What happened to my sister?
As I told you before, my sister is living in Mosul and her house is near a police station and there were fighting close to their house. The first day of Eid was the worse to them because the insurgents were in their street hitting the American army on the opposite direction and my sister’s house was in the middle. Both sides were hitting each other but nobody of them thought a bout the houses in the middle. She said they woke up on a sound of very loud explosions so they ran down quickly without even wearing their slippers. they sat in a small room that has few windows. She said they did not move from the chairs till 6 pm at that day and they could not even go the kitchen to bring anything to eat till 6 pm. My sister has a 6 month old son, she couldn’t prepare soap for him as usual, only milk and a meal of ready serials, that he refused to eat , and he was crying because he wants his soup.
Me and my family were very worried about her and her family, I even did not concentrate with the guests we had. Finally she called at night and said they have silence, but they will leave the house in the morning if it’s safe.
today she called and said there was a tank in their street and they let them leave the house. She went with her 3 children to her husband’s uncle house which is the nearest to their house and they couldn’t go further. Her husband returned to their house to stay with his parents and his grand mother since she is a very old woman and have something similar to comma and can’t be moved. My mother called him to check if they are still OK, He said two rockets fell near them, the first one only two houses away and the second one fell on the house opposite to theirs. Thank God nobody was hurt in any of the houses just of course the houses were damaged.
My daughter is very happy in Eid. She likes the presents that have been given to her by us and grannies and she is wearing new clothes and have candies. I envy her because she doesn’t have to worry about anything that is happening now. I hope I can return and be like her and not thinking about anything. This Eid very few people came to visit us, nobody living far away came to visit us, only the people near our house and near our district. there is a problem of fuel as I told you in my last post and this affects the usage of cars. I know a person who, the day before Eid, stood in a line of a gas station for 12 hours till he got fuel to his car!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he stood from 4 am till a bout 4 pm. The price of the Fuel in the black market is more than 50 times than if you take it from a gas station. Our car is full, so we have no problem, but still, we did not go far away, only to see my parents in Eid, who lives in the other side of the river.
I’m finishing this post on the third day of Eid, we still have no plans, My husband’s friends usually visit us, but We don’t know if they will this Eid or not. They will call if they will not. I prepared many kinds of pastries and I Don’t know what to do with them. Do you want some?.
Me and my family were very worried about her and her family, I even did not concentrate with the guests we had. Finally she called at night and said they have silence, but they will leave the house in the morning if it’s safe.
today she called and said there was a tank in their street and they let them leave the house. She went with her 3 children to her husband’s uncle house which is the nearest to their house and they couldn’t go further. Her husband returned to their house to stay with his parents and his grand mother since she is a very old woman and have something similar to comma and can’t be moved. My mother called him to check if they are still OK, He said two rockets fell near them, the first one only two houses away and the second one fell on the house opposite to theirs. Thank God nobody was hurt in any of the houses just of course the houses were damaged.
My daughter is very happy in Eid. She likes the presents that have been given to her by us and grannies and she is wearing new clothes and have candies. I envy her because she doesn’t have to worry about anything that is happening now. I hope I can return and be like her and not thinking about anything. This Eid very few people came to visit us, nobody living far away came to visit us, only the people near our house and near our district. there is a problem of fuel as I told you in my last post and this affects the usage of cars. I know a person who, the day before Eid, stood in a line of a gas station for 12 hours till he got fuel to his car!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he stood from 4 am till a bout 4 pm. The price of the Fuel in the black market is more than 50 times than if you take it from a gas station. Our car is full, so we have no problem, but still, we did not go far away, only to see my parents in Eid, who lives in the other side of the river.
I’m finishing this post on the third day of Eid, we still have no plans, My husband’s friends usually visit us, but We don’t know if they will this Eid or not. They will call if they will not. I prepared many kinds of pastries and I Don’t know what to do with them. Do you want some?.
posted by rose at 5:09 AM
8 Comments:
You must be beside yourself with worry for your family. Maybe if they can get total control of the city there will be stability there finally, and some of the stuff that has been going on in the last few months will stop. Don't know any other way to do, and just hope civilians don't get harmed in the process. Know that doesn't help much when it's not your family or friends under attack, but just hope it's over soon and people can get back to a "somewhat" normal life.
D
Nice post sister.. I hope you will continue to post more and more to inform us about Iraq. I am interested in learning about the internet service you have there in such a war torne country? Where are you getting your connection from?
Zaid
Thank you for updating us, Rose. How terrifying for you sister and for you and your family. I'm glad to hear that you are all okay for now. It's nice to hear that your daughter is having a happy Eid. I wish I could share some pastry - what happens in my house with extra pastry is that I usually get a craving about midnight and then start eating! Yikes. The suggestion of sharing the pastry with the ING units that are attempting to secure your city is a nice idea. The execution of the maneuver is what I would worry about!
I've been reading several Iraqi blogs, and thinking about what I am reading.
One of the things that I have been thinking about is the claim that American is only going to do what is her own best interests, and Iraq must act in its own interests.
I think this is true, but then the next logical question is 'what is in the best interests of each country?'
America happens to believe that free democracies are the best protection for her own interests, as well as the entire world's. No democratic country has ever attacked another democratic country, so this makes sense. Don't the people of Iraq also want to be a free democracy? It seems to me that being a free democracy is in Iraq's best interests as well.
When I was a little girl my family went on lots of picnics. When we were done and ready to come home, my parents would tell us to pick up trash around the area, and not just our trash, but any other trash there. "We must always leave a place better than we found it" is what my parents were teaching us.
America's first goal in coming to Iraq was of course to get rid of Saddam and to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction. If Saddam had complied with UN resolutions, this would not have happened. Now that we are there, we would like to rebuild the country, build schools, fix roads and airports, and leave a free democracy behind us- leave it better than we found it. But we can't do that if terrorists and criminals and blood thirsty tyrants keep shooting at us and the people we are trying to help.
I read about Americans setting up a place where the people in Falujah could go to get water, but when they came, the terrorists shot an innocent man in line, so the rest fled (understandably)- Was that sniper really acting in Iraq's best interests by stopping those innocent people from getting water for their families?
The people in Felujah initially welcomed these fighters into their town, so I do not think it is America's fault that they are there, btw.
America believes it is in her own best interest if people like this are stopped:
http://www.roadstoiraq.com/?p=30
Don't most Iraqi people also want this kind of crime stopped?
I do not believe any civilized people who love their children can possibly be supportive of violence like shooting people in line to get water or the kidnapping and beheading of civilians. I don't believe a free people who love their children can be in favor of bombing schools and storing weapons in places of worship. I believe the people to blame for these acts are *the people who commit them*, not the people who are trying to stop them.
As soon as the brutal, violent men who commit acts of terrorism are stopped and Iraq can hold its own free elections, then the American military can go home, and I think both AMericans and the Iraqi people want to see this happen.
And I wish very much you lived in a time and place where you could freely share your lovely pastries with whomever you liked, and have the visitors you desired, and go out to market freely. I am praying that the days when you can do that will come soon. I would love to exchange pastries and recipes and thoughts on parenting with other mothers all around the globe- peacefully and without hatred. But I am not sure this is possible while evil men are trying to kill civilians and people who are trying to help them.
Mother in AMerica
well, mom in america, you've come to the wrong place. here we only want to feel sorry for one another. which is why we average about five replies per posting. we don't want to hear your reasonable claptrap. we are a website for victimised women of low self esteem. n'est pas, monica? sorry dave from down under, didn't mean to leave you out.
Hello Rose,
According to the well informed Kurdish-Iraqi blogger Kurdo from Kurdos World, things have really calmed down in Mosul. Hopefully your sister and her family won't feel so threatened, and hopefully they will have eliminated most of the terrorists/insurgents
from the town.
One rule of thumb Monica lives by - Don't listen to people who litter their speech with french!! LOL!
I know it must have been terrifying for your sister and her family in Mosel. However, they likely survived because American troops routinely *do* consider civilians and don't use all of the firepower at their disposal (like that tank), sometimes at the cost of American lives. That is hardly the case on the other side, who shoot from mosques and blows up marketplaces.
Hopefully, by the next Eid, all of this will be behind your country and you will have many long and pleasent visits in a free Iraq!
And the pastries sound good :)
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