News from nowhere. posted by Richard Seymour

“I am used to laws and I know how they function,” said Abu Mohammed, a lawyer here speaking at a mosque, “The first priority is that who makes the law should be legally authorized. Here in Baghdad, the martial law is genocide against the resistance in Iraq who are against the invasion. The theme of the law is to kill the resistance and to stop people even from thinking. Do you think they can limit how Iraqis think? Insh’alla (God willing) they cannot. We have to defend our religion and the resistance is legal, insh’allah the resistance will do their job and rid us of the invaders.”

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When my friend Aziz stopped by this afternoon, I asked him how he and his family are doing…“If we are not talking about the situation, we are good,” he said despondently, “I think we will have civil war, sooner or later.”

He shook his head while talking about Falluja. It is estimated that between 30-100,000 civilians remain in the city, people who have been referred to in mainstream media as “refusing to leave.”

“So many people in Falluja are poor and cannot leave. Land and houses in Baghdad are both very expensive, and so many people in Falluja are too poor to leave,” Aziz said with resignation, “The Americans are doing what they did last time-taking control of the main hospital and not letting the hospitals and clinics and ambulances function. They are killing civilians, just like before.”

At this point my door slammed with a gust of wind and I jumped…causing Salam (who I’d just returned home with) and Aziz to bend over with laughter. I told them to screw off, embarrassed.

“How would you guys react if you were the white guy here,” I asked them in a feeble attempt to save face.

Aziz replied, “I wouldn’t be crazy enough to come here to this horrible situation man!” Again, he and Salam bend over laughing, so I succumbed and joined them, laughing at the ridiculousness of my situation.

We sat and listened to yet another gun fight of heavy automatic weapons in the distance. Much of this, of course, is not being reported, as all eyes are on Falluja. Nor most of the constant bombs that go off around Baghdad.