CPTnet
November 23, 2004

IRAQ UPDATE: November 14-20, 2004

 Sunday November 14, 2004
 A colleague visited at the team's flat. He reported that a group of
insurgents had set up a roadblock the previous night on Haifa St. near his
neighborhood. They were checking for foreigners or Iraqi's who are working
for foreigners, possibly to
 kidnap them.

 Today was the beginning of the three-day 'Eid festival to mark the end of
the month of Ramadan. The holiday bears similarities to Christmas
(children receive small presents), Easter (most people
 have a purchased a new set of clothes) and Thanksgiving (people break the
month of fasting with large meals shared with extended family).

Many inhabitants of the Middle East fire guns into the air during times of
celebration or times of mourning. As Tom Fox was on the roof of the team's
flat observing some shooting celebrations
at a nearby restaurant, three humvees pulled up and U.S. troops jumped out
with rifles cocked. Fortunately an Iraqi Police cruiser was going by the
other way and stopped. The officers seemed to be teaching some quick
cultural awareness in order to prevent either party from getting shot.

 Monday November 15, 2004
All offices and most businesses were closed again for the second day of the
'Eid. At a park near the team's flat, dozens of people enjoyed the
beautiful weather (partly cloudy and highs in the low 80's). A band played
some upbeat local tunes for a wedding as Apache helicopters and F-16's
flew overhead and humvees drove by.

 Sheila Provencher visited some neighbors to wish them a Happy Eid.
(Ayamkoom Sa'eedah!). They introduced her to relatives who were visiting
for the holiday. The relatives were intrigued to see a foreigner. "We
always give our younger family members Eid money," said the father. "So
you must take this 5,000 Iraqi dinar" [about three dollars.]"I can be your
brother, your father, your uncle, your grandfather, whoever you want! You
are part of our
 family."

 Tuesday November 16, 2004

 Maxine Nash arrived at Baghdad International Airport on the second day the
airport had been open after a five-day closure. One of the team's drivers
had requested that a CPTer accompany him when he went to pick her up,
because the last time he picked up a CPTer, U.S. soldiers and contracted
security guards hassled the driver. Nash, Fox and the driver breezed
through the gauntlet of checkpoints and searches.

The team kept hearing an ongoing Doppler effect of automobile horns. Many
weddings take place during the Eid festival and it is an Iraqi wedding
parties customarily honk their horns continuously as they travel from the
wedding site.

 Wednesday November 17, 2004

One of the team's colleagues visited. The team wanted him to proof read an
Arabic translation of the September 2004 Detainee Report. He was working
for his family's wholesale cotton
 business but is now setting up his own business selling car parts.

 Nash noted that in her many tours in Iraq she had never seen any junkyards
like the ones she sees in the U.S. The colleague and the team decided that
the absence of junkyards relates to Iraqis keeping their cars going until
they disintegrate.

Referring to the individuals who have been kidnapping both Iraqis and
foreigners the colleague said, "They have killed their souls and they only
way they feel alive is to kill the souls of others."

 The team decided to hold a memorial gathering that evening for Margaret
Hassan. Reports seemed to indicate that the video released in the morning
did in fact record her execution. Many CPTers had
gotten to know Margaret over the years and she had made presentations to a
number of visiting CPT delegations. The team gathered together by singing
the hymn "Healer of our every ill":
"Healer of our every ill, Light of each
 tomorrow. Give us peace beyond our fear, and hope beyond our sorrow."

 Thursday November 18, 2004

 Nash visited a local clinic for a test that is required for residency. She
heard one guard talking to another guard about the apparent murder of
Margaret Hassan. The guard said," What kind of people would do that"?

 Kindy and Nash visited the local Communist Party headquarters to introduce
themselves and see about setting up a meeting with their political
spokesperson. They were not able to meet
due to the recent assassination of a member of Iraqi Politburo and his two
companions. The party members Kindy and Nash talked with said they
believed that intelligence personnel from the former regime had killed
them. The officials expressed interest in meeting with CPT at a later
date.

 Friday November 19, 2004

 In what may be a record going back to the pre invasion days of March 2003,
the team's flat had electricity off the city gird for fifteen straight
hours. However, they received their "normal" amount of grid time the
following day, about four to six hours between 6am and 11p.m.

 The team heard a radio report of a raid on Abu Hanifa Mosque (the largest
Sunni mosque in Baghdad) by US and Iraqi National Guard troops. Four
people were reported killed. Later that day a friend called and said he had
been inside when the US and Iraqi troops threw in percussion grenades and
stormed the mosque ostensibly looking for Fallujah insurgents. He was one
of the over forty men that were detained. The team asked him to come over
when he was able for a more complete interview.

 Saturday November 20, 2004

 During a neighborhood shopping trip Provencher and Fox listened to a
shopkeeper tell them that her mother had just returned from the Hajj (the
pilgrimage to Mecca that is part of the Five Pillars of Islam). Her bus
was near Latifiyah, south of Baghdad, when a car with armed men tried to
force the bus off the road. The bus driver told everyone to duck under the
seats. He did the same and as the individuals in the car opened fire on bus
he pulled away and they escaped.

 A relative of a detainee who will be added to the Adopt-A-Detainee campaign
came over to update the file information before the team posted it on the
website. The detainee's relative has some extensive contacts and sources in
Baghdad and surrounding areas. He wanted the team to clearly understand
that being foreigners who are non-Muslim makes them prime targets for
kidnapping and