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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl fhtagn ("In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."). --HP Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

The stars hath turned in the heavens once more: Mighty Cthulhu stirs. His dreams reacheth forth, communing with those with ears to hear. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! His thoughts trample down along the pathways of thy mind; thou knowest His footprints, each of which is a wound...

Tuesday, September 14, 2004


--Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images

"Liberty" in a Rocket's Red Glare
(Richard Cranium, over at All Spin Zone, first brought this story to my attention. I'm merely doing my part to get the word out, to help spread the news of what our beloved government is doing in our name.)



Mazen al-Tumeizi, a reporter for the Dubai-based Al Arabiya, was reporting near a burning Bradley CFV at dawn, Sunday Sept 12th. A crowd of unarmed civilians was milling around curiously in the background. And that is when a pair of Apache gunships arrived, dispensing Liberty via 2.75" folding-fin aerial rockets.

Video of the attack--taken by Tumeizi's cameraman--can be seen here. Warning: Not a pretty picture of democracy.


--Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images

The US Army explained its actions:

Major Phil Smith, a spokesman for the 1st Cavalry Division, said the helicopter fired to try to destroy the burning vehicle “for the safety of the people around it”.

--AP/CBC News

Makes sense. After all, this one twit waving a terrorist flag was clearly a threat to the safety of the people around him. US attack helicopters simply had to open fire “for the safety of the people around it”.



--Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad writes for The Guardian and works as a stringer for Getty Images. When Ghaith arrived, he began snapping pics like any photographer would, but he soon found himself caught up in his own story and was quickly wounded: The Apaches were making sure they finished what they had started...


I had just reached the corner of the cube when I heard two explosions, I felt hot air blast my face and something burning on my head. I crawled to the cube and hid behind it. Six of us were squeezed into a space less than two metres wide. Blood started dripping on my camera but all that I could think about was how to keep the lens clean.



--Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images


I reached a building entrance when someone grabbed my arm and took me inside. "There's an injured man. Take pictures - show the world the American democracy," he said.
Yes, Democracy has arrived for these people. A free and liberated Iraq greets the new day.



--Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images


Addendum:

According to this and this, Ghaith is a friend of Salam Pax and Raed Jarrar. He had his own blog for a brief time, and still has an old foto-page here.

Of more interest are his articles for The Guardian, which can be viewed here. He deserves a medal for bravery, and a Pulitzer for his repeated infiltration of the "Iraqi Resistance":
This is the front-line elite, a bunch of badly equipped men with rusted AKs and decade-old RPG rockets. When we first arrive they are brewing tea, piles of RPG rockets stacked on the walls two feet away from the fire.

"So how long you have been here?" I ask one of them.

"Three weeks now." He says he is here because he wants to defend the shrine of Imam Ali. "I'm unemployed and have nothing else to do."

He is 17.


(Ghaith Abdul-Ahad after Sunday's slaughter)
Posted by: Great Cthulhu / <$BlogItemDateTime $>
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