INTERNATIONAL
Living with violence
A young woman in Baghdad gives her Internet
readers a first-hand account of what it’s like living amid
terrorism
A US soldier walks past the destroyed vehicle of an Iraqi
colonel after an explosive device was detonated in the vehicle
by US soldiers as a security measure. — AFP |
When it was finally completed,
the formation of the new Iraqi government should have been a big
news story. It did get some attention, but it was almost immediately
overshadowed by a frenzy of car bombings, ambushes
and assassinations. Altogether
well over 400 people have died since the new government was formed
only a few weeks ago.
Much
of the violence occurred in the country’s capital of Baghdad. It
is hard to imagine what it must be like to live in the midst of
that kind of slaughter. A bomb could go off at almost
any time and you can see why so many people are reluctant to leave their houses.
Below
is a description of one who did and the temporary dread and panic it caused for his family members. The account comes
from the well-known weblog
written by a young Sunni woman. The weblog is appropriately entitled
“Baghdad burning” (riverbendblog.blogspot.com).
“It
was around maybe 1 pm when he walked out the door, planning to walk
the two kilometres home. He listened to my aunt as she gave him
instructions about heating lunch for his father, studying, washing
fruit before eating it, picking up carrots on the way home, watching
out for suspicious cars and people and calling as soon as he walked
through the door so she could relax. He shook his head in the affirmative, waved goodbye and
walked out the gate towards the main street.
Three minutes later, an explosion rocked the house. The windows rattled momentarily and a door slammed somewhere upstairs. I was clutching a corner of the living room
rug where I had pulled it back to assure my aunt that there were
no bugs living under it.
‘Car bomb,’ E said grimly,
running outside to see where it had come from. I looked at my aunt
apprehensively and she sat, pale, her hands shaking as she adjusted
the head scarf she wore, preparing to go outside.
‘F just went out the door... ,’ she said, breathlessly referring to
her son. I dropped the handful of carpeting and ran outside to follow
E. My heart was beating wildly as I tried to decide the direction
of the explosion. I sensed my aunt not far behind me.
‘Do you see him?’ she called out weakly. I was in the middle of the
street by then and some of the neighbors were standing around outside.
‘Where did it come from?” I called across the street to one of the
neighbourhood children.
‘The main street,’ he answered back, pointing in the direction my cousin
had gone.
‘Did it come from the main street?’ My aunt cried out from the gate.
‘No,’ I lied, searching for E. ‘No - it came from the other side.’
I was trying to decide whether I should go ahead and run out to
the main street where it seemed more and more people were gathering,
when I saw E rounding the corner, an arm casually
draped around my cousin who seemed to
be talking excitedly. I turned to smile encouragingly at my aunt
who was sagging with relief at the gate.
‘He’s fine,’ she said. ‘He's fine.’
‘I was near the explosion!’ F. said excitedly as he neared the house.
My aunt grabbed him by the shoulders and began inspecting him -
his face, his neck, his arms.
‘I'm fine mother... ,’ he shrugged
her off as she began a long prayer of thanks interspersed with irrational
scolding about how he
should be more careful.
‘Did anyone get hurt?’ I asked E, dreading the answer. E. nodded and
held up three fingers.
‘I think three people were killed and there are some waiting for the
cars to take them to the hospital.’
Back in the house, E and I decided he’d go back and see if he could
help. We gathered up some gauze,
medical tape, antiseptic
and a couple of bottles of cold water. I turned back to my cousin
after E had left. He was excited and tense, eyes wide with disbelief.
His voice was shaking slightly as he spoke and his lower lip trembled.
‘I was just going to cross the street but I remembered I should buy
the carrots,’ he spoke rapidly. ‘So I stopped by that guy who sells
vegetables and just as I was buying them, a big BOOM and a car exploded
and the one next to it began to burn ... If I hadn't stopped for
the carrots ...’
My aunt gasped, stopping
in the living room, ‘The carrots saved you!’ she cried out, holding
a hand to her heart. My cousin looked at her incredulously
and the color slowly began to return to his face. ‘Carrots,’ he
murmured, throwing himself down on the
sofa and grabbing one of the cushions, ‘Carrots saved me.’
E came home an hour later, tired and disheveled. Two people had died- the third would probably survive
- but at least a dozen others were wounded. Every time I look at
my cousin, I wonder - gratefully - how it was that we were so lucky.”
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overshadowed
caused to seem less important
frenzy
uncontrolled behaviour
ambushes
attacks from hidden positions
assassinations
killings of important people
slaughter
the killing of many people, especially cruelly and unfairly
reluctant
unwilling
dread
a strong feeling of fear and worry
|
weblog
a regularly updated personal Internet journal
in the affirmative
yes
rattled
made a noise like a serious of knocks
slammed
shut forcefully
clutching
holding tightly
grimly
in a worried way
apprehensively
anxiously
|
pale
lacking colour
casually
in a relaxed way
draping
wrapping loosely around
sagging
weakly lowering (her body)
shrugged
raised and lowered the shoulders
interspersed
mixed in with
irrational
not using reason or clear thinking
|
scolding
criticising someone for behaving improperly
gauze
a long narrow piece of thin cloth used for covering injuries
antiseptic
a chemical used to prevent infection in an injury
gasped
took a short quick breath from excitement, fear or surprise
incredulously
not wanting to believe something
murmured
said very quietly
dishevelled
very untidy
|
LOCAL
Staying on the job?
People are wondering why Thailand needs a
new auditor general when it already has a very good one
Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka —-tough-minded, impeccably
honest and with huge public support. — Kosol Nakachol |
The government’s so-called war on corruption
isn’t getting a lot of respect these days. One big reason is that
it often appears that government leaders are not really sincere
enough in getting to the bottom of the scandals that have
come to light.
Then there is the strange case of Khunying Jaruvan
Maintaka. She is the tough-minded, impeccably honest auditor-general
who is apparently being forced out of her job, not because she has
done anything wrong, but because the Senate made a mess of
her selection.
Indeed, it seems to many people that she might
have been doing her job too well. This has made certain politicians
nervous, the theory goes, and when the Constitution Court ruled
that the Senate had not followed the constitution in choosing her,
they saw an opening to have her replaced.
They may have succeeded. Recently, the Senate
reopened the selection process and voted to nominate Wisut
Montreewatr as the new auditor-general.
The next step would typically be for Senate speaker Suchon Chaleekrua
to submit the nomination to His Majesty the King for approval. Interestingly,
that hasn’t happened.
The
reason, as Mr Suchon has suggested, may be simply be procedural. To become auditor general, for example, Mr Wisut must
first resign all positions that might potentially conflict with his new job. But there are also suspicions that Mr Suchon
is worried that approval from the King may not be so easy to obtain.
First, there is the question of Khunying Jaruvan’s
status. The Constitution Court ruled only that the selection
process was flawed, but it didn’t say that she had to step
down. Secondly, Khunying Jaruvan has overwhelming public
support. One poll indicated that more than 80 percent of the respondents
wanted her to continue in her job. There are also a number of groups
who say they are ready to take action if the Senate Speaker refuses
to review her status.
As for Khunying Jaruvan herself, she gives every
indication that she is staying on the job until she is forced to
give it up. Watch to see what happens. It’s bound to
be interesting.
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getting to the bottom of
finding
out the true facts
come to light
become publicly known
impeccably
perfectly, with no problems or bad parts
mess
a situation that is full of problems
|
nominate
to official propose or choose someone for a job
procedural
related
to the way something must be done
conflict
not able to exist easily together
status
official position
|
flawed
containing mistakes
overwhelming
by a very large margin or amount
respondents
people who answer a survey
bound to
certain to; sure to
|
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