Very recently, when Direct Aid Iraq met Abu Omar, we knew only that he had been tortured in detention centers in Iraq. He welcomed us into his small apartment in Amman, gave us tea and juice, and for nearly three hours told us the story of his arrest, torture, release, and escape to Jordan. He spoke with remarkable dignity and humility, and when he was finished he invited us to stay for dinner. “You haven’t eaten,” he said, “and this is the Iraqi way of hospitality.” To read his story, told in his own words, click “read more.”

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In 1999, while at his shop in a busy commercial district of Baghdad, Abu Walid witnessed the murder of a neighboring shop owner and helped subdue the murderer. His courage that day and at the trial resulted in death threats that forced him and his family to flee, first their home, and then Iraq.

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Dear Friends of Direct Aid Iraq,

I hope you’re reading this because you, like all of us at DAI, believe that we have a responsibility to continue to support a future of peace for Iraqis, even though Iraq has faded from the headlines. A quick look at the posts on this website in recent days illustrates the courage and determination of the Iraqi friends and colleagues with whom we work, and the urgency of the needs we – Iraqis and American involved in Direct Aid Iraq – are working to meet on a daily basis.

I’m writing because we need your help, now more than ever. [Read more →]

In December of 2003, a few months before photographs revealing torture at Abu Ghraib detention center shocked the world, American soldiers were fired upon in a rural farming community in Iraq. Unable to apprehend the attackers, the Americans went door-to-door, arresting men in neighboring houses. One of these men was Abu Hassan, and the arrest led to nineteen months of imprisonment and torture at US detention camps in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib. 

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