Happy New Year...

Good bye 2003, good bye my most beautiful year. I'll grieve your end and sing your legend as long as I live.
You made my greatest dream come true.
I know that the coming years will bring all the good to my country, simply because we have put our feet on the right path.
The will of the good have achieved victory, and that is enough for me to be optimistic, but those will not be as special as you were
2003; the year of freedom.
Before you I was mute, and here goes my tongue praying for the best,
Before you I was hand-cuffed, and here are my hands free to write,
Before you my mind was tied to one thought and here I find wide horizons and greater thoughts,
Before you I was isolated, and here I join the wide universe.
I will never forget you; you broke the chains for my people, and rid us from the big jail.
Many of my people never realized that we were in a prison, as we were born inside its walls and we knew no other world than our jail. But, we were looking through the tiny windows that were hard for the jailor to close, and we saw that our jail was not the best-as our jailor claimed- and we saw that our jailor was not the gift of god-as he tried to convince us-, but we were afraid of his prowess , and owe to the one who says
the opposite.
Before you 2003, I never learnt to love. It was forbidden for me, and I used to repeat a few words that I learnt in secret to my girl:

"What is man without freedom, Mariana?
Tell me, how am I supposed to love you if I was not free?
How do I give you my heart if it doesn't belong to me? "*

Good bye 2003, you made me feel safe, you who cast away my worst nightmare.

"In our village, we used to be scared of day just as night
The light no longer promises safety
Fear to us is a five time a day prayer"
Now it's hope that has become our five times a day prayer.

Good bye 2003, my eyes saw the greatest scene through you, and I lived my happiest moment in you (the tyrant falls)
Is there anything greater than that?
Good bye 2003, in you I listened to the most beautiful words "ladies and gentle men, we got him"
Good bye 2003, the legend of my people was written through out your days with blood and tears.
Good bye 2003, you were the best.
My friends, celebrate the New Year, but don't forget to add a new name to your invitation list,
We would love to join, and we will have the honor and pride to do so.
We came holding our slogan "it won't be our duty to anticipate the coming disaster, but to struggle for a better world"**
Give us a little space on your ship, we still stumble, but we shall never fall again. We have our star that will guide us.
Believe me my friends. We want to be on your side.
Our hearts are bigger now; they will not only carry our sorrow, but those of the entire world as well.
Your help have taught us a valuable lesson :( we're all sinners, I'm in jail as long as there's a man in jail, and I'm hungry as long as there's a hungry man on earth)***
We've got to create another world, a new land; where there's less pain and sorrow, and that will not be hard to do if the brave gathered for it.
I wish that my people as well as the oppressed people every where come to appreciate the gift of freedom, as when they do so they will be ready to fight for it and then, they will have it and no one could take it away from them.
As for the free people who helped us and are ready to help the others; I wish you peace and all the best as you certainly deserve it.

"I want to run out and link hands with others in the struggle,
clench my fists and strike Fate in the face.
I want to drown deep in my blood
that I may share with the human race its burden
and carry it onward, giving birth to life
My death
shall be a victory.
My death
shall be a victory."****

* Lorca
**Karl Popper
*** Nagogi Wa Thiongo
**** Al-Saayab
-By Mohammed.

Some news:

- over 500 Iraqi officers departed to Jordan yesterday to get a training course there to get certificates to be the commanders of the units of the new Iraqi army, this course is supposed to last for 11 weeks, most of those officers were junior officers in the former Iraqi army, others were from the Kurdish militia.
Some of those men showed their disagreement with their training plan as the Jordanian army (and most of the other Arab armies) is considered to be inferior to the Iraqi one and its officers are not qualified to be teachers for Iraqi officers.

- the minister of foreign affairs stated that SH confessed during the on going investigations that he used to offer large sums of money to some Arabic media officials and political personalities in the past years to encourage them to assist him on his propaganda program and to give a good impression to the Arab world about his regime.
The Iraqi minister said that these names will be declared later in the Iraqi journals with the amounts of money paid by SH to those people. (I think that Al-Jazeera should be waiting for the good news now!!).

- There has been a considerable decrease in the length of the lines near the gas stations in Baghdad, even the black market price for gasoline has declined from 500 ID/liter last week to 200 ID/liter today.

- The UAE offered to the GC to take the responsibility of preparing the (new civil identity card system) that will assist in the completion of the new constitution construction procedure and the coming elections.

- By the way, this is a photo we took in Basra. It shows a copy statue for the famous (lion of Babylon) in one of the main squares of Basra, near Al-Kornish. The words written on the base of the statue say:
"SATAN IS BETTER THAN SADDAM"
"DOWN WITH (ABU AL-THALIJ) EZZAT THE MONKEY"
"MAY GOD NEVER SHOW MERCY TO THE BA'ATHISTS"

A foggy road.

I had to go to Al-Kut governerate to get my salary. I live and work in Baghdad but I have to get my salary from Al-Kut because I'm registered as one of the staff there before being assigned to work and finish my higher study in Baghdad! one of the beauties we inherited from Saddam times, and still our ministries lack the initiative to change without instructions from higher authorities! no one dares to make a change until they get a documented order, even if the decisions were made at Saddams time and are obviously stupid and against the simple citizens rights.
I took a cap with 3 other passengers, 2 old men(hajjies) and an old woman(hijjieah) . The cost was 2500 Iraqi dinars, approximately 1.5 $ a person. Al-Kut is about 170 km to the south of Baghdad. we took the highway at dawn and there was a very heavy fog limiting the visual field to something between20-50m sometimes which made the driver disturbed and started cursing his luck and the bad situations; the electricity, the gasoline, the kerosene...etc. the other passengers joined. I told him that we have to be a little bit patient as I see things improving slowly. the driver a middle age man remarked" ok it's only 2 days and everything will improve"
"2 days? why?" I inquired. I wanted to stay neutral to know as many as possible average Iraqis think.
"al-saied(referring to the secretary of the SCIRI)period as head of the GC would come to an end then"
"so? what has that got to do with the current events?" I asked
"listen uncle( a word the common Iraqis use when they address a stranger); I'm a Muslim sheiat and a religious man but I don't want those clergy to rule"
"why? I think said Abdul Aziz is a good man" I didn't want to agree as I wanted to know his thoughts.
"good or bad they proved to be useless in politics and managing the country, I would prefer Al-Chalabi to them" he continued "do you believe Al- saied is saying that we should pay Iran compensations to the war? Is this the time for such hierocracy? when the US and the other members of the GC try to convince the world to lower Iraqi debts and contribute to rebuilding Iraq? Does he think that it's his money or did he inherit it from his father?"
I couldn't but agree but added "not all Islamic parties are this bad. Look at Ibrahim Al-Jaafari(the head of al-daaoa party), he is a very moderate and honorable man" he agreed.
"I would rather prefer we get Saddam back!" the old woman said. "NO HIJJIEA!!" all cried at the same time. the driver added" I would rather have Sharoon than Sadaam"
Then he said" you know who I would really like to be the next president? This man" and handed me a newspaper with Paul Bremer picture on the front page.
I laughed and said" but he's American, he can only be a temporary civil administrator, not an elected president"
The driver said " so what! We could ask the Americans to lend us his services and give him the Iraqi nationality. He sure deserves it"
I laughed again and told him" even men like Bremer could be affected by unlimited power especially in a community like ours were we always give leaders 100 times the credit they deserve"
The driver took a side look at me and said" you seem well informed uncle, tell me what are your perspectives for Iraq in the future? Do you really think that we might have a bright future ahead of us?"
I started to tell him what I think about Iraq's future and what we should do and answered the questions he started to ask. The conversation went long with the others participating every now and then. at the end as we approached the city the fog as well as the frown upon the drivers face gradually started to fade away and his face started to glow with hope and said" uncle? How often do you come to Kut?" "every month I suppose" I answered. The man said " uncle; each time you want to come to Al-Kut ask for me in the garage I'll be happy to give you a free ride . You brought hope back to me" I thanked him for his generous offer and said "remember though, such a bright full future depends mainly on us; you and me, not Bremer not Bush not the USA or any other country" the man gave a sigh of worry and nodded with approval.
- By Ali.

Just for the change, I chose today to post this romantic poem of(Assayab), who is a famous iraqi poet (1926-1964). He's one of my favorites, and I chose this particular poem to post as I love it so much.
I tried to translate it by myself, but found it difficult, so I used the GOOGLE translation. However, if you like to see the Arabic version, just ask for it and I'll provide it soon. It goes like this:

In the hour before the dawn
Your eyes are two groves of palm-trees
Or two balconies
Passed over by the moon.
When your eyes smile, vines flower
And lights dance. . . like the reflection of the moon in the river
Disturbed gently by the movement of oars
In the hour before dawn,
As if stars throbbed in their depths.
The stars drown in a mist of sorrow,
The sea opens its arms
In the warmth of winter, the chill of autumn,
Embracing death and birth and darkness and light,
The shiver of a sob wakens in my soul
And a wild ecstasy courses through me, reaching the sky -
The ecstasy of a child who fears the moon.

Smaller clouds are lost in the heavy dark clouds
Which, drop by drop, disperse in rain;
The children's giggling in the grape arbours
Tickles the silence of the sparrows in the trees.
Then comes the song of the rain.
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Rain . . .



The evening yawns and the clouds continue to gush
And pour, pour their heavy tears down
Like a child weeping in his sleep
For his mother whom, when he awoke a year ago,
He did not see.
And when he persisted in asking,
They told him,
´She'll be back the day after tomorrow.`
She must come,
Though friends whisper that she's there
At the side of the hill, sleeping the sleep of the dead,
Down in her own earth, drinking the rain
Like a disappointed fisherman gathering his nets,
And cursing the fates and the waters,
Singing his mournful songs when the moon wanes.
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Do you know what grief the rain brings?
When gutters resound with the sad music of the falling rain,
And how the lonely feel a sense of loss when it rains,
Endlessly . . . like bleeding, like hunger,
Like love, like childern, like death
Is the rain.

I see your eyes
Which seem to float with the rain,
And across the waves of the Gulf lightning
Sweeps the shores of Iraq with flashes of stars and coral,
As though the shores themselves would rise up
Before the night draws over them a cover of blood.
I cry aloud to the Gulf:
´O Gulf,
Giver of pearls and coral and death!`
I can hear Iraq storing thunder,
Storing lightning on mountains and in valleys,





And when she has finished
She will stamp them as her own.
(The great storm left no trace in the valley
Of the village Thamud.)
I can hear the palm-trees drinjing rain.
I can hear the villages moaning, and emigrants
Battling, with oars and rough axes,
The storms of the Gulf and the thunder, singing:
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
How many tears we shed the night we departed,
Excusing our sorrow by saying, ´It's only the rain.`
Rain . . .
Rain . . .

Since the days of our childhood, the sky
Was always cloudy and dark in winter,
And the rain beat down.
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Each drop glows
Red or yellow, from the petals of flowers,
Each tear of the naked and hungry,
Each drop of blood shed by slaves
Becomes a smile awaiting a new mouth,
Or a nipple pink from the sucking
Of the newborn child
In the worlds of a new tomorrow, the world that will offer life.
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Iraq's fields grow green in the rain . . .


I cry aloud to the Gulf:
´O Gulf,
Giver of coral and death.`
My words return
In the echo of a sob:
´O Gulf,
Giver of coral and death.`
THe Gulf spreads its gifts on the sands,
A foam of flaming coral
And the bones of the drowned,
One of the emigrants who drank death
In the fathomless depths of the Gulf.
Countless serpents in Iraq drink the nectar
Of the flowers watered by the Euphrates, the innocent dew.
I hear the echo
Ringing across the Gulf.
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Rain . . .
Each drop glows
Red or yellow, from the petals of flowers,
And each tear of the naked and hungry,
Each drop of blood shed by slaves
Becomes a smile awaiting a new mouth,
or a nipple pink from the sucking
Of the newborn child . . .
In the world of a new tomorrow, the world that will offer life.
And the rain pours down.
-By Ali.

Some news, answers and clarifications:

1-about the women role:
-We have 3 women out of 25 members in the GC, one was assassinated by the Ba'athists and I've heard that another woman will fill the resulting vacancy (a senior dentist).
-We have one female minister (Kurdish)-a Ph.D. holder for the 1st time in the history of Iraq.
- The percentage of female in college ranges from about 30% in some colleges to about 70% in certain ones, such as those of pharmacy, dentistry, biology, teaching colleges, fine arts.
- We have many female members in the FPS and there were always female officer doctors in the army.
- More than 90% of the primary schools teachers are women.
- All the high schools in Iraq with the exception of one (the BIS) are separated (a school is either for girls or for boys), so most of the teachers of the girls schools are women.
- The banks, the offices of the ministries have a majority of women employees.
- in general, the percentage of women in our society was always higher than that of men, and wars and executions have even made this more prominent.

2- about the elections and the Sistani's fatwa, we have somewhat different opinions and each of us will post his own.

3- most of the shops are holding signs saying "the old currency will not be accepted after January the 1st." although it will be officially accepted till the 15th. of the same month.

4- the overlap process went so smoothly even easier than what Paul Bremer anticipated as he made many interviews to explain this procedure which he described as complex and will make many difficulties.

5- This maybe late, but 3 days ago another (iron coffin) was recovered from the of the Olympic association where it was buried.
Uday used to use this coffin to punish athletes who failed to make satisfactory achievements.
They would open the door of the coffin, which is supplied with long nails all around the interior, with their tips pointed to the inside. The unfortunate man would be kept inside in an upright position, the door closed and he would have to remain motionless in a standing position as every move would cause the sharp nails to prick his body. The poor athlete would remain so until Uday remember him and decide that he had enough.

6- The Iraqi TV channel is performing the special broadcasting on the Eutel W3 satellite, but Iraqis rarely watch this one as most of them watch the Nilesat, Arabsat 2/3 and the Hot bird. However I've seen many advertisements lately about this channel even on Al-Jazeera, I hope they'll soon start broadcasting through one of the popular satellite. There are also news about an American channel in Arabic with a main office in Baghdad (to counter-act the poisonous effect of Al-Jazeera and Al- Arabiya, etc.) anyway, there is a lot of debate about the credibility of such a channel and about how the Arabs will respond to it.

7- There has been a considerable improvement in the power supply in the last 2 days from about 2-4 hours of electrical supply per day to about 10-12 hours per day now. Reports from Iraqi newspapers say that this improvement will continue but in a slow rhythm and will probably take along time due to the miserable shape of power supply stations, generators and high voltage towers as a result of years of neglect, recent terrorist attacks and looting.

8-None of the parties in the GC has demanded the establishing of a theocratic government. The same applies for most of the major parties and political groups with very few exceptions. Even though some of these parties are somewhat radical Islamic parties, but as they realize that it's almost impossible to apply an Islamic Share'a law in Iraq, they seem to accept and respect democracy and continue their peaceful political campaign to achieve a majority in the future. A very remote possibility I'd like to say.

In response to our great readers we've decide to sign our posts from now on although we don't see that it's important. As for the previous posts here is the list of who wrote them:
Omar-encouraged by Zeyad and AYS- was the one who started the blog. He manages most of the publishing and Internet work, and he was the one who wrote the introduction.
1-this is not a dream/Mohammed
2-you owe us an apology/Mohammed.
3-let me be your eyes1/Omar.
4-we are responsible too/Ali.
5-just a bad case of de ja vu/Mohammed.
6-do we really these armies/Mohammed.
7-facing the demons/Ali.
8-Eid/Mohammed.
9-I was there/Mohammed.
10-let me be your eyes2/Ali.
11-untitled post about Spaniards/Omar.
12-the blood was never for oil/Omar.
13-the second element/Ali.
14-central issue 1/Ali
15-the Iraqi people spoke today/Ali.
15-let me be your eyes 3/Omar.
16-central issue 2/Ali.
17-war and peace/Mohammed.
18-bon voyage/Mohammed.
19-just a concerned man 1/Ali.
20-big brother in a small hole/Mohammed.
21-a word of consolation/Ali.
22-they’re breathing their last/Ali.
23-concerned man 2/Ali.
24-our correspondent in Basra says/Omar.
25-just a concerned man 3/Ali.
26-let’s turn the page/Omar.
27-a definition/Ali.
28-we don’t need another hero/Ali.
29-merry Christmas/Mohammed.
30-our correspondent in Samoa/Mohammed.
31-where’s the hajjy?/Omar.
The rest of the posts, including news, snap shots, etc. are written by Omar.

We don't need another hero

I hate to respond to some hateful e-mails and comments and I usually just delete or ignore them. However when I find a comment that has some truth or represent a wide proportion of opinions I find myself compelled to answer it no matter how harsh it was. I still believe, however that the man who wrote that comment should apologize, not for me but to the Iraqi people for his condescending manner.
This is about saddam's trial, I agree with the post my brother wrote, but he thought that we have made ourselves clear in the past posts, forgetting that our readers are not all regular who know our thoughts in advance. I don't want to repeat myself but I see some points worth mentioning.
I agree with my brother generally but I have to disagree with him in some points:
I do think that this trial is an important event, not taking its importance from the accused but rather from the principles and convictions that will be judged too.
This trial should be held in Iraq and should be public, and I hope he will be sentenced to death.
The more important is that it should be a trial not just for Saddam, his followers or other dictators, but also for some of the Arab and Muslim convictions and stale ideologies and to the public opinion of the world who watched silently and the governments that helped him.
My concern is of course with judging some of the stale convictions Arab and Muslim still believe strongly, and which in my opinion gave the chance to people like Saddam, Gaddafi, Assad and others to rule such great nations for such a long period.
One of these is of particular importance here;
Through my life I had came to the conclusion that most Arabs and Muslims think that their salvation and progress will only happen through the birth of a legendary leader or someone who speaks for the prophet or God. This probably came through reading a distorted version of history that shows that historical heroes such as Mohammed the prophet and Saladin are theier only hope to make the rising of Arab and Muslims possible.
Strange as it may seem, Mohammed the prophet declared in the Koran that God would send no more prophets. A message that clearly meant that the human race has reached the stage of adulthood, and it no longer requires prophets and miracles. Human beings can make their own destiny and miracles just following the wide lines and principles presented by all the wholly books of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindu...Etc, which I think no man whether a believer or not disagree with.
Killing, stealing, lying and all other atrocities are condemned by all good men and women, believers or not.
Somehow this important message has been forgotten or overlooked on purpose and most Arab and Muslims still wait idly for their savior who will never come, mean while clinging to any apparently strong character that defies the west (which was showed to them as their eternal enemy).
Before burying Saddam I hope we'll be able to get him out of our soles and minds, to wash our soles from the dirt that must had smeared it through those years.
With judging Saddam I hope that we will be able to judge our convictions, not get rid of them just look at some of them from a different angle maybe we will be able to sentence them to death with one of their innumerable evil byproducts.
Yes, we don't need another (hero).

Our correspondent in Samoa sent us this report.

They call their city the city of peace and it sure deserves this name. Samoa hasn't seen a single terrorist attack since the 9th of April. Its people have secured their institutions from looting, they protected the hospitals and important government buildings. The only exception was the military camps, some government buildings and the regional ba'ath headquarters, which were, stripped even of their bricks to remain as ruins reminding them of the miserable past.
Samoa is about 300 km to the south west of Baghdad; it's a large governerate that shares wide borders with Saudi Arabia. Its people mainly are farmers, it's well known by it's palm dates which an Iraqi poet wrote a beautiful poem about it that became a popular song, very simple people in general and very optimistic.
I've been working there for more than a month, which was enough to make some conclusions about the city in particular, and the south of Iraq in general.
Samoa as many other cities in the south of Iraq had it's deal of sufferings, pain and intended neglect, hence its people were very happy with the change I felt that through my daily contact and conversations with the people of the city. Till now I haven't found a single person who is against the change, something very different from Baghdad were you still find some people rise their voices in complain, and missing the (good old days).
One of the locals told me that he can't believe till now that Saddam is gone and that he is living a beautiful dream that he fears he would be awaken from.
Samoa right now is under the control of the Dutch soldiers whom people like and dealing with very gently. You can see the signs of good will and gratitude in the streets of the city as people still wave to these troops as they pass through the streets of the city, and they tell me about the generosity and kindness of these soldiers and the necessity of their staying.
When I asked the director of the health center where I work " what did these people offer to earn the love of the locals? " his answer was" in fact nothing significant in re-building the city, but they were an essential element in keeping the peace and order and they gave the people the most important thing; the hope for a better future"
I asked "how is that?" and he said "they didn't leave a corner without taking pictures and estimating the needs to make it better, even the place were you are sitting right now was photographed and had its share of evaluation. People here see that this evaluation must certainly be followed by action in the near future and that's what everyone hopes" then I asked "then who was in charge of re-building some of the buildings that I have seen?" He answered "it's the GOAL organization, but we are expecting more from the Dutch".
The city has now its own local TV channel, something the people of the city never dreamed about in the past. It shows you the situation in the city and the cooperation between the locals and the coalition forces to maintain the regular daily life. I was watching this channel once and I saw something worth mentioning here:
The TV was covering the city council elections with the supervision of the Dutch soldiers and officers, the procedure went smoothly and successfully, then one of the newly elected members stood and made a simple speech in a southern slang accent about how much they were grateful for the contribution of the Dutch forces to make this new process of practicing democracy a real success and he added, in an apparently touched tone, how one of officers in the Dutch forces (Mr. Michelle) was caring the chairs by himself and how it made every body feel that this man was like one of the citizens of their city.
One of the locals told me that the Dutch patrols distributed candies in the city on the occasion of the (ID) and on capturing Saddam he said "they are sharing our joy with us, how could we not love them? While you-Baghdadies-do not welcome your guests and you through bombs and rockets on them. If you really miss Saddam's days you can have him, but please don't count us in" I answered him laughing "you are affected by the media too, not all the people of Baghdad want Saddam back only an insignificant minority, but the media shows couple of hundreds of former ba'athists as representing 5 million people".
There is no obvious shortage of fuel here, gasoline is available so is kerosene which is sold by the price of 500 Iraqi Dinars for each 30 liters in comparison with 5000 Iraqi Dinars for the same amount in Baghdad, but the power supply is still not regular, and all the major institutions have huge generators to continue their work without being affected by this irregularity.
People here are looking forward to meet the Japanese forces that chose Samoa of all Iraqi governerates to make their headquarter in. one of the citizens told me so simply "it's JAPAN! We will be like Japan; the most developed country in the world, they say they will donate a lot of money to rebuild Iraq and our city, is it possible, our small city which no one probably heard about! Yes, we must be dreaming" I didn't know how to answer him, I didn't want to spoil his joy as I know that catching with Japan within a small period is really a dream. Still I share with him the hope of continuous progress with no turning back.
The only fear among the people here, as I heard it from a lot of people, is that some outsiders might sneak into the town and try to attack the coalition forces. One of them said to me "I'm afraid if that happens and some terrorist attack them, they might run away and leave us alone" I reassured him that no one will abandon them from now on as they have really proved that their city is the city of peace.

Where's the Hajjy?!

Hi everybody, we're in Basra again. This time we decided to go by bus, as it's safer and cheaper(2 $ each).
However this time the journey took longer time.
Something happened as soon as we started moving, and I found it kinda funny so I'm gonna tell
you this short story; when we reached the bridge at Diyala's river, there was a traffic jam,
so one of tha passengers who's an old man(a HAJJY in Iraqi slang) stepped from the bus to
check the situation of traffic near the bridge, he disappeared for about an hour, the driver
decided to take another road to get over the jam, but we told him to stop and wait for the old man,
then two young men decided to go look for the old man, and those disappeared too, then the driver took action himself and stepped down to go look for the three missing guys, the (hajjy)showed at last, then the 2 young men
also returned, but the driver was now missing!!
Another man took the responsibility to go look for the driver.
Here I started to look around searching for a hidden camera or something!
Finally, the driver was back and we started to move taking another road(after over 2 hours of this mess) and
we forgot the man who went looking for the driver, but we were surprized to see him again
300 kilometers south of Baghdad, he was yawning and shouting as he had to take a taxi to
catch-up with us as his luggage was in the bus. the man was really pissed off.
any way, the whole matter looked funny to everyone even the forgotten guy,
and all the passengers made a joke out of this for the rest of the road.

This time(and I still didn't figure out the reason), the driver chose a weird path to get to Basra,
the road was exactly a (zig-zag), and the last section of the road was really depressing, as the whole distance from Nasiriya to Basra was a true desert with all its characteristics(even camels and BADOW tents!)
We reached Basra at last after a 10 hour drive, and we were so tired, however our addiction
to the internet made us go for a walk and search for a cafe' and we soon found one, but the connection was really poor that I couldn't do my regular work, but today the situation is somewhat better.
I saw that Ali has already sent you his greetings for the Christmas, but this one is from
me to all our readers; MERRY CHRISTMAS and enjoy your holiday.
Bye for now.

Merry Christmas

Your birth -Jesus our master- was a declaration of peace. Your sacrifice for the sake of mankind will remain a sign for love, forgiving and facing the injustice with words stronger than all arms.
All the glory to you, we hope that your anniversary remains a light that enables all to see the truth and try to reach it.
It's an (id) for all mankind; Christians, Muslims, Jews, believers or not.
This time Iraqis celebration is special; the local TV broadcast the ceremonies and representatives of all religions were there, some politicians were there also to show the world the unity of Iraqis. Iraqi Christians like others suffered a lot at the hands of that tyrant to the degree that pushed many of them to leave Iraq searching for safety and freedom.
My prayers to God all mighty to bless us all with his mercy and kindness and make Iraq a peaceful and a beautiful country so that all the refugees could come back to were they were born and help rebuilding their country.
Greetings and warm wishes from the hearts of the people of Iraq with all its religions and ethnicity to all the good loving people on the earth.
Let us feel in these glorious days that we human being are one spirit.
Let us get rid of all fanaticism and look at the future with eyes of love.
Let us pray to the lord that peace will prevail all over the world and that victory be ours in our just war against the enemies of humanity everywhere.
God bless all the good people on earth.
God bless the Iraqi people who are trying to re-build their country.
God bless all those who sacrificed and helped us be free.
Let us not forget other people suffering all over the world.
Stay strong my brothers.
I feel freedom and justice on the way.
Amen

We don't need another hero

I hate to respond to some hateful e-mails and comments and I usually just delete or ignore them. However when I find a comment that has some truth or represent a wide proportion of opinions I find myself compelled to answer it no matter how harsh it was. I still believe, however that the man who wrote that comment should apologize, not for me but to the Iraqi people for his condescending manner.
This is a bout saddam's trial, I agree with the post my brother wrote thought that we have made ourselves clear in the past posts, forgetting that our readers are not all regular who know our thoughts in advance. I don't want to repeat myself but I see some points worth mentioning.
I agree with my brother generally but I have to disagree with him in some points:
I do think that this trial is an important event, not taking its importance from the accused but rather from the principles and convictions that will be judged too.
This trial should be held in Iraq and should be public, and I hope he will be sentenced to death.
The more important is that it should be a trial not just for Saddam, his followers or other dictators, but also for some of the Arab and Muslim convictions and stale ideologies and to the public opinion of the world who watched silently and the governments that helped him.
My concern is of course with judging some of the stale convictions Arab and Muslim still believe strongly and which in my opinion gave the chance to people like Saddam, Gaddafi, Assad and others to rule such great nations for such a long period.
One of these is of particular importance here;
Through my life I had came to the conclusion that most Arabs and Muslims think that their salvation and progress will only happen through the birth of a legendary leader or someone who speaks for the prophet or God. This probably came through reading a distorted version of history that shows that historical heroes such as the prophet and Saladin are the only way to make the rising of Arab and Muslims possible.
Strange as it may seem, Mohammed the prophet declared in the Koran that God would send no more prophets. A message that clearly meant that the human race has reached the stage of adulthood, and it no longer requires prophets and miracles. Human beings can make their own destiny and miracles just following the wide lines and principles presented by all the wholly books of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindu...Etc, which I think no man whether a believer or not disagree with.
Killing, stealing, lying and all other atrocities are condemned by all good men and women, believers or not.
Somehow this important message has been forgotten or overlooked on purpose and most Arab and Muslims still wait idly for their savior that will never come, mean while clinging to any apparently strong character that defies the west (which was showed to them as their eternal enemy).
Before burying Saddam I hope we'll be able to get him out of our soles and minds, to wash our soles from the dirt that must had smeared it through those years.
With judging Saddam I hope that we will be able to judge our convictions, not get rid of them just look at some of them from a different angle maybe we will be able to sentence them to death with one of their innumerable evil byproducts.
Yes, we don't need another (hero).

A definition

War (as I believe) is a conflict between 2 wills in which each part uses every possible mean to force his will on the other. This includes military, economic and political means. And until the will of one part is forced or an agreeable peace is reached, the war can never be considered as ended.
One can conclude from the above that war in Iraq, for instance, has not ended yet, and the only thing that is ended is the battle to control Iraq. Winning the war will take more efforts in rebuilding Iraq and helping the Iraqi people as they try to establish a strong, peaceful, democratic and a prosperous state.
Wars are generally bad cases, but of course not all wars. Every rule has its own exceptions.
Some people just shrink back when the word (war) is mentioned. This is a normal response, as the word immediately reflected in our minds as; bombs, corpses, destroyed building, fires and great suffering for all parts, even those whom are not evolved.
Yet, one has to look at each war in a rational -detached but not indifferent- manner, beseeching the causes, justifications, allegation of each part and the possible outcome to finally set his mind of whether it's a good or a bad cause.
One time I was chatting with a friend from Spain and as I mentioned the words "Saddam's stupid wars", my friend instantaneously replied "all wars are stupid".
This is understandable and natural, but (there is always a but) what if there was no wars? Meaning what if all good men and women discarded war as an option for answering the endless threats presented by the evil? Who could stop people like Hitler and Mussolini?
It's a great thing that a human being cherishes peace so much, but there has to be exceptions, as peace and war are relative concepts rather than absolutely representing good and bad respectively.
As I understand it, a humanist should care for all human sufferings and endure whatever possible difficulties to help them including, money, fight and risking lives and should not be stopped by absolute terms such as sovereignty, peace and order in the world.
I have to be honest here; some people calling themselves anti-war and humanist, where in fact, they are only against the war because it evolved risking their peoples life and loosing some of their tax money, as it is obvious from the alternatives they give to war such as " let the Iraqis deal with it and revolution will happen even if after decades". Or "send Iraqi rebels and support them with money and arms".
Answering the 2nd statement; doesn't that interfere with other nations' sovereignty? This makes you wonder if their real objection was to risking lives or risking their people's lives. The 1st part says that let that tragedy continue it will sure come to an end one day at the hands of the native people. I have 4 objections to this;
- This means continuous loss of others lives and more torture and sufferings, as god only knows when it will come to an end.
- There is absolutely no guarantee that such a revolution will happen. Tell me please how many real revolutions that you know had happen in the modern history? In my opinion and you probably will not like it; only 4; The French, the American, the Iranian, and the Russian revolution. I don't support the ideology behind all but they still are revolutions.
-Even if such revolution happens in case of Iraq the most qualified parties to achieve such revolution are radical groups which will result in a similar, if not worse, oppressing regime as happened in some revolutions mentioned above and usually hostile to other nations.
- Such revolution would probably cost, at least, ten times of lives and economic disasters than a war from outside.
Another point worth mentioning here is that sometimes war is the only way to guarantee peace for a long time as it acts as a warning to other radical regimes to make reforms and stop defying the international community.
I would like to say that the only humanists and peace activists that I know are those who honored humanity with their sacrifices for the sake of others and those who helped them even if by words or feelings.
I'm probably not the 1st one to say this, and if anyone still think that it is an internal matter, all I can answer is some verses from a modern Arab poetry (I hope the translation works):

When we replied to the drowning cries with laughter
When we danced with clamor..
In our mad parties.
When each one of us said..
As long as I'm fine..
Let the word be drowned by flood.
Just when that happened….
We became the invaders of our city.
We became the enemy.

My friend Sarmad, who's an architectural engineer has just started his own blog.
as he told me, hell be posting his ideas and articles once a week. so pay him a visit and encourage him.

Let's turn the page..

I don't know what's this clamor about, the Arab media just after the capture of Saddam started lots of discussions, polls and interviews about what's going to happen to him, should he be sued in Iraq, America or an international court?
Will it be a public trial or not, who's going to defend him? Can an Iraqi court show justice towards him? Will he be executed?
To me this means nothing and I don't care much about all these details, as no court of law (of any kind) can bring back what we have lost and no matter what the outcome of the trial, it will not be an enough punishment to that criminal.
I don't believe in death penalty and I’ve been always against this idea, as it can solve nothing, but this time, I demand his execution for these reasons:
- As long as Saddam is in jail his followers will continue to believe and hope that someday their idol will break the chains and they will take the lead again. So his execution will put an end to their silly dreams.
- To put an end to the conspiracy theory about the alliance between SH and the US.
- To give a lesson to the remaining Arab tyrants, that this will be their end if they continue with their policies.
There’re two questions I want to ask, and these are directed to those who show concern about Saddam's destiny:
-Where were you when that criminal was an opponent, a judge and an execution brigade for the Iraqis?
- Why do you care more for one criminal than you did for millions of innocents?
Well, I do not care about the answers.
As much as what happened was painful, as much as it is history to us and we want to forget all about it.
Let’s just turn the page and start a new Iraq.

Just a concerned man... Part 3.

Having received nothing significant enough, to discuss as a real cause for opposing the war with exception of one remark that I’ll get to in the end, I’ll start from were we stopped last time.
To start with the Zionist-republican conspiracy really makes me sick, but I guess I have to do it since a lot of people out there keep mentioning it.
I mean, were did you get that theory from? And I always though that it was (our thinkers) who invented it.
Now I believe you have to give us the credit here. You went to the moon without telling us, you claim that it was your scientists who discovered the systemic circulation,…..etc. but one thing you can’t deny us; WE invented the conspiracy theory.
I mean, really, what do you know about it? Probably heard about it in college, or High school? Give me a break; we give conspiracy theory-fortified milk to our babies once they pass the age of 6 months!
This fact really made me suspect that the Arab media is even stronger than the CNN, BBC and all the media empire. I know it sounds silly but look at it this way; your political propaganda machine manage their own finance, they follow the taste of the crowds, with possible links to some political-economic groups (Arab tyrants included). While our propaganda-with almost unlimited resources provided by our dictators- is almost entirely dedicated to the polishing of dictators' faces, spreading hate and justifying their masters' unexplainable existence, with tools such as conspiracy theory. In this field the Arab media had proved more effective than we all expected.
I think, maybe after decades of lies associated with bribing your propaganda, one can feel the effect of the - made in Arabia- slogans on the public opinion in Europe and USA.
We still have people (I mean PEOPLE) who actually think that
The man who was dragged out of that whole is not the (real Saddam) and that Uday and Qusay are still alive, and it's all part of a secret deal with the USA (sounds familiar?)

But enough with this none sense. It will probably take volumes of psychoanalysis to explain the kind of mentality that buys such lies.
Let's talk about the more serious fear that the USA is going to seal the fate of this endless struggle to rule the world, and make it absolutely impossible to catch up with.
I think that, this is what is really going to happen, though it's not the real reason for the American administration to go to war, nor was freeing Iraq the real reason. The real reason (as I think) was stopping a real threat to the USA; the potentially and pretty much expectable alliance between dictators (with the WMD’s that most of them are pursuing) and the mad terrorists (whom those tyrants are bringing to the world by their oppression). Remember that the US never came to our world until (the mujahideen) went there.
Ok, suppose we agree; the USA is trying to dominate the world for good, if she can, through eliminating this threat and as a natural outcome to this war.
So? What are you going to do about it? And why is that bad?
One might say “but it's certainly bad to have only one power controlling the whole world, I mean what if things were out of control there? Who would stop them? No. We need a balance. Other powers that restrain and balance each other."
First of all let me say that most nations had their share in leading the world and contributing in building the human civilization. Arabs and Muslims controlled most of the world for centuries and we consider it was good for all human beings. The same thing applies to England, France, Russia….etc. now it seems that it is the USA who is going to take the lead. Why should that be so bad. You can't prevent what is natural.
Other more solid reasons?
-The USA already dominates the world and you can't stop her even if you acted together. Besides she has strong allies; UK, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan and Israel.
-We had this multi polarity during the cold war. What good it did to most of the world (the third world)? Wars every were, as the 2 giants wrestled trying to gain some foot against each other sweeping all that comes in their way; Korea, Vietnam Indian-Pakistan, Arab-Israeli...dozens of wars in 4 decades. No, thanks I’d rather have one rational power that keeps order in this crazy word. Any suggestions?
UN? China? European Union?
-Speaking of the best on this list; we all saw how the European union dealt with Yugoslavia, and if it wasn't for the same USA , blood would have probably been covering the Adriatic sea by now.
Let me say that this isn't exactly my wish. My wish was that the other great nations would join the USA in her war against OUR enemies, and spare the world this meaningless struggle.
So it's not a human cause it's just a selfish cause. You don't want the USA to win this war, not caring for our life or the global peace; it’s your own position and interests in this world. A legitimate cause for you, but certainly not for the rest of the world. But you couldn't look farther than your noses.
Admit that you speak on behalf of your countries only, and not the whole world.
I’m not preaching to follow the USA, the republicans or G.W.B. I’m calling all of you to support the just struggle between civilization on one side and terrorism and dictatorship on the other. I will support the war, not the warrior. And once I see that the warrior has turned to his benefits, jeopardizing the outcome of this just war, or when it appears to me that he is following just his dreams and not OUR salvation, I’ll not just stop supporting him, I’ll be the 1st one to draw his arm against him no matter what the result. Keep questioning, keep asking, and keep demanding proofs, but don't hinder who, in few weeks, did what all of you couldn't do, or shall I say didn't want to.
I hate to say it but it seems…. to be continued.

Some news and clarifications:

:: A secularism-defending organization has started it's activities in Baghdad(this is the first one ever)!

:: The exchange price of ID has further raised to : 1600 ID for each $.

:: Some people asked me about the situation of Christians in Iraq, and whether they were represented in the GC or not.
Answer: we have one Christian member in the GC (out of 25), his name is (Yonadim Kanna), and one Christian minister.

:: Some people asked me about the INC, and its popularity;
The truth is, that every one thinks that Al-Chalabi is the USA man, yet it didn't stop many Iraqis from joining the INC. Reasons? I suppose;
-It's the only strong party that declared support to secularism and democracy.
-Some people are just looking for economic and political opportunities by joining what they think is the wining horse.
-Some people just don't mind cooperating with the USA and thinks it's the best path for Iraq.

:: A good thing about some of the GC parties is that the Kurdish parties accept Arabs and Turkomen and Assyrians and al-da'awa party accepts and encourages Arab Sunni and Kurds and Turkomen to join their party.
:: Some people asked me why a lot of Iraqi people like Paul Bremer, I think it's his modesty, honesty and respect he is showing to the Iraqi people, and with such a sudden change from that ugly face of SH to the nice and gentle look of Paul Bremer, you cannot but love the man.

A friend sent me this photo of the (new Iraqi currency)!!!

Our correspondent in Basra says...

Hi again, but this time from Baghdad, we returned home ending our short visit to Basra after we failed to achieve the objective of the visit due to the traditional Iraqi bureaucracy, however, I don't think you're interested about that.
Let me tell you a few things about the way to Basra, it's about (600 km) south to Baghdad,we were 4,,me,zeyad, AYS and another friend,we hired a cab, the driver charged 15,000 ID (8$)from each of us. The eastern road to Basra passes through 2 governorates (Kut and Amarah) with about 200 km between one and another, the road passes through some empty areas with no sign of life, but there are also many villages on the road, some of which are really beautiful with their numerous magnificent palm trees.
The total number of checkpoints on the road was about 10, coalition forces were found in only 1 of these, we were stopped for inspection twice by IP and each time took less than 5 minutes, the IP men were very polite and apologized many times for the disturbance, we told them that we understand that and we're happy to see them do their job.
Every 40 - 50 km you can find a gas station, garages, shops or a restaurant were people can get some rest to in their long journey.
There was a painful scene that was repeated all over the road, a lot of high-voltage towers were damaged, with their cables stolen, but the heart lifting thing was watching engineering teams working to construct new towers to replace the damaged ones.
We stopped somewhere between KUT and Amarah for about 30 minutes to have lunch then we were back to the road.
After a 6.5 hour drive we reached the city (I heard much about it from Ali who lived there for 6 years in the 90's and worked for 2 months in a hospital exactly after the war) and as we passed the streets, the city looked much better than the picture I had in mind.
Basra was probably the most city that took damage and was subjected to oppression year after year in the last 3 decades.
Although there were some very poor districts, but some parts were as good as some fancy neighborhoods in Baghdad.
Basra is the only port in Iraq, and the trade activity seems to be increasing, the city looked very busy, private business seemed promising, I even counted about 5 internet cafe's in the center of the city
The streets were less crowded (if compared with Baghdad), there were many IP checkpoints inside the city, but these were just watching the roads rather than blocking them.
The British military patrol the streets all the time, but I didn't hear any body complaining about that, the people were more cooperative and peaceful and I didn't hear any one condemning the "occupation".
It's been a very long time since any aggression was committed against the coalition in Basra, at the same time the British soldiers were very gentle with the people, always showing respect to their traditions, one of the folks there told us that the British soldiers distributed gifts(t-shirts, candies, radios..etc)to the poor families in Basra on the occasion of the last ID.

The people there are almost 100 % anti Saddam and anti Ba'athists, they're so sick of violence and do not have the least interest in (resisting the occupation)
Electric power supply is pretty good in Basra with almost no outages, as one of the citizens said (we have about 2 hours of shut down in a week) and the gasoline and kerosene are much more available than in Baghdad.
I’ll be back to Basra next week, and probably stay longer this time.
By the way, Zeyad has some pictures and maybe he'll post them.

“People can never be corrupted, yet they can often be fooled, then it would appear as if they wanted what is evil"
J. J. Rousseau


Who are those who resist and to what extent do they
represent the Iraqis? And why did some people protested against Saddam’s arrest? Are they the same who resist or they are others who support them? And if Iraqi people are really not resisting then why don't they turn those criminals to the authorities?
Lots of hard questions -but too important to be ignored- were raised by the latest events. I’ll try to answer them using facts and reasoning, avoiding as much as possible the effects of my feelings towards certain ethnic or religious groups.
1st of all let us agree on some facts:
- In the northern of Iraq namely in Kurdistan in which about 19% of Iraqi people live (mostly Kurdish but also Assyrian, Turkomen and Arabs) there is no resistance at all to the Americans or the local authorities.
-the same thing applies to many Iraqi governorates such as Kut, Amara, Babylon, Nassiriya, Samawa, Kerbela, Najaf and Diwania with negligible exceptions. -This leaves us with Basra, Baghdad, Mousil, Kirkuk, Anbar, Diala and Saladdin.
As for Basra almost all of the opposition was just protesting against some local policies and decisions and it never amounted to the degree of military resistance.
In Kirkuk the people are quite in peace with the coalition and one bomb each month would rather refer to other who sneaked into the city from neighboring area.
Now lets pause a little to give you some evidence of my information before going further.
-Although I live and work in Baghdad but I also worked in Basra for about 2 months, and now Omar and Ays and Zyad will probably give you a more clear picture as they all moved to Basra to finish their training as resident dentists. Also Mohammed works in Samawa and my brother in law is from Diwania and I have visited Kirkuk and Kurdistan twice after the war, every one saw a lot of people celebrating the capture of Saddam in all these governerates with no one protesting or cheering for him.
-Also without seeing or hearing any of the latest reactions one cannot possibly expect the Kurds, after Halabcha, and the she’at, after1991, to support Saddam or protest against (humiliating) him.
And they both know that with the American protection, they can ensure a just representation and a federal state.
Let’s deal with some harder talks; Diala, witnessed some assaults against US soldiers but its been a while since we heard anything bad reported from there. This supports my former belief, that the attacks in the past were planned and carried out by some of the former senior Ba’athists and their mercenary who ran away from Baghdad or other (hostile environments) and seeing the considerable decline in the attacks after the arrests made by the coalition, seems to justify my theory.
Now I’ll start with the most complicated; Baghdad.
As every one saw the number of Baghdadies celebrating the capture and demonstrating against terrorism and Ba’athists were much more than those protesting against the coalition, and the only areas were people made a violent demonstration against Saddam’s capture was Al-A’miriyah and A’adamia (the only stronghold remaining fore Baptists in Baghdad and the one were Saddam was seen for the last time before being captured). Here comes 2 questions: are you saying that the IP and the USA army don not control all Baghdad ?and why the good people in this district don’t report the Ba’athists?
The answer will come with trying to solve the puzzle of the most resistant governorates Saladdin, Anbar and Mousil.
It appears that these areas support Saddam or at least they are against USA and one might jump hastily to the conclusion that since all these areas share one common factor (the vast majority there areArab sunni) then the Arab sunni are either very evil like Saddam or, they want their (privileges) back.
But both assumptions are far from being true.
I (and I think most of you agree with me) have always believe in that a whole ethnic or religious group can not be all bad. On the contrary the majority of these people are good people and hate Saddam and will not resist the Americans (though not necessary like them) except maybe Al-Uja the small village who really enjoyed privileges and yet lot of them don’t like saddam.
Yes the majority of resistance is Arab sunni, but not the majority of Arab sunni resist. How could those minority control or at least silence the majority and with the presence of 100 thousand Iraqi IP and the strongest army on earth in the same area!!?
It seems very difficult to answer this question, but try to imagine a neighborhood inhabited by several thousands people, that are related to each other by religion, marriages, and familial bonds and there is a small gang (intermingled with these people) of not more than, say 20 professional criminals, each of whom could kill a child without feeling the slightest remorse. And there are a government, a police and army forces that are stronger than this gang beyond comparison. Yet this gang terrorizes the people, blackmails them, bribes the cops and threat any one who dare to report or testify against them with nothing less than death to his whole family.
Another factor that is not present in other communities is the local traditions of Arab tribes which consider turning any man no matter what he did to the authorities as an act that brings dishonor to the one ho does it, especially if that man seeks refugee from the (sheik) and especially if he was a member of that tribe. In such conditions they would probably host him for 3 days and then ask him to leave the area, at best.
But I’m sure you have heard that there were a lot of arrests made with the supports of the local people who took that real risk and this fact was stated by the coalition authorities. And put in mind that sometimes the coalition doesn’t mention the support from the locals to protect their lives.
I hop I was able to provide you with some information that may help you make a correct judgment about the so called resistance and to understand the difficulties and the risks Iraqis are putting themselves through, when helping the coalition.

Just a concerned man (part 2)

I was cut wide by the latest event, so for newcomers; I suggest that you read the 1st part.
This time it's (me) who is going to talk.
Remember this is not about the past. Yes, the war happened, but we have to have a solid opinion about it, as this is not the end and I think we will face similar situations sooner or later.
One of the main objections towards the war is that it will further increase the USA control of the world, and the claims that it was a war fought for some narrow economic gains (oil firms, contracts...etc). While inside USA it seems that some people fear that the success in Iraq will greatly increase the chance of bush being reelected.
Now let's deal with each presumption one by one.
First off all spare me the nonsense of (occupation) and (resistance) and the (chaos) that the USA had thrown the world into, only for some individual economic and political gains. As for saying that bush and Blair went to the war to increase their popularity, I must say that it's the most absurd assumption.
In fact these great and brave men actually risked not only their chance of being
re-elected, but also their entire political career [especially in the case of Mr. Blair (one of the most brilliant and brave politicians the UK have ever had)] what if the war didn't go as was planned? The exact course of War is always hard to predict. What if there were huge casualties among the armies as happened in Vietnam? No one had ever seek popularity by committing such an unpopular and hard risk against the will of most of his people (as in the UK) and against the will of most of the world. And we can see now what great popularity both men achieved, with all this unjust war on the media. No these 2 leaders together with the other coalition governments, didn't go to war for popularity, not for the (Iraqi fortune), as I stated in a previous post. And I'll discard the opinion that those governments went to war just to free the Iraqi people.
This leaves us with 2 possible and logical reason; control of the Middle East and eventually the world (anti war camps' claims), and fighting terrorism and eliminating the danger of wmds through establishing prosperous democracies in the region (the coalition claims) and the far less reasonable belief of a Zionist or republican conspiracy to control USA and eventually the world.
But today I'll discuss your reasons for opposing the war. Apparently you didn't believe that Saddam was not a mad dictator and a brutal tyrant that should be toppled. You had already admitted this fact. And certainly not to spare the poor Iraqi people the miseries of the war. As, such emotions play a very minor role -if any - in the political decision of any governments. And you know, as I and every sane man knows, that the only possible way to relieve the suffering of Iraqis was to get rid of S.H. and after 12 years of sanctions it was obvious that this man couldn't have been removed by any other mean than extreme force. I wonder what your real reason was. Allow me to present some of my presumptions:
The German councilor, for instance, had made a pre-election promise that he will not support any aggression against Iraq, and breaking this promise-although it saves the souls of a 25 million human being-it will seriously affect his creditability. Putting it in a more vulgar way, it means kiss the presidency good bye. But let us not be too hard on the man. His government, as well as others on the peace camp, had made huge investments in (Saddam's Iraq) and bet a lot of money on that horse. So in the noblest reasonable causes, these governments were thinking of their own people interests, which are sadly-despite the resulting sufferings of other nations-quite acceptable in the world of politics. But by eliminating the moral factor from both sides of the equation, it seems strange why it isn't acceptable for the US and the UK governments to do so as well.
But that's not what it's all about. These powerful nations can't bear it to see what were once theirs, or at least a (gray zone), being taken by the US piece by piece and stand by and watch.
No one can deny them that right, but please at least be honest and don't hide behind our suffering of Iraqis under occupation, and stop encouraging the terrorists that are causing damages to us that are much more than what they are ding to the US army. Oh sorry but you can't do that you would loose your only wild card.
But above all that I do think that here you have been a little bit short sighted. "What!??" one on the other camp may say "what a great politician you think you are, to judge the intelligence of such brilliant politicians? Who gave you that right?" my answer will be; yes I don't know much about politics and these people are sure much more smart and sophisticated than me when it comes to politics. But doesn't the same thing apply to you, judging the wisdom of action of men like; Blair, bush and Powel using more impolite descriptions than I had used? One may respond" I'm not saying that they are stupid, but I'm saying that they are mean". well..it seems that you have the right to do that and by doing so you give me the same right to say the same thing about the men on the other side. Shall we call it even, then, as you and I are only debating how concerned these men about their countries interests and their creditability (some thing that only history may reveal beyond reasonable doubts) and not their intelligence or depth of analysis. That seems to make us even, yet it doesn't satisfy me. Why? Here is my answer:
Casting away the moralities (that is responsibility towards their countries and the whole world) it leaves us with the political judgment and depth of analysis on both sides. And as we presumably, admitted that we are no match to those people when it comes to politics, allow me to say that I understand their fears and agree with most of their presumptions with only two insignificant details that I don't agree with;

1st of all I have lived my whole life in a remarkable example of tyranny and what effect can it lay on the minds and souls of men. I have watched it mutilate peaceful simple ignorant men into criminals and mad terrorists, changing teenagers into cruel monsters, through its cruelty, injustice impoverishing, and poisonous propaganda. This fact makes me- as humble minded as I'm- more aware of the dangers of such regimes on the stability of the region and the entire world in the long terms. If you think that Iraqis and other Arab countries exports mainly oil, then you should go back and check the passports of most of the terrorists and there secret bank account, and please do me a favor and show me the list, as I have actually haven't seen it yet but I'm only guessing. And they don't have to live in Iraq, to be affected by her propaganda or sponsored by her former government.
Another point were I think I'm more aware about than your brilliant politician (there is absolutely no sarcasm here as anywhere else in this post, as I don't deny their great qualifications) is that they seem to think that the vast majority of the destructive wave of terrorism is directed towards Israel and USA (the great Satan), and that this priority will never change at least not until those 2 countries are destroyed. And as this possibility is nearly impossible, they thought that they are some what safe and could enjoy watching the terrorists being defeated with the sacrifices of others, while they can continue to lead a peaceful productive and prosperous life. And after 20 years from now, there would be no terrorism and the economically and militarily exhausted USA would no longer be (no. 1 ) in the world and their chance (the other camp) of re-dominating the world would be much greater. It seems that this dream was so attractive to the degree that made them actually support the terrorism behind the curtain.
I must admit that this is only a theory and that there maybe some other causes that I'll probably talk about in the future. But let me concentrate on this seemingly reasonable attractive, yet illusionary vision.
From the ethical point of view this dream seems meaner to me than any accusation they are putting on the USA. And Yes, here again the humble mind of mine can see better than them (in case this was their theory) and not only me, but any Muslim and some non-Muslim, know that these fundamentalists have declared war on the whole infidel world (people like me included). Bin-laden and his likes may make some kind of deals with (infidel governments) to help them in attacking their greatest enemies; Israel and USA. But their convictions had, and will never change. Their ultimate dream is to conquer the whole world, and in case that proves to be impossible then at least destroy their enemies, meaning destroying the whole-civilized world. They believe; that their obligation to Allah/God is to fight and kill any non-Muslim who lays a foot in Muslim land (that extends in their beliefs from china to Spain). And the only way that could save those non Muslims, is to change their religion into Muslims or pay a certain tax (jizea) and if (theoretically) their dream comes true, then its not the end as their ultimate goal is to spread Islam through the whole world, even (or maybe favorably) if by force, or at least make the rest of the world pay the jizea. You can see that these peoples' hero or idol is not Mohammed it's more close to Haroon Al- Rashid.
Now their domination of the world seems to be a very ridiculous idea and doesn't have the slightest chance, but destroying the world seems not as impossible as we all hope it is. After all it takes a few hundred (martyrs) and a mad dictator- armed with a few tiny nuclear bombs or a single virus to- unite. Such unity seems to be very possible if not now then in the future and that hard technology is getting cheaper and easier every day.
Please just tell me what kind of a barrier those (peaceful ) governments are working on, and then the whole strategy of the peaceful governments that I was hallucinating about would prove more solid than I think it is.
I think this should be enough to state that war on terrorism, eliminating the danger of WMDs and establishing democracies in the M.E. were important reasons for the war.
That leaves us with 2 additional possible and unacceptable reasons for the current USA policy; the battle for more control and the republican or Zionist-American conspiracy. If you have any other reasons (morality not included) please do not hesitate to through it in my face.
To be continued….

A big hi from Basrah..

Hi every body, i'm in Basrah today. the road was long and boring as it took over(7) hours to reach to Basrah(about 600 kilometers south of Baghdad).
The city is rather more quiet than Baghdad(and appearently safer) as i concluded from the attitude and behaviour of the IP and the british military.
one interesting thing i found in Basrah was that the cell phones are already active and selling well while people in Baghdad are still waiting to book for their phone lines.
another thing i noticed, is the (fuel lines);they're really much shorter than they're in Baghdad.
That's it for today, i'm really tired, and i want to return to the hotel to get some rest,
maybe tomorrow i'll get you some more details about the situation here.
BTW: Internet service is well available in Basrah(and even less expensive!).
see ya later..

Some news from Baghdad..

-The majority of Iraqis continues with their celebrations in Baghdad and the rest of the governorates (except Saladin and Rumadi governorates). Cars carrying flags and roses and some people distributing candies.
-Civil libraries distributing the picture of Saddam (with his hairy face holding his ugly bear) for free to the Iraqi citizens; it seems to be the most popular picture now.
-Saddam loyalists spread the rumor that he was, somehow, anaesthetized before being captured and that this is the reason why he didn't fight.
-Iraqis say the (resistance) leader doesn't know how to resist!
-A member of the GC states that Saddam used nasty words when he was shown to some of the members of the GC and that he only spared, Andadnan Al-Pachachi.
-A very strange seen: some of Baghdad citizens fire bullets in the air expressing their joy in front of the eyes of American soldiers, who were waving the victory sign, with no one feeling afraid or worried, despite that the law forbids such action, but it seems that the joy that overwhelmed every body made them overlook such consideration. (However I totally disagree with such way of expressing happiness).
-Lots of Iraqis consider that Paul Bremer as one of the loyal people to this country, and that he is a real Iraqi! There is a great appreciation for the man's sincere efforts, even among some anti Americans.
-Few hundreds of Saddam fanatics and loyalists decide to face the IP and the American army in an open fight in Adamiah (the major stronghold of the Ba'athists in Baghdad) samara, Fallojah, results were killing and injuring most of the attackers, and some injuries among the IP. It is better for the IP and the US army, that those criminals are this desperate. Much better than trying to dig them out as before, when they used the hit and run tactics.
-The GC proposes to announce the 14th of December a national anniversary and an official holiday. The idea is much welcomed by the majority of Iraqi people.
-The exchange price of the Iraqi Dinar improves a little more from (1750 dinar for each us $) to (1700 Iraqi Dinar for each us $).

A Word Of Consolation

In the midst of our celebrations and joy, we forgot our brothers on the other side of the front.
Dear Arab and Muslim tyrants.
Dear Bin Laden and Al-Quaeda.
Dear Ba'athists and fascists.
Dear terrorists of the world.
Dear al-Jazeera and al-Arabia and all independent Arab media.
All the truly evil people in the world.
All those who loved Saddam.
All freedom haters.
Please accept my sincere and deepest contempt to you and your hero.
May God blind your eyes more and more.
May you follow your Godfather through his glorious path to hell.
May you live long enough to face the same destiny.
Take heart, the moment of joining your hero is near.
Have no despair, as in the truly and honestly evil soul of each one of you; I can see another saddam waiting for the right time to be crowned as the next king of demons.
May your idol rest in hell.
God curse you all.

And just one advise, dig a deeper hole. Or make that: holes.

breathing their last

The past 24 hours were full of joy and happiness beyond description.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis all over Iraq demonstrating and celebrating the capture of the tyrant. For as long as that monster was free, a lot of Iraqis were afraid of the tiny chance that he my make a comeback. It seems silly and very coward to think like that. For me and you, maybe it's, but for millions of Iraqis that wasn't so hard to believe. One had to live those horrible 35 years to understand that. Now this illusionary danger is gone forever and justice is on the way.
This was so hard for the power of evil to tolerate. In
the last 24 hours they have carried on some attacks that resulted in killing 10 innocent Iraqis and injured several others.
They hate us that much and they hate seeing us free.
Still, no matter what they do, they can't keep us prisoners in our houses, through their barbarity and savageness, especially now that their bogus hero Is in chains waiting for the judgment of the Iraqi people and eternal judgment of God.
Now that we are free from fear of his horrible shadow, they can never take our freedom and pride.
Even if they kill us all, we will die free, and satisfied
seeing justice being served.

The big brother in a small hole

Horrraaaaa
It's the justice day.
I'm speechless.
I'm crying.
The tyrants' hour has finally came. I went down to the streets to share the joy with my brothers. This is our day, the day of all the oppressed and good people on earth.
Tears of joy filled the eyes of all the people.
Saddam, the coward, hides in a hole, shaking in fear from being captured.
Not a single bullet was fired, without any resistance, God, he was even cooperative! The mighty tyrant, who exploited all our country's fortune for his personal protection, surrenders like the cowered I expected him to be.
Yes, he should be prosecuted in Iraq. We will not allow anything else.
We want to see him in a cage bending more and more, humiliated more and more, just as he forced all the Iraqis to bend to him, like they were his slaves. But we will not be like him, we will give him a fair trail, and he will get just what he deserves, although I have no idea what does he really deserve.
It's indeed an inauspicious day for all the tyrants. Let them know that their days are near too.
This is the day of all Iraqi martyrs who were slaughtered just to please his sick lust for blood.
Rest in peace my brothers. The paradise is yours and the disgrace and hell is for all the tyrants on earth.
Thank you American, British, Spanish, Italian, Australian, Ukrainian, Japanese and all the coalition people and all the good people on earth.
God bless the 1st brigade.
God bless the 4th infantry division.
God bless Iraq.
God bless America.
God bless the coalition people and soldiers.
God bless all the freedom loving people on earth.
I wish I could hug you all.

Just a concerned man.

Being an Iraqi, I have a million reasons for supporting the USA and the coalition, especially when it comes to Iraq.
I’ll try to forget that I’m an Iraqi for a while, and pretend to be someone else living far away in a country that has no direct or indirect relation to USA’s new strategy and her policy in Iraq and the middle east.
Hard as that maybe I’ll do my best to cast away my feelings, interests, and my country’s interests. From now on it's not me who's talking.
I see obvious dangers in the world; terrorism, WMD's, and that US and the Republicans dominating the world
(Remember it's not me talking, I’m putting myself in the other camp, or in a neutral stand).
And I can hear two loud voices, the voice representing Islam using the conspiracy theory, Nationalism and Arab nationalism, and another one, claiming a Republican-Zionists conspiracy to hi-jack the USA and swallow the whole world, to steal all the fortune and enslave humankind.
And there're the considerably lower voices that say that all what the American administration is doing; is to serve its country, defend it, improve life conditions of their citizens and secure the whole world.
Now whom am I supposed to believe? As for the first group, well..There’s nothing new in your claims, you have been telling the same old story for centuries. And seeing your representatives: Saddam, Arafat, Bin-Ladin and other Arab and Muslim leaders and the clergy that support them. I can not but question your credibility and the validity of your perspectives. Besides, stating that you are the only people on the right track and that the whole world are either infidels or traitors, make you look more racist and fanatic than all of your enemies.
You still live in the past, and your dreams are not the least imperialistic than what you claim about those of your enemies and I doubt that I’ll vote for you not until you come up with something new and more legitimate.
As for the second group; I want to say: your perspectives are armed with a similar conspiracy theory that the American and British administrations had (somehow) managed to hypnotize the world and seize the power and that they use illusionary threats to justify their clinging to power, or at least that the USA and UK want to become the first and only super power on earth and kill any possible opportunity for their rivals to catch up with them.
Answering these questions is a little bit more difficult but I’ll try to do it in brief by stating some facts:
:: 9 / 11 is not an illusion, bombing the UN, Red Cross and the British embassy is not an illusion. And I don’t think it was caused by American policy, as the general policy haven’t change much, but the new generation of (resistance) had changed its means and ideology and widened its circle of enemies which caused the US to modify her policy(the new policy was a response rather than a long planned strategy).
:: the USA and UK already dominate the world, so why would they go to a risky war without a reasonable cause. They could have what they want without a war. USA is not only the strongest military power but also have the strongest economy and cultural effect, so why destabilize an already favorable situation.
:: does president Bush or Mr. Blair want to govern for life? I know that this is impossible looking to the constitutions of both countries and I find it hard to believe that in the sake of another 4 years in charge the American administration endanger their whole nation. Give me a better reason, and don’t say that the republicans want to dominate I can see that the media favors the democrats, besides your country is a free one and you don’t have to give them your voice, and use publicity. But rising of such a crucial issue as war on terrorism and concentrating on the bad stuff and spreading lies for the sake of local elections? I wouldn’t call that wise.
So keep your struggle but try your best to keep away from the war on terrorism and democracy in Iraq.
The third voice: some people go as far as saying that the USA goal is to free all the world and bring democracy, others more moderate, say that we seek our countries benefit and if it gives others freedom and democracy then we should be happy as this maybe a rare occasion where our interests lie in parallel with the most oppressed and unfortunate people. And no matter what sacrifices, we have to go on this war and building democracy to secure the peace and prosperity of our country and we should do it with a clear conscious.
As an outsider, after 5 seconds of meditating as the case is crucial and needs a fast decision. I think I’ll support the third voice but I’m still waiting for the other voices to work on their proofs, maybe I’ll change my mind.
Use your ammunition wisely. There is a second part.
To be continued…

Apology: about the last article. All my words were directed to the governments who opposed the war, as for the peace activists; I don’t doubt the good intentions of most of them, but I think that they’re being misled.

You may have noticed that the ad's were ommitted from the top of the page.
Thanks to (BLOGGER) and to (Mr.James H. Clark) for their support.

Bon Voyage..!

We didn't know what peace and order look like for a long time. It seems that it's our destiny that the whole world use our small country as a battlefield for long successive wars in which no one cared to ask about our opinion.
The Ba'ath party seizes the power at the beginning of the sixties of the last century in a way that took the Iraqis by surprise, but many countries in the world seemed to know about it long before it happened.
The mission was clear. The communist trend was overwhelming at these times in Iraq as in many countries in the world. Revolution was imminent, so there had to be an opposing revolution that claims to have come to solve the problems and there is no need for another one.
The world seemed to have forgot that tyrants do not differentiate between and opposing party and others. The prosecution did not affect only the communists, but all the other parties as well as independent people. Mission successful. At a rate that only dictators can achieve, and the Iraqi citizens paid the price as their opinion was also arrested. After the communist danger had been eliminated, the tyrant demands his fees; to be kept on power, regardless what the people suffered. He had what he wanted.
The world is alarmed once again by the danger of the Iranian revolution. The Islamic wave might sweep the region. Iraqi people: get prepared for another mission. Fight again on behalf of the others. It doesn't matter what the Iraqis want, the mission was a just cause and suited the tyrant's greed and ambition. We had to live between two hells; the one in the front and the oppression on the inside. The tyrant used the war to justify strangling the peoples freedom and tie their tongs to strengthen his control, killing any hope for a peaceful prosperous life, as the war exhausted the Iraqi economy by the enormous amounts of weapons to which the tyrant had a sick lust and to which the world responded so generously.

Why didn't any one even think of another way to stop those dangers? I personally believe that establishing a democratic state was quiet enough to stop the Iranians' march. The Iraqi people at that time would never had accepted a theocracy and most of the polls regarding this matter found that no more than 10% of Iraqis would accept such a regime, even at the days of that primitive democracy we had before 1958, the clergy never managed to achieve anything worth mentioning. We could have been (armed by democracy) a cultural barrier that stops the export of the Iranian revolution but no one cared to ask us, for who needs to ask 12 million people while you have one man who can speak for them. Just tell him what you want, grant him his simple prize (control of Iraq) and he will force these insignificant 12 million to follow him like sheep.
The world had what it demands. Iran has been exhausted; again the price demanded by the tyrant is the blessing of the world on his leadership. Demands granted.
Another war against our will, the world decides that this bird had left the flock, and his (teeth and claws) should be extracted, the dangerous weapons they gave him for his mission are no longer his, and should be returned. The mission was disarming the crazy tyrant who was no longer under control, and again we paid high price for something we never wanted in the first place. However, this time we had a hope, that along with this disarming process there might be also a process to get rid of the mad dictator who had obviously lost balance and became a threat to the region, and probably the world, if left alone. But the world had another opinion that led to another war of a different pattern.
As the world saw no reliable substitute for the tyrant, the decision was to contain him resulting in another suffering.
Saddam uses the ignorance of the world about the nature of his regime to impose a very hard blockage using the UN sanctions as a justification for our day by day deterioration in every scale.
Here again we paid the price without even being asked about our opinion.
Oh.. Pardon me, but you did ask, and we answered, we voted for him, not all of us, but 99.96 % and four years after that, seeing the glorious achievements of (our savior) even those blind 0.04% saw the (truth). So why bother to ask with such hard evidence.
The danger of the WMD's gets greater and so does the danger of terrorism, the decision was that the whole world should watch and learn. I was wondering at that time wasn't it better to focus on the danger of dictatorships as the major source of all these problems. The US and the UK would have had more legitimacy at least among the oppressed nations.
Yes, they did mention it and I was very glad to hear Mr. Blair state that it is the main reason for his choice and the US also named the operation (Iraqi freedom), but both didn't have the courage to name it as the official cause for war. Surely the other powers would never allow it and would consider it as n interference with the internal affairs of a sovereign country.
But after all, they didn't approve of the official reason also and now we can see the result as most of the world starts to object that the war was illegal, since the claimed reasons seem to be faulty until now.
I think that stating that the real danger was the evil intentions of the mad dictators in possessing as lethal weapons as possible and their readiness to actually use these weapons.
Here are the simple facts that we have: a mad man who controls the resources of an entire country- not a wealthy one, yes- but surely enough to buy the technology for WMD's from the numerous greedy governments and companies, and this man never stopped trying even after destroying his projects several times. Besides he remains as the only man who actually used these weapons (after WW2) against the Iranians and his own people.
With all these facts, and the fact that he was surrounded by enemies (he made) from the outside and the inside, one can understand his feverish lust for these technologies.
Given all these facts, the only reasonable conclusion would be not getting rid of all WMD's (quiet difficult at this time) but get rid of the mad dictator and his like anywhere.
Anyway, this time I had a stand with this war in which I saw my, and my people's benefit, on the long term, no matter what losses and sacrifices.
Yet, this time this was not the only difference, as the whole world stands against the US and her allies in this war, and even after their battle was lost they continue to have the same stand. Why this time you're in such a peaceful mood? You who made us go through all these miseries cheering your mad hero as he slaughters us and send us to the flame in thousands.
Your masks can no longer cover your ugly faces. Just now you remembered that wars are evil and bring only disasters! What about those endless wars you dragged us into? What has suddenly turned you from cold-blooded murderers (at least in the second degree) into peaceful pigeons?
The UN evacuate their officials after a terrorists attack, the media declare war on us, showing the terrorists as resistance, the companies refrain from sending their officials to Iraq in fear from terrorist attacks, the peaceful world supports the (resistance).
Yet, you still have the insolence to demand a share of the contracts of Iraq’s reconstruction process. I was glad to hear what the US had decided about this matter.
Yes there're dangers in Iraq, but what about us? Whom terrorism lives next door or block. Yes you can't afford the loss of your men and your money, but Iraqis? Well... they're used to it, death is a daily routine to them. They don't appreciate life as you do. Let me tell you something, you coward hypocrites, this may surprise you, but I love life, and love my family and friends. I can't bare it if something bad happens to them. Yet I don't intend to run away. I and a lot of my friends could get a job any where, with much better income, but I’m not leaving, not because I’m a patriot, as I don't believe in your classification of human beings; Iraqi, Indian, German, black, white, Jewish, Muslim…etc.
I’m a human being, and I feel responsible towards all mankind, and I will fight this battle with all the good men and women on earth. And you keep watching from a distance, and don't even think of coming near, and carrying the risk of smearing your fancy clothes with (our cheap blood). I don't need you, and even if I did, I won't ask your help, we've had enough of it. Go somewhere else, go to Africa, and relieve your conscience by donating some pennies to the poor, starving people there, and don't bother how their dictators will use the money, and don't even bother asking why they are so poor. I will stay here and fight for freedom and democracy with the good and brave Americans (yes..the good and brave.. Eat your hearts), and with all the honest soldiers and people of the coalition.
Bon voyage to Africa...have some conscience.

Snapshots from Baghdad with some answers

I’m not surprised anymore with the way most of the western media covered the demo. That took place yesterday, as when was reading one of the most popular Iraqi newspapers, I was surprised to see that they mentioned it only in the third page. I was more surprised and angry to see, when further reading the post, that it was only an Arabic translation of what the news site at yahoo had said about the demo. Yesterday, with only one difference, the thousands mentioned in the original post somehow changed into 200 members of the communist party. It seems that our enemies are stronger than we thought.

-I was delighted today to hear that the USA army-with aid from the local folks-made a successful raid that resulted in the arrest of the criminals who killed the Spaniard officers. It appeared that they were about 41 men, all members of the former Iraqi intelligence.

-The IP managed to disarm 4 rockets that were found in the
high way near our district. The IP officials said that the rockets were ready to fire, but the supposed target remains unknown.
Another rocket was found and was disarmed in the public park just in front of al-yarmook hospital in the western part of Baghdad.

-The anti-terrorism Iraqi committee is preparing for an anti-terrorism demo. in London next Saturday.

Some sports news; the Iraqi national soccer team jumped to the 44th rank according to the FIFA (82 before the war), and was awarded as the best Asian team in the last month. The Iraqi team also received the FIFA fair play award for its performance in the last month. Taking in consideration the difficulties the Iraqi sport is facing these days; the bad shape of most of the stadiums, the lack of resources and the general instability which forced the Iraqi football federation to suspend the local league, one can see the effect of freedom on the spirit of the human beings.


Some people might say that I’m only showing the progress that has been made and never say anything about the bad news. My answer is yes and I do it deliberately, for if you want to hear about the bad stuff you can see it in every TV channel and millions of web sites. And since trying to state the exaggeration of most of these sources takes thousands of pages, so I’ll continue to focus on the tiny positive stuff that is not mentioned in the media.

Here are some answers to questions posted by some of the readers:
-The salaries as I mentioned before had risen about 8 to 10 times compared to those before the war. Of course this doesn't apply to all the jobs, but to the majority that is about 90% of people working.

-I don't have an accurate survey, but it seems that the jobs are mostly provided by the state, as although a high percentage off Iraqis work in private business, still many of these businesses are provided by the government that is to say in reconstruction contracts and subcontracts given to private companies. However, the private, jobs especially with foreign companies, pay a much higher salaries. For example one of my friends is working now with ORASCOM (which have started its project to link Iraq to the main cellular phone world net which is supposed to be finished next January) and he's getting a salary of about 750$ that is more than 6 times what I get paid.
-About the immigration: as you know before the war there was a continuous flow of Iraqis to other countries looking for better wages or running from oppression (out of about 20000 Iraqi doctors nearly 10000 work abroad). Today the flow has nearly stopped or decreased significantly, and despite the risks, a lot of my friends have returned to Iraq, others are considering it and still waiting for the security to improve. The only people who are leaving Iraq these days are those who had some privileges before the war or those who fear the revenge of the people such as senior Ba’ath party members.
-everybody today can have an official travel document (not a passport), but no country gives a visa to an Iraqi even if he had a passport (including USA). Only Syria and Jordan allow Iraqis to cross their borders but with very sever limitations and conditions.


I hope I could say more, and I have another post but I haven't translated it yet (I write in Arabic 1st) as I have a lot of work these days and we are suffering these days from a major power failure due to what is thought to be a terrorist attack on the main power station in Al-Nassyrea governorate in the south that affected a large area in Iraq. Hope to do more as conditions improve.

The Iraqi people spoke today.

Today's demo. was organized by anti terrorism popular committee(an independent organization).
Here are some snap shots from today's rallies:
:: This time we were(according to the most pessimistic al-Jazeera)more than ten thousands.
:: All Iraqi ethnic and religious groups were there, Arab, Kurd, Sunni, shia, Turkomen, Assyrians. The demo. was well protected by IP and US army helicopters.
::each party had its own slogans, but every one agreed on condemning Saddam, terrorists, Ba'athists, the Arab media and the interference of Iraq neighbors in Iraq.
:: There were about 150 people (most of them were teenagers) condemning the American occupation, and considered Americans as the real terrorists.
:: People were carrying signs saying:
-No to terrorism, no to Saddam, yes to peace.
-No to the Ba'athists, no to the terrorists, yes to democracy.
-dictatorship will never return.
-Bribee Arab channels; shame on you to show terrorism as resistance.
-Sunni and shia are united to build Iraq.
-Stop using religion and nationalism to justify terrorism.
-Islam is against violence and terrorism.
-Al-Jazeera+al-Arabiya = terrorism.
-Thank you IP.
:: Parties that marched on the demo.:
-Iraqi communist party.
-INC.
-SCIRI.
-KDP.
-PUK.
-INA.
-Al-Da'wa party.
-Iraqi Islamic party.
-Independent democrats' congregation.
-Iraqi democratic trend.
-The Iraqi Turkomen front.
-Iraqi Assyrian democratic movement.
-Iraqi medical association.
-Iraqi dental association.
-Iraqi workers union.
-Iraqi women association.
-Iraqi human rights organization.
-Iraqi farmers union.
-Iraqi independence party.
And many independent individuals like us.
I woke up early this morning, Zeyad came by, and the four of us( Ali, Mohammed, Zeyad and I) went to al-Tahrir sq., we found nothing there(the location from which the demo. was supposed to start was not announced)so we had to ask the police man in the street about it.
he told us to head towards al-Fatih sq.(infront of the Iraqi national theater), we went there, and we found a couple of hundreds there, all of them representing the Iraqi communist party, we were very disappointed in the beginning, but as time passed, the crowd grew bigger and other parties joined.
after 2 hours, the crowd was so big, I couldn't guess the number, but it seemed like the whole Iraq was there, men, women, children, young and elderly of different socio-economic levels, cheering the same slogans in different languages(Arabic, Kurdish, Turkomen, Assyrian). They looked very happy and free, despite the risks of being targeted.
No body seemed to be afraid, in fact today I felt safer than ever.
I didn't expect such a response from the Iraqi people after all the terror they have suffered-and still suffering- from. To me it was a total success. I hope more brave steps will follow.