Ordinary Iraqi families getting ready to fight They're stockpiling weapons, food and fuel

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Wednesday, March 15, 2006 | Charles Levinson

[hawkiye]

Baghdad -- Om Hussein, wrapped in her black abaya, lists the contents of the family's walk-in storage closet: three 175-pound cases of rice, two 33-pound cases of cooking fat, six cases of canned tomatoes, three crates of assorted legumes, a one-month supply of drinking water, frozen chicken livers in the freezer. And in the garage, jerry cans filled with fuel are piled floor to ceiling.

Om Hussein, who was reluctant to give her full name, and her Shiite family are preparing for war. They've stocked up on food. They bought a Kalashnikov rifle and a second car -- so that there is space for all 13 members of their extended family should they need to flee in a hurry.

"We are afraid of what will happen in the coming days," she says. "Maybe there will be a monthlong curfew, or maybe fighting in the streets will force my family to stay in the house for days at a time."

In the past week, President Bush has tried to assure Americans that Iraq has stepped back from the brink of civil war. "Iraqis have shown the world they want a future of freedom and peace," he told the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Monday.

Few Iraqis, however, share Bush's view that the crisis has been averted. They are readying themselves for the worst, fleeing likely flash points, stockpiling weapons and basic foodstuffs, barricading their neighborhoods, and drawing lines in the sand delineating Sunni and Shiite territory.

[Coop]

I went to University to

Aha! A Euro weenie! It all makes sense now. ROTFL!

[King Prout]

too easy. need more meat on the bones of my trolls.

[StarCMC]

Ewwww!!!

Sort of a desert cock fight I guess?? LOL

[Lejes Rimul]

Kindly refer me to the grammatical and geographical mistakes you claim I've made.

[StarCMC]

Yep!

[King Prout]

that damn scary serpent you posted a pic of ages ago?

[StarCMC]

ROFLMBO!!

[Old Sarge]

I can answer that... they don't.

The only reporters to dare set foot in Ramadi from home-town newspapers, and not the MSM. The stories you hear about the cocktail circuit at the Palestine are all dead accurate.

[DeaconRed]

"FEMA and Homeland Security should hire this woman to give lessons on disaster preparedness."

My thoughts exactly.
NawLins are you listning?

[Indy Pendance]

It was good fun, they placed wagers all day, then the big event in the evening. Too bad Don King wasn't there!

[Allegra]

Peach and I argued with lejes rimus the other day on a thread where it stated there never were any ties between Al-Qaida and the secular Iraqi Hussein regime until we went in and made poor wittle Saddam leave office.

Good grief! It's like he's a mouthpiece for the New York Times.

Read his Post #27 to me on this thread. I'm still laughing. That one's a keeper.

[Coop]

Kindly show me where I claimed you made geographical mistakes, mate.

[StarCMC]

He must have thought my name was "Lol" considering that the word "Lol" appears to be the person he is addressing with the rest of his question.

[StarCMC]

LOL!!

[Coop]

Lol skip spelling back in kindergarten?

No period or other separation (preferably brackets, indicating action during a scene) after the abbrevation for "Laugh out loud," which is not part of your sentence lacking a subject.

[StarCMC]

*snicker*

[wtc911]

I cant say which papers they are reading, but when the enemy uses DU talking points , they are definitely reading our media and using it against us.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Good point unless it is the reverse, DU is getting its talking points from the enemy. Either way, I think civil war will or will not erupt based on multiple factors, the very least of which would be what is said in the US press.

[Allegra]

Here's the million dollar question: how are the mediots getting their information? Do they ever leave the Green Zone?

They got kicked out of the Green Zone last fall. The military got fed up with their distortions. They're at the Palestine Hotel across the Tigris from the Green Zone.

So they sit around there and collaborate on their lies.

[Lejes Rimul]

And a refresher on geography may come in handy, too.

[txhurl]

(did you see I almost got eaten!?! lol)