Shiites and Sunnis Amaze Me!

This is an update of the situation in Baghdad as of Saturday.

Iraqi clergymen, Shiites and Sunnis, have met in a mosque in Baghdad and decided to contribute to ending the crisis that followed bombing one of Islam’s holiest sites, the shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi and hasan al-Askari in the city of Samarra north of Baghdad.

What was amazing about it is the unity they showed on TV. Above is a picture of clergymen. The one leading the prayers and circled by a black line is sheikh Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi, spokesman and main preacher in the Association of Muslim Scholars, which is the supreme Sunni religious authority in Iraq. In the picture, Kubaisi is shown leading the prayers and all the clergies behind him are Shiites from Sadr trend. This is the first time I see this. I’ve never seen a Sunni clergyman leading Shiite prayers. You could see the main difference between Sunni and Shiite Islam. Notice the way the Sunni stands [joining hands on the abdomen] and the Shiites standing with hands loose on the sides.

This is a huge encouragement to Iraqis and a huge defeat also for those who predicted a wide civil war in Iraq. Civil war started for real three days ago, but I don’t think there will be anymore. Not if Iraqis saw the picture above. Lets just hope that Iraqis had electricity to power TVs at homes and see what is happening!

[Note: The event was shown on Jazeera satellite channel. So I took a picture from the TV !!]

We Are All Misinformed!

You guys always said you don’t get all the news from Iraq. And I always agreed with you!

I was shocked today when I read the news in the foreign newspapers. No one emphasized the marvelous cooperation and solidarity between the Shiites and the Sunnis in Iraq yesterday after the bombing of one of the most respected and visited holy sites in Islam, the Askariyah shrine, which is in Samarra city north of Baghdad. The shrine contains the remains of two 9th century Imams, Imam Ali al-Hadi and Imam Hasan Askari. They are now wrongly considered as Shiite Imams. [Just so you know, in the 9th century there weren't Shiites and Sunnis yet. There were Muslims, who were fighting each other over power. And later on they invented Sunni and Shiite parts of Islam. Also for a background, all the dead “Shiite” Imams of the earlier centuries, like Mousa Kadhum, Ali, Hussein, and others, are considered as Sunni Imams too and are very much respected by all Muslims because they descend from Profit Muhammed. Sunni Imams, like Abu Haneefa, Abdul Qadir Gailani, Ahmed Rifaie, and others, cannot be considered as Shiite Imams because not all of them share the same grandfather. Therefore, I told my friends yesterday that the terrorists played it wrong. if they want to provoke a civil war, they should attack shrines of Sunni Imams, because that would upset more Sunnis than Shiites, not like yesterday. Yesterday, the attack upset and angered Sunnis and Shiites equally.]

Here are some information,which, for whatever reason, you don’t get in your news about the bombing:

The first reaction to the bombing which “targeted a Shiite” shrine came from the Sunni residents of Samarra. The first demonstration to condemn the attack was held spontaneously by Sunnis in the area where the shrine is. Almost all Sunni leaders went on TV to condemn the attack and show solidarity and unity with the Shiites. Here are some of what the Sunni leaders said on TVs all day yesterday [that’s what I could get]

- Wafiq Samarraie, a Sunni politician from Samarra city and serves as Iraq’s president’s advisor for security issues. [from Arabiya satellite channel]
He said “Iamam Ali al-Hadi is not only for Shiites. The shrine is a symbol of all Iraqis and of Samara city in particular. I demand to dismiss the governor of the province and take all the legal procedures to prevent strife. There will be no strife in Iraq. Iraqis will not fight each other. Samarra city should be protected. The information is very clear. The government should have chased the terrorists in eastern Samarra and they are a few. The government and the governor should have done something this issue. I tell the tribes in Samarra, especially in eastern Samarra, that ‘ it is a shame to leave the strangers among you. You should inform the police force about them.’”

- The Iraqi Islamic Party, IIP, one of the most powerful Sunni political and religious groups, issued a statement saying: “The size of the wicked conspiracy that is targeting the Iraqis, their sacred symbols, and unity, is clear now. After the series of attacking mosques and assassinations of clergies, people of Samarra woke up today on the bombing of Imam Ali Al-Hadi dome. We, the Iraqi Islamic Party/ Samarra branch, denounce this criminal act and demand a wide investigation to reveal the controversies that raise many questions on who was behind this incident. The commandos have cordoned the holy shrine since last night and tide up its guards and put them in a room and the people of Samarra released them after the bombing. The commandos prevented shop owners from going to their shops in the morning and there was movement of the occupation forces in the city all night long. All these controversies and others need an honest and wide investigation to find the real criminals and not hide them no matter what the reason is. We in the Iraqi Islamic Party/ Samarra branch, urge our people to go in wide, peaceful demonstrations to condemn this crime. We also remind all Iraqis to protect their unity to prevent the chance for suspicious conspiracies, which target all Iraqis with no exception. IIP/ Samarra branch”

- Iraq’s Kurdish president, Jalal Talbani, net with tribal leaders and prominent figures from Salahudin province, where Samarra city is, and talked about the incident. [from Iraqiya satellite channel]
He said “This is a crime against Iraq as a whole, not against Shiites only. It aims to provoke a sectarian strife and a civil war among us. I hope the Sunni clergies would condemn this crime. We all are facing a conspiracy against Iraq and its entity. Therefore we should all unite to prevent the danger of civil war.”

- Tariq al-Hashimi, secretary general of the Iraqi Islamic Party, held a press conference yesterday. Some of what he said was: “"29 mosques were attacked either by burning or occupation using missiles and grenades. The IIP considers these attacks as historical crimes which everybody should work on stooping them. we call on everybody for the self control. There is a conspiracy against the Iraqi people. Everyone should cooperate to stop this conspiracy. This is a battle in which everyone wants to hurt the other."

- Abdil Aziz Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Shiite party that controls the country now, appeared on Arabiya satellite channel and said: “The Sunnis had honorable reaction today. They rejected and condemned this crime. All of us should hold our hands together to combat terrorism.”

- Iraq’s Marjiyas [religious authorities] Shiite and Sunni, they all called on people to self-control and “peacefully” demonstrate together to condemn the attack. They specifically asked people “not to attack Sunni mosques or shrines.”

I was amazed how only the provocative and civil-war-style quotes were published today in the newspapers. Almost no newspaper showed how great, it appeared to us, the solidarity among Iraqis was yesterday. It is true that Sunni mosques were attacked by unknown men yesterday, and some Sunnis were killed. But that wasn’t the only thing happened as a reaction. Newspapers should have been neutral, as we were taught, and show both sides. Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Arabs, Christians, Sabians, Turkumans, and others publicly condemned the attack, but no one wanted to show the truth. I am not saying there will be no riots in Iraq to react to the shrine attack. I am not saying there weren't mosques that were attacked yesterday and burned down. I am not saying that Shiites and Sunnis kissed and hugged after the attack yesterday. All what I am saying is that the news made Iraqis look like if they were fighting each other widely in the streets, which is not true. The news only made Iraqis sound like barbarians killing each other. There are barbarian Iraqis, like other people in the world, I am not saying all Iraqis are perfect and compete with angels in their manners. But why when anything good happens, they show the bad side of it too in their stories, but when any bad thing to happen, they only write about it and not the good sides around it?

All expect civil war in Iraq, which might happen although I don’t believe it would. Therefore, they want to contribute to the civil war’s first step. Shame on you all! Shame on the “free and honest” press!

If You Don’t Agree, You Are Against Us!


“Why have you become anti-American. You used to be pro-American,” he accused me with anger in his voice. He was like someone who was waiting for the right moment to say this sentence.

I stretched my back in the chair and said “I am not anti-American. And they’ve become anti-Iraqi too.”

That was part of the conversation I had with a friend of mine last night after I received news from Karbala, a Shiite city 50 miles south of Baghdad, saying that the provincial council there suspended meetings with the U.S. embassy’s representative in the city. Why? There is a story.

Two days ago, the embassy’s representative in Karbala was supposed to have a meeting with the city’s provincial council. The Karbala’s governor told reporters that he arrived to his building that day to find “U.S. forces controlled the building like an invasion.” Then, the governor was not allowed to enter the building with all the cars making his convoy. Only one car was allowed, he said.

U.S. forces prevented the president of an Iraqi province local governing council from entering his building, to go to his office, unless he splits from his convoy and accepts to enter with only one car, which he did to avoid problems. U.S. forces did that to protect their boss, the American diplomat, from a council they’ve been dealing with for a long time.

The governor entered inside the building to find it invaded by bomb-detecting dogs [know as sniffing dogs too.] He said that he found a dong even in his office. Then he met with the council’s members, who complained that the dogs had to sniff all their stuff like suitcases, women purses, plastic bags, etc…..

Now, in Islam, which is the religion of the majority in Karbala and the majority in Iraq, considers dogs, and almost all animals, as dirty companions. And if you touch a dog, you should go through a certain procedure to purify the body, then you could pray, if you do pray. The point of this, people close to religion tell me, is that animals cannot control themselves to be away from unclean environment. Even if the owner is clean and does everything he or she could to keep a pet clean, there is a time when a pet answers nature calls and doesn’t clean its body after. Then if you touch a pet or any animal and go directly to stand before God [any kind of God] you wouldn’t be clean. And people believe that we should be clean when we face God to pray or wish or whatever.

Back to Karbala…. So the council members were pissed because they were searched before they enter the building, which they enter everyday while the U.S. army is in it or not. They were insulted when dogs sniffed their stuff. It wasn’t the first time Americans enter the building. Residents say that U.S. army personnel frequently visit the provincial building, but no “disrespect involved.” There problem this time was with a civilian diplomat, not with the army. The governor made it clear that he didn’t suspend relations with the U.S. army, but he suspended meetings with the U.S. embassy civilian representative in Karbala, which is a huge difference. In fact, the council had a meeting with the U.S. military yesterday.

“We don’t search them when they come to our buildings,” I told my friend.
“Because they don’t IED your people,” sarcastically replied.
“But they kill my people in the streets. It is the same,” I insisted.

I should tell you here that I was talking about the civilian American officials in the country. The ones like the diplomat and his bodyguards in Karbala. The ones who don’t mix with people and live in their bubbles wherever they are and know nothing about the country they are in and expected to help. Those people come to the country with no pre-knowledge of where they are going. They come here to help, and I thank them for risking their life for whatever reason they do it for. But their advisors only tell them how to keep “100 meters distance,” between them and the rest of the cars in a street. They don’t tell them that when they mix with officials and want to meet with them to “help” provide democracy to the country and help them respect their people and serve them, they should not insult these officials because that would backfire on the way people see their representatives in the government.

They should learn from the U.S. army. Really. I wonder why the embassy doesn’t register its employees in a course to be supervised by the U.S. army and professed by Iraqis to teach them a little about our culture and community. They are staying in our country forever, or I hope they do [the embassy employees I mean] because we will have relations with the United States forever hopefully. They should learn about the country they are in. They should know what is offensive and what is not to nicely communicate with citizens.

Here is what I do. Since we were freed from Saddam Hussein’s regime and were able to install satellites in our houses, I’ve been watching Oprah, and Dr. Phil. And you know why? Because they are the best window I could look at the U.S. through. I later learned that if a man watches Oprah or Dr. Phil shows in the U.S., he would be considered…… well… that’s for you to decide. But for me, those shows were the mentor I got to show me how to deal with Americans and how to be among them without being offensive. When I went to the U.S., I never had a problem with mixing with people. Especially in the U.S. because it’s like Iraq, a country with many ethnic parties and religious factions and different cultures. That’s why I needed a mentor to advise me. Before I go there, because I wanted to go and expect to be respected, but first I should respect them.

For instance, normally if you go to a restaurant in Iraq and sit in your chair and turn your face to a stranger and smile and say “Hi. It’s a lovely place, don’t you think?” that is weeeeeeiiiiiird!!! But if it happens in a U.S. restaurant there, that’s nice!!

See!! Such a simple example shows how different cultures are. And it also shows that if we want to live in another country and work, we should learn about it and its people.

That’s why I didn’t like it when he accused me of being anti-American. I don’t know why when I criticize wrong doings that U.S. soldiers and civilians do, I become anti-American. Why when I criticize wrong doings that are done by terrorists and extremists, I am considered pro-American! That’s just not fair.

Feeh!

Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Worst!

Another video showing Iraqis being abused by the “liberators” was shown today*.

The scene starts as British soldiers dragging young Iraqis from the collars, force them to the ground and start beating. Three young and unarmed Iraqis crawling on the ground. With desperate moves to try to talk to the beaters, they managed to protect their skulls and faces with their hands. The beaters are four British soldiers using their fists and batons, beating the Iraqis on every part of their little bodies. A fourth British soldier was supervising this “counterinsurgency” operation from a few feet away. The Iraqis were trying to find a way to shelter, but they weren't lucky. There was nothing around them but a wall, they finally stick to the walls to save half of their bodies the beating.

“Oh yes. You’re gonna get it…. naughty little boys,” said the filmmaker following these psychopathic words with an ugly, full-of-hatred, snobby fucking laughter.

“No, please…. No, please,” the boys kept pleading, but no one seemed to hear their desperate words, but the filmmaker, who repeated the words sarcastically.

"We condemn all acts of abuse and brutality," the Associated Press quoted the British military spokesman as saying. Other British officials said an investigation will be launched.

The beating followed a demonstration arranged by residents in Basra, a southern city of Iraq where British troops established a colony. In the demonstration, which was showed in the tape too, protesters threw rocks at the British soldiers. Later on, the soldiers detained three Iraqis and took them inside the British base and started the “disciplinary” process.

“We hope that the good relations that the Multi-National Forces have worked very hard to develop won't be adversely affected by this material," the British military spokesman said. And I was wondering what good relations is he talking about, and what kind of hard work the multinational forces were doing to earn this “good relation”? The work the U.S. forces were doing in Abu Ghraib prison? The sexual abuse and torture the detainees were exposed to in that prison, and when the scandal spread, the U.S. forces happily launched and investigation of which we only know that ONE of the many abusers was sentenced to prison. What happened to the others? no one knows. Or maybe he was talking about the good relation when the Iraqi forces detained two British soldiers and later that night the British forces demolished the detention facility of Iraq’s “sovereign” security forces and freed them away. Or no, maybe he was talking about the 15 Iraqi policemen who were detained by the brutish forces a few weeks ago in the city of Basra, without even coordinating with the Iraqi government or the local government in the city. Or no no, maybe he was talking about the Jadriya prison, which the U.S. forces visited three time a week and later they announced that they’ve found maltreated and malnourished Sunni detainees in that prison. [The prison was officially managed by the Iraqi police, which is mainly dominated by members of a strong Shiite militia. And the announcement came by the U.S. forces (coincidently) just a few days before the elections last December. It was a stupid attempt to decrease the Shiites votes in the elections]

In all the cases I mentioned above, the officials vowed to launch investigations. But what happened in these investigations, what are the results? Who was responsible for detaining the Iraqi police? And if they were insurgents as the British forces claimed, why didn’t the British forces coordinate with the Iraqi forces, police, or government? Who was responsible for the Abu Ghraib prison stuff? Why do we only know about the famous, ass face female soldier, while there are many others. What happened to them? Were they punished? Also, who was responsible for Jadriya prison scandal? What happened in the investigation? Who is punished and who is not?

These are questions that Iraqis are waiting to answer. It would make a huge difference if we know the answers.

How cheap the Iraqi blood became. How disrespected Iraqis have become. How impossible to rebuild the Iraqis confidence and civilization again is becoming. How ugly the face of occupation is becoming before me. Oh, how deceived we are and how frustrated and awful I feel right now.

Here is how the Iraqis would think about it: you are an occupation force. You came to this country claiming to be helping Iraq to improve and emerge into democracy and freedom life. Three years after this dream, the Iraqis are still being killed by hundreds per month, Iraqis are still imprisoned in their country, Iraqis are still afraid of the unknown, Iraqis are still being tortured, Iraqis are still under attack, Iraqis are still terrified to live normally, Iraq is still called a “terrorism spot and hideout” [by the way, under Saddam Hussein, Iraq had ZERO terrorists on its land] Iraqis are still being tortured and abused.

How do you want this to not to affect the “good relations” between Iraqis and the occupiers?

* You can see the video here

It Just Drives Me Crazy and Makes Me Sick!

There were 322 terrorist attacks in Iraq last week, 72 Iraqis killed and 174 wounded. These are numbers given by Iraq’s defense ministry in a news conference last Sunday. Of course the number is higher now.

All Iraqi politicians promise to decrease the violence once there is a “National unity government” whatever that might mean. I don’t know what the term “national unity government” means. As I understand it, it means giving key government positions to those who won nothing in the elections so they don’t contribute more in the instability of the government. Although this might seem stupid and nonsense, it is the only way out of the situation. And there will be no way out!

Ok, Iraq’s PM, president, Mulla (Hakim), ministers, and some of the deceived people always repeat that “there will be less violence when we all unite and form a government that all Iraqi ethnic, religious, and political factions would participate in. When this happens, according to them, there should be less that 322 attacks per week, less than 72 Iraqis killed per week, and less than 147 Iraqis wounded per week.

Since May 2005, 36800 Iraqi civilians were killed, 11000 kidnapping cases were conducted in the country, average 50 suicide per month, the unemployment percentage jumped to 40% of the people, oil production went down to 1.1 million barrel per day (was 2.25 million barrels per day in 2004 and early 2005.) [these numbers are taken from a study published in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper and republished in the Iraqi Baghdad newspaper] And according to our respectable politicians, there will be no more deteriorating if a “national unity” government is formed, whenever it is formed.

Now, the Iraqis left there beds and houses early Dec. 15, 2005 and headed to the polling centers to vote for their long awaited government. They challenged mortar attacks, car bombs, and every risk you might think of, including hand written threats distributed in some Iraqi cities, just to go and try to contribute to the end of the miserable life Iraqis are living, after they realized that all the governments were promising, but not fulfilling. Why should the governments fulfill any of the promises? If they do, it means there will be no reason for the multinational forces to stay active in Iraq. And if the multinational forces left, who would protect the Iraqi government’s compounds from the people who voted for this government? To hell with the promises.

Back to the “national unity” government. Now the Iraqis are looking forward, once more, for a not-set-yet deadline to form their government. Two months after the elections, after losing many dozens of Iraqis to violence since than, Muwaffaq Rubaie, Iraq’s national security advisor, come on an Iraqi TV station and calm Iraqis down and promise them a better life. Listen to this:

Reporter: Mr. Muwaffaq, we hear that there are disagreements inside the United Iraqi Alliance [the Shiite bloc that won 140 seats in Iraq’s 275-seat parliament] and these disagreements are the reason behind delaying the formation of the government. Is that right?
Muwaffaq Rubaie: Let me assure the Iraqis that all the news about disagreements inside the alliance are not true. Let me assure the Iraqis that all the people who put a bet that the alliance will divide and fail are going to be turned down. [as if Iraqis would care]
Reporter: so what is the reason behind the delay of forming a government?
Muwaffaq Rubaie: negotiations continue and the reason of the delay is because some people are busy with the ceremonies of Ashoora.

what the fuck!!!! You know what Ashoora means? It is a Shiite rituals to morn the death of Imam Hussein, the cousin of prophet Muhammed. It is one of the main rituals in Shiite Islam and is very respected date on their calendar. I have no problem with this at all. I respect all religions and sects and even if I don’t believe in rituals, any kind of them, I have no problem with people practicing them.

But the fact that Iraq’s politicians are busy with these ceremonies and have no time to save the Iraqis life and spare the lives of more men and women who will be killed until Iraq is stable????? That is just sick. They stopped solving problems and negotiating to form a government to cry? Well, wait one more day and cry over more Iraqis killed, that would be more logical. Iraqis are being killed now and will be killed tomorrow and its rulers are busy to morn Imam Hussein, who was killed about 1400 years ago.

It is our fault, no one else’s !!!

Feeh!

Just A Thought!

She was very happy when I picked her up. Cheery and proud of the triumph she achieved, she noted that “there was fog in the bathroom. It was like a sauna.” We laughed.

In her neighborhood in Baghdad, electricity is missing for more than five weeks now. The main transformer broke down when high voltage attacked it. Residents have been trying to convince the city council to replace the transformer, but all what they get is “when we get one, we will give it to you.” So, since then, residents depend on generators, which don’t operate water heaters or heaters. Her neighborhood lives in the 1940s of Iraq, heating water on the cook. A pot, two, or three on the cook, beside the under-cooking dinner.

I picked her up form her sister’s place. She called me earlier in the day and said “I will go there to have a normal shower. I cant take it anymore. I don’t want to heat water on the cook.” I thought that was little extra-feelings she put in the subject. But then I realized how difficult it is to be living in Iraq now and that the smallest problem in any other place becomes huge here because it is added to others.

She is locked up in her house. If she wants to go to the market, she has to take the risk of car bombs, mortar attacks, kidnapping, robbery, and haphazard shooting by the U.S. and Iraqi forces or the private security firms guarding officials. What a life.

In the way back, I looked at her every time I could, because I was driving. Her wrinkled face tells stories of decades of happiness, sadness, achievements, and miseries. The veins carved on her hands make the best painting of three decades of teaching generations. She served her country for thirty years as a teacher. Doctors, engineers, lawyers, artists, technicians, and others have been enriched by this woman. And now, her most wishes are to find her diabetes medicine in the pharmacy and to be able to live a day without fearing the unknown.

“What makes you happy?” I asked her. “Nothing,” she said “let’s not think about happiness now. Let’s hope we arrive home safe.”

On our way back, we drove in many streets of Baghdad, and all what she said was “oh, look at this. Is this Baghdad? It is a dead body.” Her Kurdish eyes glared from behind her thick spectacles. They were dry, but her heart took over and shed tears. I tried to do stupid stuff to cheer her up again, but failed. I made sudden stops and shouted, I closed my eyes and drove, I told her jokes, but no. She is not happy.

“Do you think you got what you deserve in your life?” I asked.

“I spent thirty years teaching. I contributed to the future of Iraq,” she wiped her tears as saying, “all what I get now is dark nights and goalless days. I wish I could go back to teaching. It was fun.”

“Please, keep Iraqi women protected. That's all I ask for these days,” Fairouz wrote in an email back in September. I sensed the bitterness and fear in her words. Women in Iraq are not protected. When a man retires, he would find a part time job if he wants or scans the streets everyday until he is tired and then heads home, but not a woman. Women retire from their jobs to be maids in their own houses. An average Iraqi woman’s life ends right there, in the kitchen or wiping away dust from her husband’s desk.

Feeh!