Outside the Wire Documentary Series
The one that started it all.
Former Marine and television news producer JD Johannes traveled to Iraq in 2005 with his old Marine Corps unit to produce syndicated TV news reports for local stations.
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JD went back to Iraq in March of 2007. His first week back, Al Qaida in Iraq attacked O.P. Omar, a small outpost in Al Anbar province manned by Army paratroopers from Blackfoot Company, 1-501st.
Nothing says welcome back like a couple suicide truck bombs.
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The Al Anbar province in Iraq went from being lost in 2006 to an effective counter insurgency model in 2007.
JD returned to his old stomping grounds of 2005 to see what brought about the change.
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The surge is working. The surge has failed. Do the people who make those claims actually know what the surge is?
Documentary filmmaker JD Johannes spent a month in some of Baghdad's toughest neighborhoods--Doura, Bayya, Rashid--seeing the surge firsthand.
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Dec
08
2009
Written by JD Johannes
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Tuesday, 08 December 2009 |
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JD and LTC Ahmed on October 21, 2009 |
LTC Ahmed, the commander of an elite
police unit in Salah ad Din province, was assassinated on by a
suicide bomber on Dec. 4th in central Tikrit, Iraq.
Ahmed was among the first to step forward
in 2003 and 2004 to work with Coalition forces in Tikrit.
From the powerful Jabouri tribe centered
North of the city, he quickly gained a reputation for being brash, fearless
and willing to whatever it took to eliminate terrorists.
I met him a few times this past October
while embedded with 2-32 Field Artillery, the US Battalion that worked
side-by-side with Ahmed.
And he lives up to the quotes about him.
"He was controversial, flamboyant,
brave, and effective," U.S. Col. Walt Piatt told the Associated
Press . "He single-handedly disrupted numerous enemy plots
during the last election - He was the go-to-guy in the province."
During a Joint Security meeting I sat
in on he puffed on double corona cigar and then joked that I should
be paying him for the privilege of having a picture with him.
"Angela Jolie wants her picture
with me," he joked.
We then talked about how after I finished
up my work with the Army I should spend a few days embedded with him.
(I have been known to take off my body armor and jump in a pick up truck
with an Iraqi officer to go for a drive around town .)
I took down his cell phone number and
told him the serious Inshalla--I'll spend a few days with you on this
trip unless Allah prevents it. I ran out of time on this trip
to embed with Ahmed but toyed with extending a few days to embed with
him. If I had, I could have been with him on Dec. 4th.
As I travelled around the province I
inquired with other Iraqi police about Ahmed and his reputation.
From Bayji to Dujayl, he was a legend.
The reports of him personally killing
250 plus insurgents/terrorists are not puffery. The number of
terrorists killed by men under his command is much higher.
Ahmed had a lot of enemies. The
conventional wisdom is that Al Qaida killed him. But the facts
are probably murkier.
Someone or some group didn't just want
Ahmed dead--they needed him dead.
Ahmed Subhi al-Fahal, friend, warrior,
servant of a free Iraq--May peace be upon him.
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Nov
26
2009
Written by JD Johannes
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Thursday, 26 November 2009 |
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Nov
24
2009
Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 24 November 2009 |
The blood debt is a custom in many cultures, but unknown to many Westerners.
In Iraq the tradition of the blood debt helped fuel the sectarian killing sprees that nearly plunged the country into a civil war.
In it is purest form, as described by Edward Gibbon in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, it is truly an eye for an eye a life for a life debt.
Everyman, at least every family, was the judge and avenger of his own cause...the interest and principle of the bloody debt are accumulated; the individuals of either family lead a life of malice and suspicion, and fifty years may sometime elapse before account of the vengeance be finally settled.
But that is the most base understanding of the blood debt.
In Iraq and Afghanistan tribal leaders often negotiate the blood debt to a cash or property settlement. The family and tribe of the deceased agree to not seek blood if they are compensated.
Just yesterday I witnessed a highly formalized negotiation about the blood debt by the nascent Tribal Union in Dujayl, Iraq.
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Dujayl Tribal Union meeting in a school auditorium |
The goal of the Tribal Union is to unify the tribes in this agrarian community so to have a unified voice before the civil government.
To do that, the any disputes need to be resolved quikcly and equitably. The leadership of the Union is proposing standardized procedures to resolve grievances.
Meeting a school auditorium and sitting on plastic chairs, more than 100 Sheiks took part in the open meeting of the Union.
The Tribal Union is a relatively new creation in Dujayl. In the early years of the war, US forces went looking for anyone and everyone who would cooperate with them.
In Dujayl a man who spoke English was the first to shake the hand of US forces. He said the right things and put on a good act. But he was not a real Sheik and had no real influence.
He did make a lot of money off the US though.
During the Surge and after, it became obvious that the Sheiks Council of Dujayl was populated by scoundrels. The US officers began to follow the tribal roots back to the real Sheiks. The fake Sheiks fled, the Council was dissolved and the Tribal Union formed.
US Army CPT Justin Daubert sits on the stage during the meetings, as a representative of the strongest and richest tribe in Dujayl, but does not take an active role in the open meetings.
CPT Daubert does his work behind the scenes with key leaders to steer them through the bureaucracy and encouraging the Sheiks to keep working on unification.
After a prolonged session of hand-shakes and kisses on the cheeks, the Sheiks took their seats and got down to business.
The first issue to be tackled--the blood debt.
A motion was put forward that if a member of one tribe kills the member of another tribe, the standard, the killer or his tribe or family should pay the victim's family 20 million dinar--about $20,000 US dollars.
Many of the Sheiks seemed to think the number was fair. There were proposals for a higher payment, up to 50 million dinar or for a sliding scale is the killer's family was poor.
The main topic of debate was who and how the case would be judged.
![sheiks.jpg sheiks.jpg](images/stories/blog/20-million-dinar-life/sheiks.jpg) |
A room full Sheiks
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Proposals were made on how Sheiks would be selected to ensure they would be impartial, who could represent the accused and the deceased and the mechanism to ensure that once a judgment was issued it was carried out.
All these matters were discussed in the presence of the Mayor of Dujayl, the Chief of Police and two members of the City Council. The Mayor even took part in the deliberations.
How the law of the government would interface with tribal law was barely touched on.
People are arrested, prosecuted and convicted for murder in Iraq. The blood debt is tribal version of a wrongful death suit that also prevents inter-tribal violence.
After the usual rounds of passionate sounding debate the issue was tabled and at some point in the future a committee will prepare proposals for the Union to vote on.
The next item taken up by the Union was all the bad drivers the need for traffic laws in Dujil.
All agreed that the young kids drive like maniacs and something needs to be done about it. When an Iraqi says you drive like maniac--you are truly a hazard to everything on the road.
The meeting adjourned, hands were shook, cheeks were kissed, the US Army officers were pressed by the Sheiks for more development projects.
The Tribal Union fills a gap between the rural population and the civil government providing some type of representation and voice.
In the upcoming elections, tribal groups could be the deciding factor whether there is a strong unity slate elected from Sala Ad Din or if they will continue to take their local arguments with them to Baghdad.
Once the US Army leaves, the tribes will become stronger. Tribal groups that are organized will be in position to negotiate directly with Baghdad and the provincial government.
The long term goal of the Union is to become the equivalent of a powerful lobbying group and voting block. Together, the tribes represent a lot of voters who could punish or reward politicians.
The success of the Union will be based on its cohesion and ability to deliver votes.
If the open list is used in the upcoming elections, then the single non-transferrable vote system will be in place. The groups that can turn out the most votes in the most organized fashion will be the ones to hold power in Iraq. The Union is on track to do that. But first it has to resolve all the tribal disputes and standardize the payment of blood debts.
JD relies on viewer support to help reporting from the war zone. Please hit the tip jar or buy a dvd.
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Nov
19
2009
Written by JD Johannes
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Thursday, 19 November 2009 |
In the lexicon of Iraq, few words carry
as much meaning as Samarra.
This city on the Tigris river north of
Baghdad was the source of the sectarian slaughter of 2006 and 2007 and
the scene of some the most violent fire fights of the same era.
Even as late as 2008, it was city to
be by-passed when traveling north or south on Highway 1.
The city is peaceful enough now, but
still struggling with an identity crisis. It is a Sunni city but
home of a holy Shia shrine that draws millions of pilgrims a year.
It was once the leading city of Sala ad Dihn province, but during Saddam's
regime, the seat of government was moved to Tikrit. The Sunni
tribes fought with the coalition to rid the city of Al Qaeda, but the
Shia security services from Baghdad dominate the old quarter near the
Golden Mosque.
And it was the second bombing of the
Golden Mosque in 2006 that was the catalyst of the sectarian upheavals
and rampant murders of 2006 and 2007.
The Golden Mosque is being rebuilt, the
city is very safe by Iraq standards and the pilgrims are returning in
force.
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