Zoriah: War Photographer Diaries -- Mujahideen Death Squad

admin — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:38:00 -0400

A young woman sits on the floor of a small house in an exceptionally impoverished neighborhood in Sadr City. She is visibly pained and in mourning, as is the rest of her family who is scattered throughout the house. Her brother is speaking to a U.S. Army interpreter who is relaying the story back to a platoon commander. He is explaining that their brother was just killed by a Mujahideen death squad and is pleading for help in finding the killers and for his families protection. The man hands over his cell phone while pressing a button. A video appears of a young man, obviously frightened sitting on the porch of a house. The video cuts out and then back in again from the same angle the man is shown decapitated with his head sitting next to his body on the steps.

The family then explains that after receiving the video of their dead brother, they went to his home to find it leveled to the ground by an explosion. They show a photo they took of his head, lying in the front yard. I watch as the young children in the house look at the photo of their uncles decomposing head and wonder what a western psychiatrist would say about the damage this may cause.

baghdad, violence, war, zoriah, mujahideen, sadr city, beheaded, torture, video

Zoriah: War Photographer Diaries – Into the Mouth of Madness

admin — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:51:07 -0400

Into the Mouth of Madness

words and photographs by Zoriah

It’s mid afternoon and the sun is struggling to find its way through millions of tiny particles kicked up in today’s sand storm, casting a yellow haze and ominous glow across Baghdad. I am with a platoon of US Army soldiers. We are gathering our flak vests, helmets and protective gear and heading out to a group of armored vehicles.

(click here to read the rest of Zoriah's diary entry)

Silencing Memory: Torture And Disappearance In Iraq.

admin — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:47:24 -0400

photography series

Zoriah: War Photographer Diaries -- Mujahideen Death Squad

Zoriah: War Photographer Diaries – Into the Mouth of Madness

Silencing Memory: Torture And Disappearance In Iraq.