We are Friends. We are Human Beings

I thought of an idea to post here. I have many American friends, with whom I chat always, and we regularly involve in very interesting subjects and arguments. I thought of posting some of these exchanges of thoughts, of course after getting the permission from my friends . I will not mention names. The idea is to show people how an Iraqi and an American cross all the borders, lines, and boundaries and be only “Human Beings” without differences of religion, nationality. With no affect of governments’ attitudes.

I wanted to do so, because I want the readers to know, especially the foreigners because they don’t hear about this, that there is cultural communication and exchange between Iraqis and foreigners. Not all the Iraqis hate foreigners. And there is no honest, real Iraqi accepts the killing and beheading of a Human being. We communicate with foreigners and feel their sorrows, as the feel ours.

Few days ago, I sent an email to one of my American friends. In the emails, I talked about the situation in Iraq, as well as in the US. then I included a sentence saying “God bless Iraq and America.”

The next day, I got a reply from her. She was amazed that I said “God bless America.” In her email, she attached some pictures from the famous Abu Ghraib prison scandal and asked me to take a look and see if I still say “God bless America”

I replied saying

So, I wanted to comment on the pictures u sent since then. You sent me pictures of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. And that was because I said "god bless America" !!! You wanted to show me that your people don’t deserve to be blessed???
I already said "god bless Iraq" in the same mesg. Why didn’t u send me pics??? Do u want some? Some of the beheadings, killings, bombings??? hee hee. I have many of those.
The point I want to make here is that what happened in abu ghraib is not the doing of all Americans. I’ve talked to Americans, in Baghdad, Amman, Egypt, and US. I felt how they feel. Not all the Americans support the mistakes happening in Iraq. Also, its not all Iraqis hate Americans or foreigners. Not all Iraqis behead foreigners. The doers are the ones to be punished. America and Iraq have nothing to do with that. When I say "god bless America" I mean you, your sister, your children, your good-hearted neighbors. I mean my friends. i mean those who treated me like a precious guest when i was there. Who treated me like a member of their families when I was there. In a time I expected to be the most difficult in my life because i thought I’ll suffer from hatred.
I just want u to know that America is a dream for others and me not because it has Bush's government. NO. But because it has you and others, whom I would love to spend my life saying "good morning. have a nice one" every morning when I head to my work.
You, and I mean you, XXXX, deserve to be blessed, and your children and your husband and everyone likes to live in peace. When I say "god bless Iraq" of course I don’t mean the insurgents!!!

Long Live New Iraq

Well, what I am going to talk about today has a background, but I will try to summarize it for you. In Basra, a southern Iraqi city and one of the biggest, riots stormed the streets after the British forces arrested two men loyal to Iraq’s youngest influential Shiite cleric, Muqtada Sadr. People demanded the release of the two men. Clashes then erupted between people, police, and Mahdi Army [Sadr’s militia] on one hand, and the British forces on the other. Amid this chaos, the Iraqi police arrested two British troops disguised in Iraqi clothes. The reason behind the arrest, the Iraqi forces said, is that the two Brits shot at Iraqis in the street!

What happened afterwards, in fact one side of what happened, is that the Iraqi police didn’t respond to British forces and Iraq ministry of Interior demands to release the Brits.

Desperate to get their [precious] soldiers out of prison, a British armored vehicle broke into the prison, through a wall, and freed them. Just like this!

If Mahdi army guys did the same to free their two men in British custody, they would be called “insurgents attacked a British military base in southern Iraqi city of Basra by mortars and RPGs. The attack came to free two Iraqis arrested by the British forces earlier in the day, officials said.” I know that what all would say. I know that what we would say in our newspaper!!!

Iraqis, for the first time since ever, are trying to feel and practice “Dignity.” The police saw those two foreigners shooting at their brothers, so their reaction was to stop them. According to Iraqi government and multinational forces [or MNF], anyone kills Iraqis should be punished. I know the two Brits are soldiers in the MNF, but what the fuck. The Iraqis were protesting. They were armed, true. They two men arrested are loyal to Muqtada Sadr, who once last year battled with US and Iraqi forces in Najaf, its true also. But they weren’t terrorists. Ask people in Basra if you want to make sure of what I am saying. We all know Mahdi Army never hurt innocent people. NEVER.

I think feeling the dignity and respect to their country and people is the first step Iraqis are taking to real democracy. Democracy doesn’t come with tanks and new figures forming and governing council or a cabinet. It comes and be understood when people feel they deserve life and deserve respect. And here they are. Iraqi police wanted to show their people that they are there for them, but the British forces ruined the day. Ruined the feeling. They could have done it other way. Other than power showoff and disrespect to the Iraqi forces they trained. They could have done it diplomatically. But No, it is the Great Britain dignity against the Iraqi one. Who would win this battle in a country occupied by Britain?!

One thing I would like to add. US forces and administration never did such a mistake. Not that I know of. They are smarter than doing it!!!

But still, the good news is that Iraqis are on the right track. Hope is there and achievements are never far. We only need to not to look back and learn from our mistakes.
“Long Live New Iraq.” Let’s repeat it over and over. It seems working finally.

Long Live The Tyrant

"Al Qaeda Organisation in Iraq ... has declared war against Shi'ites in all of Iraq," uttered an audiotape aired on TV channels yesterday.

Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant, who heads Qaeda organization branch in Iraq, said to be the speaker in the tape. He threatened to kill Iraqi Shiites to take revenge for what happened and is happening in Tal Afar, a northern Iraqi city where dozens of insurgents battled with Iraqi and US forces for days now. He also threatened the government and warned them for launching the military operation in Tal Afar.

What is this? This is disgusting. Repeating his words makes me feel sick. What does it mean to kill Iraqi Shiites? To kill more than 60% of the Iraqi population? To kill a Sunni mother and leave the Shiite father to raise the children? To kill a Sunni son and leave the Shiite mother to mourn him for the rest of her life? What is going on in Iraq? Where are the Iraqis in all of this? Why are we silent and jammed?

“As for the government, servants of the crusaders headed by Ibrahim Jaafari, they have declared a war on Sunnis in Tal Afar. You have begun and started the attacks and you won't see mercy from us," fucking Zarqawi said.

He is a Jordanian. He has nothing to do with or in Iraq. The problem is that we don’t have a real government to protect its people. Jafari, Iraq’s Prime Minister, has failed to protect even the Green Zone, where he and his government members and other foreign officials live. It is a horrible thing to see the insurgents succeed day by day, and we, the Iraqis, can do nothing. The government members live in their heavily fortified Green Zone and know nothing about what goes on outside the walls. They know nothing but what they hear from media or some employees, who live in the Red zone.

The insurgents failed to force the multinational forces out of the country, but they succeeded to force the Iraqis out.

THE INSURGENTS CONTROL MOST OF IRAQ . This is the truth and we should announce it. The government doesn’t control anything. Not even their Green Zone. The Green Zone is controlled by foreign private security companies!!! Our ministers, National Assembly members, and other government officials and employees should present different kinds of documents to the foreign guards to be allowed into the Green Zone. Into the Iraqi Sovereign Government’s Republican Palace. Into their offices!!!

Hundreds of Iraqi families fled and are fleeing the country every week. They fed up. They have nothing else to hope for here. They decided to proceed abroad. No one can blame them.

Most of Baghdad’s streets are blocked for more than two years. More are being blocked everyday. Driving or walking in Baghdad is now more difficult than walking in a war zone. It is a war zone, just little worse. They block the streets to prevent car bombs. What happens now is the car bombs explode in other places. They don’t struck governmental buildings anymore. They only kill laborers and innocent people now! Is this the solution? Should all Iraqis stay in their homes and not move in the streets so when a car bomb explodes no one gets killed or injured? Is this how we solve the problem and defeat the threats?

“Long Live Saddam Hussein” If that what it takes to sleep secured at night and to move freely in the street!

We Need Happiness Back

My friend was running through his photo album today trying to flashback memories form school days. He looked very happy. He asked me to look into his pics many times. He gathered us around him asking us to point him out from groups of students posing in pictures. I saw happiness in his eyes. I was happy too, because I got memories from ten years ago jumping in my head also. What happy times. Huh.

On Iraqi TV channel, they aired a comic show from the 1950s. I nailed myself in front of the TV watching it and laughing. I left everything else. I didn’t want to waste a moment. I wanted to hear every joke and enjoy it. It is a rare time to have fun these days.

While watching TV, I was thinking, are happiness and laughter that far from us. Should we go back ten years and more to find fun issues to talk about? Why don’t we find something makes us happy these days? Why when we want to laugh we say “Do you remember……?”

We should realize that we cannot go back to live the happy times again. We have to change the time we live in now and make it happy. I always opposed the idea of thinking about the past and sigh. That’s not creative. We should look into the past and be happy, but also we don’t deserve to be sad now and forever.

Thank You My Friends

Today, I am celebrating my 27th birthday. I usually don’t celebrate birthdays. I only do that when I accomplish something important during the year. This year, I have accomplished many many important milestones in my life. I could never accomplish these steps without the great help of my friends, Iraqis and foreigners. Thus, I wanted to dedicate today’s posting to thank them all for their cooperation and help.
The only thing I will not mention is the real names, for security reasons. I will mention whether the friend is male or female and the initials if names.

- “Thank You” sent to my family. They supported me and are still do in the dangerous path I took to achieve my goals. To be a journalist in Iraq is not an easy thing. They have supported me to continue, and I know they will be there for me whenever I need them.
- “Thank You” and a kiss sent to my niece, S. She makes me smile whenever I see her. She treats me like an uncle!!! I named her. I hope she likes the name when she grows up.
- “Thank You” sent to my male friend R. He was the one discovered my passion to be a journalist and always put me on the right track.
- “Thank You” sent to my male friends N & B. you encourage me always. Although we fight sometimes, but I consider that as the salt put on food, it just makes it better.
- A big “Thank You” sent to my Iraqi colleagues in the office. Without them I wouldn’t be able to do it better than everyone else in other media organizations.
- “Thank You” sent to my female friend T. She welcomed me at the airport in the U.S. The way she welcomed me made me feel home the first moment I landed. She knows what I am talking about. I will never forget that welcome as long as I live.


- A huge “Thank You” said and sent and I will always say it again and again to my best best female friend J. You became a soul mate and will be always. Thank you for the efforts you paid to help me fulfill one of my biggest dreams, the visit to the U.S. I never thought I would be able to do it soon. You helped me to do it. Not only this, you also changed my life in different ways. You made me change my mind to believe in many things I never thought they exist; I hope you know what I am talking about. Please pass my “Thank You” to your friends. They treated me as a friend. I loved them.


- “Thank You” and respect sent to J’s family. They made me feel home when I went to the U.S. I will always consider you as my family in my second home, the U.S.
- “Thank You” to my current bureau chief. You encourage me; I will never turn you down.
- “Thank You” to my friends in the U.S., Americans and other nationalities, who always tried to make me happy. I appreciate what you have done for me. I will never forget that.
- Thanks for my editors, who put trust in me. I will always work hard to deserve it. I will never turn you down.
- “Thank You” to the American people. You never made me feel like a stranger when I came to your home, houses, and land. I loved your country. I loved your sense of humor. I loved your hearts. Thank you.
- “Thank You” for my female friend in the U.S., J. You believe in my abilities and me. Your concern is highly appreciated. I shall never turn you down. And will see you soon, I hope.
- “Thank You” to my male friend A. He always told me “You are the best.”
- “Thank You” for my female friend in Baghdad, J. You were the therapist I needed after I came back from the U.S. and went into a depression period. I couldn’t pass the hard times without you. I will always remember you as my best friend.
- “Thank You” to J. He taught me that there is a difference between a “Friend” and a “Colleague.” !!
- “Thank You” to whoever calls me “friend” I will always be there for you. Thanks for the support. That’s why friends are needed.
- “Thank You” to whoever reads my Blog.

I light my candle and think of you all. Thank you.

Finally, “Thank You” God, I finished what I wanted to say.

NOTE: All my friends mentioned above are American journalists, except for N & B, they are Iraqi journalists. (just to make it easier for them to recognize themselves.)

You Lead, They Follow!

Today is the first day in applying a very strange Ibrahim Jafari’s cabinet decision. Iraq’s Council of ministers issued a decision to help solve the increasing traffic problem in Iraq.

Over 750000 entered Iraq since the invasion in 2003, when taxes suspended and anyone could import a car from UAE, Jordan, Syria, and other countries. This huge number of cars created a big problem with many phases, like fuel shortage, traffic jams, and others.

The government, led by Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari decided to “invent” a new way to help solve this problem. The decision is to allow cars with license plates end with an odd digit to drive in the street one day, and cars with license plates end with an even digit drive the next day. This way, the government thought, traffic will be less and fuel will be available in the gas stations for all.

I wonder, didn’t the government think of the new problem its “inventive” council of ministers created!

How could people go to work? Taxis? How much do people they make to spend at least 3000 Iraqi Dinars a day to go to work? They don’t believe in their work even. How could they sacrifice their money on it? Another suggestion: they should use the buses provided by the government to its employees. But these buses could be easily targeted. Many government buses have been targeted and we’ve lost many lives in them. We have increasingly warned of insurgents targeting government employees, and the council of ministers knows that.

Also, people have had enough. They cannot take any more “silly” decisions. How do you think people would react to a policeman trying to fine someone violates the “new” decision? How do you think a relative of someone killed in last Wednesday’s disaster, of 1000 people killed on and under a bridge in Baghdad, would react to the policeman? With the lost he or she was “blessed” with, the government blesses him or her with a fine, instead of helping him or her pass the difficult days. No, really. There must be one relative of those killed in the disaster with a car, right? I cannot believe that. He or she already hates the government and police because they didn’t protect his or her relative last week. And now, they fine him or her.

With no electricity, no water, no dignity, not anything, how could the government sentence people to house arrest half of the week? So if there is no electricity, no water, and no air to breath, I cannot go to a friend’s house to have some of these?

I saw many people violating the “new” decision today. I knew, we all knew that people would not respect this decision. I bet the council of minister knew that.

In my job, I need to issue orders and decide on different issues many times a day. Before I do so, I always ask myself “would people do this? Would they be able to do it?” if the answer is yes, I will do it with no hesitation. This is because I don’t want to be disrespected. And I know, if I decide something and people don’t do it, because they cannot, that means I failed to lead my team.
Dr. Jafari, for God’s sake, why would you issue such a law if you already know people won’t abide to it? You already lost credibility months ago when you couldn’t provide the simplest thing to people, water. Why would you impose more sufferings on people? Instead of teaching people how to violate law, issue some responsible ones and educate people how to respect the law and abide by it.

Ali Baba is universal!

When US-led coalition forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, some Iraqis, provoked by more than three decades of oppression and motivated by the uncontrolled streets, turned into occupation forces themselves. Hundreds of Iraqis were shown on TV channels invading governmental buildings to loot whatever they found, even trashcans. It didn’t matter what they looted or whether was it useful or not. The goal was to show themselves as “freed people” and the only way to show it was “Lawlessness.”

When US soldiers entered Baghdad, they first guarded the ministry of Finance, the ministry of Oil, and the ministry of Local Administration, which supervised the rule in the northern region of Kurdistan until 1991. Any other building was not guarded. US soldiers would “invite” people to governmental buildings to “loot,” many eyewitnesses said.

I have talked to people that time, people who looted buildings. Some of them said they didn’t know why they did it. They are wealthy.
“We just wanted to feel free and get back our money,” I remember one man as saying to me. It’s true that some gangs and organized groups have looted banks and companies. They stole millions of dollars. But most of the “looters” were poor people who got they could benefit from. I remember footage aired on many satellite channels showing an Iraqi leaving a governmental building, carrying a chair and dancing; another one carried a bouquet of plastic flowers (the kind people put on desks and tables.)

You would wonder, is this looting? What would a chair or flowers do for those people?

The Iraqis were taken hostages for decades. Their dignity, pride, and freedom were confiscated by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein. Most of the Iraqis lived in poverty and under the average living standards when Saddam paid oil coupons and millions of dollars to his sycophants. Iraqi children didn’t have play grounds or toys, and many of them died in hospitals for lack of everything, medicines, equipments, and everything else, when Saddam Hussein built his extra large castles and palaces and huge mosques to beat the record of the largest ones in the world. Out yourself in their shoes and try to decide if it was looting or not. They suddenly got the chance to take “our money back.” I am not trying to justify the horrible violation of law and order they did, but I’m just trying to put you in the picture.

The footage we saw on TV stations showed everything happened during and after the invasion. Looting, demonstrations, and taking down statues of Saddam Hussein, which were in almost every circle in Baghdad. These are different incidents, but had one common issue among all. People were seen happy doing them. No one killed when that man stole the chair. No one killed when the woman stole the flower bouquet. The common atmosphere in the footage was laughter and people chanting for freedom and end of the dictatorship. Also, Ali Baba never looted private stores. Ali Baba never looted houses.

The Iraqis never forget the looting. They never forget the shame they brought to themselves and can feel it whenever this issue is discussed. I always hear people in my family or neighborhood say “All the world saw what the Iraqis did to themselves. They all saw us stealing and looting our own money. Nothing justifies what happened.”

Hurricane Katrina in the United States of America came to claim thousands of lives. Thousands of people displaced and forced to leave their houses and offices to shelter from the disastrous, and insane nature anger that took their dear ones from them. We have seen footage of people stuck on roofs waiting for help. People swimming in the streets!! People collecting aides dropped by helicopters. We read in newspapers on the tragedy, or might say tragedies because every person and family lived a tragedy in the last few days. The disaster is huge that I was like “Oh my God, can I think of something to help those people?” Then I said to myself “Stop it. you need someone to help you.”

Amid all the chaos and sorrows, TV showed a man carrying a pile of cloths and walking away, but he had to drop it when an armed man, a police or something, pointed his rifle at him asking him to drop what he has “looted.” News agencies and TV stations talked about people breaking into stores and loot stuff after the rainstorms stopped. The looting was so huge that president Bush had to address people and ask them to abide by law.

“There ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this," he said on ABC station.

At one point I said to myself “I just cannot believe it. This is the US. There must be something wrong. People are not supposed to do that. This is not the third world. This is the United States of America.”

I know some will say “They are people hungry and wanted food.” I say “Yes, I know. But I am not talking about this. I am talking about the man who stole clothes and had a gun pointed to his head to drop it. I don’t think the security man was that mean to prevent people from taking food to survive.

Ali Baba is in the US also, but it is the American version. It is not only in Iraq. What happened showed that the Iraqis are not thieves, nor the Americans. In every place in the world, there is the good and the bad. You should never generalize one incident on all. I can never say all the Iraqis looted during and after the invasion. I will never say the Americans are thieves and looted during and after the catastrophe, Hurricane Katrina, because not all the Iraqis looted, nor all the Americans did.

What happened in the US over the past few days is like what happened in Iraq in 2003. The lack of security and the lawlessness followed the vacuum of security forces and law providers led to what happened in both places.

Few differences I could find between what happened in Iraq and what is happening in the US. First, what happened in Iraq was that people, feeling happy and freed, after the long period of oppression and depression, felt like they wanted to show how free they are. In a very uncivilized way and led by uneducated people and prisoners freed few months before the invasion by an amnesty issued by Saddam, they decided that they are that free to have the right to loot the government’s buildings, believing that it is “our money and we will get it back.”

What happened in the US is that people, left without security forces, benefited from the catastrophe and sorrows of other people, who left their houses and stores because they had to run to live, and started to spread lawlessness and looting.

Second, when the Iraqis looted, there was no one to stop them. No power to guard the government’s buildings. There was no security individual to point a gun in the head of the man, who stole the chair, and force him to leave it. In the US, they have policemen and national guards to restore order.

Third, the Iraqis looted over the happiness of freedom, while the Americans looted over the sorrows of their brothers.

Never feel shame Iraqis. If the Americans, who have what you never had of the needs to live and passed no oppression to compete with the oppressions you lived, have looted, you should never feel ashamed. We all are human beings and have faults and mistakes. But you know what? The best to do is to learn from the lessons. The best to do is to realize that what happened in 2003 is not justifiable and not to do it again. That’s when you would say “Yes, it was a mistake. But Iraqis will never do it again. Even when they need food, they ask first.”