran away.
While we were hiding behind the barricade, one of the Ministry of Health FPS officers ran up to my camera man and demanded that he hand over his videotape. It was made clear that we were not to do any further filming of the incident.
After a few minutes, Ministry of Health officials grabbed us and others in the crowd and took us inside. Once we were in the building, a senior Health Ministry official told us to stay inside because he was worried a larger force from the Electricity Ministry might show up and attack our position. We stayed in the building for about 10 minutes before the gunfire began to fade away.
When we went outside the Electricity FPS officers had left and, surprisingly, we saw no evidence that anyone had been shot or killed in the gunfight. Looking back, it seems like the two sides were trying to scare each other more than they were trying to kill each other. One notable exception was the furious officer with the machinegun - he was clearly out for blood.
No pictures
After all this, we again asked for permission to film in the morgue, and asked for our tape back. By this time a number of people, all dressed in civilian clothes and all clearly members of the al-Sadr's Madhi Army, had arrived on the scene.
We found that each claimed to be the "commander" in charge and wanted to know why we were there with our camera. After talking with a series of "commanders," we finally found one who claimed to be the senior person present.
Once again, we explained why we were there and showed him our paperwork. He looked at it and said, "Oh no, you need permission from the Minister of Interior himself, not an official in the Ministry of Health. You have to leave."
We also asked several officials for our tape back, but were told it was being reviewed and would eventually be returned to us. It was clear from their tone of voice that we would never see the tape again.
The names of local journalists are not being used to protect their identity.
Wedding bells do ring
EMAIL THIS
advertisement
Slide Show
- Life beyond the violence
Suicide attacks and murders due to sectarian conflict continue around Iraq. See how residents live their lives amid the attacks.
Read the Nightly News blog
There is more toture going on in Iraq now then when Saddam was in power. I have been in a state of shock since 2003. I only hope that the actions of my president with and without the support of my fellow American dones not stain this country for years to come. We were once the nation that others looked to as the measuring stick of rightness and fair play. We were the good guys that gave the little guy hope to continue the struggle for freedom. Now look at us, scared we have turned to the actions of a hard core facist state. Invasions, torture are not the acts of a free democratic nation guided by the law. These are the acts of evil nations you can justify it anyway you want but these are evil acts.
We say this time is not like Vietnam. Well I say it is. The Johnson adminastration felled to understand the history in Vietnam. The Bush Administration felled to understand the complex set of factions in Iraq. We herd nothing of Shities, Sunnis, and Kurds until they started killing each other. No one knew, no one cared. Were responsible because we didnt care to understand the world we were entering into. We just went in guns blazing waving our flags and sing "Iam proud to be an American" over the loud speakers. Only to find that things are not so simple. No flowers, no Americans trapped in every Iraqi just trying to get out.
We need to learn that Freedom is not something we can give as a gift to people. The Revolution was one of the longest wars in American history. No July 4, 1776 and thats it. The war was 8 yrs long. Percentage wise only the civil war was more bloody. It ruined our economy, no family was untouched. I say this not to brag but to make a point. When it came time to form a goverment, we were ready to compromise. All 13 colonies came together and compromised. Different religions, different political views, and different economies, hell slave vs non-slave states. Serious devides were over come and the reason why was because it was our victory. Why fight the greatest empire ever just to see it all come undone now? What holds the Iraqi together? All the invasion they endured? They hate each other they have not fought together for years against an opressive goverment. One day they had running water and electric, then freedom came and now they got nothing. What binds them together? Their hatred of us perhaps???
John (Sent Sep 26, 2006 12:16:18 AM)
Why is it that Americans have a hard time believing that this is war and not a ballet. In war people die, sometimes alot of people die all at once. Unfortunatly, even the innocent. For instance all of the people who died right here in our country on September 11. Does anyone rember watching the tv at all? Half of the world was cheering the destruction of our friends and families. All of the middle east was, not one apology from any mid-eastern country or remorce for our dead. There is only one way to stop someone who is willing to kill themself in order to kill as many of us as possible. And that is to kill them before they get the chance.I for one am damn proud of our military men and women for all of their acomplishments under very extreme and dangerous conditions. they still try to help a people who are unwilling to help themselves. And for all of the bleeding hearts out there crying for the innocent deaths, I sasy stop blaming our military and government for killing them and blame the TERRORIST for using them as sheild hiding like cowards behind them.If they (terrorists) wouldn't hide behind civilians then the civilians would be looked upon as possible terrorist.
Gary, Denver, Colorado (Sent Sep 29, 2006 6:03:54 AM)
Try George Bush through the International War Crimes Tribunal, for the war criminal that he is. Anyone who suspends the Geneva conventions for the treatment of prisoners is no repecter for the rule of law. Americans wake up! Compare your so called "Patriot Acts" with the Enabling Act that after the Reichstag Fire in Germany weakened German democracy in the same way yours has been weakened. People who take power away from the people rarely give it back voluntarily. The French and Russians predicted that an invasion of Iraq would lead to a civil war.... They were right and you were wrong... wrong... wrong.
What to do - Impeach Bush and try him internationally - and then USA may get back a little of its lost prestige.
John Croft, Perth, Australia (Sent Nov 21, 2006 5:40:23 PM)
SEND A COMMENT
PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to this post, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.