NICE BOMBS IS FINALLY FINISHED!


I know it has been over two years but with the help of the Benz, Kristie and the whole gang we are finally complete. Stay tuned for upcoming screenings. Please email me: ' usama (at) dancehabibi (dot) com ' to be placed on my email list (I recently lost all my email contact, so please send me your email even if you think I may have it).

New website, poster and trailer coming soon.

Thank you all for your support!

-Usama

Baghdad 2004


 So much has happened and so little has changed. The movie on Iraq, NICE BOMBS, has received a generous grant from the Creative Capital Arts Foundation and wins Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award for Documentary Feature - Sponsored by The Playboy Foundation. The award was presented by Rosie Perez and Chris Napolitano, Editorial Director of Playboy Magazine. The Benzfilm and my producer/wife was with me.

Iraq is too dangerous to return to at the moment. I spoke to a great soldier who was there for 18 months.

I am emotional about Iraq and I miss my cousin T. Until later...

Happy Anniversary?

Iraqi demonstrators stage a mock reenactment of Abu Ghraib Prison abuses during a rally in Baghdad, Saturday. (AP Photo)

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Tens of thousands of followers of a radical Shia cleric marched through Baghdad Saturday, demanding the end of the U.S.-led occupation on the second anniversary of Saddam Hussein's ouster.

In the largest anti-American demonstration since the invasion began, the supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr streamed into Firdos Square, where the statue of Saddam was toppled two years ago.

Waving Iraqi flags and chanting slogans against the occupation, they placed three effigies representing Saddam, U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on a pedestal, then knocked them down.

"I do not accept having occupation forces in my country," protester Ali Feleih Hassan, 35, told the Associated Press.

"No one accepts this. I want them out. They have been here for two years, and now they have to set a timetable for their withdrawal."
read more

Listen to my interview with Steve Edwards on Chicago Public Radio's 848 program

part 1 & part 2

I know it has been a long time since I last posted. I'm torn about returning to Iraq...I want to, but I'm not sure when. In the meantime I will be screening an excerpt from the doucmentary and other short videos from Iraq.

So come out on November 20, 2004 to the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago for a special show I created called: VIDEO BABYLON

Here is the description that Barbara Scharres, Director of Programming of the Film Center, wrote:

2002-04, Usama Alshaibi and various directors, USA/Iraq, 52 min.
Chicago filmmaker Usama Alshaibi presents a provocative inside look at street-level media in Iraq, including calculatingly entertaining Ba'athist propaganda pieces, and music videos with titles like THE SADDAM RAP, which often take the form of cheap, widely-disseminated and unregulated VCDs (video compact disks). Alshaibi screens and discusses BOMBSHELL: IRAQI SECRET VIDEOS AND ARTIFACTS FROM A FALLEN REGIME (16 min.), his edited compilation of VCD clips, and his own new films shot in Iraq earlier this year. Films by Alshaibi include: THE MESSAGE (6 min.), and an excerpt from NICE BOMBS (12 min). The program also includes: YA KHALA (7 min.) by Fa'iz Agob; THE SADDAM RAP (6 min.) by Joe Guitar; and BA'ATH MUSIC VIDEO, 5 min. In various video formats.

Director Usama Alshaibi will be present for audience discussion.

Saturday, November 20, 7:00 pm

Gene Siskel Film Center
164 N. State Street
Chicago, IL 60601

Film Center website: http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org
----------------------------------------

I still want to bring my cousin TW down to the good ol' USA!

Hey look Salam Pax is around and he may be coming down to USA. He has been producing some great videos ----

This is my first year voting. Do you know who I want vote for? To tell you the truth, bot canidates piss me off.
----------------------------
Here is a nice summary of our trip to Iraq by http://www.ausgang.com

I received this in the mail today- if you have any information please contact them:

Dear Iraqui blogger,
we are italian bloggers worried about the fate of the missing Italian
journalist Enzo Baldoni. Enzo wento to Najaf with a humanitarian convoj of
the Italian Red Cross carrying water and medicinals for the Najaf’s
population. His family and his frends wanted help to know if Enzo is alive
or kidnapped. Do you have the possibility to help us?? Do you have contact
with bloggers in Najaf or Kufa? Please ask them for news. We are grateful
and we pray God for you all.
Please send possible informations to email Caruso_153@hotmail.com or
blog
http://sirfrancis.splinder.it

email from my cousin in Baghdad, tw

hi usama

congratulations for samers wedding .. give him my regards

two days ago we were dining in the garden of the hunting club

about 10 pm with my wife and kids with some friends.

we heard the sound of a nice explosion..not near about 2km or 3

but you know we were in the garden and it sounded very clear and 3d stereo.

after that we heard hysterical shots .. and i knew the sound of the US soldiers gun after any explosion.

i dont know if the shot was very thing near because the they are hezitated or its there orders to behave like that and take somthing like revenge.

any way .. i was watching near by table in the club a man my age with family and friends.. after 1 second of stoping fire the man just rested his head on his chest and still sitting the same way ... with blood going out of his head .. he got shot with a lost bullet in the head

and you wont imagine the horror that people and kids and my wife have been through..

all the night the children were frightened because they saw a dead man near by .. and it could be any one else

they felt unsafe and unjustice.

but i still prefer voting to bush

it wasnt a nice bomb

-tw

okay here is my 'trailer' from my Iraqi documentary.


enjoy.

Long Live Iraq?

from my cousin:
Congratulation's for our Iraq independence day   
 
I'm feeling optimistic our this first step
for political & social & economical in dependency
 
... you should be optimistic too
we have hopes for voting
we have chance to be really free
 
-tw

one day ago...

Iraq's US-led administration this morning transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government in a surprise move that came two days ahead of the scheduled June 30 handover date.

The transfer of power took place in a ceremony in Baghdad's heavily guarded green zone, where Paul Bremer, the outgoing US governor, signed over control of the country - and its escalating security troubles - to the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi.

"This is a historic day. We feel we are capable of controlling the security situation," Mr Allawi said after the ceremony, which was followed a few hours later by the swearing in of members of the new government.

source

my memorial weekend terror story

I forgot to tell this story, about memorial day weekend, yes I must relay. I'm walking in downtown chicago and the weather is a mixture of dark clouds and blue skies competing for the spotlight. I have my digi-video cam and I'm shooting tall buildings and the dance of trains, cars and people. I walk towards the federal court building and pull out my camera and start shooting. I'm not specifically aiming for the federal building but I was conscious of the fact that I wanted to get that building on video-tape for a project I had in mind. Then I hear: HEY YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

I look back and there are two security guards wearing black with guns and walkie-talkies. YES, DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG? They kept telling me that I could not video-tape the building and I kept asking why? COME OVER HERE! They were very threatening and gestured with their fingers pointing at me. They stood around me so I would not escape? Who knows.

One big guy looked like he wanted to punch me out. He asked me what I was doing. I told him I was a filmmaker and I'm just shooting some scenes for an upcoming movie. I told him that since it was memorial day I wanted to get some shots of federal buildings and the various American flags around them. He was not impressed. He asked me where I was from. Now I know I could of have said many things but I was curious to see where this was going to go: I'M FROM BAGHDAD, I said. The big guy looked like he wanted to hurt me and gave me a confused look, ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY? he said. No I'm not trying to be funny, that's where I'm from. Now he was getting all worked up and demanded to see my I.D and wanted me to give him the video-tape. I refused to give him my tape.
I asked for his I.D and he would not show it to me...I knew he was just a security guy with a gun and a pea brain (or penis). He took my I.D and called somebody on his walkie-talkie. His partner just stood there staring at me. You should have seen his expression when he saw my name. I was getting fed up, DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG? I asked. He kept giving me this dumb look like I was fool. I kept asking him for my I.D back and he told me that if I did not cooperate he was going to handcuff me! We argued like this, back and forth. I kept asking him what I did wrong.

Finally two Chicago police officers showed up, asked what the problem was, I explained, the big dumb guy stood near by. They checked my I.D again but this time asked for my social security number and were doing some check on me. Lots of walkie-talkies and some people were watching this whole event. I remember at one point an Indian looking attorney glanced at us and I gestured for him to come near. I asked if he could help me and he just sort of shook his head and hurried away.

So I'm standing holding my video camera surrounded by two police officers and two security dudes. The cop asked to see what I shot. I showed it to him. He seemed satisfied and I guess my name was not on the Al-Qaeda greatest hits list. The cops were actually really mello and cool. They let me keep my tape and I was free to go. I gave the big security guy a sly smile and walked away. Fucker.
Across the street there was a protest/memorial for the 10,000+ Iraqis and 700+ Americans that have been killed since the war. There were these fake make-shift coffins and they were reading each name of the dead on a PA system. I kept on shooting.

an email from my cousin in Baghdad, today he wrote me:

hi usama

i'm sorry for waiting for a reply for so long

in 3/5/2004 i was at work in the company and a car boom exploded at the street very near by .

so i got hit with a nice boom at last.

i had 10 minor wounds in my chest , belly , arms and they are healing now

all the wounds came from windows glass

i came back in a hurry just to picture my self with the all over blooded shirt

to show it to you

but i could'nt find my camera . the blood on my eyes confused me

the shirt is clean now

sorry

tw

Welcome to the USA

ARTISTS SUBPOENAED IN USA PATRIOT ACT CASE
Feds STILL unable to distinguish art from bioterrorism
Grand jury to convene June 15

Three artists have been served subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury that will consider bioterrorism charges against a university professor whose art involves the use of simple biology equipment.

Early morning of May 11, Steve Kurtz awoke to find his wife, Hope, dead of a cardiac arrest. Kurtz called 911. The police arrived and, after stumbling across test tubes and petri dishes Kurtz was using in a current artwork, called in the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Soon agents from the Task Force and FBI detained Kurtz, cordoned off the entire block around his house, and later impounded Kurtz's computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for further analysis. The Buffalo Health Department condemned the house as a health risk.

Only after the Commissioner of Public Health for New York State had tested samples from the home and announced there was no public safety threat was Kurtz able to return home and recover his wife's body. Yet the FBI would not release the impounded materials, which included artwork for an upcoming exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

While most observers assumed the Task Force would realize that its initial investigation of Steve Kurtz was a terrible mistake, the subpoenas indicate that the feds have instead chosen to press their "case" against Kurtz and possibly others.

The subpoenas are the latest installment in a bizarre investigation in which members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force have mistaken an art project for a biological weapons laboratory. While most observers have assumed that the Task Force would realize the absurd error of its initial investigation of Steve Kurtz, the subpoenas indicate that the feds have instead chosen to press their "case" against the baffled professor.

read more about this case

wow I just heard on the radio that 52% of Americans think that Saddam is linked to the attacks on 9/11.

For the record I will repeat this: SADDAM HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9-11! We invaded Iraq under FALSE pretenses and the uneducated and naive public bought it, swallowed it and now we have to pay for it and eat our own shit.

Yes I'm glad they got rid of Saddam and when I asked Iraqis, what about the Weapons of Mass Destruction? And some would tell me that Saddam was the WMD. hmm...

In fact Iraq now is more of a threat to the world and the USA as a direct result of the US occupation. I believe the next attack on the USA will not come from AlQa'ida or any organization but will be an individual operating on their own. You will never win the war on terror Mr.Bush because we are against you, not with you, therefore we are the terrorists.

Let us hope for the best for Iraqis.

from my cousin tk from Baghdad,

Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 01:48:37 -0700 (PDT)

long long long time usama and no see
even your blogger is getting slower.
and the country is falling down with no reason !

and all the news is talking about is abu graib and US slodiers.
already said that these things happen .
in the middle of the US
in iran
in kuwait....every were
maybe car accedent kill more people every day
the world should not focus on abu graib
it should focus on the business in Iraq that is going down
the burglers are returning and rising
the kidnaping of rich or foriegn people began to be a habit
the life is geting worse and we are thinking of abu graib
we should not focus there
well dam all that
it is a sad letter
booo!!!
how are you ?
tk your friend


My cousin tk wants to come here to Chicago and visit me. I am looking into finding the best legal route for him. Any suggestions?

I watched it.

This Abu Musab al-Zarqawi guy that claims to avenge the torture of Iraqis by beheading the American citizen is a scumbag. I repeat Al-Zarqwai has no claim or right to speak for Iraqis. He is a sham and using this US occupation to declare war on Shia's and anyone cooperating with the US. Whatever you may think of the Abu-Graib pictures do not applaud this fuckhead. He has killed so many Iraqis by his various 'resistence' methods.


here is the article:Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq beheaded an American civilian and vowed more killings in revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, an Islamist Web site said Tuesday.

A poor quality videotape on the site showed a man dressed in orange overalls sitting bound on a white plastic chair in a bare room, then on the floor with five masked men behind him.

"My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael... I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah," said the bound man, adding he was from Philadelphia.

After one of the masked men read out a statement, they pushed Berg to the floor and shouted "God is greatest" above his screams as one of them sawed his head off with a large knife then held it aloft for the camera.

The Web site said Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a top ally of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was the man who cut off Berg's head. The statement read out before the killing was signed off with Zarqawi's name and dated May 11.



source

When I was in Baghdad and discussing the Coalition, the US government and various members of the Coalition Provisional Authority my Uncle said: they are all looters, all of them...they are all thieves and liars.

yes they are. All of them.

I've been disgusted and freaked out with the recent Abu Ghraib images of prison abuse at the hands of the US. Here in the USA it is getting much publicity and Bush has made some lame statement about how this is not representative of the USA. Yeah sure Mr.Bushie. Anyway this is a micro incident of many atrocities that go on in Iraq at the hands of coalition. But as my cousin has stated in the past, these soldiers, any soldiers are going to behave in this manner during war. Can we compare this to what Saddam did? Well to make the parallel would be sort of ironic considering that this is what the US claims to have ended, all the torture and brutality of Saddam's 35 year regime. Can we ponder this a bit? Any Iraqi can tell you endless stories of what Saddam or his henchmen did. And they got away with acts that are much worse than the Abu Ghraib prison US photos. And why do we need to see photos to be outraged?
Why not be outraged at everything that is going on? 10,000 Iraqis dead since the occupation and rising. I think in a way that some Iraqis will automatically be silent. But please do not be silent dear friend. These sadist need to be punished. A buddy from work who is in the US Airforce told me that those soldiers should be executed for what they did. Well that seems a bit harsh, he said it, not me.

However, following the publication of the photos by the CBS television network one wonders whether U.S. administrator Paul Bremer and Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, were aware of the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

If they were aware of the fact but failed to prevent it, then they should be tried in court according to Article 4 of the Geneva Conventions.

This article enumerates the rights of people whose countries have been invaded and occupied. It states that the occupying forces do not have the right to torture the occupied country’s nationals and if they do, the occupying country’s highest-ranking political official and military commander are to be held responsible for the crimes.

And this from Zmag.org :

"Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee."

It's not really so much the torture. But the humilation that these photos protray; the female soldier in front of the naked Iraqi prisoners is going to give rise to more anger and hostility toward the US all over the world. Be prepared for more violence.

Go read that full article in Zmag. This has been going on for a while now and our US media that was once a cheerleader for Bushie has recently been a little critical now. Look, Bremer, Sanchez and the rest of those bastards all knew about this. They are only making a fuss since the pictures are out. Anyway, I have no idea who to vote for this coming election. Not Bush, Not Kerry (pro-Israel lover), so what? Nader...ahh Nader.

I wonder what my cousin thinks of all this? I should write him. In other news I showed a short video piece I made called BOMBSHELL: IRAQI SECRET VIDEOS AND ARTIFACTS FROM A FALLEN REGIME. I showed it at few places here in Chicago and it has raised discussion and I was even accussed of accepting money from the Republican Party! haha. These were clips that I bought from Baghdad when I was there.

The documentary is still is in the early phases. I will keep you posted.

bad news from the middle east

Iraqi officials say more than 60 people, including many children, were killed Wednesday, in a series of explosions in or near the southern city of Basra.

++++

A suicide car bomber destroyed a Saudi security forces building in the capital Wednesday, killing a senior officer and at least nine other people.

++++

Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians, the youngest 13 years old, in a raid into Gaza Wednesday to stop reprisal rocket attacks for the assassination of a top Hamas leader.

the scene in the Sunni area of Fallujah is disgusting and hardly representative of the Iraqi sentiment. these Fallujah folks are the ones that have the deepest sympathies with Saddam and they hate the US with a passion. Anyway http://www.juancole.com/ makes a good point in relating this incident as a reaction to the illegal assassination of paraplegic Sheikh Yassin by US backed Israel.

agghh...

K says she really doesn't want to return with me back to Iraq.

Maybe I should cancel my site seeing tour in Fallujah?