Iraqi donkeys suffer under U.S. suspicion

Reuters ^ | 11/24/03 | Michael Georgy

[TexKat]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Since guerrillas used donkeys to outwit the high-tech defences of the U.S. military in Iraq, the life of the beast of burden has never been so miserable.

Attackers used donkey carts to launch Katyusha rockets at the Oil Ministry and two fortified Baghdad hotels on Friday. Two other donkey carts were stopped -- one carrying more rockets, the other a donkey-bomb wired up with explosives.

Every donkey in Baghdad is suddenly under suspicion as U.S. President George W. Bush wages a global war on terror.

In a crackdown on an animal that already suffers multiple daily whippings, U.S. soldiers with automatic rifles regularly stop and search donkey carts for weapons.

Donkey owners say petrol stations have been refusing to sell them kerosene for resale since the rocket attacks. The animals salivate and wheeze with exhaustion as they pull their owners and heavy loads across the potholed streets of the Iraqi capital in a desperate search for kerosene.

"I have five daughters to feed. I used to make 7,000 dinars a day (2.2 pounds). Now I earn only 2,000 since the Americans started pressuring us after the rocket attacks," said Jabar Mahdi.

"We ask the petrol station managers for kerosene and they refuse. What did we do to get treated like this?"

NO RESPECT

Even before the rocket attacks, donkey cart drivers were some of the least respected people in Iraq, living on the fringes of society in teeming slums.

Some fear Iraqis will now look down on them even more as they navigate their battered, bloodstained donkeys through chaotic traffic.

"When they see us ride by they call us terrorists. They accuse us of being Saddam's guerrillas and causing all of the security problems in Iraq," said Hikmat Sabeeh, 30.

"We had nothing to do with the rocket attacks."

The attacks could not have come at a worse time for donkey cart owners, who can barely afford to buy newspapers to read about the rockets and bombs that have shaken Baghdad.

U.S. troops are pounding the country in major operations designed to root out guerrillas who have killed 185 of their comrades since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.

They are not taking any chances so donkey owners fear getting caught up in a security crisis in postwar Iraq.

Ali Kathim woke up two days after the rocket attacks to find his donkey was missing.

"My friends said they saw the Americans take my donkey away," he said. "I have not been able to work for four days. I just sit around. I don't know if I will get the donkey back."

Donkeys are not alone. Horses also face new checks.

"The Americans always check our horse carriages. Every time we ride around they stop us and check our wooden boxes for weapons," said Ali Hassan, in the muddy streets of the Sadr City slum, as horse owners bought kerosene among piles of rotten garbage swarming with flies.

[TexKat]

Since guerrillas used donkeys to outwit the high-tech defences of the U.S. military in Iraq, the life of the beast of burden has never been so miserable. File photo shows an American soldier pulling a donkey belonging to a group of alleged looters in Baghdad in June. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

U.S. Army soldiers examine a rocket launcher mounted on donkey cart outside the Italian embassy in Baghdad, Friday, Nov. 21, 2003. More than a dozen rockets fired from donkey carts slammed into Iraq's Oil Ministry and two downtown hotels on Friday morning, brazen coordinated strikes at some of Baghdad's most heavily protected civilian sites that defied a U.S. crackdown. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

A U.S. Army soldier releases a donkey which pulled a rocket launcher outside the Italian embassy in Baghdad, Friday, Nov. 21, 2003. More than a dozen rockets fired from donkey carts slammed into Iraq's Oil Ministry and two downtown hotels on Friday morning, brazen coordinated strikes at some of Baghdad's most heavily protected civilian sites that defied a U.S. crackdown. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

[Robert A Cook PE]

Even the VC didn't stoop to using donkeys!

True, they fought long and hard, and hand-carried many tons down the Trail, but it took trucks, tanks and armor divisions with artillary to conquor the South.

But only AFTER we pulled out and denied air cover!)

[Theo]

... as U.S. President George W. Bush wages a global war on terror.

I thought this *had* to be a hoax, or a parody, or maybe a legitimate article that'd been edited by a Freeper. This article is a joke, written by a journalist with nothing to write about....

[McGavin999]

At least the poor donkeys will get a little rest for a couple of weeks.

[Graybeard58]

At least the poor donkeys will get a little rest for a couple of weeks

The Iraqis are going to be in a world of poo poo when PETA hears about the donkey abuse going on there.

[Redleg Duke]

I think it is fitting that the donkey is the symbol of the Leftist RAT Party in this country!

[TexKat]

This article is a joke, written by a journalist with nothing to write about....

I thought so too at first, but then when you think about it, the terrorist activities have affected the business of people that use donkey carts to make a living just like the terrorist activities affected our airline industry and other businesses, just like it has affected Turkey's hotel, restaurant business (I saw some Turkey business owners being interviewed yesterday on cable news.)

Donkeys and donkey carts may not mean anything to us, but to some it is their livlihood.

[Lessismore]

My recollection is that the CIA trained the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan to use donkeys to carry military supplies, such as the Stinger missiles, into the mountains to attack Soviet forces.

This might just be "donkey blowback" from the Cold War.

[ex-snook]

""My friends said they saw the Americans take my donkey away," he said. "I have not been able to work for four days. I just sit around. I don't know if I will get the donkey back." "

Americans locate Weapons of Ass Destruction.

[dead]

Ratty clothes, a midget, and a donkey!

It's like watching Sabado Gigante!

[Tijeras_Slim]

The animals salivate and wheeze with exhaustion as they pull their owners and heavy loads across the potholed streets of the Iraqi capital in a desperate search for kerosene.

I've never heard of a kerosene powered donkey.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Title should read: "Idle Jack Asses investigate Jack Ass Abuse In Iraq"

[ZULU]

I always thought the Saddamites were a bunch of asses.

Seriously, we should send PETA over there to investigate this cruel and unusual use of a beast of burden by militant Islamofascists.

[Stopislamnow]

That donkey launcher sure is something.

It's terrible of course, but its just...soooooo...no word I can think of without it sounding wrong.

[FreeAtlanta]

[Stopislamnow]

Ghetto is the word I was looking for.

A donkey launcher is just ghetto terrorism.