Iraqis Using Fake IDs To Avoid Being Killed

[Robbien]

(AP) BAGHDAD A bookstore in eastern Baghdad is getting more customers these days, but they aren't looking for something to read. The owner sells fake IDs, a booming business as Iraqis try to hide their identities in hopes of staying alive.

Although it's nearly impossible to distinguish between a Sunni and a Shiite by sight, names can be telling. Surnames refer to tribe and clan, while first names are often chosen to honor historical figures revered by one sect but sometimes despised by the other.

For about $35, someone with a common Sunni name like Omar could become Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite name that might provide safe passage through dangerous areas.

"I got a fake ID card to protect myself from the Shiite militias who are deploying in Baghdad and hunt Sunnis at fake checkpoints," said Omar Abdul Rahman, a 22-year-old university student. He refused to give the name on his fake ID.

. . .

Some Iraqis recall having false identification papers to avoid persecution during Saddam's rule, but the practice was rare until recently because the former regime kept tight control over its subjects. "Under Saddam it used to be shameful, but now everybody's doing it," the bookseller said.

http://wfrv.com/topstories/topstories_story_191184614.html

[Kutjara]

1. Now they'll be shot by police and soldiers instead...

...since their fake IDs obviously mean they're terrorists.

[LisaM]

2. And they won't be able to vote, either, with fake IDs

Sigh.

[expatriot]

3. Soon there'll be Shia militia masquerading as Sunnis & vice versa

to get people to show their fake i.d. to the wrong executioners. I was just thinking about this today, about how I'd have two i.d.'s one saying I am Shia and the other Sunni. Just have to remember... left coat pocket is my Shia I.D... back right pocket my Sunni i.d. And in my back left pocket my Kurdish i.d. and in my right coat pocket my Turkmen id. oh is it the other way around? Think, stupid. It's an AK-47 pointed at my head. Can't pull out the wrong one. Only get one shot. Remember.