Thursday, December 29, 2005
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005
Good evening …..
After I finished reading the book of Ibn Khaldoon, I went on to read Plato's book: "Plato's Republic", to learn the roots of Western Philosophy in ruling. This book was written by Plato, speaking by the tongue of his teacher, Socrates, about 400 B.C. He was a genius no doubt, for he discussed issues concerning states and societies, western and eastern, since the dawn of human history, till this present day.
At the beginning of the book, Plato discussed the concept of Justice, and how to build a just state, or justice-loving individuals. In the dialogues of this book, Socrates presents a definition of the Just person; and he is- the Wise, and the Good. And the Aggressor is the Evil, and Ignorant. He thinks that Man, by nature, tends to be aggressive more than being just, and the state should teach the individuals to love Justice.
He assimilates the divisions of the state to the parts of the human body…
The state is divided into:
The class of Rulers, the class of the Army, and the class of the workers and craftsmen.
And he divides the Human into:
· The Head; in it- the Mind, and its Virtue is Wisdom.
· The Heart; in it- the Emotion, and its Virtue is Bravery.
· The Belly; in it- the Desires, and its Virtue is Moderation.
The Just State is that in which every individual carries on the task concerning his nature:
the Ruler rules, the Soldier protects, and the Worker works.
And so would be the notion of Justice in the Human being:
The Mind controls the Desires, the Emotions help the Mind in its work; like getting angry against mean actions, or feeling ashamed from lying.
And the Social justice would be a part of this inner justice/ the Justice of the Soul.
********************************************
Then he wonders: shall we seek Strength, or Justice?
Is it better for us to be Good, or strong?
As for me, I see these are serious questions still keeping people's minds busy, that is- the people who think, and wonder at what is happening in the world today, and which logic prevails: the logic of Strength, or Justice?
Socrates says in the dialogues that Greed and coveting more luxury are the elements that push some people to attack their neighbors and take their belongings, or the rivalry on the lands and its wealth, and all this would lead to wars.
He says that Trade grows and flourishes in the state, leading to dividing people into poor and rich, and when the wealth of merchants grow, a class from among them would rise, its individuals trying to reach the higher social classes by way of money, and so the state's conditions would capsize, turning into a state ruled by merchants, capital and bank owners, and so politics would fall, governments would sink, and be obliterated.
Then, comes the time of Democracy; the Poor would win over their rivals, butchering some, and sending some to exile, and they would grant all people equal portions of freedom and authority…
But Democracy could crack and extinct, from being over-democratic, for its main principal is that all people are equal to the right of Position (reign), and to appoint the general political plan of the state…
This system attracts the minds, but in reality, people are not equals in Knowledge and Manners to become equals when the time comes to choose the rulers and appoint the best, and here is where danger lies…
From Democracy springs Autocracy; if a ruler comes on, praising people, calling himself the Protector of the Nation, the people would grant him the Highest Authority, and he becomes a Tyrant…
Socrates wonders at all this, saying: if we, in minor matters like making shoes, do not trust but a skilled shoemaker, or when we feel sick, do not go but to a clever doctor, not looking for the most handsome, or the most talkative ones. If the state has an ailment, shouldn't we look for the most suitable person to rule?
**************************************
He then says: the state resembles its offspring, and we should not dream of elevating the state without elevating its offspring…
The human behavior has three sources:
Desires: these people (the men of Industry, Commerce, and Money), love seeking money, ostentation, and conflict.
Emotions: these people (the Army Men) love Bravery, Victory, Battlefields, and Fighting.
The Mind: and these people, a minority, caring about Contemplation and Understanding, away from life and its greed, are the men qualified to Rule, who were not spoiled by life.
He says that the best state is that in which Mind curbs Desires and Emotions, meaning- the men of Industry and Money produce, but do not rule, the men of War protect the state but do not hold the reins of Ruling, and the men of Wisdom, Knowledge, and Science, should be fed, clothed, and protected by the state, to Rule… because; if people were not led by Knowledge, they would become a crowd of rabble, without order, like Desires let loose.
People are in need of the guidance of Philosophy and Wisdom…
And ruin would befall the state, when the merchant, whose self grew to love fortunes, tries to become a ruler, or when the Commander uses his army for dictatorial, military purposes…
****************************************
Then Socrates suggests a way to Produce these "Wise Leaders", that the state should raise them from childhood to Virtue and Science, that they should pass many tests until they are Thirty five years old, then they would move out and mingle with people in society, from all classes, to find out all the tricks and cunning schemes some people have, so as the book of life would become open in front of them…..
Then (without any tricks or elections), these people would be appointed rulers of the state. They should concentrate all their vision within the affairs of ruling, not to be busy with anything else, so that from among them would emerge Legislators, Judges, and Executives. And lest they should fall victims to the tide of loving money and power, the state should provide residency, clothing, and protection for them, and they should be forbidden to have Gold or Silver in their houses…
Their ages would certainly be not less than 50 years, which is the age of Maturity and Wisdom, as Socrates says.
If, by circumstances, we couldn't get people like those, we can at least check the past history of this person, the candidate to rule; what principals he carries, how much integrity? How did he spend his life before ruling?
This is the simplest of ways….
And in the end, he says that Justice isn't in mere Power, then, and it isn't the right of the strong, but rather the collaboration of all the parts of society, a balanced collaboration, that would bring welfare to all.
********************************************
Of course, to me, this book is astonishing, because it was written some 2400 years ago, and spoke about problems that societies still suffer from… it might seem Ideal, but it isn't without reality and logic…
Here I am, looking at our states, and how they are tyrannized by the Army and the Military, or a government elected in form only, where the man in power remains tenacious of power, as if it was created for him alone, and keeps clinging to the chair, tyrannizing others; he, his Party, and his kin, as if the country and the people became a property of his, to dominate as he wills.
I also look at the states of the West, as the class of Merchants, Wealthy people, Banking groups, and Industrialists seized ruling, allied with the Army leaders and Intelligence men, exactly like Plato described the case in his book.
And where are the Wise men, the Rational, and the Just Thinkers in countries like America and Britain? No one knows them, they live far, away from the lights and society, while the Media, the magazines, the newspapers and the Internet are dominated by the photos of the wealthy and the politicians, and the likes of them. So, where is democracy heading in those countries?
I was very, very surprised a few days ago, as I read the speech of the British Novelist, the Literature Nobel Prize winner, for it was a speech full of truthfulness and sincerity, criticizing the present governments and their clumsy policies….
He started his speech by a sentence he wrote in 1958, in which he wondered about the difference between the truth and the lie, or what is real and what is fictitious, he says that he used to think, as an artist, that there isn't a clear difference between the real and the fictitious, but as a human I couldn't believe this, for the truth is clear, and it is different from lies…
Then he spoke about the characters in his novels, and how he creates them, then moved on to talk about the present governments of America and Britain, criticizing all their aggressive behaviors against the world countries, especially the war on Iraq, the American government's interferences in the affairs of the Latin American countries, the devastation, injustice, and poverty that befell these countries from the American policies; as they ousted the nationally elected presidents, those whom the people wanted, and in their places put those who support America, or some military militias that would corrupt the country, destroy its economy, and increase the poverty there, and America would remain silent, without exposing them, or making any hubbub, like they did about the stories of the Mass Destruction weapons in Iraq, or the connection with Al-Qaida organization.
By GOD, I saw as if he was talking like one of us, as if he lived among us, and felt our pains, and sufferings… even though he was British, and perhaps never visited Iraq all his life, but he possessed this clear, sensitive perception that Thinkers and Artists have, so he understands, from a far, the explanation of the stories, and can't be fooled by the media machines that diffuse their poisons, tricking people, and deforming truths…
He says; at the beginning of the war on Iraq, the British newspapers published a picture of Tony Blair kissing an Iraqi child, as a sign of his sympathy with the Iraqi people, then, a few days after the beginning of the war, they published the picture of an Iraqi child whose limbs were amputated, and whose parents were killed in the American-British bombing, but this time they put the picture in the inner pages of the newspapers, in a shy article away from publicity….
I laughed, liking his intelligence and keen look in analyzing things, he does deserve to win an international prize in Literature, as long as he has a clear, humanitarian perception, which wasn't marred by politics, or a culture biased against the "Other".
I wondered, though, how come the ruling factions in Europe didn't interfere to put the "specifications" of that who should win this prize. Or perhaps they were forced, because no one from the class of merchants or money-men who dominate the ruling, likes reading artistic books, or writing art, novels, or plays…
I said to myself: A respectable man like this, and we hear about him now, in the seventies of his life, as if he was obscure and away, no one would have known about him if it wasn't for the Literature Prize that he won, which brought on a chance to know him and listen to his intellectual speech…
Why don't men like these take the reins of ruling in their countries? Why is ruling handed over to the class of corrupt merchants and money-owners, who love the private interests, wage wars, and oppress people?
What Socrates and Plato suffered from, by the corruption of the ruling class in Athens, we are still suffering from…
As if humans are stupid creatures, who didn't know, all these thousands of years, how to solve this complex problem?
And, authority is still in the hands of this selfish class, that thinks of none but its interests, dragging the world into the chasm?
It is really a sad and shameful matter….
***************************************
Now I want to discuss this deformed democracy they introduced for us into Iraq, after the war…..
First of all- they divided the country into sects, ethnics, and conflicting tribes, they pulled us back to the age of Illiteracy, the pre-Islam age…
Then they brought on the Voting boxes, the High Commissariat, and lab…lab…lab…, and told the people: go on, vote…
And the tribes, the ethnics, and the sects moved a part, compressing their ranks to defeat the other tribes, ethnics, and sects, and to take their seats from them… instead of all the people joining ranks in a civilized way, to face a comprehensive national program addressing the people, with all their factions and hues, by a just, comprehensive, intellectual address, speaking about the suffering of the people and the country, presenting a program of National Unity, and the country's Re-Construction program. Then, the people would choose the leaderships from those competing national Parties, according to their integrity, efficiency, and clean history…
This is what was supposed to happen…
This is the democratic process that we expected to see…
But what happened was- that the society was ripped apart after the occupation entered the country…the leadership was given to a faction of fanatic clergymen, who used their influence in the Southern parts, where Religion and the clergyman are the authority without discussion, and whoever objects to him is called an infidel, or told that his prayers wouldn't be acceptable, and he shall go to hell. This is what they spread among people, to frighten them, and push them on to elect the list of the clergy, or some other lists of Technocratic people of the same sect; meaning- if you wouldn't elect a clergyman from our list, then elect an economy and money-man from our Party…
And so on….
As to the tribesmen, they started giving instructions to their people to elect the lists that their tribe's head made an alliance with…
This means that the majority of people living in the Southern cities, or at the outskirts of towns were controlled by their compliance to the clergyman or the head of the tribe, and thus; the majority voted for the clergyman or the head of the tribe, meaning- they were will-robbed clusters of people, who didn't understand what the elections were for, or what is the whole process, in the first place…
Don't these people make some 70% of the Iraqi people?
This is about the men, but what about the women? And most of them do not know but the house and its burdens? How will they participate in a process they didn't even hear about, and didn't know what does it aim to?
They will tell every one of them: go and put a sign in front of the (…) list, dip your finger in the inkbottle, then get back home quickly…
Is this Democracy?
Or is it a trick, as Plato described it in his book?
Or rather, is it the Victory Plan that President Bush spoke about, in his last speech?
How will these masses control the political decision in the country, while being poor, illiterate, uneducated masses, who went out of Saddam Hussein's oppression, to the oppression of the sect leader? And while the educated, rational, nationalistic factions end up with a minority in the final results, and will not have any clear authority to rule in the country?
I mean, for people who still have percentages of illiteracy and ignorance, what will these people benefit from the elections, if it was controlled by the laws of extinct societies, like the authority of the clergyman, and the tribe's head?
These societies need long years of education and awareness raising, so as to learn how to get the benefit of an election process, and comprehend its essence, and meaning…
Now, I started imagining, if this same thing happened in a poor African country, or a poor Latin country, I can understand exactly that it is a deformed, unripe process, of which the only object is some fake political gains…..
I mean, when a group of engineers or doctors elect a new administrative board in their union, this process is usually carried out in a level of awareness and comprehension suitable with the education of those people, and then, of course, the fate and future of the union, and the union itself are not in the same level of importance as that of the fate and future of all the society…
I mean- where is justice when an ignorant, uneducated person votes to choose the government's members, and be equal in the rights with a university professor, a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer, to decide the nation's fate?
Where is the justice in a situation that an 18 or 20 years old uneducated person, has the same right in deciding the nation's fate, with a 60 or 70 years old man who has the experience and knowledge of generations…
I see a lot of holes in this astonishing democracy…..
And I see that the democracy they are implementing in Iraq now is just a malicious, crafty game, so that Iraq would remain torn, ignorant, and weak, the reins of its fate held by a bunch of religious-sects men, and tribe's heads, who clash with, and win over, an educated, conscious faction, who make a small percentage, but is completely aware of the dangers surrounding the country, and perhaps have the ability, more than the others, to think, and lay down smart plans to solve the country's problems, but who will not be able to make its voice heard, for it will be lost in the crowd of the leaders of sects, tribes, and ethnics….
This is the new Iraq that the Bush administration wants…
A torn, weak, ignorant, and retard Iraq…
And here are the days, showing us lessons, and exposing for us the type of freedom and democracy they came to spread in our country, on top of their tanks….
By GOD, in spite of all the disasters and calamities, here we are, learning new things….
And we thank GOD in any condition, for this is His Will, and this is His Wisdom…
*****************************************
History moves on, as Ibn Khaldoon says, like a brutal fate, with us without an ability to change it…
And this is going on in Iraq now, makes everyone with a sound mind and heart, feel sad…
We have none but to work as best we can to change the conditions into the better, criticizing the mistakes to correct them, hoping that one day we can put decision into the hands of wise, logical men, worthy of trust…
I always remember the saying of the gracious Prophet, Muhammad: " the ultimate of this nation shall not fare well, unless like its onset…". Meaning- coming back again to gather under the canopy of one religion, no difference in it between an Arab and a Kurd, a Turkman, or a Persian, unless by devoutness, and GOD-fearing…..
Then, the nation will regain back its strength and health…..
And until that day comes on, we ask GOD to grant us patience about what is going on, and we ask Him the guidance, to say and do what will bring us His consent….
May Peace be upon you all.............
===========================
Translated by May/Baghdad.
Thursday, December 22nd, 2005
Good morning...
Today is one week since the general elections in Iraq, and I want to describe how the Iraqi scene looks like..........
The day of the elections was a day of joy, happiness, and optimism to the Iraqis, for they said it was the first true step to build a new homeland, and a national government that would handle the responsibility to rule and solve the country's problems…
The Parties participating in the elections noted some transgressions and violations in some of the Iraqi towns and villages, they said they presented complaints to the Independent Commissariat of Elections, and that the Commissariat is responding…
Then, the Commissariat announced after the end of the elections that it shall not be hasty in announcing the results, until some two weeks at least, and that no one has the right to announce any unofficial results before that date…
Things were moving in an excellent way, people were happy, and optimistic, saying: Oh, dear GOD, these are the features of a new Iraq looming on the horizon…. We shall get the reward of all the sacrifices, blood, fear, panic, devastation, and the ruin we saw from this war…….
***************************
Then, after three days, the Commissariat announced that there are some preliminary results indicating the winning of the lists of the present government's Parties, by very high numbers, which was something that provoked the other Parties and lists…
And the fire broke out…
Each Party or list that participated in the elections had some representatives standing in front of the TV cameras and the Radio microphones of various space channels, all of whom were covering the event…
And all those who spoke expressed their rage and anger at those results, announcing their rejection of it, and accusing the government and the Commissariat of forging the results, because each Party had some overseers, and each of those counted the number of votes his Party gained when the boxes were opened for each voting center…
All the Iraqi non-governmental TV stations started talking about the subject, expressing anger, and made interviews with political personalities and ordinary people, and all rejected what happened, and discussed the violations that occurred; many reports came on to say there has been some red violations-meaning: serious, that the Commissariat isn't honest, and most of its employees are from biased governmental Parties…
And on the same day, the government announced a rise in the gasoline prices, from 20 Iraqi Dinnars per liter to 150 IDs/Liter for the ordinary gasoline, and to 250 IDs/Liter for highly refined gasoline. This means that I used to fill up my car (as they say) with 1400 IDs, and now I have to pay 10,000 IDs for ordinary gasoline, or 17,000 IDs for highly refined gasoline, for the same 70 liters I used to buy.
How many multiple folds did the price of gasoline go up?
And of course people stirred, got angry, and moved in demonstrations of protest, the local media; TVs and newspapers criticized and talked about this move from the government, and how bad was its timing, that conditions weren't better, there are no new employment opportunities, no clear services form the government for the citizens, and people are still standing in long lines to get gasoline, besides; gasoline and all the fuels are local Iraqi products, so why raise the prices?
Why can't they feel the people's suffering?
Now, the prices of transportations will go up, along with the prices of vegetables and all other food provisions, under the pretext of transportation prices…
The funny thing is-when people in the southern provinces walked in angry demonstrations, they found none of the men from the winning election lists that got the majority of votes there according to the preliminary results, while towns used to be full of banners of elections publicity, and the beautiful promises of a happy and luxurious life and future for the Iraqis; now the offices are empty, and nobody meets the people and calm them down or heed their anger- of course, the elections are over, and they have won the votes, and while the ink is still on the fingers of the poor voters, but it seems that their hopes and dreams are the things that started evaporating….
This is the democratic process, it seems… merely a game and some rules, banners, flags, conferences, honeyed-talk and promises, while the people are complaining from a painful reality that needs to be changed, then- after the elections there would be more unjust new laws that doesn't satisfy the people, nor express the perception of their sufferings…
But who cares?
The game is over…
This is what usually happens here and there, and perhaps in four years' time you will get the chance to change those, in the coming elections… It’s a simple matter, for then you would have only lost four more years of your lives, and patience is advisable…..
****************************
Anyway; when the people protested about the increase in the prices of gasoline, they asked the government –why did you decide to increase the prices?
The government said they took the advice of the International Bank; for there are some external debts on Iraq, estimated between $120 to $140 Billion, and the Bank promised the government to omit or reschedule these debts if the government followed the policies and the instructions of the Bank. Well then, and what are the instructions of the Bank?
To lift the subsidizing and governmental support of the local fuels, estimated at $6 Billion a year, and this is one of the items that will decrease the deficit in the budget, or decrease the external debts…
What is the International Bank? I asked myself- I had a curiosity to be closely familiar with it, I put on the internet, and found many sites, in all languages…
Well- its history says it was established after the WW II, meaning; the mid-forties, and its program was to reconstruct the European countries destroyed by war…
But its program now focuses around decreasing the intensity of poverty around the world…
By GOD, this is a nice talk, and a noble goal…
Well, I want to see how this shall be fulfilled?
I went on to other websites, and found the International Bank's conditions to help the poor and growing countries, and among them I found a condition compelling the countries that would receive the loans to follow a policy that wouldn't contradict with the policy of the country that granted the money. Of course, the country dominating that Bank is America, and the present president of this Bank now is an American named Paul Woulfvitz…
And who is Paul Woulfvitz?
I made a search in the internet, and found out that he was the deputy American Defense Secretary before assuming the presidency of the International Bank, and that he was one of the most enthusiastic people in the Bush administration for the idea of the war on Iraq after the September 11th events.
Hummm, useful information….
I found an interview of him with some Iraqis living in America before the war on Iraq, in which he explains for them the future of Iraq after Saddam….
I wish everyone would read that dreamy, romantic article, and think how much of it was fulfilled? And how much truth there is in it?
**********************************
Then I went back to read on more internet websites, some economic reports about the facilities presented by the International Bank to some Arabic states, which depended on the idea of the reward and the punishment; meaning- these states who would be in harmony with the American policy get a bigger share than those who rebel…
Huh?
By GOD, how amusing these informations are…
Any way, the writer of the article gave a realistic example and in numbers, as follows: of what could be explained by the development of the share of some of the Arabic states of these facilities and loans, in the period from 1973 until 2002…
For example; we notice that the share of a country like Egypt pf the financing of these funds didn't exceed 1.1% of the total funds, after the conclusion of the Egyptian peace treaty with Israel, while Syria's share was 27.1%, and Jordan's 26.1% at that time. But in 1990, and after the Egyptian stand of the second gulf war (between Iraq and Kuwait), Egypt got the lion's share, and her share –in the period 1990-1999-, was about 39.5%, while Syria's share became 4.7%, and Jordan's share was 6.2%, besides; the Gulf states ceded their debts with Egypt, that were some 6.2 Billion dollars at the end of the second gulf war.
********************************
Then I read about the procedures of implementing the conditions of the Fund and the International Bank, which were:
Freeing the prices, the policy of Privatization, freeing the External Trade, and achieving more mergers with the capitalist international Economy. That means, part of these procedures are increasing the prices of fuels, increasing the taxes on citizens; every day some kind or another of a tax, of course while the wages would remain the same, and also eliminating the principal of a minimum wage-limit, as I read in the report.
Then, at the end of the report, I read the positive and the negative results…
The negatives would be: an increase in the unemployment rates, the deterioration of the poor or limited-income families' conditions, the negative influence on the middle classes, the emergence of social problems, and the retreat of the state's role and the reinforcement of the privet sector's role…
While the positive points would be: the decrease of the deficit in the general budget of the state, the decrease in the external debts percentage of the state, and some other points relative to the state's economic system…
Well then, I am not an economic expert, but I do think we can all deduct what is going on… this means that people shall endure the sufferings and sacrifices in order to solve the state's problems, and at the same time, a rich class of merchants, private sector men, and finance men will be the beneficiary class, which-as a result- shall mean a weak state, a marginalized public sector, poor people, increasing unemployment, increasing taxes to fill the deficit gap in the budget, and increasing fuel prices to redress the deficit. Then, what would be the result?
And here I saw the explanation of the common phrase: the poor get poorer, and the rich get richer… meaning- the states patch up their problems and incapacity from the people's pockets, and of course, the pockets that would be hurt the most are those of the poor…
Hummm…
We have a saying that says: knowledge is enlightenment…. It means you would be enlightened, and your view of the world would get clearer when you learn what is going on around you…
Should I get back to the International Bank's website, and send them an e-mail asking – how come you say that you are working for the poor, but destroying the lives of the poor?
I do not know if anyone will answer the question?
***********************************
And going back to miserable, sad Iraq… here they are, the people in the whirlpool of the conflict about the results of the elections and the stories of forgery, the increase in the prices of gasoline, then the transportations, then the commodities…
And, another story on the screens… the trial of Saddam and his men…
A British radio station called me yesterday, asking my opinion about the Saddam trial, if it is an indication of justice in the new Iraq, and if it is an indication that the Iraqis regained the rights for the victims of the former regime?
I laughed… by GOD, these people are living in another world…
I said to her- my dear, who cares now about the story of Saddam's trial? People are cursed by poverty, unemployment, the lack of security and settlement, the results of the forged elections, and the increase in the fuel prices, Saddam Hussein became an object from the past, we are busy with the present problems, and we think how shall the future be….
She said- but the settlement of Saddam's story is a leap from the past to the future…
I said – yes, that would have been true if we had a real sovereignty in Iraq, a state and a government about which the people are content, and then, yes, perhaps after 4 or 5 years of settlement, then the trial of Saddam could be an important issue in the lives of the Iraqis, with lessons and examples for those who rule after him, but now, what does it signify? Do you think it signifies justice? Are we taking the rights of the Saddam's regime victims who were imprisoned, tortured, and killed? And who shall take the rights for the victims of the present regime, the detained, tortured, and assassinated?
We understand right and justice as being balanced principals, not exclusive for some people, while others are exempted from them…
We see this trial as a mere silly play, meaningless… perhaps the occupation and the Parties in the present government see it as a victory, and a political gain, but for the ordinary Iraqi on the street, it is a silly story, and meaningless.
****************************
My son wondered; why didn't they try Saddam for his war with Iran? For the chemicals he threw at the Kurds? For killing the Iraqis in the south after the 1991 uprising? For entering Kuwait and his war against it?
There are some agendas more dangerous than the issue of Dejail, so, why did they choose this one precisely?
Yesterday, I understood…
The victims were from Al-Da'awa Party , and the witnesses now are from Al-Da'awa Party, and Al-Da'awa Party now is the government, meaning; getting personal scores even, not achieve justice for the Iraqis.
And why didn't they start an inquiry in the other files?
The answer, of course, is- because it would expose everyone, and reveal everyone's involvement in those criminal acts, embarrassing the American administration and the British government, and some other European and Arabic governments who formed the coalition to wage the war on Iraq in 2003, and that's why they chose that small agenda; which is an internal Iraqi issue, and that's it, this material is enough for a play of that limited size.
*****************************
Iraq today is surrounded by a lot of dangerous challenges…. Challenges about the unity of its people… its wealth… the independence of its political decision… and its future….
All these are in danger….
This is what reality says…...................
May GOD help the people of Iraq.
********************************************************
Translated by May/Baghdad.
Good evening …..
After I finished reading the book of Ibn Khaldoon, I went on to read Plato's book: "Plato's Republic", to learn the roots of Western Philosophy in ruling. This book was written by Plato, speaking by the tongue of his teacher, Socrates, about 400 B.C. He was a genius no doubt, for he discussed issues concerning states and societies, western and eastern, since the dawn of human history, till this present day.
At the beginning of the book, Plato discussed the concept of Justice, and how to build a just state, or justice-loving individuals. In the dialogues of this book, Socrates presents a definition of the Just person; and he is- the Wise, and the Good. And the Aggressor is the Evil, and Ignorant. He thinks that Man, by nature, tends to be aggressive more than being just, and the state should teach the individuals to love Justice.
He assimilates the divisions of the state to the parts of the human body…
The state is divided into:
The class of Rulers, the class of the Army, and the class of the workers and craftsmen.
And he divides the Human into:
· The Head; in it- the Mind, and its Virtue is Wisdom.
· The Heart; in it- the Emotion, and its Virtue is Bravery.
· The Belly; in it- the Desires, and its Virtue is Moderation.
The Just State is that in which every individual carries on the task concerning his nature:
the Ruler rules, the Soldier protects, and the Worker works.
And so would be the notion of Justice in the Human being:
The Mind controls the Desires, the Emotions help the Mind in its work; like getting angry against mean actions, or feeling ashamed from lying.
And the Social justice would be a part of this inner justice/ the Justice of the Soul.
********************************************
Then he wonders: shall we seek Strength, or Justice?
Is it better for us to be Good, or strong?
As for me, I see these are serious questions still keeping people's minds busy, that is- the people who think, and wonder at what is happening in the world today, and which logic prevails: the logic of Strength, or Justice?
Socrates says in the dialogues that Greed and coveting more luxury are the elements that push some people to attack their neighbors and take their belongings, or the rivalry on the lands and its wealth, and all this would lead to wars.
He says that Trade grows and flourishes in the state, leading to dividing people into poor and rich, and when the wealth of merchants grow, a class from among them would rise, its individuals trying to reach the higher social classes by way of money, and so the state's conditions would capsize, turning into a state ruled by merchants, capital and bank owners, and so politics would fall, governments would sink, and be obliterated.
Then, comes the time of Democracy; the Poor would win over their rivals, butchering some, and sending some to exile, and they would grant all people equal portions of freedom and authority…
But Democracy could crack and extinct, from being over-democratic, for its main principal is that all people are equal to the right of Position (reign), and to appoint the general political plan of the state…
This system attracts the minds, but in reality, people are not equals in Knowledge and Manners to become equals when the time comes to choose the rulers and appoint the best, and here is where danger lies…
From Democracy springs Autocracy; if a ruler comes on, praising people, calling himself the Protector of the Nation, the people would grant him the Highest Authority, and he becomes a Tyrant…
Socrates wonders at all this, saying: if we, in minor matters like making shoes, do not trust but a skilled shoemaker, or when we feel sick, do not go but to a clever doctor, not looking for the most handsome, or the most talkative ones. If the state has an ailment, shouldn't we look for the most suitable person to rule?
**************************************
He then says: the state resembles its offspring, and we should not dream of elevating the state without elevating its offspring…
The human behavior has three sources:
Desires: these people (the men of Industry, Commerce, and Money), love seeking money, ostentation, and conflict.
Emotions: these people (the Army Men) love Bravery, Victory, Battlefields, and Fighting.
The Mind: and these people, a minority, caring about Contemplation and Understanding, away from life and its greed, are the men qualified to Rule, who were not spoiled by life.
He says that the best state is that in which Mind curbs Desires and Emotions, meaning- the men of Industry and Money produce, but do not rule, the men of War protect the state but do not hold the reins of Ruling, and the men of Wisdom, Knowledge, and Science, should be fed, clothed, and protected by the state, to Rule… because; if people were not led by Knowledge, they would become a crowd of rabble, without order, like Desires let loose.
People are in need of the guidance of Philosophy and Wisdom…
And ruin would befall the state, when the merchant, whose self grew to love fortunes, tries to become a ruler, or when the Commander uses his army for dictatorial, military purposes…
****************************************
Then Socrates suggests a way to Produce these "Wise Leaders", that the state should raise them from childhood to Virtue and Science, that they should pass many tests until they are Thirty five years old, then they would move out and mingle with people in society, from all classes, to find out all the tricks and cunning schemes some people have, so as the book of life would become open in front of them…..
Then (without any tricks or elections), these people would be appointed rulers of the state. They should concentrate all their vision within the affairs of ruling, not to be busy with anything else, so that from among them would emerge Legislators, Judges, and Executives. And lest they should fall victims to the tide of loving money and power, the state should provide residency, clothing, and protection for them, and they should be forbidden to have Gold or Silver in their houses…
Their ages would certainly be not less than 50 years, which is the age of Maturity and Wisdom, as Socrates says.
If, by circumstances, we couldn't get people like those, we can at least check the past history of this person, the candidate to rule; what principals he carries, how much integrity? How did he spend his life before ruling?
This is the simplest of ways….
And in the end, he says that Justice isn't in mere Power, then, and it isn't the right of the strong, but rather the collaboration of all the parts of society, a balanced collaboration, that would bring welfare to all.
********************************************
Of course, to me, this book is astonishing, because it was written some 2400 years ago, and spoke about problems that societies still suffer from… it might seem Ideal, but it isn't without reality and logic…
Here I am, looking at our states, and how they are tyrannized by the Army and the Military, or a government elected in form only, where the man in power remains tenacious of power, as if it was created for him alone, and keeps clinging to the chair, tyrannizing others; he, his Party, and his kin, as if the country and the people became a property of his, to dominate as he wills.
I also look at the states of the West, as the class of Merchants, Wealthy people, Banking groups, and Industrialists seized ruling, allied with the Army leaders and Intelligence men, exactly like Plato described the case in his book.
And where are the Wise men, the Rational, and the Just Thinkers in countries like America and Britain? No one knows them, they live far, away from the lights and society, while the Media, the magazines, the newspapers and the Internet are dominated by the photos of the wealthy and the politicians, and the likes of them. So, where is democracy heading in those countries?
I was very, very surprised a few days ago, as I read the speech of the British Novelist, the Literature Nobel Prize winner, for it was a speech full of truthfulness and sincerity, criticizing the present governments and their clumsy policies….
He started his speech by a sentence he wrote in 1958, in which he wondered about the difference between the truth and the lie, or what is real and what is fictitious, he says that he used to think, as an artist, that there isn't a clear difference between the real and the fictitious, but as a human I couldn't believe this, for the truth is clear, and it is different from lies…
Then he spoke about the characters in his novels, and how he creates them, then moved on to talk about the present governments of America and Britain, criticizing all their aggressive behaviors against the world countries, especially the war on Iraq, the American government's interferences in the affairs of the Latin American countries, the devastation, injustice, and poverty that befell these countries from the American policies; as they ousted the nationally elected presidents, those whom the people wanted, and in their places put those who support America, or some military militias that would corrupt the country, destroy its economy, and increase the poverty there, and America would remain silent, without exposing them, or making any hubbub, like they did about the stories of the Mass Destruction weapons in Iraq, or the connection with Al-Qaida organization.
By GOD, I saw as if he was talking like one of us, as if he lived among us, and felt our pains, and sufferings… even though he was British, and perhaps never visited Iraq all his life, but he possessed this clear, sensitive perception that Thinkers and Artists have, so he understands, from a far, the explanation of the stories, and can't be fooled by the media machines that diffuse their poisons, tricking people, and deforming truths…
He says; at the beginning of the war on Iraq, the British newspapers published a picture of Tony Blair kissing an Iraqi child, as a sign of his sympathy with the Iraqi people, then, a few days after the beginning of the war, they published the picture of an Iraqi child whose limbs were amputated, and whose parents were killed in the American-British bombing, but this time they put the picture in the inner pages of the newspapers, in a shy article away from publicity….
I laughed, liking his intelligence and keen look in analyzing things, he does deserve to win an international prize in Literature, as long as he has a clear, humanitarian perception, which wasn't marred by politics, or a culture biased against the "Other".
I wondered, though, how come the ruling factions in Europe didn't interfere to put the "specifications" of that who should win this prize. Or perhaps they were forced, because no one from the class of merchants or money-men who dominate the ruling, likes reading artistic books, or writing art, novels, or plays…
I said to myself: A respectable man like this, and we hear about him now, in the seventies of his life, as if he was obscure and away, no one would have known about him if it wasn't for the Literature Prize that he won, which brought on a chance to know him and listen to his intellectual speech…
Why don't men like these take the reins of ruling in their countries? Why is ruling handed over to the class of corrupt merchants and money-owners, who love the private interests, wage wars, and oppress people?
What Socrates and Plato suffered from, by the corruption of the ruling class in Athens, we are still suffering from…
As if humans are stupid creatures, who didn't know, all these thousands of years, how to solve this complex problem?
And, authority is still in the hands of this selfish class, that thinks of none but its interests, dragging the world into the chasm?
It is really a sad and shameful matter….
***************************************
Now I want to discuss this deformed democracy they introduced for us into Iraq, after the war…..
First of all- they divided the country into sects, ethnics, and conflicting tribes, they pulled us back to the age of Illiteracy, the pre-Islam age…
Then they brought on the Voting boxes, the High Commissariat, and lab…lab…lab…, and told the people: go on, vote…
And the tribes, the ethnics, and the sects moved a part, compressing their ranks to defeat the other tribes, ethnics, and sects, and to take their seats from them… instead of all the people joining ranks in a civilized way, to face a comprehensive national program addressing the people, with all their factions and hues, by a just, comprehensive, intellectual address, speaking about the suffering of the people and the country, presenting a program of National Unity, and the country's Re-Construction program. Then, the people would choose the leaderships from those competing national Parties, according to their integrity, efficiency, and clean history…
This is what was supposed to happen…
This is the democratic process that we expected to see…
But what happened was- that the society was ripped apart after the occupation entered the country…the leadership was given to a faction of fanatic clergymen, who used their influence in the Southern parts, where Religion and the clergyman are the authority without discussion, and whoever objects to him is called an infidel, or told that his prayers wouldn't be acceptable, and he shall go to hell. This is what they spread among people, to frighten them, and push them on to elect the list of the clergy, or some other lists of Technocratic people of the same sect; meaning- if you wouldn't elect a clergyman from our list, then elect an economy and money-man from our Party…
And so on….
As to the tribesmen, they started giving instructions to their people to elect the lists that their tribe's head made an alliance with…
This means that the majority of people living in the Southern cities, or at the outskirts of towns were controlled by their compliance to the clergyman or the head of the tribe, and thus; the majority voted for the clergyman or the head of the tribe, meaning- they were will-robbed clusters of people, who didn't understand what the elections were for, or what is the whole process, in the first place…
Don't these people make some 70% of the Iraqi people?
This is about the men, but what about the women? And most of them do not know but the house and its burdens? How will they participate in a process they didn't even hear about, and didn't know what does it aim to?
They will tell every one of them: go and put a sign in front of the (…) list, dip your finger in the inkbottle, then get back home quickly…
Is this Democracy?
Or is it a trick, as Plato described it in his book?
Or rather, is it the Victory Plan that President Bush spoke about, in his last speech?
How will these masses control the political decision in the country, while being poor, illiterate, uneducated masses, who went out of Saddam Hussein's oppression, to the oppression of the sect leader? And while the educated, rational, nationalistic factions end up with a minority in the final results, and will not have any clear authority to rule in the country?
I mean, for people who still have percentages of illiteracy and ignorance, what will these people benefit from the elections, if it was controlled by the laws of extinct societies, like the authority of the clergyman, and the tribe's head?
These societies need long years of education and awareness raising, so as to learn how to get the benefit of an election process, and comprehend its essence, and meaning…
Now, I started imagining, if this same thing happened in a poor African country, or a poor Latin country, I can understand exactly that it is a deformed, unripe process, of which the only object is some fake political gains…..
I mean, when a group of engineers or doctors elect a new administrative board in their union, this process is usually carried out in a level of awareness and comprehension suitable with the education of those people, and then, of course, the fate and future of the union, and the union itself are not in the same level of importance as that of the fate and future of all the society…
I mean- where is justice when an ignorant, uneducated person votes to choose the government's members, and be equal in the rights with a university professor, a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer, to decide the nation's fate?
Where is the justice in a situation that an 18 or 20 years old uneducated person, has the same right in deciding the nation's fate, with a 60 or 70 years old man who has the experience and knowledge of generations…
I see a lot of holes in this astonishing democracy…..
And I see that the democracy they are implementing in Iraq now is just a malicious, crafty game, so that Iraq would remain torn, ignorant, and weak, the reins of its fate held by a bunch of religious-sects men, and tribe's heads, who clash with, and win over, an educated, conscious faction, who make a small percentage, but is completely aware of the dangers surrounding the country, and perhaps have the ability, more than the others, to think, and lay down smart plans to solve the country's problems, but who will not be able to make its voice heard, for it will be lost in the crowd of the leaders of sects, tribes, and ethnics….
This is the new Iraq that the Bush administration wants…
A torn, weak, ignorant, and retard Iraq…
And here are the days, showing us lessons, and exposing for us the type of freedom and democracy they came to spread in our country, on top of their tanks….
By GOD, in spite of all the disasters and calamities, here we are, learning new things….
And we thank GOD in any condition, for this is His Will, and this is His Wisdom…
*****************************************
History moves on, as Ibn Khaldoon says, like a brutal fate, with us without an ability to change it…
And this is going on in Iraq now, makes everyone with a sound mind and heart, feel sad…
We have none but to work as best we can to change the conditions into the better, criticizing the mistakes to correct them, hoping that one day we can put decision into the hands of wise, logical men, worthy of trust…
I always remember the saying of the gracious Prophet, Muhammad: " the ultimate of this nation shall not fare well, unless like its onset…". Meaning- coming back again to gather under the canopy of one religion, no difference in it between an Arab and a Kurd, a Turkman, or a Persian, unless by devoutness, and GOD-fearing…..
Then, the nation will regain back its strength and health…..
And until that day comes on, we ask GOD to grant us patience about what is going on, and we ask Him the guidance, to say and do what will bring us His consent….
May Peace be upon you all.............
===========================
Translated by May/Baghdad.
Thursday, December 22nd, 2005
Good morning...
Today is one week since the general elections in Iraq, and I want to describe how the Iraqi scene looks like..........
The day of the elections was a day of joy, happiness, and optimism to the Iraqis, for they said it was the first true step to build a new homeland, and a national government that would handle the responsibility to rule and solve the country's problems…
The Parties participating in the elections noted some transgressions and violations in some of the Iraqi towns and villages, they said they presented complaints to the Independent Commissariat of Elections, and that the Commissariat is responding…
Then, the Commissariat announced after the end of the elections that it shall not be hasty in announcing the results, until some two weeks at least, and that no one has the right to announce any unofficial results before that date…
Things were moving in an excellent way, people were happy, and optimistic, saying: Oh, dear GOD, these are the features of a new Iraq looming on the horizon…. We shall get the reward of all the sacrifices, blood, fear, panic, devastation, and the ruin we saw from this war…….
***************************
Then, after three days, the Commissariat announced that there are some preliminary results indicating the winning of the lists of the present government's Parties, by very high numbers, which was something that provoked the other Parties and lists…
And the fire broke out…
Each Party or list that participated in the elections had some representatives standing in front of the TV cameras and the Radio microphones of various space channels, all of whom were covering the event…
And all those who spoke expressed their rage and anger at those results, announcing their rejection of it, and accusing the government and the Commissariat of forging the results, because each Party had some overseers, and each of those counted the number of votes his Party gained when the boxes were opened for each voting center…
All the Iraqi non-governmental TV stations started talking about the subject, expressing anger, and made interviews with political personalities and ordinary people, and all rejected what happened, and discussed the violations that occurred; many reports came on to say there has been some red violations-meaning: serious, that the Commissariat isn't honest, and most of its employees are from biased governmental Parties…
And on the same day, the government announced a rise in the gasoline prices, from 20 Iraqi Dinnars per liter to 150 IDs/Liter for the ordinary gasoline, and to 250 IDs/Liter for highly refined gasoline. This means that I used to fill up my car (as they say) with 1400 IDs, and now I have to pay 10,000 IDs for ordinary gasoline, or 17,000 IDs for highly refined gasoline, for the same 70 liters I used to buy.
How many multiple folds did the price of gasoline go up?
And of course people stirred, got angry, and moved in demonstrations of protest, the local media; TVs and newspapers criticized and talked about this move from the government, and how bad was its timing, that conditions weren't better, there are no new employment opportunities, no clear services form the government for the citizens, and people are still standing in long lines to get gasoline, besides; gasoline and all the fuels are local Iraqi products, so why raise the prices?
Why can't they feel the people's suffering?
Now, the prices of transportations will go up, along with the prices of vegetables and all other food provisions, under the pretext of transportation prices…
The funny thing is-when people in the southern provinces walked in angry demonstrations, they found none of the men from the winning election lists that got the majority of votes there according to the preliminary results, while towns used to be full of banners of elections publicity, and the beautiful promises of a happy and luxurious life and future for the Iraqis; now the offices are empty, and nobody meets the people and calm them down or heed their anger- of course, the elections are over, and they have won the votes, and while the ink is still on the fingers of the poor voters, but it seems that their hopes and dreams are the things that started evaporating….
This is the democratic process, it seems… merely a game and some rules, banners, flags, conferences, honeyed-talk and promises, while the people are complaining from a painful reality that needs to be changed, then- after the elections there would be more unjust new laws that doesn't satisfy the people, nor express the perception of their sufferings…
But who cares?
The game is over…
This is what usually happens here and there, and perhaps in four years' time you will get the chance to change those, in the coming elections… It’s a simple matter, for then you would have only lost four more years of your lives, and patience is advisable…..
****************************
Anyway; when the people protested about the increase in the prices of gasoline, they asked the government –why did you decide to increase the prices?
The government said they took the advice of the International Bank; for there are some external debts on Iraq, estimated between $120 to $140 Billion, and the Bank promised the government to omit or reschedule these debts if the government followed the policies and the instructions of the Bank. Well then, and what are the instructions of the Bank?
To lift the subsidizing and governmental support of the local fuels, estimated at $6 Billion a year, and this is one of the items that will decrease the deficit in the budget, or decrease the external debts…
What is the International Bank? I asked myself- I had a curiosity to be closely familiar with it, I put on the internet, and found many sites, in all languages…
Well- its history says it was established after the WW II, meaning; the mid-forties, and its program was to reconstruct the European countries destroyed by war…
But its program now focuses around decreasing the intensity of poverty around the world…
By GOD, this is a nice talk, and a noble goal…
Well, I want to see how this shall be fulfilled?
I went on to other websites, and found the International Bank's conditions to help the poor and growing countries, and among them I found a condition compelling the countries that would receive the loans to follow a policy that wouldn't contradict with the policy of the country that granted the money. Of course, the country dominating that Bank is America, and the present president of this Bank now is an American named Paul Woulfvitz…
And who is Paul Woulfvitz?
I made a search in the internet, and found out that he was the deputy American Defense Secretary before assuming the presidency of the International Bank, and that he was one of the most enthusiastic people in the Bush administration for the idea of the war on Iraq after the September 11th events.
Hummm, useful information….
I found an interview of him with some Iraqis living in America before the war on Iraq, in which he explains for them the future of Iraq after Saddam….
I wish everyone would read that dreamy, romantic article, and think how much of it was fulfilled? And how much truth there is in it?
**********************************
Then I went back to read on more internet websites, some economic reports about the facilities presented by the International Bank to some Arabic states, which depended on the idea of the reward and the punishment; meaning- these states who would be in harmony with the American policy get a bigger share than those who rebel…
Huh?
By GOD, how amusing these informations are…
Any way, the writer of the article gave a realistic example and in numbers, as follows: of what could be explained by the development of the share of some of the Arabic states of these facilities and loans, in the period from 1973 until 2002…
For example; we notice that the share of a country like Egypt pf the financing of these funds didn't exceed 1.1% of the total funds, after the conclusion of the Egyptian peace treaty with Israel, while Syria's share was 27.1%, and Jordan's 26.1% at that time. But in 1990, and after the Egyptian stand of the second gulf war (between Iraq and Kuwait), Egypt got the lion's share, and her share –in the period 1990-1999-, was about 39.5%, while Syria's share became 4.7%, and Jordan's share was 6.2%, besides; the Gulf states ceded their debts with Egypt, that were some 6.2 Billion dollars at the end of the second gulf war.
********************************
Then I read about the procedures of implementing the conditions of the Fund and the International Bank, which were:
Freeing the prices, the policy of Privatization, freeing the External Trade, and achieving more mergers with the capitalist international Economy. That means, part of these procedures are increasing the prices of fuels, increasing the taxes on citizens; every day some kind or another of a tax, of course while the wages would remain the same, and also eliminating the principal of a minimum wage-limit, as I read in the report.
Then, at the end of the report, I read the positive and the negative results…
The negatives would be: an increase in the unemployment rates, the deterioration of the poor or limited-income families' conditions, the negative influence on the middle classes, the emergence of social problems, and the retreat of the state's role and the reinforcement of the privet sector's role…
While the positive points would be: the decrease of the deficit in the general budget of the state, the decrease in the external debts percentage of the state, and some other points relative to the state's economic system…
Well then, I am not an economic expert, but I do think we can all deduct what is going on… this means that people shall endure the sufferings and sacrifices in order to solve the state's problems, and at the same time, a rich class of merchants, private sector men, and finance men will be the beneficiary class, which-as a result- shall mean a weak state, a marginalized public sector, poor people, increasing unemployment, increasing taxes to fill the deficit gap in the budget, and increasing fuel prices to redress the deficit. Then, what would be the result?
And here I saw the explanation of the common phrase: the poor get poorer, and the rich get richer… meaning- the states patch up their problems and incapacity from the people's pockets, and of course, the pockets that would be hurt the most are those of the poor…
Hummm…
We have a saying that says: knowledge is enlightenment…. It means you would be enlightened, and your view of the world would get clearer when you learn what is going on around you…
Should I get back to the International Bank's website, and send them an e-mail asking – how come you say that you are working for the poor, but destroying the lives of the poor?
I do not know if anyone will answer the question?
***********************************
And going back to miserable, sad Iraq… here they are, the people in the whirlpool of the conflict about the results of the elections and the stories of forgery, the increase in the prices of gasoline, then the transportations, then the commodities…
And, another story on the screens… the trial of Saddam and his men…
A British radio station called me yesterday, asking my opinion about the Saddam trial, if it is an indication of justice in the new Iraq, and if it is an indication that the Iraqis regained the rights for the victims of the former regime?
I laughed… by GOD, these people are living in another world…
I said to her- my dear, who cares now about the story of Saddam's trial? People are cursed by poverty, unemployment, the lack of security and settlement, the results of the forged elections, and the increase in the fuel prices, Saddam Hussein became an object from the past, we are busy with the present problems, and we think how shall the future be….
She said- but the settlement of Saddam's story is a leap from the past to the future…
I said – yes, that would have been true if we had a real sovereignty in Iraq, a state and a government about which the people are content, and then, yes, perhaps after 4 or 5 years of settlement, then the trial of Saddam could be an important issue in the lives of the Iraqis, with lessons and examples for those who rule after him, but now, what does it signify? Do you think it signifies justice? Are we taking the rights of the Saddam's regime victims who were imprisoned, tortured, and killed? And who shall take the rights for the victims of the present regime, the detained, tortured, and assassinated?
We understand right and justice as being balanced principals, not exclusive for some people, while others are exempted from them…
We see this trial as a mere silly play, meaningless… perhaps the occupation and the Parties in the present government see it as a victory, and a political gain, but for the ordinary Iraqi on the street, it is a silly story, and meaningless.
****************************
My son wondered; why didn't they try Saddam for his war with Iran? For the chemicals he threw at the Kurds? For killing the Iraqis in the south after the 1991 uprising? For entering Kuwait and his war against it?
There are some agendas more dangerous than the issue of Dejail, so, why did they choose this one precisely?
Yesterday, I understood…
The victims were from Al-Da'awa Party , and the witnesses now are from Al-Da'awa Party, and Al-Da'awa Party now is the government, meaning; getting personal scores even, not achieve justice for the Iraqis.
And why didn't they start an inquiry in the other files?
The answer, of course, is- because it would expose everyone, and reveal everyone's involvement in those criminal acts, embarrassing the American administration and the British government, and some other European and Arabic governments who formed the coalition to wage the war on Iraq in 2003, and that's why they chose that small agenda; which is an internal Iraqi issue, and that's it, this material is enough for a play of that limited size.
*****************************
Iraq today is surrounded by a lot of dangerous challenges…. Challenges about the unity of its people… its wealth… the independence of its political decision… and its future….
All these are in danger….
This is what reality says…...................
May GOD help the people of Iraq.
********************************************************
Translated by May/Baghdad.
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 9:18 am 
