Insight on Adhmiya between 2003 and 2008

Summer 2007
A quiet avenue, very hot weather, every few minutes a lonely speedy car passes by leaving a trail of dust, the silence is terrible and really horrifying, all the shops are closed and there is no single wall without hundreds of bullet's holes in it, no intact window either, even the asphalt of the road is feeling pain masked by the destroyed huge concrete blocks that lies in the street and blocking it. I could only see one kid walking in the street with me, I was in Adhamiya I have just entered it, and I have to walk because no taxi will go there, the nearest place they get is to Antar square (the gate of Adhamiya).

I was walking in the street with only one thing occupying my mind; will I make it to my relatives' house? On my way I saw some of the usual, in the corner there was AlQaeda watchman sitting on a chair, a motorbike with two teenagers on it (those are AlQaeda assassins) passes by me and there was smoke going from some where, an explosion which is a normal thing here.
When I reached the house I was in sorrow as usual for what the lovely neighborhood where I spent most of my life has turned to, I can remember the day when all of this started, I can remember the day when AlQaeda and other militias decided to make Adhamiya their stronghold and destroy every thing beautiful in it, when they decided to kill its spirit, I remember the day when some of the nice people of Adhamiya were deceived by AlQaeda and other militias and thought they were for a better future, I also remembered how beautiful, peaceful and lovely this district was.
Adhamiya is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Baghdad, it's very authentic and big, it's a mixture of the old alleys of Baghdad and the new civilized Baghdad and its residents are known for their gallantry and hospitality, there are huge markets in it with very nice merchandise ranging from food supplies to clothes and electric appliances. There is also Imam Abu-Hanifa mosque in it and that's where the old market is and beside it is the bridge to Kathomyia (old Shiite authentic district), the residents of Adhamiya are Sunni and Shiite but the majority are Sunni, they used to live side by side in peace, the Shiites have a tradition every year in which they go to Kathomyia on foot passing through Adhamiya and through that bridge to visit the mosque and tomb of Imam Mosa AlKathom, and in this event the residents of Adhamiya go in the streets and offer the Imam AlKathom's visitors water, juices, sweets and food sometimes, that's how united the Iraqis were. But now the visitors have changed their path after many decades. People from all Baghdad used to come to Adhamiya for shopping, hang out with friends and have a good time, people used to have early breakfast or late dinner in the popular in-street restaurants at 3 or 4 am, it was a very great neighborhood till that dark day.
I remember that ugly day, at May 2006 I was sitting with my wife (fiancée at that time) in the garden, we were having such a good time; singing together, talking about our love and the future plans while we drink mint tea, it was sunset and the darkness was taking over the sky when I heard a car drift and then a loud conversation, I though it was a fight, I couldn't hear well what they were talking about because of the generator's noise but I heard one word "please, I beg you, take the car and leave me, I have a family, please" at this time I knew it wasn't a regular fight, I jumped from my chair and headed to the street when I heard "Alah oa`kbar" followed by three bullets and then two cars moved fast, when I reached the street I couldn't see anything wrong, till the neighbors came out and they spotted the dead body, I ran to him but he was lying on his face in a corner drowned in a pool of his blood, I turned him over with my relative and the neighbors to see if he is alive and to see if we know him, he was dead, he was a shop owner in the neighborhood. I couldn't take it, I couldn't believe it, why did they kill him, many of the neighbors were screaming hysterically "what god has to do with this" another said "What Islam is this, Islam is not like that to say Alah oa`kbar before killing an innocent man?", for me I was shocked, I couldn't say anything, I just wanted him away from the street because he doesn't deserve that, I ran in the streets looking for any police or national guards' car to take him to hospital or morgue but couldn't find any, the scene was really heart-breaking he was lying there and the fruits he had bought for his family was scattered around him mixed with his blood.
He was the first victim of sectarian violence in Adhamiya district, he was killed because he was Shiite, the next day four Shiite shop owners were killed, a day after that an explosion and 7 dead people ….it continued escalating like that till there was no one else to kill, all the Shiites have left the neighborhood, many Sunnis too. Majority of the shops were closed, the streets are almost empty, because it doesn't matter whether you are a Sunni or a Shiite anymore, you'll be killed for no reason that you know. It reached a level that dead bodies are left in the streets for days because if anyone from the neighborhood picks them he will be killed and the police is afraid to pick them because they might be wired and may explode on them, I remember there was a female hair dresser who was dragged by her hair out of her shop and killed in the street, her dead body remained for days in the street because AlQaeda thinks that it's a sin that a women goes to a saloon!
The situation was going from bad to worst day after day, it became impossible to live there, I remember when the Anbar salvation council made their achievements they sent armed men to Adhamiya to fight AlQaeda there, but they couldn't do anything, the house of the leader of the first awakening movement in Adhamiya is still there, it stands like a statue to remember the residents of the history of their lovely neighborhood, the house of Wathik is still there, wrecked and destroyed with everything still inside like the way he left it, like the way it was when AlQaida exploded his house while he and his family are in it!! That's how the first awakening council was ended.
Adhamiya was one of the first neighborhoods in Baghdad that started resistance of the coalition forces few days after the statue of Saddam had fallen, it was a real resistance but it gradually changed to something far away from resistance, at that time there was nothing like a Shiite or a Sunni, they were all Iraqis…..I remember the first roadside bomb in Adhamiya and as I think the earliest in all Baghdad, it was a small bomb in front of my friend's shop, it killed no one, it only made a small hole in the pavement, I remember when everyone was safe whether Shiite or Sunni, I remember when AlMahdy Army was established by Moqtada AlSadir and he announced the goals and agenda of his army how the residents of Adhamiya welcomed him and his army and showed their support to them, I remember the slogans "long live Moqtada" "Brother Sunnis and Shiites, we will never sell this country"…. I remember how AlMahdy army used to roam the streets of Adhmiya without any fear in fact they felt safe, until they changed their agenda!!! Or as Moqtada said it became penetrated…and I personally don't believe that. I remember when the invisible hands tried to start the sectarian violence several times and how the Shiites and Sunnis always won the fight as Iraqis…I remember the incident of AlKadhmia bridge when the Shiites were visiting Imam AlKadhom and there was a rumor from someone (some say that he was from the national guards) that there is a suicidal bomber among them and he will detonate him self now, and people started to push around and step on each other and they jumped into the river, even the ones who didn't know how to swim jumped into the river, and the young men of Adhmiya (Sunnis) jumped into the river to save their Shiite brothers they saved tens of people till they were so tired to swim and they died. 5 Sunni young men died trying to save their Shiite brother but only one of them was known; his name was Othman, he was known because he was the only son to his mother and his father was dead. He left a lonely mother after him…..it was a scene of great sadness and pain but at the same time it was the most beautiful scene of how united the Iraqis are and another winning of Iraqis over the invisible hands. Despite the efforts to save people from drowning hundreds were killed and many in critical cases. The invisible hands kept losing until that dark day, that ugly day that I hate so much, it's the most hatred day to me, it's the day when the to Askary Imams tombs were blown, I hate it so much because from that day the invisible hands started winning, and the sectarian violence started escalating.

The end of 2007
Few weeks ago I heard that had happened, awakening movements have begun acting in Adhamiya, after they started with many other Sunni districts, they were calling them selves Adhamiya revolutionists or lions, they don't want to be called Awakening! They begun acting very quickly and very aggressively, they took control over the district within a week, and that's obviously for many reasons that I'll mention.
Awakening movements are anti-Qaeda armed militias and its members are residents of the same district they act in, they have been established in the Sunni troubled districts to fight AlQaeda and provide peace and safety for the residents.
These militias were established and encouraged by the US troops after the success of the Anbar salvation council (Awakening council), they US army arms them and pays their salaries.
More than a month ago things begun to change, who used to be an ally became an enemy and enemies became allies, the alliance between the Sunni insurgents controlling Adhamiya begun to break down, and the case is similar with the Shiite militias in the rest of Baghdad, Sunni militias started fighting each other over the control of the district, and each one of them wanted to look good in the eyes of the residents. And each one of them pretended in their fliers that they will make changes for the favor of the people and they will put an end to the suffering of the residents, they did that to gain the strongest source of power which is the support of people especially after the strong hits they received in Anbar, they actually begun to do some good deeds but it was late, it was the best time for the awakening movement to be established in Adhamiya and seize the chance of the insurgents weakness and prevent them from retrieving their strength while giving them what most of them wants and getting what the troops and the civilians there needs at the same time, giving them good money and control while getting the safety of troops and civilians from them and that means recruiting them as awakening movement members. The Islamic Army planted the seed of the Awakening when they started physical eliminating of the members of AlQaida and other militias who were killing innocents and kidnap people, many of the Islamic army members died for that quest, for the quest of getting rid of the criminals and make the neighborhood safer, more than a month later the awakening started and it's members are from the Islamic army, and many other militias and also AlQaida, even the criminals who were wanted by the Islamic army joined the awakening and they let them, they wanted to infiltrate the awakening to weakening it later, but the awakening did a very smart move, they let them in and then the eliminated them, that's why the awakening was so successful in Adhmiya and also because it's composed of the residents of the neighborhood only accompanied by the national guard members who were also from the neighborhood or somewhere near.

When you enter Adhamiya you will see Awakening checkpoints almost every 100m, they don't have a uniform or specific IDs, you can only know them from their gray shirts (some doesn’t wear that either), and from my personal experience they were very nice and polite, they have made some good achievements and it seems that they want to do good, or should I say ordered to do good!
I have seen some really good changes that made me so happy because I felt the safety in Adhamiya which is a forgotten feeling there for the past 18 months, as soon as I entered Adhamiya I noticed that Antar square is not just bricks and ruins, there was many workers planting flowers and grass, fixing the statue and whatever needs to be fixed, they were fixing the streets from the damages of explosive packs, I was surprised by the great number of cars, it was a dream to see such number of cars, some of the street lights have been fixed and I noticed that some shops reopened and many shop owners were preparing their shops to reopen them, it was a very beautiful scene to watch your beloved dying neighborhood beginning to have it's life back specially when you see the people walking in the street with that smile on their faces, the smile for the future, the smile of happiness for themselves and the neighborhood they love, I knew things are much better and it's somehow safe when I saw the kids and teenagers playing soccer in the street at night, even some of the teenagers in awakening were playing soccer with their AK on their shoulders, it was really funny and comforting thing to see but at the same time I was worried and careworn, I have a conflict of feelings now toward the situation in general and the awakening specifically.
Many of the awakening members are teenagers, specially the ones responsible for the night shifts, it's a very dangerous thing to give a teenager an AK with the authority to shoot and I think it worth mentioning that Majority of the Awakening are into the money and as I have heard from the people that they give about 400$ to the teenager, 600$ to the adult and more than 1000$ to the leaders and officers monthly,
and to add another dangerous thing to the equation I should make it clear that most of the awakening members were members in AlQaeda or other militias, and that was the main reason in their quick success because who knows better than them how to act against AlQaeda and where do they keep their weapons and explosives and where to find it's leaders and how do they act and their strategies?
So what we have now are mercenaries that many of them are teenagers or traitors for what they pretended to believe in, who were given weapons and control, I think that's something worth worrying about.
From my personal analysis I think the best and most important thing to be done is to keep the awakening under control and careful observation, because who knows what will happen? Things shift rapidly in Iraq and can't be easily anticipated, they should always be observed very well because they might end up like AlQaeda.
Some people refer to the awakening as America's agents, but if I look at the subject from another point of view, I see that if they weren't traitors for what they pretended to believe in, then they were very smart to join the awakening, because they will be armed legally and by the troops it's self, they will get large amounts of money that can be helpful to strengthen them again. That's another reason for the troops to keep a close eye on them and be ready to stop them at the moment they want to drift from the correct path, this is a hard thing to do and maintain but necessary.
It seemed that Alqaeda had disappeared from Adhamiya for the first 3 weeks, which was obvious from the slogans on the walls like" Down with AlQaeda….long live the Adhmiya revolutionists" and the quietness and safety of the neighborhood, as I said many of AlQaeda members became in the awakening movements, but in the last week AlQaeda made it's move, it tried to reply back, I noticed some slogans have been changed to "Die you America's dogs, die awakening….etc" some of the awakening members were killed by AlQaeda's snipers, but there were no confrontations till this moment, the awakening is the dominant power on Adhamiya till now, I believe this happened because they weren't convinced in the awakening or they were not from Adhamyia, they might be fighters from another district or even foreign fighter, but I don't think they will be able to take back Adhamiya, it's too hard to do that unless the awakening wanted them to!
The awakening is a good thing till this moment and they made some great achievements, the situation is much better in Adhamiya now because of them, but I think it's too naive to rest assured; who knows what might happen if they gain the full control? Who can trust any militia after such struggles and suffering?

February 2008
Yesterday I was so happy, I felt something strange, I had the widest smile ever, yesterday I was roaming the streets of Adhamiya in my car, the situation was great compared to what it used to be, most of the shops are opened, only few are still closed, the buildings are newly painted in white, the scene is very very beautiful, a long wide street and all the buildings are so white, it was great, there were new big Ads. Installed in the streets, the streets were busy with people walking and shopping, women were walking in the street without having to wear a vile, the streets were so busy with people, I felt a great joy in my heart, it's almost like it used to be, they finished rebuilding Antar square and the fountains started working again…it was great just great but unfortunately this isn't the case in all Baghdad, it's only in Adhamiya….now as I believe Adhamiya is a model that all Baghdad should follow, in my opinion it's the safest place in Baghdad, and thank god the awakening is still good till this moment.

Note: this article was written in different time intervals.

I don't live in Adhamiya, but I always hangout there, I just love that neighborhood so I go there regularly.