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.

Days I do not want to forget.

Day 1. The 20th. of March 2003.

The sound was characteristic because we in Iraq became familiar with it. I was half a sleep when I heard the alarm siren; I jumped from my bed and went to the living room to see that everyone was awake already. Omar faced me with a smile and said " see I told you today is the day" and I said, “YEAH, F*** SADDAM!!”.

It’s the beginning then! I looked at the clock to see it pointing to 5:35 a.m. I had only few minutes of restless sleep. We tried to search the TV channels hoping we could find something to tell us about what’s happening, was it for real or just a false alarm, however after only few seconds we got our reassurance after we heard the sound of the anti aircraft cannons that were positioned all over Baghdad.

OK, now the TV channels were putting live what’s happening in Baghdad. I left the TV and went with Omar to the roof to have a better view and left the others following what's showed on TV. We took our tea cups (which was prepared in a hurry) with us; the weather was nice with a slight cold breeze. Light spread all over the sky by the effect of the anti aircraft guns and until that moment we could only hear the sound of their blasts in the air. I lit a cigarette and said to Omar “this one will have a different flavor” we named it (the cigarette of freedom) I’ll never forget it. We felt great relief after a long anxious waiting. The important thing is that the operation has finally begun.

After a while the sounds of the cannons went low so we sat down waiting for the official statement from the American administration and it wasn’t long before president GWB came on TV saying that the operation Iraqi freedom has begun and that the first strikes aimed at the head of the regime and that those were based on intelligence reports.

As for me, I’m satisfied with the name of the operation; that’s all I want. It makes clearly without any doubt what’s the purpose of the operation, it’s clear that it will not be a limited one. The lesson in 1991 was so hard and we have the right to fear its recurrence but the name of the operation brings with it a hope that we longed for impatiently.

I was so excited to see my friends, later and talk with them. It happened! and I want to know what everyone in Iraq feels right now and share it with him. All right, we will not be forced to watch these ugly faces on TV from now on.
This day was much quieter than I expected. I didn’t hear any huge explosion and there was no shock or awe but the great surprise for me was that the coalition troops had already started the ground attack and passed across the borders and that was very different from what we expected which was a long -air raids- campaign to precede the operations on the ground. There’s a combined air and ground attack. Why don’t they continue bombing the regime’s headquarters and everything will fall apart spontaneously like what happened in 1991!? I can’t tell what’s on the minds of the people who planned for this operation but I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

Saddam starts to set fire in some of the oil wells in the south. He did it. He always threatens by rumors he spreads through his agents with this one phrase “I will hand them Iraq only when it's leveled with the ground”. That’s my greatest fear; that the criminal will decide to take revenge. He had already attacked Kuwait with ground-to-ground missiles.

What will be the nature of this battle? I still can’t tell. I met some friends to see that everyone has somewhat calmed down at last. The whole issue was decided and the count down for the regime has begun.

We anticipated a heavy bombing in the evening but that did not happen, just the sounds of the alarm sirens accompanied by prayers from the mosques in response to an order from Saddam to start prayers through loud speakers with every air raid (like Allah will listen to him!!). I could only hear faint sounds of remote explosions.
I was so exhausted, for several nights I haven’t slept only for few hours so I found myself in bed very early. I need long hours of sleep. Today I will sleep well for the first time in a week!!

-By Mohammed.

It's about time.

Few days ago, I was riding a cap from work to my home. The driver as expected tried to start a chat. I was too tired and not in the mood to join him. There was a traffic jam that obviously annoyed him and the weather was hot as expected in a May noon. He said, "Baghdad has become impossible" this has become a usual phrase to start a conversation. It’s the synonym for the British “looks like a nice weather today”. I was becoming sick of complaints that usually start with this phrase. I said to myself, "Oh my god not another American hater" I didn’t want to reply but I thought it might help to pass time so I answered, “When was Baghdad ‘possible’?” the driver replied, “yes, life was always hard but these days they’ve become intolerable”
-Because of the Americans, you mean?

-No, of course not. Because of the difficulties in work.

-What do you mean? I know that you now charge double or triple the fees while cars and spare parts are cheaper now than ever.

-Yes, but the hours we can work in have decreased considerably because of the bad security conditions.

-What bad security conditions!? You are still afraid that someone might rob your car and get away with it in such a traffic jam??

-Of course not, but I can’t work for a late hour.

-I understand your fears but I always have known this place to be busy until midnight.

-That’s true but not in my neighborhood, so I have to go back much earlier than that

-Where do you live?

-In Sadr city.

-Oh I see, but what do you think the cause of this insecurity?

-Is that a question?? They are those thugs and thieves.

-Who are those?!

-Sadr followers.

-I agree, but I don’t understand your people there. Why do they support them!?

-Do you really believe that?? I swear to God they are no more than a couple of thousands terrorizing millions and hiding behind slogans like jihad and resistance. The whole city has got sick and tired of their doings. We just want to work, feed our children and take a break. We are tired of all this bullshit. They can’t deceive us anymore.
This idiot is taking advantage of his father’s name and we know the people who are gathering around him. Most of them are gangsters and ex-convicts with some foolish teenagers. They are anything but Muslims. Every now and then one of these cowards come hiding his face and fire against the American troops and when the Americans respond innocents get hurt.
I was encouraged by his attitude and asked:
-Why don’t you try to do something about it?

-Who says we aren’t? I’m one of the people who reported some members of the Mahdi army to the IP and now they are in prison.

-Really!? God bless you. That was brave of you. These people really belong there.

-Sure they do! Did this idiot forget who killed his father!? And who took his revenge? Could he have ever raised his voice if it wasn’t for the same people whom he’s fighting now? Well let the Iranians help him now! Believe me brother when I say that the majority of Sadr city people are grateful for the Americans. We didn’t fire a bullet at them when they entered our city. We gave them the reception of liberators and they are. Why would we fight them now!?

From my experience, I kind of believed him. I worked as a resident doctor in one of the major hospitals in Sadr city for about 6 months at Saddam’s times, and I can say that there were many lost youths there who didn’t know what to do with their lives out of poverty and oppression, and some of them ended being part of the criminal world. Yet along with this dark picture, there were always good and simple people who worked and toiled day and night for a decent life and these were the majority among those I met. Most of those were old men and women.
I witnessed one of those days a scene that I will never forget. A middle aged man was selling Pepsi on the sidewalk near the hospital where I worked, as many people there selling cigarettes and different stuff taking benefit of the high activity and traffic near the hospital and since obviously they couldn’t afford to buy or rent a store. Suddenly there was a big clamor and people were shouting, collecting all what they can and running away. It appeared that there was a patrol of city hall inspectors to watch for any violation. Everyone was gone with his or her goods except this guy who was selling Pepsi. His goods were too heavy to carry and he stood there with desperation and bewilderment on his face. The police reached to his place and the officer looked at him sternly as he said “don’t you know it’s prohibited to use the sidewalk to sell anything?” the guy was totally helpless. His face turned pale and it was as if he was going to be executed. He pleaded to the officer and said, “May god bless you Sir. I had to borrow money to buy these, and I have a family to feed. This is my first day in this job and I haven’t paid what I owe people yet. Please spare me this time so that I can pay the people their money back and I promise I’ll never do it again” he was literally crying and chocking with tears as he managed to say these words. The officer showed no sign that he even cared to hear and ordered his men to smash all the bottles. The poor guy sat there crying as he watched what seemed to be his last hope in an honest life going down the drain. He couldn’t take it anymore and shouted at them “HOW AM I GOING TO FEED MY KIDS?? Do you want me to become a thief!?” the officer looked at him shocked and said “how dare you?? One more word and you’ll never see the light again, you dog” I don’t know what happened to that man, but I would be surprised if he didn’t become a criminal.
After the war, most of the people of Sadr city were so happy; they got rid of their oppressor, they enjoyed freedom of speech and performing their religious ceremonies. Most important is that the raise in the average income opened the door for the private businesses, including the small ones, to prosper. Young men can make a good living by several means without resorting to violence or breaking the law. Things were going just fine and improving when young Sadr started his revolt. Sadr city became insecure again and businesses were damaged seriously as a result. In the early days of that revolt, people sympathized with that idiot because they loved his father, but as his followers’ behavior became intolerable and as the lives of people and their jobs were jeopardized, they lost all sympathy with him and all they want now is peace so that they can go back to their works again.
That taxi driver was not the only one from Sadr city with such opinion. Most of the people I’ve met lately expressed the same view. The only people, who don’t want Muqtada to be arrested, are the senior She’at clerics including Sistani. This may look strange when put in context with the relation they have with Iran’s puppet. He always harassed them and tried to take the lead in the streets. He even tried to force Sistani to leave Iraq. Yet, they don’t want him to be arrested. They wouldn’t care much if he was killed, in fact some of them are fighting him already (Thulfiqar organization, another name to Badr legion) but arresting him would be a serious blow to them.
Those clerics do not sympathies with Sadr out of religious sentiments. They know very well that he’s not a pious guy and they often hate each other as they compete to gain the trust and lead of the common people. This meant huge money in the past and now it means money and power as some of them have entered politics now. Why would they care so much then?
I think the answer lies in one fact. There’s an unwritten law in most of the countries with considerable She’at presence that has always considered the clerics to be immune to the law. This doesn’t apply to all clerics, but only the very senior ones. With time, this law has expanded to protect most popular clerics. Now, Muqtada is certainly not a senior cleric, but his family name and the sacrifices they gave, gave him some holy shape in the eyes of some of the She’at. If this guy was arrested, this law would not be literally broken, but the event will have the same effect. Meaning every cleric will know that he is not above the law. This will be an innovation that will shake all clerics with political ambitions. Hence all this crap about "red lines" winch is no more than a big lie that should fool no one. People will certainly be saddened and some would be outraged if the holy shrines were affected, but their care about their lives and jobs certainly is more. Most She'at Iraqis are sentimental when it comes to religion, but not to that degree. The operation should go on with great care however, and will put all those hypocrites in their right places. No more adventures and no more Mahdi armies. This revolt can actually act as an immunization against more serious ones in the future that is if it was dealt with in the proper way. The patience of the coalition has paid its fruits and Muqtada should be *arrested* but certainly not killed and now, in my opinion, is the right time.

By Ali.

Abu Gharib, other parts of the picture.

Yesterday a friend of mine, who’s also a doctor, visited us. After chatting about old memories, I asked him about his opinions on the current situations in Iraq. I’ve always known this friend to be apathetic when it comes to politics, even if it means what’s happening in Iraq. It was obvious that he hadn’t change and didn’t show any interest in going deep into this conversation. However when I asked him about his opinion on GWB response to the prisoners’ abuse issue, I was surprised to see him show anger and disgust as he said:

- This whole thing makes me sick.

- Why is that?! I asked.

- These thugs are treated much better than what they really deserve!

- What are you saying!? You can’t possibly think that this didn’t happen! And they’re still human beings, and there could be some innocents among them.

- Of course it happened, and I’m not talking about all the prisoners nor do I support these actions, and there could be some innocents among them, but I doubt it.

- Then why do you say such a thing?

- Because these events have taken more attention than they should.

- I agree but there should be an investigation on this. There are other pictures that were shown lately, and there are talks about others that will be shown in the near future.

- Yes, but what happened cannot represent more than 1% of the truth.

- Oh I really hope there would be no more than that.

- No, that’s not what I meant. What I’m saying is that these events are the exception and not the rule.
- How do you know that!? I must say I agree with your presumption, but I don’t have a proof, and I never thought you’d be interested in such issue!

- I was there for a whole month!

- In Abu-Gharib!? What were you doing there!?

- It was part of my training! Did you forget that!? I know you skipped that at Saddam’s time, but how could you forget that?

- Yes, but I thought that with the American troops there, the system must have been changed.

-No it’s still the same. We still have to do a month there.

-So tell me what did you see there? How’s the situation of the prisoners? Did you see any abuse? Do they get proper medical care? (I was excited to see someone who was actually there, and he was a friend!)

- Hey, slow down! I’ll tell you what I know. First of all, the prisoners are divided into two groups; the ordinary criminals and the political ones. I used to visit the ordinary criminals during every shift, and after that, the guards would bring anyone who has a complaint to me at the prison’s hospital.
- What about the 'political' ones?

- I’m not allowed to go to their camps, but when one of them feels ill, the guards bring him to me.

- Are the guards all Americans?

- No, the American soldiers with the IP watch over and take care of the ordinary criminals, but no one except the Americans is allowed to get near the political ones

- How are the medical supplies in the prison?

- Not very great, but certainly better from what it was on Saddam’s times. However my work is mainly at night, but in the morning the supplies are usually better.

- How many doctors, beside you, were there?

- There was an American doctor, who’s always their (His name is Eric, a very nice guy, he and I became friends very fast), and other Iraqi doctors with whom I shared the work, and in the morning, there are always some Iraqi senior doctors; surgeons, physicians…etc.

-Why do you say they are very well treated?

- They are fed much better than they get at their homes. I mean they eat the same stuff we eat, and it’s pretty good; eggs, cheese, milk and tea, meat, bread and vegetables, everything! And that happened every day, and a good quality too.

-Are they allowed to smoke? (I asked this because at Saddam’s times, it was a crime to smoke in prison and anyone caught while doing this would be punished severely).

- Yes, but they are given only two cigarettes every day.

- What else? How often are they allowed to take a bath? (This may sound strange to some people, but my friend understood my question. We knew from those who spent sometime in Saddam’s prisons, and survived, that they were allowed to take a shower only once every 2-3 weeks.)

- Anytime they want! There are bathrooms next to each hall.

- Is it the same with the 'political' prisoners?

- I never went there, but I suppose it’s the same because they were always clean when they came to the hospital, and their clothes were always clean too.

-How often do they shave? (I remember a friend who spent 45 days in prison at Saddam’s times had told me that the guards would inspect their beards every day to see if they were shaved properly, and those who were not, would be punished according to the guards’ mood. He also told me that they were of course not allowed to have any shaving razors or machines and would face an even worse punishment in case they found some of these on one of the prisoners. So basically all the prisoners had to smuggle razors, which cost a lot, shave in secrecy and then get rid of the razor immediately! That friend wasn’t even a political prisoner; he was arrested for having a satellite receiver dish in his house!)

- I’m not sure, from what I saw, it seemed that there was a barber visiting them frequently, because they had different hair cuts, some of them shaved their beards others kept them or left what was on their chins only. I mean it seemed that they had the haircut they desired!

-Yes but what about the way they are treated? And how did you find American soldiers in general?

- I’ll tell you about that; first let me tell you that I was surprised with their politeness. Whenever they come to the hospital, they would take of their helmets and show great respect and they either call me Sir or doctor. As for the way they treat the prisoners, they never handcuff anyone of those, political or else, when they bring them for examination and treatment unless I ask them to do so if I know that a particular prisoner is aggressive, and I never saw them beat a prisoner and rarely did one of them use an offensive language with a prisoner.

One of those times, a member of the American MP brought one of the prisoners, who was complaining from a headache, but when I tried to take history from him he said to me “doctor, I had a problem with my partner (he was a homosexual) I’m not Ok and I need a morphine or at least a valium injection” when I told him I can’t do that, he was outraged, swore at me and at the Americans and threatened me. I told the soldier about that, and he said “Ok Sir, just please translate to him what I’m going to say”. I agreed and he said to him “I want you to apologize to the doctor and I want your word as a man that you’ll behave and will never say such things again” and the convict told him he has his word!!

Another incidence I remember was when one of the soldiers brought a young prisoner to the hospital. The boy needed admission but the soldier said he’s not comfortable with leaving the young boy (he was about 18) with those old criminals and wanted to keep him in the isolation room to protect him. I told him that this is not allowed according to the Red Cross regulations. He turned around and saw the paramedics’ room and asked me if he can keep him there, and I told him I couldn’t. The soldier turned to a locked door and asked me about it. I said to him “It’s an extra ward that is almost deserted but I don’t have the keys, as the director of the hospital keeps them with him”. The soldier grew restless, and then he brought some tools, broke that door, fixed it, put a new lock, put the boy inside and then locked the door and gave me the key!

- Did you witness any aggressiveness from American soldiers?

- Only once. There was a guy who is a troublemaker. He was abnormally aggressive and hated Americans so much. One of those days the soldiers were delivering lunch and he took the soup pot that was still hot and threw it at one of the guards. The guard avoided it and the other guards caught the convict and one of them used an irritant spray that causes sever itching, and then they brought the prisoner to me to treat him.

- So you think that these events are isolated?

-As far as I know and from what I’ve seen, I’m sure that they are isolated.

-But couldn’t it be true that there were abusive actions at those times that the prisoners were afraid to tell you about?

-Are you serious!? These criminals, and I mean both types tell me all about there 'adventures and bravery'. Some of them told me how they killed an American soldier or burned a humvee, and in their circumstances this equals a confession! Do you think they would’ve been abused and remained silent and not tell me at least!? No, I don’t think any of this happened during the time I was there. It seemed that this happened to a very small group of whom I met no one during that month.

- Can you tell me anything about those 'political' prisoners? Are they Islamists, Ba’athists or what?

- Islamists?? I don't care what they call themselves, but they are thugs, they swear all the time, and most of them are addicts or homosexuals or both. Still very few of them looked educated.

- Ah, that makes them close to Ba’athists. Do you think there are innocents among them?

- There could be. Some of them say they are and others boast in front of me, as I said, telling the crimes they committed in details. Of course I’m not naive enough to blindly believe either.

- Are they allowed to get outside, and how often? Do they have fans or air coolers inside their halls?

- Of course they are! Even you still compare this to what it used to be at Saddam’s times and there’s absolutely no comparison. They play volleyball or basketball everyday, and they have fans in their halls.

- Do they have sport suits?

- No, it’s much better than Saddam’s days but it’s still a prison and not the Sheraton. They use the same clothes but I’ve seen them wearing train shoes when they play.

-Are they allowed to read?

- Yes, I’ve seen the ordinary criminals read, and I believe the political are allowed too, because I remember one of them asking me to tell one of the American soldiers that he wanted his book that one of the soldiers had borrowed from him.

- So, you believe there’s a lot of clamor here?

-As you said these things are unaccepted but I’m sure that they are isolated and they are just very few exceptions that need to be dealt with, but definitely not the rule. The rule is kindness, care and respect that most of these thugs don’t deserve, and that I have seen by my own eyes. However I still don't understand why did this happen.

-I agree with you, only it’s not about the criminals, it’s about the few innocents who could suffer without any guilt and it’s about us; those who try to build a new Iraq. We can’t allow ourselves to be like them and we can’t go back to those dark times.
As for "why"; I must say that these few exceptions happen everywhere, only in good society they can be exposed and dealt with fast, while in corrupted regimes, it may take decades for such atrocities to be exposed which encourage the evil people to go on, and exceptions become the rule.

What happened in Abu-Gharib should be a lesson for us, Iraqis, above all. It showed how justice functions in a democratic society. We should study this lesson carefully, since sooner or later we'll be left alone and it will be our responsibility to deal with such atrocities, as these will never cease to happen.

-By Ali.

From Um Mushtaq to Abu Haider.

I was taking a walk in the street with one of my friends when suddenly I heard a shout “Dr. Mohammed!” I turned back to see who it was and I found that it was one of the nursing staff who worked with me in Samawa and got transferred to Baghdad.
After greetings and asking about each other’s health he said “I was just thinking of you” why?, I asked.
“Do you still run that website?” he asked. I said “yeah”.
-Can you do me a favor?
-Sure.
-Do you know Abu Haider’s (Mr. Bremer) e-mail address?
-No! Why?
-I want to send him a letter.
-What for?
-To say thanks. Actually it’s not only me, it’s my mother Al-Hidjiyah; she made me promise her to send a letter to Mr. Bremer.
-Me too. I want to do that but unfortunately I don’t have his e-mail.
-Can you ask your American friends. Because I really feel bad that the man didn’t get the reward he deserves for his great efforts; we could at least make a party for him or a decent celebration. Did you listen to his farewell speech? it was incredible.
-Yes, it was and I’ll try to get his mail although I think it’s difficult but what did your mother exactly want to tell him?

-Well, Al-Hidjiya said “son, tell this man that Um Mushtaq says go with the blessings of Allah, you have suffered a lot for the sake of our country and we were not able to thank you in person and this makes us so sad” and she also said “although this is not right, because he is not Muslim but I have to say it and I don’t care what others may say”
My friend laughed as he said that.

I should mention that friend is a hard core communist who paradoxically bares strong admiration and gratitude and for America.
-How can she ask for Allah’s blessings for Bremer when she believes that it’s not right for a Muslim to ask so? I said with a smile.
-You know these old people with their old fashion minds but she said she loves him as if he were an Iraqi Muslim.
I said good bye to my friend and thought about what he said, and I thought about writing a letter to Mr. Bremer and I don’t know how to deliver it.

I don’t like to give much credit to an individual no matter who he is, as I believe it’s one of the reasons we’re so behind the others. People in the east generally get attached to individuals more than ideas and the fact that Iraqis support Al-Yawer and Allawi more than they support the government as a whole is just one example of this. However I find myself compelled to write about Mr. Bremer because this man was never given the credit he deserves. That of course includes all the good people who worked with him.

We miss you Sir and we know that it’s been difficult for you too. Your speech has touched the hearts of all the Iraqis I have met just as your efforts have contributed in drawing the outlines of the bright future of Iraq, the new free democratic Iraq and we will never forget you. You worked hard as if you were a true son of Iraq and in fact you’re one of Iraq’s sons, that’s how we look at you.

I never heard anyone talk badly about you, I heard people say a lot of bad things about GWB and the GC members but you were the most respected and loved political character among Iraqis and I can say I’m almost sure that if there was a poll about who’s the most popular person in Iraq, then you would’ve been the winner.
You maintained an equilibrium in a very intricate situation and at a very difficult time and I doubt that someone else would’ve been able to do that.

You’ve understood the mosaicism of the Iraqi people and the desires, fears and demands of each group and dealt with them in the wisest possible way.

You were working hard to convince one group and satisfy another one to guarantee the progress of the process and you faced one crisis after the other and an attack after the other but all that didn’t affect your morale, stamina and high level of professionalism.

You were keen on leading Iraq to the shores of peace despite the harsh environment, and most Iraqis recognize that you succeeded in your mission.

Sir, Iraq loved you just like you confirmed your love in your farewell speech. We were touched just as you were. You have taken a place in our hearts just as you said we’ve taken our places in your heart.
We will be waiting for you to return with your grandchild Sophya (as you promised in your speech) and we’ll share your will to teach her the history of Iraq and I’m sure that she’ll love Iraq as you do.

Yes, we’d like you to come back to your country, Iraq. And we’d love to have you share the moments of joy with us as you shared the moments of sadness.
We would like you to live the moment of victory with us as you lived the moment of hardships.

I was never surprised when none of the western media broadcasted your impressive speech because I doubt their interest in showing the world the nature of the relation between you and the people of Iraq. But I’d like to tell you this:
Iraq loves you just as you love her.

*These are the verses which Mr. Bremer used in his farewell speech. They are too difficult to translate (in fact they’re difficult to understand even for Arabs, as it’s an old verse with difficult vocabulary that’s no longer used in daily life) and I’ll post them in Arabic, but they generally say:

I’ve left my heart in the hands of God in Baghdad
I said good bye to him when I wished instead..
That I would say good bye to the days of my life.


أستودع الله في بغداد لي قمرا ..... بالكرخ من فلك الأزرار مطلعه
ودعته وبودي لو يودعني ..... صفو الزمان وأني لا أودعه

عاش العراق ..عاش العراق ..عاش العراق

By Mohammed.

A few great men.

A couple of days ago, I received an e-mail that made me feel ashamed of myself. It was from an American soldier serving in Iraq and besides doing his job, and risking his life daily to protect his country and the freedom of the Iraqis, he posts some articles in the Internet trying to build a bridge of trust and faith between his people and the Iraqis. Obviously this was not enough for him. He sent me an e-mail with a copy of an article he wrote in which he addresses the Iraqi people urging them to unite and have a more active role in building their country and establishing democracy. He told me that he was on the opinion of publishing it in Arabic in one of the Iraqi newspapers and was asking for my advice and help. It was a beautiful article that comes straight from the heart.

I couldn’t help wondering what was the power that pushes this man to endure such an effort and give so generously, not only for his country but also for other people. And I started asking myself, what can I do more?

As some of you may know I’m a doctor and I try to do my professional duties as best as I can and study to make a progress in my career, and in my spare time, I help my brothers on this blog. All this seems fine. But compared to what this man is doing it’s nothing. Besides all what I do has selfish motives. I work to earn my living and study to improve my financial and social status, and when I write here, I actually enjoy it a lot; I enjoy my freedom to express my thoughts and feelings and I enjoy meeting wonderful people, I make new friends and learn from the readers much more than I give them. I’m not trying to be modest here. I have my ethical motives but they are not the only, and maybe not the major, ones.

That’s why I find myself always asking what can I do more? And I often find myself helpless when people ask me how can they help? And what is there to be done? They offer their help so generously and I simply can’t translate it into actions.

It’s been a long time since I started thinking what could be the solutions to Iraq’s major problems, even before the law of liberating Iraq was approved by the American congress. I kept asking myself, then what? What after Saddam will be toppled? As this was an easy and definite conclusion to me. For despite how Saddam looked to Iraqis, he was extremely weak compared to an American army and this was not just because of the huge difference on the scale of military power and technology. He derived his strength from our fear of him and his brutal regime, a fear that paralyzed our minds, a fear that the Americans were free of. I n addition to that, and more important is that he was completely isolated from his people who stood watching him being defeated without moving a finger.

But then what? What after freedom? How is this terribly poor nation with all the prevalent ignorance, diseases and complete isolation from the rest of the world for decades, will become a free prosperous and democratic nation? How long will that take? And what should be done in order to achieve this drastic change?

In my opinion such sudden change is unfortunately impossible. This will take long years at least. But if this is the case then at least we should make sure that we lay our feet on the right path and start walking cautiously and (slowly if it has to be so), but with trust and strong determination until we reach the point were our peoples minds and souls become free from the chains of a long history of oppression and false beliefs. Then, I believe that the wheels will start to run almost automatically and in a growing pace just like a snowball. It needs to be pushed first, and nature will do the rest.

We are not Germany or Japan, and as I refused to demand miracles from America, I find it unfair to demand from the Iraqis to be like Japan or Germany. These nations were, when they started rebuilding, already ahead of us in a considerable distance in culture and resources. I use the word ‘rebuilding’ here but I didn’t use it when talking about Iraq, and this is on purpose. The word ‘rebuilding’ makes one think that there was something that worth mentioning, and that it was destroyed during the war and therefore it needs rebuilding. This maybe suitable in case of Japan and Germany, while in Iraq it’s completely different. There was nothing worth mentioning that has been destroyed and need to be rebuilt unless you call some buildings with their furniture as a valuable infrastructure. The main problem was that there was nothing important being built under Saddam’s rule and the already existing infra structures were terribly neglected, hence the more appropriate word should be ‘building’ Iraq and not ‘rebuilding’. And again the starting point should be building trust and hope in the future inside Iraqis’ minds.

The way I see it, is that the Americans are doing their best and most of the Iraqis are doing so too. Do not get fooled by the scenes presented by the media and do not miss- interpret the Iraqis whining as that they are spending their time sleeping in their beds and waiting for you to do their job. Although I don’t deny that there are such people, but they are by no means represent the majority.

Iraqis whine mainly because they are free to do so for the 1st time in their life, and my friend who was (whining) in the last post, in fact works with your soldiers risking his life every day too. Or how do you think things would have been if Iraqis refused to cooperate with the coalition? Do you think that your soldiers (as good as they are) could sniff the criminals and terrorists and pull them out of millions if there wasn’t such cooperation. Even the Ba’athists have become convinced of this fact and began turning their weapons in Mousul, for example, to the US army, as it became clear to them that they cannot fight both the American army and their own people.

It’s been months since most of Iraqis are back to there jobs and I don’t exaggerate when I say that most of them are doing that with a devotion that I’ve never seen at Saddam’s times. Iraqi police are doing a remarkable job in arresting the criminals which lowered the crimes rate considerably in the last few months, and they are therefore subjected to almost daily terrorist attacks in which many of them lost there lives while doing their job.

Still the picture is not what we all desired, and that what make some people on both sides complain and blame the other side, but that’s the nature of things. Building a strong, free and democratic country starting from nearly zero requires a hard, long and persistent effort. I may not live to see my dream come true, but at least I can have the honor of assisting in setting a corner stone for such a bright future, so that my kids or grandchildren can enjoy it.

What is needed today is continuous and coordinated effort on the part of all those whom their interests lie in achieving this great job which will serve not only Iraq and America, but the whole region and therefore the whole world. This demands that the Iraqis should continue to believe in the American’s good will, and that the American and the coalition continue to believe that the Iraqis deserve this future and can do their part of the job, which is of course the major one. And who knows, maybe what I consider to be a remote and impossible goal, in the near future, will turn to be not that far.

I’ve heard some painful words lately that made me somewhat depressed and less hopeful, but then I got that e-mail and I also remembered that American soldier who came once to this blog. He had been serving in Iraq when he was attacked and broke all four limbs, and then he was transferred back into the USA to get more medical help. After speaking shortly on the course of his service in Iraq, he apologized to me and to the Iraqi people for not doing this job in 1991! I told him that there was absolutely no need on his part to apologize and that he had done much more than enough, and I was never more true and honest than when I said that. How can I not be so?? Do you know what was his reply? His words-and I’ll never forget them- were” I’m honored to serve you and your people”! Can you possibly imagine the effect those words had on me? I tried to answer him, my hands reached for the keyboard, but my fingers froze over the letters which suddenly turned into strange figures that were unable to translate my feelings into words that makes sense. I didn’t reply to him. I couldn’t.
I told this to all my friends, and now whenever I meet someone who doubts the American soldiers honesty and motives, I throw those words (the soldier’s) into his face saying, “This is how an American soldier, who broke his four limbs in Iraq, looks at you and me and his job in Iraq”, And as expected his response would be a silent embarrassment.

All that I hope is that we could rise as near as possible to those 2 great men. They were Americans, yes, and thank God for that, and just for the record one of them is Muslim. I’m sure that there are many Americans and Iraqis who are doing there best with such a great love and devotion to the others. As I know that there are at least hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who lost their lives while they were trying to do what the coalition forces led by the USA did.

From now on, call me a whiner or call me a CIA agent, I don’t care. I’ll continue to do what I do and I’ll try to do more; asking questions, searching for solutions inspired through this long and hard journey by the few great men that I’ve met and so many others whom I haven’t had the honor of meeting, but I know that they believe in me, just as I believe in them.

-By Ali.

Days I do not want to forget.

-Day 2 "Shock and awe"
21st of March 2004.

I woke up early this morning after a good sleep without any interruption. I was so tired and now I feel fully active and have this feeling that usually gets to the one when something huge happens, that the 1st thing that comes to his mind the next morning as he awakes: did that really happen or was I dreaming?
Ok, it was more than real for me. The 1st news that surprised me in the morning was the occupation of Om Qasir…(just a moment!) why did I write (occupation)!? Why am I still affected by the media, parroting what they say!? All right, I’ll re-write this line and delete what I 1st wrote.
The liberation of Om Qasir and raising the American flag on one of the buildings there. An unbelievable feeling came when I saw some of my fellow citizens there celebrating their salvation. They were destroying a picture of the tyrant and singing a phrase that still rings in my ears: “Saddam your days are counted”

Truly they are counted. Congratulations my brothers you are the 1st Iraqis to taste freedom. The day we’ll celibate seems to be sooner than I expected. The troops are now marching fast, the British army fighting in Faw too and Safwan has been liberated also. Hundreds of soldiers and officers surrender. Did this mad man expect they were going to fight!!?
I didn’t take a walk in Baghdad today and just met my friends. One of them said” did you see the Iraqi leaders' announcements on TV?” I said, “Not yet, I like to forget their ugly faces and their outrageous lies”

Today was encouraging, as from the beginning there was news about the fast advance of the coalition troops inside Iraq. Ok, it’s the 1st Friday in the battle but we kept an old tradition that was not affected by the events, to gather all around dinner table that is usually special on Fridays.

The noon was perfectly quite with exception of the alarm serine that usually goes on when airplanes cross Baghdad air defense sector and it seems that the mosques insist to go along with these serine to pray for Iraq and her leader. I think the leader is more important than Iraq to them.
We heard that the B-52 bombers had left their bases in London heading towards their targets in Iraq. It seems that the air campaign will start, seriously, soon. We’ve learned through our experience during “Desert Fox” that it usually takes 6 hours until the missiles and bombs start falling on their targets. Ok, then I’ll have to fix my watch accurately.

It was 8.20 p.m. and a friend, Omar and I were expecting the explosions any minute, when we heard the sound of the 1st one, which was huge. We sat around the TV watching with wide-open eyes when Abu-Dhabi satellite channel managed to show where most of the bombing was. It was very clear and close. Now I watch the missile land with the huge fire and after few seconds the sound and the shock wave would reach us. We had the scene on TV and the (sound effects) where we were sitting.

“Let’s go up stairs “I said. My father objected saying “it is too dangerous and you are hearing the sounds of anti-aircraft guns and their shells when they fall on the ground, you may get hurt as these shells can be lethal” however I didn’t listen and went to my friend's home and went upstairs to have a better look. I think I felt safer in open air seeing the missiles as they hit their targets instead of being shocked by the huge sounds of explosions when inside the house.

We were watching a scene I don’t think it was real. We were stunned, not able to utter a word. What we saw was something like “star wars” or “independence day”.
We couldn’t turn our heads to all the directions the missile were landing. They were everywhere and coming one after the other with an unbelievable speed. We didn’t believe what was happening, what seemed like endless huge explosions that shook the ground beneath us, they came from every direction; a striking light followed by a terrible sound and a wave of air that was strongly felt. The smell of gun powder filled our noses and the anti-aircraft were firing, sometimes, even loudly above our heads and I saw SAM missiles fired in all directions and in huge numbers.

The sky was crazy and the land went mad as well. I was panicked to see those SAM missiles falling!! They were not guided, they are like ballistic missiles and that what really scared me. One of those went from the ground high in the sky only to take a sudden turn and head towards, what seemed to us, directly to the place were we were standing before landing somewhere else. Omar shouted” LOOK!” there was a cruise missile exploding in the sky after being hit by one of those anti-air craft cannons.

The red light was overwhelming and covering most of the sky and earth, smoke went from everywhere. We couldn’t stand this and my friend shouted as loud as he can “DOWN WITH SADDAM” I looked at him in shock, he made me more scared. It seemed that he got rid of all his fears and that the falling missiles inspired and encouraged my friend, as he must’ve felt that it’s all over and that the war would be settled tomorrow.

Here one of the air defense battalions which was so close to us, started to fire and there sounds were TERRIBLE. It seems that there’s a target over our heads, but we didn’t wait to tell each other this. We ran like h*** downstairs lowering our heads and I put my jacket over my head, and here my friend looked at me and burst out laughing and said” what!? Do you think it’ll protect you” I said as I was still shaking “no, but I don’t know why I did it”. We were talking as we were jumping on the staircases on our way down. I went home to see that everyone was taking a corner in the shelter, and my mother screamed” WHERE WERE YOU? CAN’T YOU SEE THIS H***? GET INSIDE NOW” Omar and I didn’t like the idea, but a huge explosion at that moment was more than convincing!

I couldn’t know how long it took; seconds, minutes or hours, I couldn’t tell. I looked at my watch to see it was 10.30 p.m. then it went quite and we all calmed down.
We were screaming with each explosion and with all the fear we were living “MORE” in the hope that this time it will be right on their heads. Let them feel terror and fear like they made us live with them all these years.

It was a very hard night and as I tried every time to have some sleep, I woke up with another sound that rocks my house and shakes the windows and doors.
This will never be easy, we’ll face so many dangers and what’s coming is still unknown but I just pray to see the end.

-By Mohammed.

Days I do not want to forget.

The beginning of the collapse.

-The day, Wednesday, the 2nd. Of April 2003.
The rhythm of the events is getting faster and it seems that the collapse of the regime is so close. The situation changed today after the important achievement of the coalition forces when they crossed the Tigris River north to Al-Kut. Now the troops are 40 Km only from Baghdad, mean while, the 3rd. infantry division succeeds in crossing an important bridge over the Euphrates and now taking positions about 30 Km south west of Baghdad.
These events made us stick to our maps for a long time trying to figure out where the troops have reached but the movement is so fast and we can’t predict what’s going to happen tomorrow.
The prominent victory of the day is entering Najaf. The folks are welcoming the liberators and the religious leaders advise the citizens to stay calm and not to interfere with the troops’ job.
The scene is so exciting; they’ve got their freedom, tears came to my eyes watching the city getting free from horror, at last. Oh Najaf, you’ve suffered enough from the tyrant and now it’s time for you to enjoy freedom.
The wonderful picture was the behavior of the American soldiers when the citizens asked them to stay out of the shrine. We are not familiar with such scenes. It was thought that some of the Fedayeen were hiding inside the shrine; the well-trained and equipped forces respect the unarmed civilian who has nothing but a request and the soldiers lower their guns and retreat from the shrine’s yard.
This is the first time I see force respect an opinion. I’ll never forget this; I’ve learned something new today. I owe you a lot soldiers; you proved how courageous and humane you are; I hope that Baghdad’s day will come soon.
The troops are still moving fast. This day is full of events. There are rumors in Baghdad that the coalition forces crossed the red line (which is supposed to be the limit after which Saddam will use chemical weapons). There also news telling that Baghdad division and Al-Madina division of the republican guard have been destroyed.
The atmosphere in Baghdad is very tense and we started to see troops from the regular army heading south in an attempt to compensate for the losses; the tanks and vehicles are already looking exhausted and I don’t think they’ll make it to the front line.
Saddam appears on TV smiling to his army leaders trying to tell that the situation is still under control! But the opposite is much truer.
The Kurdish militias cross the border line and take control of the sites that were abandoned by the retreating army.

An exceptional operation succeeds to rescue a 19-year-old female POW from the general hospital in Nassiriyah with the help of an Iraqi citizen.
People in Baghdad are expecting anything to happen now and we in the house made a meeting for the family council. The situation is serious and there’s fear that Saddam may use chemical weapons so we have to modify our plans to face the challenge; do we have to stay? Or do we have to leave Baghdad? I suggested that the others should leave and I stay here to protect the house in case things become chaotic in Baghdad. The truth is that I want to stay because I can’t resist the desire to see what I’ve waited for years. Everyone discovered this and my mother refused to leave unless we all leave. The debate was hard and lasted for more than an hour and in the end we agreed to keep the decision suspended and to act according to the coming events. However we prepared a small bag in which we put all the important documents and our Ids with all the cache and jewelry we had so that we can leave fast as soon as we decide to. We also stocked up some extra fuel for the car that will be enough to get us to Mendily city near the borders with Iran where some of our relatives live; the city is far and therefore protected from what may happen.
As a matter of fact, I made up my mind and I’ll never leave even if it cost me my life.

By Mohammed.

A civil war!?

With the elections' day getting closer, I'm hearing more voices warning of the possibility of a civil war in Iraq after the elections and I want to say that I do not find that theory the least acceptable; the theory of the civil war doesn't match any of the facts on the ground and it's based on visions of people who have never lived among Iraqis and have no real-if any-experience in the region.
The coming days will be a test for these theories but I'm almost positive that nothing like that is going to happen and so I don't need to wait to find out.

Most of such theories are based on the assumption that the Sunni will not approve the outcome of the elections if the She'at got the majority of votes and that this disapproval would take the form of a widespread insurgency in all the areas inhabited by a Sunni majority and then the She'at would be forced to fight to defend their existence and the whole country gets into an endless circle of violence.

The above theory looks strong and points out a possibility that can not be ignored (in the eyes of the theorists). I don't call this over-pessimism but I attribute it to a lack of clear vision and to looking at the case from one angle. I will take a stop here to review the elements of the theory:

The theory is built on two key elements; the first of which is that the Sunni boycott the elections and the second is that the She'at make a flawless win.
Looking at the first element I see that this boycott has been over estimated; there are parties that have a majority of Sunni members and have already enlisted themselves for the elections and all the parties in general have Sunni members and in addition to that, there are Sunni individuals who have announced themselves as candidates.
All those people didn't come from nowhere and they all have their support in the Sunni areas or why do you think they would run for elections if they know that the Sunni will boycott the elections?

Another point to mention is that there is a difference between the Sunni and the She'at regarding the authority of the clergy, and the Sunni don't have a common leadership or clergy that called for the boycott.
If someone shows up saying that he represents all the Sunni and he calls them to boycott the elections they will not follow his orders because such a common leadership that all the Sunni follow does not exist.

However, this assumption was inspired from the fact that most of the military operations take place in areas of Sunni majority. This is true because the terrorists were able to find who supports them in these areas but it's also true that not all the Sunni support the terrorists and we can always hear voices coming from Sunni areas calling for elections in spite of the threats the terrorists keep sending.
As a matter of fact, people in the areas of Sunni majority might find themselves not willing to go to the voting centers out of fear not because they decided to boycott the elections.

And this means that the theory of a widespread insurgency is not realistic because there will be a percentage that is going to vote and there will be another percentage that would like to vote but can not do that because of fear; all those will certainly not contribute to this alleged insurgency.
Anyway, the percentage of voters' participation is expected to be lower in Sunni areas than in other areas in the south or the north.

During the past 18 months, the She'a and the Kurds had the majority (about 80 %)of seats in the interim government with most of the decision making positions in their hands but that didn't lead to a civil war and I want to remind you here that the voices that are expecting the boycott and the civil war to happen are the same voices that expected the eruption of an uprising when the government decided to attack the terrorists in Najaf and Fallujah but we saw in both cases that only the terrorists who started the war remained fighting in the cities while the people, the citizens of the cities whether Sunni or She'at didn't show any support to the terrorists and left them to fight alone. So why would we now expect the Sunni to join the terrorists in a widespread insurgency?

The second factor or element required by this civil war theory is a big win for the She'at in the elections. And we need to stop at this point and discuss it for a while; everyone considers this win inevitable. Yes, it's true that the list of the "United Coalition" which includes the biggest She'at parties is getting a lot of support but this list can not get a vast majority as the "Iraqi List" is getting a lot of support too, as well as the "Iraqi Communist Party" which will obviously get a good percentage of the votes based on what we saw in the latest polls.
We should also not forget that the alliance of the Kurdish parties will get a considerable percentage of the votes.
So it's not expected for the "United Coalition's list" to get more than 40 % of the seats of the national assembly.

But suppose they win with a vast majority of the votes, what's going to happen then?
Will they engage in a civil war with the militants?
The She'at leaderships received too many blows but the refused to engage in an armed conflict with the terrorists. Then why do we expect them to push their people and the country in general into a war when they're in office and legitimately representing the people.
This contradicts with logic because when the She'at get to power through elections they cannot afford to lose that legitimacy by calling their sect's people to carry arms.
Instead, they will have the right to deal with the militants as outlaws according to the law.
The She'at have sacrificed a lot to get to this point and it doesn't make sense if they breach the law that will be written with their approval and support and lets not forget that they She'at are not going to be alone in this; there will be Kurds, Turkmen, Communists and Sunni standing on their side in the government too.

But the main element that prevents a civil war in Iraq remains the presence of the super power that supports the elected government.
With the presence of this super power, no one would dare to fight in open field and the insurgency would be limited to small operations carried out by individuals or small groups that can not show themselves on the streets more than few hours.

There are rumors propagating here in Baghdad and other cities about thousands of militants going down to the streets and taking over control on the day of elections; such rumors are made up by the systems of the ex-regime and they know very well that appearing in public and in thousands means their end.
The anti-change groups have lost the ability to fight in large numbers and in large areas.
I expect the terrorists to keep their operations after the elections in the same limited manner we have right now, maybe the frequency will increase but they will not be able to spread their operations nationwide. And they will have to make a decision; either they give up and accept the new situation after the elections, and this will not happen as long as the neighboring countries keep supporting them.

Or they decide to fight to the end and this way they will eventually lose because the other camp (the government and the MNF) have greater resources that allows them to win the battle over the terrorists.
Another factor remains here, which is time and I don't see it moving in a direction that favors the outlaws side.

The groups that oppose the elections say that elections cannot take place with the country being under occupation.
One thing I'm sure of is that a civil war will be inevitable if the US withdrew from Iraq. Close your eyes for a moment and try to picture the situation if the US decided to leave now.
Those who still live in the illusions of the past will not have a role in the future of the region.

Finally, I want to say that I think what happened in Palestine yesterday and what happened in Afghanistan before that proves that if the people really want to have elections, then they can do it and it's another indication that we're moving on the right track here and it's another accomplishment for the ongoing change in the region.

Mohammed.

The Eid of Liberty

I don't think I need to tell you how close is the 9th of April to my heart. And now, after two years happiness is still the same for me; one person among millions who were freed on that great day.
The 9th of April had turned one of the darkest pages in our history and opened the door wide before the people and their dreams, just as when the idol was knocked down, fear and oppression were knocked down as well.

No day matches you, my brightest day. We will keep reaping your fruits while the entire neighborhood follow your light and wait for other days like you to sweep away the remaining rotten idols.

The 9th of April has proven that the free world now has the guts and the required determination to make the change and throw the legacy of the past century behind its back; dictators shall be endorsed no more and the struggle will continue until humanity is freed from its dark nightmare that lasted way longer than it should have.

The winds of change that have blown away the tyrant in Iraq have begun to reach more and more people everyday and the heroic stand of Iraqis is inspiring freedom lovers in Beirut and Cairo, Kuwait and Bahrain, Arabia and Damascus; people are screaming enough is enough; enough for tyranny, enough for repression and enough for slavery.

Some naysayers and losers will say that terror had marked the past two years in Iraq but we the Iraqis believe that terrorism is merely the defeated remnants of evil fed by the other tyrants who got terrified from the fall of their demonic master. They're holding onto a weak thread that will soon be broken no matter how hard they try.

Today we can see the idol of terror shaking and losing balance from the powerful strike Iraqis had given it on the glorious election day; the day when the world stood amazed before the extraordinary bravery of Iraqis defying fear and walking through bullets and bombs to say their word and give terror the purple finger.

The 9th of April paved the way for that historic revolution and I think this is more than enough to make us keep this day in our hearts forever.

We have passed the cruel tests of terror, we went to cast our ballots and we're rebuilding what was destroyed and we're looking forward to building more and more but most important is that we're going to write our holy book, our constitution, by ourselves to preserve our freedom and stop tyranny from invading our land again.

After decades of isolation enforced by Saddam on Iraq, today Iraqis come back to join the free world and catch up with what they had missed; slowly but surely.

Some shortsighted people doubt the outcome of this day and think that it's not suitable to announce it a success but we say to them:
You're free to think whatever you like, we got on the train, but you’re standing still.

I will save the effort of explaining to them what they missed because several years from now when Iraq becomes a beacon of civilization in the region you will find out the truth solid and clear but unfortunately I'm positive that they won't admit it and they will try to find another funeral to practice the only hobby they're good at; whining and weeping.
So today we're offering a last chance to choose between joining the real world and joining Muqtada and Harith Al-Dhari.

Go and chant with them, condemn democracy and march against freedom if you like but don't forget that those thugs represent no one but themselves. They rejected democracy from the beginning and missed the chance of joining the greatest election of our time.
And don't forget that millions of Iraqis had also rejected those fanatics when the people marched to the boxes ignoring the threats and "fatwas"

Those who really represent me and my people are the men and women we voted for and put our trust in; men like Ibrahim Al-Jafari and Jalal Talbani who are grateful for the nations that helped Iraq in the darkest times and freed its people when our "brothers" ignored us and silently watched the Ba'ath murder and torture our people and more worse, gave the Ba'ath a hand more than once.

These are the people who represent us now; they promise us freedom and prosperity and I intend to trust them and believe them as long as they prove to be honest to us but I will never listen to those who want to bring back the rule of the dark ages.

Finally, I would like to say it again and say it loud:
Thank you our liberators.


Mohammed.

Days I do not want to forget.

Day 4 the 23rd of March 2003.
The clouds of black smoke that comes from those burned oil-filed holes, still covers most of the skies of Baghdad with its suffocating smell.

The coalition troops keep their advance towards Baghdad, but what really brought joy to me was a scene I’ll never forget; as those troops were advancing fast through the main highway, Iraqis lined on the side of the road to wave for them. Let the whole world watch and know that we wait impatiently for that moment when we finally become free.

On the other hands, what annoyed me was this terrible propaganda by the Arab media as they cheer the regime and talk about 'our just cause'. How much did he pay those pigs? The day that will silence these filthy mouths is near, when they’ll be exposed to the whole world.

I couldn’t keep watching TV, so I looked at the map again. Are they near Najjaf or closer than this? News speaks about battles to the north of Basra and to the north of Nassiryah. No one can tell where they are now; mystery still surrounds the movement of the coalition troops.

Tikrit was targeted today by air raids and I heard, during my usual tour downtown, people whisper to each other about the tyrant being wounded during the 1st strike and that there’s a possibility that a top-ranked command member may be killed at the same attack.

The number of the regime destroyed command centers keeps increasing every day,
It’s 5 p.m. and a heavy bombing is resumed. Series of huge explosions shakes our house and the sound of airplanes never stops.
Omar and I were trying to guess the distance and direction of the explosions and the possible target in the specified area. We went to the roof and saw the smoke caused by the last explosion and I guess it’s the ministry of defense, which is situated exactly in that area. We’ve become pretty good in this, we can now judge from the sound and the direction from which the smoke rose which is the most possible target.

I was shocked as Ali told me to hurry up and watch what the Saddam’s TV was showing. It was a disgusting scene; dead bodies of coalition soldiers. They were piled together in one car to make it uglier. Then they showed them again laid on the ground from all direction and the photographer and the reporter were showing that they are enjoying it. They love death and this is their favorite scene as it was obvious from the memories of the Iraq Iran- war where they used to show us the sight of hundreds and sometimes thousands of dead bodies, many of them burnt or disfigured. We still suffer from those scenes and it’s obviously their plan to make us sick by doing that.

Followed that sickening view, there was a stupid interrogation, which lacks any ethics, done with the help of a terrible interpreter to some prisoners. It seems that they couldn’t bring them to Baghdad and had to make this clip in a hurry in Nassiryah. The regional bath party commander was so elated and those soldiers looked confused and frightened. I don’t think they’ll stay alive, as when things will go tough, Saddam will most probably execute them like he did to the Kuwaiti or maybe he’ll use them as hostages, but their position is very hard. It appeared that they belonged to an engineering battalion and that somehow they lost their way. They were not a fighting unit.

It didn’t take long until GWB threatened Iraqi authorities firmly from any abuse to the prisoners.

The night came and carried with it the severity of the bombing but tonight the focus seems to be on the outskirts of Baghdad where most of the republican guards are placed. It became usual during every night to gather all; me, Omar, Ali, my father and some friends and neighbors to watch the latest development and try to analyze the situation, spending time encouraging each other. Tonight we agreed that our meetings should be arranged to take place in each one of our houses in turn.

In such moments one can’t keep his thoughts, fears and expectations inside him. We all felt this enormous need to talk and talk and talk until we become out of breath. Everyone wants to share what is going in his mind with the rest. Our tension is very big and we depend on each other to keep our spirit high in order to face the huge events we are passing through which is much greater than our psychological capabilities if left alone. It’s not easy to get used to the feel of the battle and one needs to keep balance. We needed each other help.

-By Mohammed.

-Abu Hayder*…Abu Musaab.

-
-Two hard working men.
It’s obvious for every one what enormous efforts both guys are doing regarding Iraq and Iraqis, and I’m sure that they stay awake late every night with their minds busy thinking about the Iraqi people. And they also wake up early in the morning to put a schedule for the day work. They should not have any delay, and always there’s an important question that never leaves their minds and that is “what should I offer the Iraqi people today?”
So let’s start with Abu Musaab:

:: He’s overwhelmed with joy nowadays; as the latest operations which he or other men from his type have performed recently have added to the development and prosperity of Iraq and enhanced the life standards of the Iraqi citizen and made him feel more safe and secure!.
Abu Musaab is sure that the Iraqi people are grateful for what he has done and even demanding more and more heroic actions. He blew up the UN and drove her out of Iraq with many other humanitarian organizations. Abu Musaab is positive that Iraqis need no one’s help.
He blew up the mosque in Najaf and killed hundreds of Sheia in the hope that this will start a civil war in Iraq, which will purify the Iraqi people from the infidels and bad guys and after that only the good men like himself will remain.
Oh. He should envy himself for his extreme wits and his brilliant plans for Iraq’s interest.
And don’t forget the explosions in the headquarters of Iraqi parties, as plurality is a great danger threatening the Iraqi people. It means different opinions, and this is corruption.
Iraq should be ruled by one opinion and one idea and those must be Abu Musaab’s and there’s absolutely no place for another opinion.
Ah.. There are some people who wish to cooperate with America to build a new Iraqi army and a new Iraqi police, and this is a terrible mistake as Iraq needs security forces with iron fist that has no place for the word mercy in it’s dictionary to spy on and eliminate any one who would dare to think in opposing Abu Musaab or his ideas.
While this new police that read the citizen his rights when arresting him for a certain charge is nothing but true evil that comes straight from Satan, because no one opposing Abu Musaab has any right.
What worries Abu Musaab these days and keeps him busy is his hope that the number of his victims would be at least worthy of the enormous efforts he bears on his shoulder on a daily basis “but it’s OK, I will cut down my sleeping hours for the sake of the Iraqi people who are certainly worthy of all this trouble”.
Now I will repeat the question to the others: who’s behind Abu Musaab?
Certainly he’s not alone, there’s the finance, logistic and intelligence support.
Who supports the plan of Abu Musaab and share with him those ideas in serving the Iraqi people?
I know those people. They’re Iraq’s neighbors and some of the media that we finally discovered where do they get the funds. They’re madly in love with the people of Iraq and they will not save any effort to help making this new free democratic model a real success! That’s all what they wish, that there will be a democratic nation in the neighborhood.

:: As for Abu Hayder:
I know he’s very busy too, there are many challenges ahead of him. He just disagrees with Abu Musaab in seeing things and in his perspectives.
Let’s take a look at his plan to rebuild Iraq: it involves
- Rebuilding Iraq. And reforming the fragile infrastructure -that we inherited from the past regime- is his major concern.
- Reforming the Iraqi economy, improving the salaries, improving the exchange rate of ID, lowering Iraq’s debts, improving and supporting private business.
- Handing authority to Iraqis, supporting political peaceful diversions allowing space for free elections at the right time, building new Iraqi police and army that are capable of securing Iraq.
But who stands behind Abu Hayder?
I know for instance that a large sector of Iraqis share his vision with some of the countries who believe in democracy and freedom along with the coalition.
After all that I find myself standing in the middle not sure whom should I support.
Both work so hard and make many sacrifices. One promises us what he believes to be a paradise in heaven, while the other promises a much less appealing and more realistic paradise on earth.
Both of them came from places far from Iraq, endangering their lives and sacrificing so many. Whom efforts should I appreciate and with whom should I cooperate?
I think that the Iraqi people and others will not need a long time to answer this question.

*Abu Hayder is a name used by Iraqis to refer to Mr. Bremer, for more details about this see the post on Jan. 21st.
- By Mohammed.

Days I do not want to forget.

Day 5 the 24th of March 2003.

I woke up at dawn after the sound of a massive explosion rocked our house to hear short after that, the voice of the sheikh in the mosque saying the prayers he was ordered to say. He sounded sleepy, tired and exhausted. What happened? He used to say those prayers loud and clear with the start of every raid and now raids continue all around the clock. The man's voice got hoarse but it seems that he has chose to say his prayers only following close explosion near his mosque. I guess he's praying for himself rather than his leader.

With light I saw a strange scene that I don't think I ever saw nor do I think it will happen again. Several colors mixed in the skies to give an odd color that made it a very depressive view. A red sandy storm that I've never seen like before mixed with the black color of the smoke coming from the burned oil-filled ditches, and the smoke that results from explosions and jet fighters. Nature and battle combined their efforts to make a painting that was very gloomy.

We went shopping despite the sandy whether. I warned my friends not to buy any milk products or meat from now on because I don't think they have been producing anything new for probably a week, and that from now on we should depend mainly on the stored food. No one listened to my advice which seems to be not appropriate at the time!! There are more serious hazards.

We heard today that the fire in the one of the oil-wells was extinguished and that humanitarian aid are flowing to the southern of Iraq, but the really exciting news was that the coalition forces are now about 100 km to the south of Baghdad. We couldn't define on the map which spot they were talking about, but I think the troops are close now to the republican guards' forces that encircles Baghdad and by this average, it seems we are only few days away before the coalition reaches Baghdad.

One of the rumors I heard today on the streets was that America is preparing for printing the new bank notes for the after-Saddam period. People on the streets are now balder in their discussions and it seems that the sounds of the air planes above our heads that rarely stop make us them feel how close the end is. We are still afraid of the regime dogs that still search for some reward on our account. We are hearing about executions to some Iraqis who work for the coalition forces inside Baghdad by providing information about certain targets.

The bombing continued during the day despite the bad weather.
The night meeting with the friends was in my friend's house. We are missing the extensive bombing in the 1st 4 days. We need extreme force and that would be the only thing that would end this soon. Saddam will not surrender easily. He doesn't speak nor does he understand any language other than violence. He seized power by violence, ruled by violence and will not be removed by anything other than extreme force.

-By Mohammed.

Days I do not want to forget.

Day 8 the 27th of March 2003.

The coalition forces announce that they are going to expand on their operation soon after the whether improves.

It seems that I was very optimistic about how long this will take. The speed in which the troops moved inside Iraq in the 1st few days was astonishing that it made me think that the battle will take no more than one week, and here we are finishing the 1st week and it looks like it’s been more than a month.
The events that took place during this week have been more than what I’ve seen in years. There could be weeks in our lives that pass without even feeling them, but a week like this cannot be easily forgotten.

Why does the whether have to be this bad and at theses times! This is exactly what we’ve been missing, that the nature works with Saddam!
An American-British assembly to discuss the future of Iraq after the war.
The future can never be worse than the past, that’s for sure, but I think the assembly comes to ascertain the others the determination of the coalition to make the change and that the issue is settled and the others should think about the future of Iraq.

I for myself cannot think about the future because I can’t leave the moment that I’m living, but I’ll sneak a look into the future and smile, imagining how it will be without Saddam and the Ba’ath.

Today, some friends from the western part half of Baghdad came to visit us. I was very happy to see them and we didn’t stop talking and congratulating each other for being safe (so far). Everyone has something to say about what he has seen and everyone saw so many unusual scenes. One of my friends was very impressed with the accuracy of the bombing. Mistakes are actually none so far, but everyone knows that most of these targets were not used by the regime, because they are now using alternative positions like mosques and schools and abandoned civilian buildings. My father, who came by to say hello, shared with us his opinion on this subject as a former military officer. He said, “These alternative position cannot offer more than 50% of what the original positions do, therefore the purpose of such strikes is to deprive the authority from half of its capabilities, as the alternative position were made in haste and soon these also will be exposed, and then they’ll have to change them, and the capabilities get less and less with each change” everyone saw that the idea was convincing but there is still the desire to see Saddam get killed by a direct attack.

Bombing still targets the outskirts of Baghdad where the major military facilities and the republican guards are located.
Today the communication facilities were bombed, to cut the phone lines between Baghdad and the other governerates and many switches stopped functioning inside Baghdad.

-By Mohammed.

Days I do not want to forget.

The 28th of March 2003.
The American president says that the justice day will follow the freedom day and that all the war criminals who terrorized the Iraqi people, will be judged.
Rumsfeld says “remember the faces of your oppressors, we will need your testimony”
I really wish that. Our freedom will not be complete without justice being served and the criminals should be judged for every crime and every atrocity, so that what happened will not happen again.

Today a direct strike was launched at the Ba’athists in Basra. One of the raids targeted a place where about 200 members of the Ba’ath party were holding a meeting. It seems that the intelligence of the coalition is doing its job in Basra and it seems that they are getting some help. The important thing is that we got rid of some of the criminals and we will not have to remember their faces Mr. Rumsfeld, they got their share before the justice day.

Another successful raid to the coalition targets a convoy of the republican guards and destroys it entirely.
Today the evil propaganda center was hit also (the ministry of lies and stupidity).
The 1st British ship carrying humanitarian aids reach the port of Om Qasir.
Bombing continues all around the clock in Baghdad.

A friend of mine asked me today to help him in setting up a satellite dish receiver. He said he couldn’t stay away from the events as the local radio channels blind one even more. We agreed to do that after sunset so that we can do that without being noticed by the neighbors. I went with another friend (Ahmed) to my friend’s house soon as it was dark. We asked our friend to bring a TV device to the roof to help us knowing the correct direction and catch the signal. The dish was the fixed type, without a motor to move it and it was easy to direct it towards Arab sat. After about 15 minutes from start, a heavy bombing started. We were looking at the sky and the fires of the anti-aircraft weapons right above our heads lightened it. This usually tells us about the direction of the missiles or airplanes as these weapons follow them and send signals to the other batteries depending on mere vision. Ok, it seems that the missiles are heading in our direction. Suddenly we heard a strong whirr. This was the 1st time I hear a missile passing directly and this low above my head. This should mean that it’s just about to land somewhere very near. All this passed in our minds in a fraction of a second. We threw ourselves to the ground and put our hands above our heads. These were truly scary moments. A bright red light flashed in the sky lightening the whole area and the night turned to what looks like a day light followed immediately by an enormous blast and a shocking wave that we felt through the ground and in the air. The whole house shook violently for a second. We stood up to see the fire that was coming from the area that was hit by the missile. It was the nearby switch. Our eyes were wide open and my friend’s family was screaming at us telling their son to bring us inside the house immediately. Just before deciding to do that, we heard a similar whirr at the same distance. We threw ourselves to the ground again. There was no time to go inside. I closed my eyes waiting for the sound of the explosion. You can never get used to these sounds. Another huge blast and a shock wave, followed by a 3rd missile passing at the same distance. We were confused and didn’t know how to act. We saw the fire and parts of the building that was hit fly in the air before falling as small fireballs. Our host forgot about us and ran as fast as he could to go inside the house, leaving us there, but he was surprised to see that his parents had locked the door that leads to the house!! He stood there knocking at the door, but no one opened, they were paralyzed by fear. Despite all the fear and how scared we were, we laughed from our hearts. “See Ahmed what fear can do? They abandoned their own son!” laughing at ourselves is the only weapon we have at such times to overcome our fears!

The raid was still going on targeting places near to our location. We ran and tried to hide under a window type air conditioner that was extending outside for about 30-cm. We glued ourselves to the wall beside it and pushed our heads beneath it. With all our bodies, except our heads exposed, our host turned to us after losing hope in his parents, and now it was his turn to burst out laughing at our position.
The raid finally stopped and we finished our job, still laughing at each other and at ourselves. Fear made us act like children.

-By Mohammed.

I don't like to repeat myself, but I wanted to share with you some of the opinions of Iraqis about their daily lives that I read on the bbc. arabic.com There were more than many comments and about 70% of them were positive. Here are some examples:

What happens these days in Iraq is a natural process as a result from the transfer from dictatorship to democracy.
Ali Ahmed-Baghdad.

I'm an Iraqi citizen and I want to thank president GWB from all my heart for the great service he's done to the Iraqi people by freeing us from one of the worst tyrants in history. This liberation didn't suit the enemies of humanity and freedom, thus we see them committing terrorist acts claiming to resist occupation by killing their own people, but that will not affect the Iraqis lust for freedom. Thanks again GWB.
Kamal-Adhamya-Baghdad.

I won't forget the day when I saw one of Saddam's tanks crushing the heads of 40 She'at Iraqis who were among others arrested for no obvious reason in 1991. Their hands were tied and put on the street for the tank to pass over their heads. The words" No She'at after today" where written on that tank.

I was one of those people. My hands were tied to the back and a grenade was put between them and the safety pin removed. It was positioned in a way that it should explode if I was to make any move, and I was left a lone in a deserted area that was at least 5 Km. from any life. If it wasn't for the kindness of one of the soldiers who came back and rescued me, I would've certainly died soon.
Ihsan Al-Shimmari-Sweeden.

We lived our worst years under Saddam regime, a regime that many Arabs still believe in!We don't know why don't they leave us in peace, especially the Arab media that turns liberation into occupation and criminals into resistant. We, Iraqis, know the truth very well. The situation is much better now for the vast majority of Iraqis. Most of the people are government employees who used to get paid 4 or 6 thousand Iraqi dinars. Now the lowest salary is 100 thousand Iraqi Dinar. We feel free and we don't fear prisons and torture. The Arab media, as expected, made a huge fuss about the prisoners abuse in Abu-Gharib. Shame on them. Where were they when Saddam put explosives around a bunch of young men and blasted their bodies and they all saw that on TV? Where were they?
Saman-Iraq.

I had to leave Iraq because I didn't want to be one of Saddam's slaves. After so many years, I'm back to my country and I saw that people are not as nervous as they used to be. I saw hope in their eyes despite the security problems. All I have to say to our Arab brothers is,"We are practicing democracy. You keep enjoying dictatorship"
Ilham Hussain-Baghdad.

I'm from an area not so far from Shat Al-Arab, still at Saddam's time we never had clean water supply. Now the situation is better and the British are very gentle and kind. I no longer fear for my life or my family's. The only problems we have are the thieves and some shortage in power supply.
Kadim Jabbar-Al-Zubair-Basra.

The daily life in Basra is not that different from other parts of Iraq; It's very hot, the water and power supply are not Continueous, still I prefer to live a year in these conditions than one hour like those we lived under Saddam.
Abbas Mahir Tahir-Basra.

Days I do not want to forget.

-The day, Tuesday, the 1st of April 2003.
The regime’s headquarters and communication centers are still the primary targets for the coalition air forces. Air raids are continuous and we can hear the sound of jet fighters all day and night flying at low altitudes over Baghdad.
Air raids have targeted locations on the borderlines between Kurdstan and Kirkuk and Mosul.
Food aids reach the liberated areas and they’re being distributed to the citizens. I really don’t think that there’s a great need for food and as we never witnessed a famine in Iraq and I don’t think it’s possible now.
The British forces are tightening the circle around Basra and the citizens are still escaping the city with great numbers. Liberating Basra will have a great influence on the war; we need a victory and a victory in Basra will accelerate the fall of the regime.
Today I’ve heard about battles around No’maniyah. I know this area well, it seems that the troops are accomplishing their tasks well in their way to Baghdad but there’s still a lot of mysteriousness covering the movement and direction of these troops.
Today we were talking about Rumsfelds speech in which he refused the idea of doing any negotiations with the regime. He stated also that the only way to stop the operations is unconditioned surrender by the regime. Everyone agrees that Saddam must surrender and we agreed that Saddam -as usual- would not make the right decision.

By Mohammed.

Days I do not want to forget.

I'm sorry for not posting yesterday, but that was for (good) reasons.

Day 6 the 25th of March 2003.

Today carried big headlinlies.
-Basra is a military target. This is what the British forces announced, together with full control of Om-Qasr and Basra international airport. News about an uprising in some areas of Basra.

-The coalition forces reach about 80 km. To the south of Baghdad and news about combating Al-Madina Al- Munawarar republican guard division. It seems that Baghdad battle is about to begin despite the continuing bad whether.

We still have water and power supply and phone lines are still working. There are no fuel crises its control on the. There’s still a large doubt among people concerning the final objectives of the operation behind this battle. “Are they serious this time” it’s not easy to imagine the possible consequences of the regime fall. It’s been here for 35 years. How would it look like without it? This is more than a dream and it’s more than we can imagine.

Today a friend of my father visited us. He works in a high position in the air defence command. My father started saying” you have to be more careful with those SAM missiles, they’re falling without any guidance and killing people ” the man said ” we do not run the system fully, we can’t let the radars work for a long time, because they’ll be targeted immediately! We just shoot these rockets without radar guidance to prove to Saddam that we are not traitors. He had put execution squads from the 'Fedayeen' in every missiles battery to watch the officers once the raids start. That’s why we fire those missiles and we know they may well cause serious damage and deaths, but we can’t disobey Saddam”
That officer was sure that this battle will bring with it the end of Saddam, and when we told him that most of the south is now under the control of the coalition forces from what we see on TV, and how the people are destroying Saddam’s pictures in Om-Qasr, we felt that he was afraid and wanted someone to tell him what would probably be the result because he was in a very sensitive position. He trusted my father’s judgment, so he came with many questions. I left them together so that he can feel free to ask without getting embarrassed.

The bombing continued all day and I was able this time to see the airplanes in the sky. They were flying relatively at a low altitude. They were their all the time.
-The raids today resulted in the destruction of the local TV station, which led to sudden stop of the broadcast. This is very important. They decided to carry on by broadcasting only through radio stations. People also depended on Al-Alam Iranian TV that we could easily get in Baghdad. This channel has become the favorite for many Iraqis since it shows news rather than stupid poetry and slogans like those of the Iraqi leadership. It seems Saddam thinks that he can win this battle by words, not to mention the 'patriotic songs' which we became famous in, as we, as people put it, the land of the million patriotic song, and of course all of those were devoted to glorify Saddam rather than Iraq.

Some of our daily routines started to change. We, now, sleep few hours at night and try to compensate by sleeping few hours in the afternoon. We prepare every day for a long gathering and discussion that never ends and crosses all the lines.
The night has become very long.

-By Mohammed.