Haidar Samir Ahmed (age 17, b.1981), March 2006, at home with his younger sister Athra (9yrs.old) in the Karradat Mariam district of Baghdad. Ahmed was brutally wounded on April 11, 2003, by American gunfire resulting in an arm amputation. “The Americans fired a rocket; my arm was lost. I was home alone because my parents were in Al-Jihad staying with family, and I stayed here to watch over our apartment. I didn’t have food to eat so I was going to get some. I didn’t know what the situation had become on the streets. After I was hit, somebody picked me up and dropped me off at Al-Kindi hospital. Whom did my arm go for?”

Muhammed Ali Abdel Hadi, March 2006, at home in western Baghdad, March 2006. Above him are portraits of his late father and uncle. Hadi was wounded, February 2005 by American gunfire resulting in one leg amputation. “It was after lunch. We were five family members in the car, and there was a car in front of us. I didn’t even know there were Americans around. I opened the door and immediately there was fire. I thought it was a car bomb at first. There was gunfire for about ten minutes. The car had 56 bullet holes. I took five. The Iraqi Police came after. They gave us a pass to get into the American hospital. I did two surgeries in the Iraqi hospital instead. My leg was gone after just a few days. They couldn’t keep up with the loss of blood. They said if they didn’t cut it, my life would be endangered. I was ready to die. But you live for your children.”

Razak Rashed Abbas (age 54, b.1952), February 2006, at home with his son and granddaughter in the Adhamiya district of Baghdad. Abbas was injured on October 27, 2003 by a suicide bomber, resulting in a left leg amputation. “I have been an Iraqi police officer for 32 years. It was the start of Ramadan. I went from home to work, at the police station in Khithra district. My duties that day were the main gates. It was around 9:30 am. A green Land Cruise broke through the barricade, a man wearing military clothes was driving. I watched him as he opened the door and got out. He was tall and young, maybe 25. He looked at the station and I was there at the station entrance, the closest to him, then immediately there was a blast."

Falah Hassan Alawi (age 31, b.1974) at his new home with his son Ali, in Sadr City, March 2006. Hassan was brutally wounded November 2005 by gunfire after an assassination attempt resulting in a leg amputation. “I left the front door, I was going to the store. I felt that the car’s movements outside were strange. I kept watching, not really thinking anything of it. Then one car stopped and blocked the road, another stopped right in front of the door, a BMW. Then they fired. I was hit here in the leg at first, then got up and was hit again, I heard them say my name, ‘Falah is down.’ It was targeted at me. There were others around, but they kept firing at me. I don’t know why. My father was killed under Saddam in the 1980s. Maybe they thought I was in the new government. In the neighborhood sometimes they talk, they ask what my work is. I have a strong personality, I can be strong, I am not afraid to speak out, to yell when I see something, and maybe they took this as somebody who works in the government, but I drive a taxi. I was in the hospital for six weeks. They tried not to amputate it at first. Fourteen days after I was hit, my leg was gone because they couldn’t save it. I have four kids. Our home in Al-Amil was big and it had a garden. We had to move, so what can we do, we had to escape and we rented this house. My family was in danger so friends and family moved my family two days after I was hit. You know how close relations are in our culture. Still, my poor family and friends support us. My friends pay our rent every month. At least if I had a leg, I could work again. We just want to live our life. If they had sent me out of the country, I am sure I would not have lost my leg. The doctor asked me "do you want your life or your leg?" I replied, "I have a wife and children."

Rena Wounded Iraq Series

Ali Yusif Karim was wounded January 2005 when his Iraqi army vehicle ran over an IED (Improvised Explosive Device).

Duyar Sai Fehan (age 42, b.1964), February 2006, at home in Baghdad with his daughter Shama. Fehan was brutally wounded on May 25, 2003 when his civilian vehicle was run over by an American military vehicle, resulting in an arm and leg amputation. “I don’t have a hand and a leg. I was in a car in the Dora district, when an American vehicle ran over our car. 2 died, my arm was lost immediately, and then I lost my leg to gangrene. You know a worm how it walks the earth little by little? That’s me, little by little.”

Saif Yusif Hanoun was wounded on May 2003 by American gunfire.