BAQUBA — Iraq’s children have been more gravely affected by the U.S. occupation than any other segment of the population. The United Nations estimated that half a million Iraqi children died during more than 12 years of economic sanctions that preceded the U.S. invasion of March 2003, primarily as a result of malnutrition and disease.
Where Happiness Has Gone
BAQUBA — After losing sight of what they knew to be normal life, residents across Baquba seem to have fallen into a depression. Close to the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, March 19, Iraqis today say they feel humiliated in their own country. “People have forgotten how to be happy,” says resident
WOMEN’S DAY-IRAQ: Surviving Somehow Behind a Concrete Purdah
WASHINGTON — Iraq, where women once had more rights and freedom than most others in the Arab world, has turned deadly for women who dream of education and a professional career. Former dictator Saddam Hussein maintained a relatively secular society, where it was common for women to take up jobs as professors, doctors and government
Sahwa Forces Challenge Govt, and Win
BAQUBA — The conflict between Sahwa forces and the Iraqi government in Diyala has resulted in more power for the Sahwa. Tensions rose in early February when men dressed in Iraqi security personnel uniforms kidnapped two women. Their naked bodies were found later.
Tensions Rise Between Sahwa and Govt Forces
BAQUBA — U.S. backed Sahwa forces threaten to destabilise U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces in Iraq’s volatile Diyala province. The ‘Awakening Councils’, known locally as the Sahwa, have left their centres in cities and districts around the capital of Diyala province, located 40 km northeast of Baghdad.
Occupation Strangles Farmers
BAQUBA — New plant diseases, attacks by occupation forces and escalating fuel prices are strangling farmers in Diyala province. Prior to the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003, farmers in Baquba, the capital city of Diyala province 40 km northeast of Baghdad, struggled with plant diseases they believed were caused by bombs dropped during the U.S.-led
Baquba Losing Life – And Hope
BAQUBA — Life has been bad enough in Diyala province north of Baghdad after prolonged violence, unemployment and loss of all forms of normal living. What could be worse now is the loss of hope that anything will ever be better. In Baquba, capital city of Diyala province 40km northeast of Baghdad, it’s all about
In Tatters Beneath a Surge of Claims
BAGHDAD, Feb 22 (IPS) – What the U.S. has been calling the success of a “surge”, many Iraqis see as evidence of catastrophe. Where U.S. forces point to peace and calm, local Iraqis find an eerie silence And when U.S. forces speak of a reduction in violence, many Iraqis simply do not know what they
Unemployment Too Becomes an Epidemic
BAQUBA — For a few, salaries have soared. For the rest, unemployment has Many Iraqi workers enjoyed huge salary increases following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. But unemployment rose more sharply under policies introduced by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
The Lights Have Gone Out, Who Cares
BAQUBA — Lack of electricity in Baquba has shattered businesses, and the lives of families. Months of power failures has darkened morale everywhere. In Diyala province, just north of Baghdad, a generation has grown up in dark. The province, and its capital Baquba 40 km north of Baghdad has lived with intermittent electricity supply since