Iraq’s Invisible Refugee Crisis

By Dahr Jamail | Al Jazeera English | Published: May 12, 2013

As violence in Iraq reaches levels not seen in years, untold numbers of Iraqis are once again seeking refuge elsewhere.

With April the bloodiest month in Iraq for nearly five years, more Iraqis are seeking safety in Jordan (Reuters)

Amman, Jordan – Maki al-Nazzal, a 57-year-old Iraqi from Fallujah, returned to Amman a week ago from a visit to his home city in Iraq. Having lived in Jordan since 2007, Nazzal, like most refugees, wants nothing more than to return to his home country.

He had returned to test the waters, after having to flee in 2007 under threat to his life from having been first an outspoken critic of the US occupation of Iraq, and more recently having been critical of the regime of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

“When you tell the truth about what is happening in Iraq, this puts you in danger,” Nazzal, a political analyst who has frequently appeared on television, told Al Jazeera. “After two of my sons were arrested in Fallujah, I left Iraq. I had no choice but to leave.”

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Dahr Interviewed on Al Jazeera’s Listening Post

By Dahr Jamail | Published: May 6, 2013

Dahr appeared on Al Jazeera’s Listening Post May 4, 2013, “Iraq: ‘Disciplining’ the Media.”

We assess the country’s factionalised media as Nouri al-Maliki’s government shuts down 10 satellite TV stations.

aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2013/05/20135410111714964.html

Dahr’s interview begins at 2:09.

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Iraq: The deadliest war for journalists

By Dahr Jamail | Al Jazeera | Published: April 8, 2013

More journalists were killed during the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq than in any war in history.

Al Jazeera journalist Tareq Ayoub was killed in a US airstrike during the US-led invasion of Iraq. His daughter Fatima was 14 months old at the time. (GALLO/GETTY)

On April 8, 2003, during the US-led invasion of Iraq, Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Ayoub was killed when a US warplane bombed Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Baghdad.

The invasion and subsequent nine-year occupation of Iraq claimed the lives of a record number of journalists. It was undisputedly the deadliest war for journalists in recorded history.

Disturbingly, more journalists were murdered in targeted killings in Iraq than died in combat-related circumstances, according to the group Committee to Protect Journalists.

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Living with No Future: Iraq, 10 Years Later

By Dahr Jamail | TomDispatch | Published: March 27, 2013

Back then, everybody was writing about Iraq, but it’s surprising how few Americans, including reporters, paid much attention to the suffering of Iraqis. Today, Iraq is in the news again. The words, the memorials, the retrospectives are pouring out, and again the suffering of Iraqis isn’t what’s on anyone’s mind. This was why I returned to that country before the recent 10th anniversary of the Bush administration’s invasion and why I feel compelled to write a few grim words about Iraqis today.

But let’s start with then. It’s April 8, 2004, to be exact, and I’m inside a makeshift medical center in the heart of Fallujah while that predominantly Sunni city is under siege by American forces. I’m alternating between scribbling brief observations in my notebook and taking photographs of the wounded and dying women and children being brought into the clinic.

A woman suddenly arrives, slapping her chest and face in grief, wailing hysterically as her husband carries in the limp body of their little boy. Blood is trickling down one of his dangling arms. In a few minutes, he’ll be dead. This sort of thing happens again and again.

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