Worldandnation: All semblance of control = vanishes

War with=20 = Iraq

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=20

Iraq

All semblance of control vanishes

By BORZOU=20 DARAGAHI
=A9 St. Petersburg Times
published = April 12, 2003=20

KIRKUK, Iraq -- For years Ahmad Mohammad and his = younger=20 brother Towfiq avoided the neighborhood around the = military=20 intelligence headquarters out of terror. No one but = the elite=20 Baath Party commanders and their families were allowed = to walk=20 the leafy streets here.=20

But this week, the two teens traipsed into the = compound and=20 made off with helmets, socks, knapsacks, tomato sauce, = daggers=20 and whatever other useful and useless souvenirs of the = Baghdad=20 regime they could fit into the huge duffel bags they = dragged=20 down the street.=20

"It was forbidden to come here," Ahmad, 21, said. = "Only=20 intelligence officers could come here. But today we = are free."=20

The world might view the mostly young men pillaging = the=20 cities of northern Iraq as criminals and rogues taking = advantage of the breakdown in order to make off with = some=20 booty.=20

But they are also driven by the pentup rage of = living under=20 a brutal dictatorship and the joy of being able to = enter=20 once-forbidden spaces and seek a measure of revenge = against=20 their longtime tormentors.=20

Talib Muhammad, a taxi driver who toured the huge = maze of=20 buildings making up the military intelligence = headquarters for=20 northern Iraq, said two of his friends had been taken = to this=20 building and disappeared. "Kurdish sons were tortured = in this=20 building," he said. "I just wanted to take a look. I = just=20 wanted to get a sense of what happened here."=20

Down the path, teens rummaged through filing = cabinets and=20 large books filled with the mundane facts of the lives = of=20 officers and prisoners who passed through the drab = halls. A=20 young man acting as a tour guide showed the soundproof = room=20 where prisoners were interrogated and tortured.=20

The very geography of Kirkuk illustrates the = Baghdad=20 regime's obsession with order and power. Intelligence=20 commanders lived along one row of identical houses. = Deputy=20 commanders lived along another, less affluent, row.=20

With the Baghdad regime gone, so, too have its = boundaries=20 and distinctions. A society once known for its tight = control=20 has begun to break down. In Kirkuk and Mosul, = machine-gun fire=20 punctuates the night and day. Bands of youths carrying = sticks=20 or looted Kalashnikovs roam the streets.=20

A few miles away from the military intelligence = base, a=20 colorful swarm of people, young and old, occupied the = supply=20 depot of the Republican Guard base, making off with = socks,=20 ammunition, T-shirts, sleeping bags, uniforms and = tents.=20

Rebar Omar, a 19-year-old wearing a brand-new = camouflage=20 uniform, had managed to find a rocket-propelled = grenade=20 launcher. "It's safe as long as there's no = ammunition," he=20 said.=20

Jiran Sami, an 8-year-old girl wearing bright pink = pajamas,=20 carried a bag with pillows and a man's shirt. "I'm = taking it=20 for my dad," she said.=20

Authorities are attempting to bring some semblance = of order=20 to a society that has suddenly become undone.=20

"We are not allowing looters to leave with any = goods," said=20 Mustafa Qader Ahmad, a harried Kurdish commander = manning a=20 crowded checkpoint near the city limits. "We're = stopping them=20 all. We're taking all of the stuff back. We need to=20 re-establish some kind of order."


=20

Eyes=20 on Iraq
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From AP:

Summary=20 of events

Daily=20 photo gallery

Coalition=20 casualties

Focus=20 on Iraq

Urban=20 Warfare

The= =20 U.S. Arsenal

Timeline=20 of tension

Bio=20 of Saddam Hussein

U.N. Inspectors
challenges =

Inside=20 Saudi Arabia

Axis=20 of Evil

Confrontation With Iraq

All=20 eyes on Iraq

More=20 Interactive graphics

The case=20 against Iraq=20 (2/05/03) =

How=20 to paint a bullseye on Iraq=20 (8/18/02)