A Family in Baghdad

Monday, July 26th. 2004
Good morning...
It is now about 6 p.m. in Baghdad, the electricity is off, and the generator is buzzing outside. The national electricity is due soon, as the cut-off program has been altered, becoming two hours on, then four hours off. Which means most of the noon time without electricity... I feel the pain that people live in, in this killing heat, with children or ill people in the family. The temperature is now 45 degrees C outside, which means it was about 50 degrees C at noon, when I got back from work.
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Since I got back to Baghdad, I felt tired; having severe pains in my abdomen, and my whole body…I skipped work for two days to rest, then called my sister, a Doctor, who told me to come to the clinic, so she would perform a Sonar check…So I went with her yesterday, to her clinic in Al-Dora, a crowded, popular area at the south of Baghdad, where Al-Dora electrical station is located, which is the main electricity-feeding station of Baghdad. The streets were crowded in a nerve-breaking way, lorries, pick-ups, small civilian cars, and American military vehicles…the traffic- lights weren't working, the police were putting up super efforts to ease the traffic…the heat was intense…it was about 11 a.m., the main street was usually a two-way street, but now, one of the directions is cancelled, and cement blocks were put in the entrance to the electricity station, for fear of explosions against it, so, the traffic jam was created, because the one-direction street is too narrow to compass the usual traffic flow of the area, which is crowded with wholesale markets ( fruit and vegetables markets), along with many medical centers, giving services to people of the towns and provinces located on the southern boarders of Baghdad…when farmers come to deliver their products in Al-Dora or Al-Saidiia markets, they bring along their wives and children for treatment in these medical centers.
In the after noon, for years now, my sister works in a state-owned, popular clinic…I asked her on our way to her morning clinic: how are the conditions of the patients and medicine?
She said: the medicines are very rare, before the war, a patient used to pay 750 Dinars (about 50 cents) for the medical examination and three items of medicine. Now he pays the same amount just for the examination and one item of medicine only. The permanent diseases medicines, like diabetics and hypertension, are not available, so do not ask about them. And the medicines we dispense now come from the lots we have stored before the war….
And what is the Ministry of Health doing? I asked in amazement, because I always thought that medicine is a priority, like water and electricity…
She said: don't ask. Perhaps the reason is that they do not have a budget or financing for the importation, perhaps the administrative corruption that has become well deserving of censorship…a gang of thieves went away, and instead, tens of new gangs settled in.
What about the New Government? I asked, don't they have any authority to perform positive steps for serving the people???
It is a temporary government, she said, and every one in it is either an honest person who hides in his house, in fear on his life, of an assassination, or a thieve who wants to seize the opportunity to steel as much as possible before the end of his authorization period….and that is one of the reasons for assassinations of government members, for some hate them because they see them as beneficiaries, while the others are unemployed, and hungry. So, how could you stop these feelings of hate, and the desire to revenge?
My heart was heavy, and we kept the silence until we got to the clinic.
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The waiting area was crowded with women, wrapped in the traditional Iraqi Abba; the secretary greeted us with a smile. Then we entered quickly, where my sister examined me by Sonar, and said: There is nothing wrong…you are only tired after traveling…I felt very happy, for I was devoured by worries, and couldn't sleep of panic, by the possibility of having some disease…life here had enough mishaps…and I certainly didn't need a disease to add to my misery.
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I went home through the same street, it was around 12 noon, the air was very hot, the car I hired didn't have air conditioning…I almost died of heat and headache. The street was crowded…there were cement blocks blocking the traffic…dust in the streets, along side the heat multiplied the feelings of fatigue. There were cement and sand walls in front of the electricity station entrance, there was a bullet ripped car standing by the road side, I asked the driver about it, and he said: An assassination attempt…and another car whose parts were kneaded together, standing on another side, what was this? He said: The remains of a trapped car…
Armed Iraqi policemen … and men wearing the new Iraqi army uniform… check points, broken and chipped curbstones, dirty alleys filled with garbage, and barbed wires, where flying papers and torn nylon sacks have flown and stuck, adding more gloom to the scene… I kept staring from behind the car's window glass…who would have believed that this would happen to us one day? That this would be Baghdad? Did all this happen by chance, or was there someone who planned, drew schemes, and carried out all this, and made us live in this hell??
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I went back home with my shirt completely socked in sweat…in the back and the chest…I washed my face with cold water, drank a little water, then sat on the floor, panting from heat and fatigue. How could a human live here? With the intense heat, the electricity cut-off, the traffic jams, and all the tragic daily scenes… listening to the depressing news about gangs, kidnapping, bombings, and assassinations…and I remembered all those who immigrated or fled from Iraq…well, they were right, I told my self, who would endure all this daily torture? …it is something that looks like slow death…the death of feelings… principles… and every human, beautiful thing.
Yes...slow death.
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I sat by myself in the afternoon and thought, and laughed, when I had the notion of slow death. Once more…it’s a lethal weapon, used by a cunning, malicious mind.
In 1991, when the Kuwait war was over, and a large percentage of the Iraqi army was destroyed, along with its military equipments, why didn't America finish off Saddam Hussein then, and end the misery of the Iraqi people? And why did America collaborate with him to repress the revolution in the south against him?
America allowed him to use all types of weapons to exterminate the Iraqi people who were revolting in the south…and I will not say the Shia'ats, for I am a Shi'ie, but I would like to be clear minded, and this story about the Sunni and the Shi'ie is a made-up story, used to divide the Iraqis into factions against each other, and to get them cornered, each faction alone. So I repeat it was the Iraqis revolution against the Saddam regime in 1991, when it was crushed, and thus started the mass cemeteries from then on, cemeteries which America helped establish with Saddam, but America went back to shed some tears for us, after their last war upon us…and only fools believed that Saddam was the only criminal…. Why didn't they depose him then?
Because they knew he still held a small amount of popularity with the Iraqis and Arabs…so they deployed the policy of embargo against the Iraqis, which is a policy of slow death…for more than ten years. At that time, tens of thousands of Iraqis run away, and perhaps by the end of the embargo years the number rose to millions. And in those who remained, the most cherished, beautiful feelings in a human being died, little by little…feelings to the homeland, feelings of belonging…The love of the homeland was interpreted as love to Saddam, and people hated the homeland.
By the passage of the bitter years, the government official lost his nationality feelings, his sincerity, and became addicted to bribes. The soldier hated his being a soldier, finding no reason for his being in the army, and so did the policeman and the security officer…instead of feeling that he is here to serve the people, they became enemies of the people, hurting them, blackmailing them, in order to find a useful reason to remain in their jobs.
Little by little…corruption and bribes spread even among the education staff, the educational system, and the health and hospitals sector…The majority became infected by the bribe and corruption virus, the insincerity, and dishonesty. Thus such a virus spreads quickly, in these harsh conditions of hunger and need, of loss of conscience and principle…what values a human retains when you deprive him of his principles and conscience?? What differentiates him then from an animal?
I don't suppose there would be a difference worth mentioning…. Those were the astonishing results of the slow death program…..used cunningly against the Iraqis, coming up with excellent consequences, exactly just as the program designer wanted…
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Then the war took place, the crumbling regime fell down, for it no longer had strong foundations in the ground of reality…people became very tired, their hearts died, no longer having something to move them, the homeland became Saddam Hussein, the dictator…well, down with Saddam Hussein…and down with the homeland, there was no longer a difference…
But with time, people are awakening from their slumber, looking around them; they see occupation forces, harsh practices, prisons, torture, and scandals, stories about new bribes, and new administrative corruption…so, the awakening starts again…Now the homeland is not equal to Saddam Hussein…the picture is more clear….the homeland is this patch of earth, these people, these streets, trees, palms, these rivers and lakes, these public gardens, the beautiful, sad memories here and there, the cemeteries of our ancestors and loved ones, our schools and universities, our hospitals and National libraries, the Museum, the Iraqi Art Halls, filled with singing, folk dancing, and halls containing beautiful, artistic paintings of Iraqi artists, dead or still a live, and many Monuments, many relatives, neighbors, and friends, and a long, long history of our fathers and forbearers…
How can we easily give all that up???
This is where the clashing with the new comers happens….here comes the moments of awakening among people…the beginning of the dialogue, then the objection, then the verbal or armed clashing…
They are occupying us, they want to steel our fortunes, and our future…didn't we have enough, enduring Saddam Hussein??
This is the speech of the street…
But whoever planned for this war was no fool… (He) calculated for each stage its own account…He expected people to wake-up from the slumber and defend their country, just liberated from the tyranny and dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, so he arranged the suitable answer for them…violence, chaos, bombings, assassinations, and a total mix-up of cards…then the defiling of the National Resistance reputation, in order to breed hatred and loathing against them in the street, instead of support.
When a spontaneous demonstration moves any where in the world, demanding the rights of a class of workers or employees, for example…some rioters mix themselves among them, sent by vicious gangs, who do not want this demonstration to succeed, so, fires would be lit, bullets would be fired against innocents, and the demonstration would be diverted from its original goal, achieving total failure and bad reputation.
How many times such stories happened in the history of nations? In Europe, America, and else where?
This is how the National Resistance against the occupation is being defiled, by planting corrupt elements, and criminal, terrorist organizations, financed by the enemies of the people and resistance. Isn't that what is happening in Palestine, for example, for tens of years, until the story got mixed-up, and we no longer know who is with the people, and who is against them?
This is the modern, innovative way, instead of throwing nuclear bombs, or Napalm, we kill these nations slowly…so they would lose their way, and no longer know the right from wrong, nor a friend from foe.
Here, for example, when you object to the practices of the occupation and the idea of their existence, you will find some new hero who shouts in your face: (Ah… Ha…so you are a supporter of Saddam? ). And you swear to him that he knows you, knows your past, and that you are an independent nationalist, who loves his country and wants independence… (But then he insists upon intimidating you, threatening): (you are one of Saddam's people… of course… don't tell me…I understand you..).
It is then that you start laughing in amazement, on that worthless, sick man, who insists upon his attitude against you, isn't this terrorizing??? To intimidate you, to label you a traitor, explaining your words in a different meaning…what is this called??
The percentage in of this new-model hero in the Iraqi field is less than 10%, but he is rude and brutal, and he wants to scare people and terrorize them…He is a model that belongs to a faction who are the beneficiaries of the occupation, this faction contains contractors, merchants, and entrepreneurs, most of them used to perform the same role at the time of Saddam Hussein, but they only changed the target now, and instead of the blandishment to Saddam, now it is directed at the occupation …As for the notion of the homeland and its love, well, in their point of view it is a naive principle that became extinct along time ago…their country to them is the cow that yields the milk…if there was any benefit from this cow, we shall stay, and have the priority, if not, we shall emigrate and invest at other places in the world…
Some members of the new parties also belong to this faction, those greedy ones, who want to sweep away every thing on their way to the seat of power.
Yes, these are new, sick types, created by the presence of the occupation, and were encouraged because they form foundations for the occupation, on which to stand, and to be used as assistance to control the people…
I receive letters from American friends, saying they are facing the same pressures if they renounce the Bush war on Iraq, the dialogue being as such: (Ah… Ha…so you are a supporter of Bin Laden group then? ).
No, I am not with Bin Laden… I am an American, I love my country, and I do not agree with injustice. And the answer comes: (Ah...Ha…and what keeps you here??? Why don't you leave America if you don't like what is going on???).
And that is another kind of terrorism…and intimidation, and a compulsion to keep quiet.
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Yes…there is only one notion circling around, dominating, controlling people's minds, and this notion is directed by an organized group, spread all over the world, its strong tool is the Media.
You start on the Internet; you read the news, where most large nets use the same terms…and the same explanations towards events.
You read the local newspapers…the same tune. You listen to radio channels, … the same tune. And so with the T.V. channels, satellite or local channels…all play the same tune…
And they all make you think and adopt a single view point…
There might be some different view points in European countries, but in America and the Arab world, there are only two clear lines: the War on Terrorism Line, and the War on Iraq Line…
In America there is a strong tide against Bush and his administration, and the line he is moving along…
While in the Arab world, especially here in Iraq, there is a violent, vicious, intensity, aiming to validate one notion, and one line, and to destroy and break the opposing line, by every possible way…by killing, assassination, violence, intimidating, and misleading….in order to brace one view point, and crush the other, opposing view point.
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What is happening in Iraq now??
It happens that the people got tired, they need rest, security, water, electricity, and medicine…they need jobs, and good living. And when you look at our daily lives since the entry of the occupation, you see and make sure that all these demands are postponed, that they have been connected to the halting of the resistance against the occupation… as if they are telling the people: Denounce the resistance, help us to destroy them completely…and we will open the doors of rich living for you …..
This is what is happening every day, with a simple accumulation of a few months…the picture looks much clearer to whoever watches, thinks, and analyses…
Then there is another item…the assassination of smart, educated members, who could raise the flag of fighting the occupation by speech and not weapons…
The first step would be: Eliminating the armed resistance. The second step would be merged with the first: Eliminating the pacifist resistance…terrorizing the people by bombings, killing and kidnappings, so that whoever couldn't endure the situation would run away, and only the weak would remain, those who hide in their houses, and wouldn't want to contribute to the making of Iraq's future, seeking safety for themselves and their children, contributing the country to the new comers, to be eaten and monopolized, just as Saddam Hussein and his clan monopolized it before, terrorizing people, and preventing them from contributing in the making of their lives and future.
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And when the stage of clearing and street cleaning from the annoying opposition would be over …the stage of rebuilding and democracy will begin.
Will this happen? Yes…When?
Perhaps within six months, or a year, or two…I don't know…but the program moves ahead…no one is in a rush, maybe Bush is concerned about time, as he is facing the elections, and this is a matter of life or death…he will push to achieve as much as possible in the program…so he could attribute the victory to himself.
But what if Kerry won the elections…then what? Dose he have any clear, alternative program??
I do not think so, but he already announced the (Pass Word) that enables him to enter the elections, with a possibility of winning, he said he supports the state of Israel, and its right to exist, and defend it self.
Well done…
As for the rest of the details…they aren't important, for there is someone to put them down and convince the President about them later…about his Foreign and internal policies.
What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?
There is no clear, substantial difference…and that is why the points are close, and the fight over the Presidency chair is very strong, and vicious.
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Now the opposition can be eliminated, , but in the modern tactics ….
For every opposition newspaper, tens of newspapers will be issued that would support and encourage the other's viewpoint, so that opposition would become a minority representative…its influence would be controlled in volume…exactly just like our work here on the Internet…for each Iraqi writer, opposing to the occupation, ten sites would open, supporting the occupation, thus the opposition becomes a minority to the web sites visitors, while all the time he represents the voice of the majority in the Iraqi street…
Democracy is a dangerous game…there are some specialists in forgery who sometimes lead the march, so that the picture would appear in the opposite way… but it's only a matter of time … and lies do not last very long…soon the truth would be clear to all, near or far, smart or fool.
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Media facilities, like Al-Jazzera station, apparently looks like it is on the side of the Arabs and Muslims, but actually it is an enemy to Arabs and Muslims…
It has helped in a major way in deforming their image in the west, making them appear as terrorist gangs, showing reports and documentaries, exclusively on the Al-Jazzera…films about Bin Laden and his assistants, documentaries about the kidnapping and terrorist operations gangs, I wonder, do they call Al-Jazzera office and make an appointment with wanted criminals?
And the speeches of Saddam Hussein before he was arrested? And the meetings of Al-Qaida men in Afghanistan and the Saudi Arabia Kingdom?
And all the time, the station is the neighbor of Al-Aideed Military base in Qatar…meaning- in the heart of the American Military Power in the Middle East??
Ha..Ha..Ha…?
And whom are they laughing on? They are laughing upon the frustrated, miserable Arab citizen, acting the part of sympathizing, while they are his enemies, distorting his image, creating thousands of barriers between the truth they want to show, and the actual truth on the ground…
Here in Baghdad we call it The Channel of Inquietudes…as it is specialized in transmitting hatreds and troubles among the Arabs and Muslims themselves, and between them and the western society.
The on-coming years will reveal who is the sponsor and financer for it…and the on-coming years will let us know who financed the gangs of killings, kidnapping, and crime in Iraq…and who financed the terrorist bombings against innocent civilians…
The on-coming years will tell us, and tell others, every thing….Who had the advantage in bringing the United Nations out of Iraq, along with Non-Governmental, Humanitarian Organizations, and kidnapping the employees of companies working in Iraq, from various nationalities, showing them on Al-Jazzera …gangs of veiled scum, destroying all hope of building a new country….
There is someone who wants to stop the building process until further notice …. and there is someone who has an elimination program he wants to finish, then turn around to look at the conditions of the people…as if it is a Mass Punishment Policy … exactly like the embargo that lasted more than ten years… here it is …continuing by the same rhythm….. Hunger, administrative corruption, and injustice….and a minority living in luxury, laughing, and reaping benefits…
What has changed for the Iraqis???
Oh, yes, one thing has changed…. they are under occupation today….
Is there a more beautiful life, and daily vocabulary, than this???
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The Iraqi people are usually formed in classes…
I think I am trying today to define these classes of Iraqis. A Majority class, officials and retired people, minor merchants, career and handicraft people…those are the beaten majority, looking on, and feeling distressed…rejecting the occupation because they simply and clearly see it as an insult to their dignity.
A Minority class of politicians who are party leaders, journalists, major merchants, contractors and entrepreneurs, and officials in high governmental posts, like Ministers and General Managers…some of those reject the occupation, and refuse to collaborate with it, considering that a treason…
But a percentage of them are beneficiaries, wanting the occupation to continue, because without it, they will be discharged...their role to become marginal.
There is also a third class, which swings between classes, its percentage also minor, but it has a strong influence, if the chance permits… This is the most pressure and harm facing class today, the Cultured Independent Nationalist class…
They have the choice of either keeping silent and hiding, for fear of confrontation, or being conscious, truthful, and brave, speaking as this Nation's conscience… this is the class that is threatened by killing, assassination, and being crushed…because it forms a real danger to the occupation, and those men who support it.
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The word (Future), what has it come to mean to Iraqis now?
It became to mean fear, of the continuance of destruction and devastation… the continuance of immigration of Iraqis, of killing them, detaining them, destroying all bravery and nationality in their hearts… Fear of the field being filled with climbing, hypocrite types, thinking only of their benefits, their slogan being: Let all go to hell after Me.…I will put my hand into the hand of the devil, as long as I can get more wealth and power.
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Yesterday, I watched an interview on an Iraqi satellite channel; with the heads of some new Iraqi parties…the subject of discussion was about the coming stage after the temporary government, the preparations for the elections, teaching the people how to make use of their election rights to make a better future, by choosing honest men who do not run after the power seat for their personal benefits, but for serving the people, and giving them more rights, more chances for a better life….
The elections won't be legal unless half of the Iraqi people at least, take part in it…and the election call paper must reach the furthest Iraqi house, in the furthest Iraqi town…so there would be justice, clarity, and association.
And they said that whoever loves the Iraqis now, wouldn't be looking for the seat and post, the Honest Nationalist now, is that who helps people, stands by them to open their eyes on their rights, in the contribution in making a better future….
They said there were attempts that will be mean, to devise some cultic laws that aim to disrupt the people's unity, and weaken the patriotic voices, They said the road to democracy will be the only option for Iraqis…but it is a road surrounded by danger…
There are some men who are professionals in politics, they know how to trick the will of the people, but our ambition is that they wouldn't succeed, that we will walk together, hand in hand, to build a beautiful country, full of goodness to all…
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I believe in God the great, that every thing happened by His will and design… and I believe that He Supports the right, and Hates injustice….
I wish God will be with the Iraqis…. Giving them victory, and Supporting them in making good for their country, and their coming generations….
I hope Iraqis would never, ever lose hope…in a shiny, beautiful, tomorrow…
How tight life would be, without the expanse of hope…….
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Translated by May, Baghdad.

مساء الخير
وضعت جزءا جديدا من دفتر مذكرات الحرب   اليومية على العراق
سأضع الترجمة لها لاحقا
كلما قرأت في ذلك الدفتر
بقيت يومين بعده مصابة بالذهول
وأظل أسترجع تفسير الأحداث مرة أخرى
لم أكن أفهم شيئا في حينها
لكني اليوم أجد أجوبة على معظم الأسئلة التي كانت هناك
قراءة الأحداث مرة أخرى وبمرور الزمن
تأخذ معاني أخرى
ربما أوضح مما كانت في وقتها
تحياتي للجميع
فائزة

الإثنين 26 تموز 2004
مساء الخير...
الساعة الآن في بغداد هي حوالي السادسة مساء...الكهرباء مقطوعة, والمولدة تعمل في الخارج, ستأتي الكهرباء الوطنية بعد قليل...برنامج القطع تغير , أصبح ساعتين كهرباء الى أربع ساعات قطع.يعني فترة الظهيرة معظمها بدون كهرباء...أحس بالألم الذي يعيشه الناس بهذا الحر القاتل , وأطفال أومرضى في العائلة. درجة الحرارة الآن في الخارج 45 درجة مئوية.معنى هذا انها كانت حوالي 50 درجة في الظهر ,حين عودتي للبيت من العمل .
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 منذ عودتي الى بغداد, وانا متعبة , وعندي آلام شديدة في جسمي وبطني, تغيبت عن الدوام لمدة يومين للراحة, ثم اتصلت بأختي الطبيبة, فقالت تعالي للعيادة لأعمل لك سونار...ذهبت معها أمس, الى عيادتها في منطقة الدورة, وهي في منطقة شعبية مكتظة, جنوب بغداد, حيث في نفس المنطقة توجد محطة كهرباء الدورة, التي تغذي بغداد بصورة رئيسية...من الطاقة الكهربائية.الشوارع مزدحمة بطريقة متعبة للأعصاب, شاحنات وبكبات وسيارات صغيرة مدنية ومركبات عسكريةأمريكية..والإشارات الضوئية لا تعمل, والشرطة يبذلون مجهودا هائلا لتمرير المركبات...والحر شديد..كانت الساعة حوالي الحادية عشرة صباحا...الشارع الرئيسي عادة من اتجاهين, لكنه الآن ألغي إتجاه منه ووضعت بلوكات اسمنتية عند مدخل محطة الكهرباء خوفا من تفجيرات تستهدف المحطة, فصار الإزدحام بسبب ضيق الشارع الواحد عن استيعاب الكثافة المرورية العادية للمنطقة, حيث فيها أسواق جملة لبيع الخضار ( علوة)ومراكز طبية كثيرة يأتوها سكان المدن والمحافظات الواقعة على حدود بغداد الجنوبية...فيأتي المزارعون ليعرضوا محصولهم في سوق الدورة أو السيدية ,  ويحضرون معهم زوجاتهم وأولادهم للعلاج عند المراكزالطبية في هذه المناطق من بغداد.في المساء تداوم أختي في عيادة  حكومية شعبية منذ سنوات...وسألتها في طريقنا الى عيادتها الصباحية كيف أحوال الأدوية والمرضى؟قالت الأدوية شحيحة جدا, كان المريض قبل الحرب يدفع 750 دينارا ( حوالي نصف دولار ) عن أجرة كشف عندالطبيب و3 بنود دوائية. الآن يدفع نفس المبلغ لكن عن كشف وقطعة دواء واحدة فقط, وأدوية الأمراض المزمنة مثل الضغط والسكر غير متوفرة, لا تسألي عنها , الأدوية التي نصرفها الآن هي من  المخزون  قبل الحرب....وماذا تفعل وزارة الصحة؟سألتها بدهشة, لأنني أظن أن الدواء من الأولويات مثل الماء والكهرباء..قالت : لا تسألي, ربما السبب لا يوجد ميزانية وتمويل للإستيراد, وربما الفساد الإداري الذي بات بحاجةللرقابة...ذهبت عصابة لصوص, وجاءت بدلا منها عشرات العصابات.والحكومة الجديدة؟سألتها , أليس لها صلاحيات عمل خطوات إيجابية لخدمة الناس؟انها حكومة مؤقتة, قالت, والموجودون فيها إما شريف يخاف على نفسه ويختبيء في بيته خوفا من عمليةإغتيال, أو لص يريد أن ينتهز الفرصة لسرقة أكثر ما يكون قبل نهاية صلاحياته....وهذا أحد أسباب الإغتيالات والتصفيات ضد رجال الحكومة, البعض يبغضهم لأنه يراهم مستفيدين, وغيرهم عاطل عن العمل وجائع, كيف تمنعيه عن الشعور بالحقد والرغبة بالإنتقام؟إنقبض فلبي , وساد الصمت حتى وصلنا عيادتها
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  صالة الإنتظاركانت مكتظة بالنساء الملتفات بالعباءة العراقية, واستقبلتنا السكرتيرة بابتسامتها, ثم دخلنا العيادة بسرعة, حيث فحصتني بالسونار, وقالت : لا شيء..انت فقط متعبة من السفر..كنت في غاية السعادة, حيث أن القلق أكلني ولم أقدر أن انام من الرعب بإحتمال مرض ما يصيبني...فالحياةهنا فيها ما يكفي من المنغصات...ولست بحاجة لمرض ما ليزيد من تعاستي .
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  عدت الى البيت بنفس الشارع, الساعة كانت الثانية عشرة, والهواء ساخن جدا , والرجل الذي استأجرت سيارته ليس فيها تكييف, وكدت أموت من الحر والصداع...الشارع مزدحم ...توجد بلوكات اسمنتية تؤخر من حركة السير...الغبار في الشوارع مع الحر يزيد من الشعوربالتعب.جدران اسمنتية وترابية أمام مدخل محطة الكهرباء, وثمة سيارة مزقها الرصاص تقف على طرف الطريق, سألت السائق عنها , فقال انها محاولة إغتيال ...وسيارة اخرى معجونة أجزاءها تقف على طرف الطريق, ما هذه؟قال : بقايا سيارة مفخخة...رجال شرطة عراقيون مسلحون ...ورجال بزي الجيش العراقي الجديد...ونقاط تفتيش, وأرصفة مثلمة ومكسرة,وأزقة قذرة تمتليء بالنفايات, وأسلاك شائكة, تلتصق عليها أوراق وأكياس نايلون ممزقة فتزيد من كآبة المنظر...بقيت أحدق من وراء زجاج نافذة السيارة..من كان يصدق أن هذا سيحدث لنا ذات يوم؟وأن هذه هي بغداد؟هل حدث كل هذا صدفة, أم أن ثمة من خطط ورسم ونفذ, وجعلنا نعيش هذا الجحيم ؟؟**************************************** 
  عدت للبيت وقد تبلل قميصي تماما من العرق...من الصدر والظهر..غسلت وجهي بالماء البارد, وشربت قليلا من الماء, وجلست على الأرض ألهث من شدة التعب والحر.كيف يعيش الإنسان هنا؟مع الحر الشديد وانقطاع الكهرباء وازدحام المروروتلك المشاهد المأساوية اليومية...وسماع نشرات الأخبارالمحبطة من عصابات وخطف وتفجيرات واغتيالات...وتذكرت كل الذين هاجروا أو هربوا من العراق...معهم حق, قلت لنفسي, من يتحمل كل هذا العذاب اليومي؟انه شيء يشبه الموت البطيء....موت المشاعر...والمباديء...وكل شيء انساني جميل.نعم ..موت بطيء
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جلست مع نفسي في المساء وفكرت , وضحكت, حين راودتني فكرة الموت البطيء. مرة أخرى..انها سلاح فتاك يستعمله عقل  مدبر خبيث
.في عام 1991 حين انتهت حرب الكويت, وتم تدمير نسبة كبيرة من الجيش العراقي وآلياته العسكرية.لماذا لم تجهز أميركا على صدام حسين وقتها وتنهي عذابات العراقيين؟ولماذا تواطأت معه لقمع ثورة الجنوب ضده؟سمحت له أن يستعمل كل الأسلحة لإبادة الشعب العراقي المنتفض في الجنوب...لن أقول الشيعة, فانا شيعية,لكني أحب أن أكون متيقظة الذهن, وهذه قصة السنة والشيعة هي قصة باطلة إستعملت لتقسيم العراقيين ضد بعضهم, وللإستفراد بهم فئة بعد فئة.وأنا أكرر انها انتفاضة العراقيين ضد نظام صدام عام 1991 , حيث تم سحقها, وتكون من يومها مقابر جماعية شاركت أميركا مع صدام في عملها, لكنها ذرفت الدموع علينا بعد حربها الأخيرة...والمغفلين هم الذين صدقوا أن المجرم كان صدام وحده....لماذا لم يسقطوه حينها ؟لأنهم كانوا يعلمون أن ثمة شعبية قليلة كانت عنده بين العراقيين والعرب...وأتبعوا سياسة الحصار ضدالعراقيين وهي سياسة الموت البطيء....لأكثر من عشر سنوات.هرب مئات الآلآف من العراقيين وقتها, وربما بنهاية سنوات الحصار صار العدد بالملايين.ومن تبقوا , مات فيهم قليلا قليلا أعز ما لدى الإنسان من مشاعر جميلة للوطن والإنتماء...صار حب الوطن يعني حب صدام حسين, والناس كرهت الوطن.وبمرور السنوات العجاف, صار موظف الدولة مرتشيا فليل الوطنية والإخلاص, وصار الجندي يكره كونه جندياولا يجد مبررا لوجوده داخل الجيش , وكذلك الشرطي ورجل الأمن...بدل الشعور بأنه جاء لخدمة الناس ,صاروا أعداء الناس, يؤذونهم ويبتزونهم حتى يقدروا ان يجدوا مبررا مفيدا لبقائهم في وظائفهم.قليلا قليلا...شاع الفساد والرشاوي حتى بين موظفي التربية والجهاز التدريسي, وقطاع الصحةوالمستشفيات..صارت الغالبية مصابة بفايروس الفساد والرشوة وعدم الإخلاص وعدم الأمانة.هكذا ينتشر الفيروس بسرعة في مثل تلك الظروف القاسية من الجوع والحاجة وانعدام الضمير والمبدأ..ما قيمة الإنسان حين تجرده من ضميره أو مبادئه؟ما فرقه عن الحيوان آنذاك؟لا أظن أن ثمة فرق يستحق الذكر....تلك هي النتائج المذهلة لبرنامج الموت البطيء.....الذي استعمل بذكاء ضد العراقيين, وجاء بنتائج ممتازة, كما أرادها مصمم البرنامج تماما..
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 ثم جاءت الحرب, وسقوط النظام الهش, ما عاد له ركائز قوية على أرض الواقع...الناس تعبت وماتت قلوبها, وما عاد ثمة شيء يحركها, والوطن صار صدام حسين  الدكتاتور...فليسقط صدام حسين وليسقط الوطن, ما عاد ثمة فرق...لكن بمرور الوقت, الناس يصحون من غفلتهم, وينظرون فيرون قوات إحتلال, وممارسات قاسية, وسجون وتعذيب وفضائح , وقصص عن رشاوى وفساد إداري جديد... فتبدأ الصحوة من جديد ...الآن الوطن لا يساوي صدام حسين...الصورة أشد وضوحا....الوطن هو هذه الأرض, وهؤلاء الناس, وهذه الشوارع وهذه الأشجار والنخلات وهذه الأنهار والبحيرات وهذه الحدائق العامة وتلك الذكريات الحزينة والجميلة هنا وهناك, ومقابر أهلنا وأحبائنا, ومدارسنا وجامعاتنا ومستشفياتنا ومكتباتنا الوطنية, والمتحف وقاعات الفن العراقي في الغناءوالرقص الشعبي وقاعات فيها لوحات فنية جميلة لفنانين عراقيين ماتوا أو مازالوا أحياء ,  ونصب تذكاريةوأقارب وأصدقاء وجيران  وتاريخ طويل لآباءنا وأجدادنا...كيف نتخلى عنه بسهولة ؟؟؟هنا تحدث حالة التصادم مع القادمين الجدد....هنا تأتي لحظات الصحوة بين الناس...وبداية الحديث والإعتراض ثم المصادمات الكلامية أو المسلحة...إنهم يحتلونا ويريدون سرقة ثرواتنا, ومستقبلنا, ألا يكفينا ما تحملناه من صدام حسين ؟؟هكذا يصير حديث الشارع....لكن الذي خطط لهذه الحرب لم يكن غبيا...حسب لكل مرحلة حسابها...توقع أن يصحو الناس من غفلتهم ويدافعوا عن بلدهم الذي تحرر من ظلم ودكتاتورية صدام حسين, فرتبوا لهمالجواب المناسب... فوضى وعنف  وتفجيرات واغتيالات وخلط الأوراق...ثم تشويه سمعة المقاومة الوطنية, لجعل الكراهية والبغض ضدها في الشارع , بدل المساندة.حين تخرج مظاهرات عفوية في أي مكان في العالم , مطالبة بحقوق طبقة من العمال والموظفين مثلا...يندس بينهم المشاغبون الذين ترسلهم عصابات خبيثة لا تريد لهذه المظاهرة أن تنجح, فتشعل النيران وتطلق الرصاص ضد الأبرياء وتحرف المسيرة عن غايتها وتسبب لها الفشل الذريع وسوء السمعة.كم مرة حدثت مثل هذه الفصص في تاريخ الشعوب؟في أوروبا أميركاوغيرها؟هكذا يتم تشويه المقاومة الوطنية ضد الإحتلال, بزرع عناصر فاسدة , وتنظيمات إرهابية مجرمة, يمولهاأعداء الشعب والمقاومة. أليس هذا ما يحدث في فلسطين مثلا منذ عشرات السنين, حتى تاهت القصة وما عدت تعرف من مع الشعب ومن ضده؟هذه هي الطريقة الحديثة المبتكرة , بدلا من القاء قنابل ذرية, ونابالم, نقتل هذه الشعوب قتلابطيئا...فيتوه أمامها الطريق, وما تعود تعرف الحق من الباطل, ولا العدو من الصديق.انت هنا مثلا حين تعترض على ممارسات الأحتلال وفكرة وجوده, ستجد ثمة بطل جديد يصرخ في وجهك:هاااااا...انت اذن من جماعة صدام ؟وتقسم له أنه يعرفك ويعرف ماضيك وأنك وطني مستقل تحب بلدك وتريد له الإستقلال...لكنه يصر على (  إرهابك ) وتهديدك...انت من جماعة صدام؟؟ طبعا طبعا لا تقل لي...أنا افهمك...وانت تغرق في الدهشة والضحك من هذا التافه المريض الذي يصر على  موقفه ضدك, اليس هذا إرهاب؟تخويفك وتخوينك وتفسير كلامك بمعاني أخرى ...ماذا يسمى هذا ؟؟ ونسبة هذا البطل النموذج الجديد على الساحة العراقية, نسبته أقل من عشرة بالمئة, لكنه وقح وشرس ويريد إرهاب الناس وتخويفهم...وهو نموذج ينتمي الى فئة مستفيدة من وجود الإحتلال, هذه الفئة تضم مقاولين وتجار ومستثمرين ومعظمهم ممن كانوا يقومون بنفس الدور زمن صدام حسين, لكنهم غيروا الهدف فقط, بدلا من التملق لصدام, صار الآن التملق للإحتلال..أما فكرة الوطن وحب الوطن فهي بنظرهم فكرة ساذجة قد انقرضت منذ زمن بعيد...الوطن بالنسبة لهم بقرة حلوب...إن كان هنالك ثمة مصلحة من هذه البقرة , نبقى ولناالأولوية, وإن لم تكن, نهاجر ونستثمر في أماكن اخرى من العالم...وينتمي لنفس هذه الفئة, بعض اعضاء الأحزاب الجديدة, الذين يسيل لعابهم , ويريدون ان يجرفوا كل ما يمكن أن يعترض طريقهم نحو كرسي السلطة.نعم , هذه نماذج جديدة مريضة خلقها وجود الإحتلال وشجعها لأنها ركائز له يقف عليها ويستعين بها للسيطرة على الشعب....وتصلني رسائل من أصدقاء أمريكيين يقولون أنهم يتعرضون لنفس الضغوط إن اعترضوا على حرب بوش ضد العراق ,حيث سيكون الحوار كما يلي: هااااااا ..أنت مع جماعة إبن لادن إذن؟لا لست مع ابن لادن..أنا أمريكي واحب وطني ولا أرضى عن الظلم....والجواب: هاااااا..وما يبقيك هنا؟؟؟لماذا لا تغادر أميركا إن لم يعجبك الحال؟؟؟وهذا إرهاب آخر..وتخويف وإجبار على السكوت.
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 نعم...ثمة فكرة واحدة تدور وتسيطر وتتحكم في عقول الناس, وهذه الفكرة تديرها فئة منظمة تنتشر على كل بقاع العالم, وأداتها القوية هي وسائل الإعلام.تفتح الأنترنت فتقرأ الأخبار ومعظم الشبكات الكبيرة تستعمل نفس المصطلحات...ونفس التفسيرات تجاه الأحداث.تفتح الصحف المحلية...نفس المعزوفة, تفتح المحطات الإذاعية, نفس المعزوفة, القنوات الفضائيةوالمحلية...نفس المعزوفة...كلها تدفعك للتفكير وتبني وجهة نظر واحدة...قد يكون هنالك وجهات نظر مختلفة في دول اوروبا, لكن في أميركا والعالم العربي لا يوجد سوى خطين واضحين, خط الحرب على الإرهاب والحرب على العراق...وفي أميركا ثمة تيار قوي ضد بوش وإدارته وخطه الذي يسير عليه...وعندنا في الوطن العربي, والعراق خاصة, ثمة كثافة عنيفة شرسة لتثبيت فكرة واحدة وخط واحد,وتكسير وتحطيم الخط المعارض بكل الوسائل الممكنة...بالقتل والإغتيال والعنف والترهيب والتخويف والتضليل ....لتثبيت وجهة نظر واحدة , ومحق وسحق وجهة النظر الأخرى المعارضة.
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 ماذا بحدث في العراق الآن؟؟يحدث أن الناس تعبوا ومحتاجين للراحة والأمان والماء والكهرباء والدواء والعمل والعيش الكريم...وحين تنظر لحياتنا اليومية منذ دخول الإحتلال , ترى وتتأكد لديك فكرة أن هذه المتطلبات كلها مؤجلة,وقد تم ربطها مع وقف المقاومة ضد الإحتلال..وكأنهم يقولون للشعب, تبرأ من المقاومة , وساعدنا في القضاء عليها نهائيا....سنفتح لك أبواب العيش الرغيد
وهذا ما يحصل كل يوم بتراكم بسيط لعدة شهور...تبدو الصورة أكثر وضوحا لمن يراقب ويفكر ويحلل...ثم بند آخر...أغتيال عناصر ذكية ومثقفة ممكن أن ترفع راية محاربة وجود الإحتلال عن طريق الكلام وليس  السلاح...الخطوة الأولى تصفية المقاومة المسلحة, الخطوة الثانية, تتم مندمجة مع الأولى, تصفية المقاومةالسلمية..وإرهاب الناس بالتفجيرات والقتل والخطف , ليهرب من لا يقدر على الأحتمال, فيبقى ضعفاء الناس الذين يختبؤون في البيوت, ولا يريدون المشاركة في صناعة مستقبل العراق, يريدون السلامة لأنفسهم واولادهم, ويتبرعون بالوطن للقادمين الجدد ليشبعوا به ويحتكروه لأنفسهم, تماما كما إحتكره من قبل صدام حسين وجماعته وأرهب الناس ومنعهم من المشاركة بتقرير مصير حياتهم ومستقبلهم.
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  وعندما تنتهي مرحلة التصفيات وتنظيف الشارع من المعارضة المزعجة...ستأتي مرحلة البناء والديمقراطية.نعم...متى سيحدث هذا؟ربما خلال ستة شهور , أو سنة أو أثنتان...لا أدري..لكن البرنامج يمضي قدما...ولا أحد يستعجل, ربما بوش يهمه الوقت, لأنه مقبل على انتخابات, وهذه مسألة حياة أو موت...سيضغط من أجل إنجاز أكبر ما يكون من برنامج العمل...حتى يسجل لنفسه النصر.أما لو جاء كيري...فماذا سيحصل؟هل عنده ثمة برنامج واضح بديل؟؟لا اظن, لكن كلمة السر التي تمكنه من الدخول للإنتخابات وإحتمال الفوز , قد قالها, فال انه يؤيد دولةاسرائيل وحقها في الوجود والدفاع عن نفسها.أحسنت...أما باقي التفاصيل, فليست مهمة, ثمة من يضعها ويقنع  الرئيس بها فيما بعد...بخصوص سياساته الداخليةوالخارجية.ما الفرق بين الجمهوري والديمقراطي؟ليس ثمة فرق جوهري واضح...ولذلك النقاط متقاربة والقتال على كرسي الرئاسة شرس شديد.
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وأحيانا يستعملون تكتيكات حديثة    للتعامل مع الأصوات المعارضة
...فأمام كل صحيفة معارضة, ستصدر عشرات الصحف التي تساند وتشجع وجهة النظر الأخرى, فتصبح هذه المعارضة ممثلة الأقلية...ويتم تحجيم تأثيرها بهذه الطريقة..تماما مثل عملنا هنا على الإنترنت...مقابل كل كاتب عراقي معارض لوجود الإحتلال, تفتح عشرة مواقع مؤيدة للإحتلال, ويصبح المعارض هو نسبة أقلية أمام زوار المواقع, بينما هو في واقع الحال يمثل صوت الأغلبية في الشارع العراقي...الديمقراطية لعبة خطرة...ثمة متخصصين في التزوير يقودون المسيرة أحيانا لتبدو الصورة على نقيضها..لكنها مسألة وقت...الكذب لا يدوم طويلا...وسرعان ما تتضح الحقائق للقريب والبعيد, للذكي والغبي.
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 ووسائل الإعلام...محطة مثل الجزيرة, تبدو في ظاهرها أنها مع العرب والمسلمين, لكنها في واقع الحال عدوة العرب والمسلمين...ساعدت بشكل رئيسي في تشويه صورتهم للغرب وإظهارهم بأنهم عصابات إرهابية, وتأتي بتحقيقات وأفلام وثائقية, حصريا على الجزيرة...أفلام بن لادن ومساعديه, أفلام وثائقية عن عصابات الخطف والعمليات الإرهابية, اتساءل, هل يتصلون بمكتب الجزيرة ويحددون موعدا مع مجرمين مطلوبين؟وخطابات صدام حسين قبل القبض عليه؟واجتماعات رجال القاعدة في افغانستان والمملكة العربية السعودية؟وهي , جيران, قاعدة العيديد في قطر...يعني في قلب ا لقوة العسكرية الأمريكية في الشرق الأوسط؟؟هاها؟؟وعلى من يضحكون؟؟على المواطن العربي البائس المحبط, فيمثلون دور المتعاطفين معه, في حين انهم أعداءه الذين يشوهون صورته ويصنعون آ لاف الحواجز بين الحقيقة التي يريدون ايصالها, وبين الحقيقة التي على أرض الواقع...نحن في بغداد نسميها قناة الفتن...حيث هي متخصصة في بث الأحقاد والفتن بين العرب والمسلمين أنفسهم, وبينهم وبين مجتمع الغرب.ستأتي السنوات القادمة لتكشف من يمولها ...وستأتي السنوات القادمة لنعرف من مول عصابات القتل والخطف والإجرام في العراق..ومن مول التفجيرات الإرهابية ضد المدنيين الأبرياء...ستأتي السنوات القادمة لتقول لنا, ولغيرنا, كل شيء....عمن له مصلحة بإخراج الأمم المتحدة من العراق, والمنظمات الإنسانية غير الحكومية, وخطف العاملين في الشركات من جنسيات متعددة وإظهارهم على الجزيرة..عصابات من الحثالة الملثمين , تدمر كل أمل لبناء وطن جديد....ثمة من يريد أن يوقف البناء حتى إشعار آخر....ثمة من عنده برامج تصفيات يريد أن ينتهي منها, ثم يلتفت لحال الشعب...وكأنها سياسة عقاب جماعي ....تماما مثل الحصار الذي دام  أكثر من عشرة سنين...ها هومستمر بنفس الإيقاع.....جوع , وفساد إداري ,  وظلم , وأقلية مرفهة تقهقه وتستفيد....ماذا تغير على العراقيين؟؟؟نعم , تغير شيء واحد....انهم اليوم تحت الإحتلال....هل ثمة أجمل من هذه الحياة, ومفرداتها اليومية ؟؟؟
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  الشعب عادة من طبقات...وأظن أنني أحاول أن أحدد هذه الطبقات اليوم في الشعب  العراقي.طبقة أكثرية, من موظفين ومتقاعدين, وتجار صغار, وأصحاب مهن وحرف...هؤلاء هم الأكثرية المغلوبة علىأمرها, التي تتفرج وتتألم...وهي ترفض الإحتلال لأنها تراه ببساطة ووضوح إهانة لكرامتهم.طبقة أقلية من السياسيين الذين هم زعماء الأحزاب والصحافيين وتجار كبار ومقاولين ومستثمرين, والرجال ا لذين في المناصب الحكومية الكبيرة, كالوزراء والمدراء العامين.. هؤلاء فيهم فئة ترفض الإحتلال أوالتعاون معه, وتعتبره خيانة...وفيهم نسبة من المستفيدين, ويريدون لهذا الإحتلال أن يبقى, لأنهم بدونه , سيتم عزلهم..وتهميش دورهم.وتوجد طبقة ثالثة تتأرجح بين الطبقات , ونسبتها أيضا صغيرة, لكنها ذات تأثير قوي , إن سنحت لهاالفرصة...وهذه الطبقة اليوم أكثر طبقة معرضة للضغط والأذى, وهي طبقة المثقفين الوطنيين المستقلين..إما أن تختبيء عن الأنظار خوفا من المواجهة وتلوذ بالصمت  وإما أن تكون واعية صادقة شجاعة, تتكلم كأنها ضمير هذه الأمة...هذه هي الطبقة المهددة بالقتل والإغتيال والسحق...لأنها تشكل خطرا حقيقيا علىالإحتلال ورجاله المؤيدين له.*********************************** 
 كلمة المستقبل , ماذا صارت تعني للعراقيين؟صارت تعني الخوف من استمرار الخراب والدمار...واستمرار هجرة العراقيين, وقتلهم, واعتقالهم, وتدمير كل شجاعة ووطنية في قلوبهم...والخوف من إمتلاء الساحة بالنماذج المتسلقة المنافقة التي لا تفكر إلا بمصلحتها, وشعارها فليذهب كل شيء للجحيم من بعدي....أضع يدي بيد الشيطان ما دام ثمة مزيد من ثروات وسلطات .
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  بالأمس رأيت مقابلة على فضائية عراقية مع رؤساء أحزاب عراقية جديدة...وكان موضوع الحديث عن المرحلة القادمة, بعد الحكومة المؤقتة, والتجهيز للإنتخابات , وتعليم الناس كيف يستفيدوا من حق الإنتخاب لصناعة مستقبل أفضل بإختيار رجال مخلصين لا يلهثون وراء الكرسي من أجل الفائدة الشخصية , بل من أجل خدمة الناس واعطاءهم مزيدا من الحقوق والفرص نحو حياة أفضل....الإنتخابات لن تكون مشروعة الا إذا شارك بها نصف الشعب العراقي على الأقل...وورقة  المشاركةالإنتخابية ينبغي أن تصل الى أبعد بيت في أبعد مدينة عراقية...حتى يكون هنالك وضوح وعدالة ومشاركة.وقالوا , ان الذي يحب العراقيين الآن, لا يبحث عن المنصب والكرسي, الوطني الشريف الآن, هو الذي يساعدالناس ويقف معهم ليفتح عيونهم على حقوقهم في المشاركة بصنع مستقبل أفضل....وقالوا أن هناك محاولات ستكون خبيثة لإبتكار قوانين طائفية لتمزيق وحدة الشعب وإضعاف الأصوات الوطنية وقالوا أن الطريق نحو الديمقراطية سيكون خيار العراقيين الوحيد...لكنه طريق محفوف بالمخاطر...ثمة رجال احترفوا السياسة, ويعرفون كيف يتحايلون على إرادة الشعب, لكننا نطمح أن لا ينجحوا , وأن نمشي سوية يدا بيد, لنبني وطنا جميلا فيه الخير للجميع..
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  أؤمن بالله العظيم, وبأن كل شيء قد تم حسب إرادته ومشيئته
....وأؤمن أنه ينصر الحق, ويكره الظلم...
.وأتمنى ان يكون الله مع العراقيين....ينصرهم ويؤيدهم على تحقيق الخير لوطنهم  وأجيالهم القادمة
....وأتمنى ان لا يفقد العراقيون الأمل أبدا....بغد مشرق جميل
 ..ما أضيق العيش لولا فسحة الأمل

 
Hello dear Um Raed,

These war crimes committed in Iraq by the US and UK are not sufficiently
reported in the Western media. The beheadings or hostage taking is far more
widely reported in the news on TV. Although all these crimes are to be
condemned, the latter are a direct consequence of the US and UK's illegal,
immoral, brutal invasion, destruction and occupation of Iraq.

Every day scores of Iraqis die, many are wounded, and the entire Iraqi
population continues to suffer and to be humiliated. This is what should
shock Western public opinion and this is what must keep people mobilized
against their corrupt leaders and governments. All those who support the
invasion and occupation of Iraq are guilty, for these crimes are committed
in their names.




http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=544410
They died in Basra's squalor.

At last the truth begins to emerge in a London court
As judges consider the Army's conduct, Severin Carrell examines the
accusations, and describes how six people met their deaths 25 July 2004

More than a year after the Iraq war was declared over, and 10 months since
Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist, was allegedly kicked and beaten to
death by members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, the first legal
challenge to the conduct of British forces in Iraq will be heard in the High
Court this week.

The death of Mousa last September while in the custody of the QLR, revealed
by Robert Fisk in The Independent on Sunday early this year, is among six
cases being brought before the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

At the three-day hearing a team of prominent human rights lawyers will ask
the High Court to order a full independent inquiry into the conduct of
British forces in Iraq. The lawyers accuse the Ministry of Defence and the
armed forces of repeatedly breaching the Human Rights Act 1998. If they
succeed, the MoD could face drastic changes in the way British troops behave
in wars and peacekeeping operations - curtailing their right to use "lethal
force" in hostile areas or during riots, and a possible ban on certain
wartime tactics, such as dropping cluster bombs in civilian areas.

Ministers could also be ordered to overhaul their payments of informal "ex
gratia" sums to aggrieved Iraqis - a practice the MoD admits "leaves us open
to potential criticism of inconsistency". Its case will be put by Professor
Christopher Greenwood QC, who advised the Government the invasion of Iraq
was legal. The hearing will focus on six deaths drawn from a dossier of 29
killings and severe beatings compiled by the Birmingham-based firm Public
Interest Lawyers. It will be attended by Col Daoud Mousa, Baha Mousa's
father, and the receptionist's friend Khifeh Taha, who was detained at the
same time and sustained acute kidney failure and severe bruising after
allegedly being beaten for three days.

According to a four-strong team of barristers lead by Rabinder Singh QC,
these cases prove the Army did not guarantee the "right to life" of Iraqi
civilians and failed to prevent torture and inhuman treatment, in breach of
the European Convention of Human Rights and the 1998 act. Mr Singh, from
Cherie Blair's Matrix Chambers, will claim the MoD has a legal duty under
Article 2 of the convention not to kill anyone without justification, and to
accept full legal liability for any unjustified deaths - even when British
troops control another country, such as Iraq.

Failing to prevent torture and degrading treatment, denying water and food
and using solitary confinement is outlawed under Article 3 - issues central
to the Mousa case. He claims the MoD has broken the law in four key areas:
it failed to carry out an independent inquiry or inquest; failed to accept
legal liability for the deaths and ill-treatment; refused damages in direct
compensation for a death; and illegally used ad hoc "ex gratia" payments.

Compensation deals vary widely. The Mousas were offered up to £4,500 -
provided they dropped any legal action. The family of Waleed Fayayi Muzban,
who was shot dead by British troops in his people carrier, was given £540.
Only in the Mousa case is a prosecution expected, but no soldier has yet
been charged. The MoD has also admitted in a submission to the United
Nations Committee on Human Rights that the army's Special Investigations
Branch (SIB) launched its inquiry "within 30 minutes of his death being
confirmed".

The MoD will robustly defend its behaviour at this week's hearing. In the
most detailed defence of its conduct - a 22-page document passed to The
Independent on Sunday - ministers insist MoD policy and training complies
with all UK and international law. The document - a rebuttal of three
Amnesty International reports alleging abuses by British troops - states all
soldiers are "made fully aware of their [legal] obligations ... as well as
the legal principles of distinction, immediacy, necessity and proportional-
ity". "It goes without saying that torture is a crime under English criminal
law," it adds. The MoD insists all allegations are investigated thoroughly.
Detectives in the SIB and the Army Prosecuting Authority - services it
insists are impartial and independent - have carried out 79 investigations
into alleged killings, abuse and destruction of property, and are now
considering more than a dozen prosecutions. It has also paid out more than
£140,000 in compensation - but rarely admits it was at fault. Yet in many of
the alleged abuses and killings no evidence was found of wrongdoing by
troops, the MoD insists.

Some families refused to allow corpses to be exhumed or autopsies to be
carried out, and in others, witnesses refused to talk. But the MoD has
slowly accepted these scandals have revealed weaknesses in its policies. It
banned the use of hoods in Iraq after the Mousa case; has now named 25
Iraqis whose deaths were investigated; and has admitted its compensation
scheme is flawed.

The High Court has to decide if this is enough. Muhammad Abdul Ridha Salim
The 45-year-old teacher was visiting his brother-in-law late on 5 November
2003 when British soldiers burst into their house at Al Andalus, in Basra.
Fearing an attack by criminals, the teacher and his brother-in-law rushed
downstairs, and confronted a soldier. Mr Salim was shot in the stomach. In
the confusion, his sister screamed at the troops and was bundled into a side
room. Mr Salim died later in hospital. In a letter to the family, Major S
Routledge, of the King's Regiment, admitted the raid had been a mistake.
They had been given an anonymous tip-off that 10 men, armed with rifles and
rocket-propelled grenades, were gathering at the property. Maj Routledge
admitted: "It appears that the British forces were deliberately misled and
it is regrettable that this incident led to the death."

Hazim Jum'aa Gatteh al-Skeini He and another man were on their way to a
funeral near Basra after dark on 4 August 2003 when they were shot by
British soldiers, dying almost instantly. The commander of the King's
Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Ciaran Griffin, told Mr Gatteh's tribe his
troops had mistaken mourners firing into the air for a gun battle but
implied Mr Gatteh was illegally carrying a gun. He expressed regret at the
"misunderstanding" and offered the family £540. "In retrospect it became
clear [the] two men ... had not intended to attack anyone," he said.

Raid Hadi al-Musawi The 29-year-old policeman was coming home at about 10pm
after dropping off a box of "suggestions and complaints" at a local judge's
house on 27 August. As he neared his home, close to Al Farahidi police
station in Basra, a British armoured patrol allegedly shot at him without
provocation. He died nine weeks later from his wounds. His mother, Nuzha
Habib Yaaqub Ubaid al-Rayahi, said: "From what I have been told, the British
Army fired on my son for no reason... I understand also that there were no
other parties involved in shooting in this incident."

Hannan Mahaibas Sadde Shmailawi She was preparing for supper with her
husband, Hameed Abdul Rida Awaid Kareem, a porter at the Basra Institute of
Education, and her children on 10 November when shots were fired into the
room, hitting her in the head and legs. Ms Shmailawi, 33, was rushed to
hospital by the King's Regiment soldiers involved, but was dead on arrival.
The reason why troops opened fire remains unclear, but a note by a Major
Routledge admits his unit was responsible. Mr Kareem said British engineers
who saw the incident said the soldiers had been on the institute's roof and
asked them where Mr Kareem lived and if he was armed. They were told he had
permission to carry weapons. Mr Kareem said: "There was no opportunity to
protect my wife. [We] could not understand why British soldiers would fire
into our home."

Waleed Fayayi Muzban While driving home from work in his nine-seater Kia
people carrier at about 8.30pm on 24 August, his vehicle was hit by a
barrage of bullets. He died instantly. Army documents suggest a unit with
the King's Own Scottish Borderers were involved. With the help of local
community leaders, Mr Muzban's family tried to reclaim the vehicle from the
British Army, but officers tried to buy it from them. His brother, Fadil
Sayay Muzban, claimed a British official said "the vehicle was hit from
behind [and] this would adversely affect their legal position". Eventually,
the family took £540 compensation, but it was unclear whether that was for
Mr Muzban's death or the vehicle. Their British lawyer, Phil Shiner, has
accused the Ministry of Defence of withholding evidence by refusing to hand
the vehicle over.

Baha Mousa The receptionist at the Al Haitham hotel in Basra was arrested
in a dawn raid on the hotel by a squad of Queen's Lancashire Regiment troops
searching for an illegal weapons cache. Along with seven others, Mr Mousa
was taken for interrogation after another man escaped during the raid, on 13
September 2003. Mr Mousa was then allegedly beaten to death at the Army's
headquarters in Basra. Medical records showed he died of "asphyxia" - a
consequence of being hooded during the beatings. 25 July 2004 22:56

Wednesday, July 21st., 2004
Good evening..
It is now 5 p.m. in Baghdad, the weather is hot, at about more than 45 degrees C, and the electricity comes and goes every three hours, in a schedule. Three on, three off.Baghdad is quiet, there are a lot of Iraqi police and military men, but the planes and tanks never drift away from us, night and day…with its shapes and noises, as if there is someone who wants to say…here we are, do not forget about us, ha..ha…The streets are less crowded in day time, because of the summer holidays, the intensive heat, and the fear of explosives, which combined to make people less eager to leave their houses.In the years before the war, Iraqis used to go out to clubs or restaurants on the banks of Tigris river, some time after 10 p.m., going back home at the crack of dawn. But now, we are boiled in the heat inside our houses, nearly dying of boredom, consoling ourselves, that that is better than taking chances with our lives and that of our children…We all wish these difficult conditions to pass, ending quickly, so safety would return…How tight life could be, without the break of hope.
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 When I was in Amman, I kept thinking daily, that Amman had safety and stability…commercial shops, various restaurants, clean streets, and lovely hotels. There is an unlimited freedom in talking, clothing, and the way of life.But I happen to know that people there are stressed by the high prices, the rarity of job opportunities, the electricity, benzol and telephone bills are expensive, and water is rear, especially in summer…and the oncoming tourists make the water crises worst.The rent of flats and apartments is rising, and so are the prices of buying lands or apartments…perhaps the immigration of thousands of Iraqis, and their settling in Amman, is one of the reasons.But I have known Amman since 1978, when I entered it for the first time, coming from Baghdad via Beirut, carrying Raid in my arms, only 40 days old…Amman was a small, conservative city, closed like a village…Baghdad was living her golden days, before the war upon Iran, and the blunders of Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi universities were full of students from nearly all Arab states…the cultural movement was strong. Baghdad used to be full of poets, artists, ideologists, scholars of cultural heritage and sociology, university professors who studied in Europe and America filled the universities, teachers from Arab countries, in various specialties who worked by contract to the Iraqi state, traveling was permitted to all citizens without any restraints, so people used to go in tourism, then come back. State officials had excellent salaries, enabling them to enjoy a good life standard, build a house for the family, own a reasonable car, and travel to Lebanon, Egypt, or turkey, among neighboring countries in the summer. Publishing houses used to publish books of Literature, science, and cultural topics, Arabic or translated .......almost every house has a library…History, literature, poetry, fiction, and political books, Iraqis could never live without politics…and when students graduate from university, they would find employment right away, usually in the public sector (state), with a small margin working in the private sector…the state was always the biggest sector…And in the state – owned shopping centers, every thing was imported, to be sold to the citizens with low prices, clothes, house-hold utensils, toys, gifts, ornaments, glassware, crystals, and musical instruments.  Cinema theaters used always to show the latest movies, Arabic or foreign. Their customers mostly families and young men. Theaters were always crowded with plays, locally written, or extracted from foreign scripts. Families used to go in the weekends to watch a play.Thus was the rhythm of the Iraqi life, in Baghdad, where I lived until I graduated from university, got married, and left the country.
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  When I lived in Amman, I felt a severe forbidding…where was the roaring, rich life of Baghdad? A life wealthy with science, literature, knowledge, culture, and the experiences of every day life…I used to feel euphoric when I hear an Iraqi talking in the streets of Amman, I run to him, start a friendly conversation with him…where, when, and how, then I would send a message with him to my parents, after I invite him to tea at our house…just like that…that was the way how the Iraqis were, with their simplicity, friendliness, and the speed with which they trust others. I always cried when I heard the song of : oh flying birds, pass over my kin, oh circling sun, go to my kin, by the Iraqi singer (Sa'adoon Jaber). Today, my tears fall for the Iraqis in pain, for what has become of them…scattered in many countries…torn by the cruelty of life…and the follies of Saddam Hussein, and those who collaborated with him to destroy Iraq, with or without his knowledge…Iraqis has become immigrants, like birds who can not remain in one environment…that who is rich among them, is a broken-winged immigrant, shedding tears for Baghdad whenever hearing her name, missing Tigris, and the beautiful memories that went by, never to come back…so, how would the poor be?..... Estrangement from one's homeland is slow death….I know that, for I have drunk from that particular glass for long, bitter, cruel years. I will endure every thing as long as I am here, no matter what, for I would have my Dignity, in my house, among my people and friends…in spite of the harsh conditions, war and occupation, but…it is the Homeland, is there ever something more precious? Today, my country is like an old, ill mother, who would be glad to have her children around her, easing her feelings of pain, and illness….she would be sad to see some of them has fled, and couldn't bear to remain….oh, well,…it is an ordeal, ….and ordeals are bound to be cleared one day.
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  I remember all that and think…how did Amman change into this western model as quickly as that?  Life is expensive, the employment opportunities are limited, and salaries have not risen up since I used to work there. Until 1991, an engineer like me received a salary of 500-600 Dinars. Now, I came back to find the same salary for this same category of engineers. A newly graduate receives a salary of 170-200 Dinars (a $ 100 equals 70 Jordanian Dinars). Nothing has changed, rather, the job opportunities have declined, and maybe that was the reason salaries wouldn't go up. The prices of food, various goods, rents, and cars have multiplied three times from what they were back in 1991, when I left Amman. How do people live? The newspapers are full of feverish adds, about cars, houses, apartments, furniture, mobiles, computers, and household appliances…all screaming and calling. Sales would be by easy installments, and of course, with a payment here, and an installment there, a person becomes a runner, running, panting day and night to come up with these payments.The companies that sell by installment system have their own loans to the banks…and could go bankrupt some day, as is the case with many companies that go bankrupt, and that would be announced in newspapers, becoming the topic of the society. But this subject worried me so much this time, and kept me thinking…is this the model for the New Iraq? Here we are used to having water available always, the electricity cheap, and so with the telephone bills and benzol…. These items were outside the anxiety list for the Iraqi family…but in Amman, these form the first worrying items…various bills and taxes, countless…University education is not free as in Iraq, the prices of medicine and hospitals are very high, their numbers would look imaginary to Iraqis, compared to the prices they are accustomed to paying here in Iraq, before and after the war. Are we destined to become like them? Would the Capitalist system come along and swallow Iraq, along with the monopolization and greed of the privet sector investment companies? As they have swallowed thousands of local and national markets before? How shall we be able to defend the wealth of Iraq, and provide good living standards to the people, without sinking in the greedy swamp of capitalism? Without allowing the formation of a minority of very rich people, and a majority of people who run, panting, to provide their daily food….?
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 And every one there, in Amman or in the western countries, has a wide margin of freedom of speech…but it seems like a freedom that nobody needs…because they usually sink in other eddies, and what’s the use of announcing your political opinions when your pockets are empty? It would become a type of luxury that is useless, not necessary…go and find a job to fill your time with, to provide your necessary needs, and use the excess, if there was any excess, spend it in a restaurant, a cinema, or a café’…for the lovely times are indispensable to a tired human…thus is the rhythm of life in the cities of the west, and these cities that follow their steps, and Baghdad is still like a conservative lady, wrapped in her veil or Abba, watching that world with an eye filled with amazement, marvel, and concern, twisting her lips and asking: will I become like one of these cites? Will the Iraqis run to the fast, panting rhythm of life?....I want…. I want…. I want….????....
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  And I remember when I read the history of the United States of America; the books described the beautiful, thick forests that used to fill the country, the mineral and animal wealth in the mountains and plains, fish in the lakes and rivers, and a clear, pure, beautiful environment….what happened to all this today? The environment was polluted by the smoke of factories, without mercy…the wealth was depleted in a greedy, unjust, unlimited way….and how old is America?The beginnings were with the settlers, around 1602, and within 400 years, most of this wealth was drained??? And Iraq is more than 5000 years old, and is still filed with mineral wealth and oil…I open up the school Atlas, and look at the maps of Iraq: water wealth, big rivers, and small rivers, from north to the south. Lakes in the middle and south, and marshes filled with fish and birds. The map of the mineral wealth: from north to south- oil wells, natural gas, minerals like sulphur, steel, lead, zinc, brass, coal, marble, phosphate, chrome, …..and along, endless list ……And relics, from the north to the south, from the Sumerian, Acadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and pre-Islamic ages, Persian relics. And after the Islam: during the Islamic Empire- Abbasid palaces, minarets, historic castles, holy, religious sites, and the shrines of the Prophet’s relatives and kin (may the prayers of GOD be upon him).And the plants and animal wealth: as the land of Iraq was divided into seed planting regions, others for cotton planting, tobacco, rice, fruit trees, forests, and palm trees farms…regions of pasture, for animals like sheep, cattle, camels, horses, and deer. I look in amazement and wonder, how much wealth is their in the land of Iraq? How many foreign conquests have passed upon this land? Persians, Turks, Moguls, then the British conquest, then the American occupation…Iraq is the land of fortunes, the land of water, fertility, oil and other minerals…but I think his people are the only ones who never got the proper chance to enjoy these wealths …Iraqis talk, in whispers and loud voices, about some American companies that started digging and investing minerals from the land here…then exporting them to America, or some other countries.  These whispers between people taught me that they are mostly right, if not every time. Especially the stories about Abu-Ghareb prison, as I heard them, but didn’t believe them at the beginning. Will the Capitalism start sucking the Blood of Iraq, as it has sucked the blood of the American continent?…and never to have enough…as if they are under a curse from the sky…Eat, Drink, but never feel stuffed or satisfied…for you will remain hungry all time long. This is how I see the case of Capitalism, as it looks for a new victim…for new blood to pump into its decrepit veins…hoping to gain back its health…I feel pity upon Iraq, and what he will receive from it… I wonder in my mind, with a smile that fills me with bitterness: would Iraq be the last victim? Or would there be other victims on the way, Syria and Iran, perhaps???
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I have no answers for my questions…only GOD knows what the days are hiding for us…

Translated by May. Baghdad.

 

 

Good morning..I`ve got this Email from a friend..please read it with me.wish you good day.

                                                                                                                                              faiza

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 The Assassination of Iraqi Intellectualshttp://www.icaao.org/about.htmlIraq StatementEven after the ‘transfer of authority’ the U.S. Government remains in defacto military occupation of Iraq. The idea that the escalation of violencecan be put to an end by the ‘interim’ government, while 140,000 U.S troopsremain in control of major Iraqi cities like Mosul and Baghdad, is far fromthe reality on the ground.Overlooked by the U.S. Press is the escalating assassination of Iraqiacademics, intellectuals, and lecturers. More than 250 college professorssince April 30, 2003, according to the Iraqi Union of University Lecturers,have been the targets of assassination. Among the 250 professorsassassinated to date include: Muhammad al-Rawi, President of BaghdadUniversity (July 27, 2003); Dr. Abdul Latif al-Mayah a Professor ofPolitical Science at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University (late January 2003);Dr. Nafa Aboud, a Professor of Arabic Literature at the University ofBaghdad; Dr Sabri al-Bayati; a Geographer at the University of Baghdad; Dr.Falah al-Dulaimi, Assistant Dean of College at Mustansariya University; Dr.Hissam Sharif, Department of History of the University of Baghdad; andProfessor Wajih Mahjoub of the College of Physical Education.Whoever is responsible for these targeted assassinations, the U.S. and itsCoalition of Allies (the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, the Ukraine, theNetherlands, Australia, Romania, Bulgaria, Thailand, Denmark, El Salvador,Korea, Honduras, Japan, Norway, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Portugal, Latvia,Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Albania, Moldova,New Zealand, Macedonia, Estonia, Kazakhstan and, until recently, thePhilippines)—all of them commanding and controlling the ongoing de factooccupation of Iraq—bear an international responsibility and obligation toprotect civilians living under occupation and who are protected by the 4thArticle of the Geneva Convention.The Geneva Convention, which the U.S. and others nations have signed withoutreservation, holds all occupying authorities responsible for the conditionpertaining to the lives of Iraqi intellectuals, professors, and civilians ofall types, including the further undermining of the already sanctioned andutterly destroyed system of education in Iraq. We, the undersigned, deplorethe killing of professors, intellectuals and other civilians, and urge afull Congressional investigation into the circumstances that led to theongoing, systematic and targeted assassination of Iraqi intellectual,academics, and professors. According to Union of Iraqi Lecturers, if “thestream of assassinations” continue, Iraqi Colleges and Universities will beleft without a qualified teaching staff.