Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Sunday, March 12th, 2006
Good morning…
A week ago, I came to America by invitation, by an organization to participate in the Women's Day Activities, to call for an end to the war on Iraq, and pull out the armies…
The situation in Iraq now is the worst that can be, since Baghdad fell in April 2003, meaning; three years passed since the war, and the results we reaped were destruction, ruin, killings, and bloodshed… billions of dollars were robbed, thousands of souls perished, our cities and villages destroyed, and there are some who are pulling the people apart, pushing them to a sectarian civil war. There is an occupation army filling the streets, doing what? we do not know, they build military bases which spell the message- they want to remain for ever, that they do not care for our souls, and that everything that is happening to us pours into their interest, and is a reason for them to stay…
Iraq is torn apart…
Iraq is ruined…
Iraq became a heap of debris…
Is this what they want?
Was this their aim in this war?
This is what I want to say to the American people, I want them to know the real story of the war, not the story they hear in their biased media, financed by the government and its friends…
I want the people here to stand up and face their responsibility for what is happening in Iraq…
Do they join their government in its crimes against the Iraqi people? Or are they against her?
It is time the whole world, and especially the Iraqis, should know the true attitude of the American people from this war…
************************************
When we met people in churches and universities, we found them understanding, and annoyed at what is happening; the media isn't telling them the truth about what is going on in Iraq, the military commanders appear on TV for hasty minutes, then disappear; they deliver great statements like: everything is going well in Iraq, so far… we shall not abandon that country for it shall sink in a civil war…
And I look on, with my hand over my check…
I remember the pictures of the Iraqis who fell and died, their blood running down the streets, by trapped cars, explosions, random shootings, and assassinations… hospitals can no longer take more corpses, graves can no longer take more dead, and hearts can no longer bear what is happening to us.
Who is targeting us?
Who is killing us?
Who is taking our lives and blood so cheaply?
We never imagined that all the venom in the world came to Iraq, and its victims are the Iraqis…
Why?
What was our fault?
Our houses demolished over our heads, families dislodged, men either killed or imprisoned, we are deprived from water, electricity, medicine, and the simplest necessities of human life…
If it was true that this war was waged in spite, against Saddam Hussein, then there he is, imprisoned in their hands…
Why do they direct their revenge against all Iraqis, and Iraq itself, why did they target museums, art galleries, and national libraries? Why were these destroyed and burned, why did they bring mercenaries with them, to carry out their plans for them; we were hiding in our houses, aiming to protect our children and families, and the death and devastation squads are roaming Iraq for three years now, spreading destruction and corruption…
They all asked me- who is doing this in Iraq?
I told them- the same question is being asked by the Iraqis… ask the occupation forces, they know everything, they are responsible for everything, and they bear the responsibility of all that befell us for three years now…
******************************************
When the occupation forces entered, the Iraqi cities were calm, observing events, and there wasn't any who decided to confront them or resist them… not even in Fallujah, or Abu Ghareeb, Ramadi, Al-Ghazaliyah, Amereiah, or any other town and neighborhood…
But what happened was the ill natured behaviors of the army, and their disrespect of the people, which provoked people's anger…
I remember how they blew up the ammunition storages of the Iraqi Army in Al-Autayfia neighborhood in Baghdad; which was a warehouse among the houses. People went to implore the American officer in charge of the situation, that they should bring out the ammunition and take it away, then blast it, to preserve the lives of families. But he refused, and the warehouse was blasted. People evacuated their houses before the explosion, and when they came back, they found 20 houses demolished. We saw the report with our own eyes on TV screens, people got angry and asked: who will compensate us?
Who cares for our lives?
After three years, these same questions are still raised in the skies of Iraqi cities, without getting an answer…
There is a clear heedlessness about the lives of Iraqis, their feelings, and properties, since the beginning, until now…
And people began to rebel, the resistance against the occupation started appearing, for they pushed people to be angrier, and more extreme. The Iraqi violence and ferocity was a reaction of their violence and ferocity…
They were the ones who started on this path…
That is; in addition to all the stories of random shootings, killing civilians, and their recklessness about the lives of Iraqis, as if they were dogs…
We do not think these were individual behaviors, but rather there is a planned and studied policy. This was proved by time…
Before the Abu Ghareeb scandals were announced to the world, people in Iraq heard about them…
And it was that which ignited the rebellion fire in Fallujah; the occupation forces moved on to besiege Fallujah, bringing out only women and children, then bombing the town. Meaning- a mass annihilation of men in Iraq, under the pretext they were terrorists. This is what they told the world. That is- those against them and those who had nothing to do with them were put under the same punishment. And of course that created more anger and hate in the Iraqi's hearts against them…
They never respected our feelings, they treat us like animals; no water or electricity in Iraqi towns, just killings, prisons, and terrorization against people…
The Iraqi minds are targeted by assassinations, imprisonment, marginalization, or dislodgement from the country…
The hospitals and universities suffer from severe shortages in medical and educational staffs…
Someone out there wants to destroy us, crush us, and push us back to the dark ages…
Who was it who came to us, bearing all that much of malice and hate?
It seems that the first stage of their scheme was: Destroy everything in the country; from the symbols of civilization to humans, show them no mercy, shred them to pieces, and spread the gangs of killings and the death teams to terrorize and frighten them. Those are Iraqis, their history says they are brave, heroes who reject occupation and imperialism, give them no chance to take a breath. Destroy them from all sides, start a sectarian war by mysterious hands; the hands of unknown mercenaries who wear masks, killing from this side and that side, spearing no one, then, continue with the campaign of bombing mosques, prayer houses, and the shrines of Imams, as an extreme limit of hate, to strain the situation…
The Iraqi's hearts are sad about what is happening in Iraq, and they do not know what to grieve about….
For the loved ones who died, or ran away from the country, were imprisoned, or those who disappeared. For their towns; bombed and demolished, or their towns filled with trash, the smell of death, and death teams…
And there are no services offered to people; no water, no electricity, no medicines. No security, no stability, no hope of a shining future…
Where would hope come from, while the crows fill Iraq…
Black crows, a symbol of death and ruin…
*****************************
People no longer send their children to schools, because of the spreading terror …
Life is coming to a halt, and dying…
There is no longer a meaning to life…
You live here in safe, beautiful cities, you have security, water, electricity, hospitals, schools, restaurants, and clubs…
People there are imprisoned in their houses, terrified…
Why do you deserve to live, and we don't??
And the occupation forces forbid any annunciation about the numbers of the dead and wounded in Iraq… my colleague in the delegation said that the daily average of the dead and wounded admitted into Al-Yarmook hospital is: 20 deaths and 30 wounded, and that the central morgue receives about 1600 corpses monthly… that is the estimate of 50 deaths in Baghdad alone…
How about the whole of Iraq?
A hundred deaths a day?
And that is not counting those who died in the bombing of Fallujah, Al-Qaim, Al-Ramadi, and the other towns…
I mean; how many thousands and thousands of Iraqis died?
Is this the Iraq Liberation you brought forth??
This, in brief, is the condition of Iraq now…
*************************************
I meet people everyday, to tell them the sad story of Iraq. People apologize, saying they did not know…
And I say: well, now you do know, what shall you do?
I do not want you to be sad, cry, or apologize; we do not want that…
We want to stop the blood loss in Iraq… your government's policy destroyed us for three years now…out of which we reaped nothing but destruction and ruin…
How can we trust them to remain for more years?
Iraq became a ruin…
We want you to get them out of Iraq…
Not just by withdrawing the armies, but to stop building the accursed military bases, that signify they will make Iraq a colony for tens of years…
The Iraqis are not fools…
Our demands are clear and specific:
Get them out of our country, if you really love us….
Put a timetable for the army withdrawal…
Let us build a national unity government, not that of a dirty sectarianism…
Let us construct a national Army and Police Force, not militias and mercenaries…
Stop building the military bases in Iraq…
Lift off your hands from Iraq…
Leave Iraq for the Iraqis……..
Let us treat our wounds, and repair what you messed up…
We've seen enough from you…………
************************
Translated by May/Baghdad.
Good morning…
A week ago, I came to America by invitation, by an organization to participate in the Women's Day Activities, to call for an end to the war on Iraq, and pull out the armies…
The situation in Iraq now is the worst that can be, since Baghdad fell in April 2003, meaning; three years passed since the war, and the results we reaped were destruction, ruin, killings, and bloodshed… billions of dollars were robbed, thousands of souls perished, our cities and villages destroyed, and there are some who are pulling the people apart, pushing them to a sectarian civil war. There is an occupation army filling the streets, doing what? we do not know, they build military bases which spell the message- they want to remain for ever, that they do not care for our souls, and that everything that is happening to us pours into their interest, and is a reason for them to stay…
Iraq is torn apart…
Iraq is ruined…
Iraq became a heap of debris…
Is this what they want?
Was this their aim in this war?
This is what I want to say to the American people, I want them to know the real story of the war, not the story they hear in their biased media, financed by the government and its friends…
I want the people here to stand up and face their responsibility for what is happening in Iraq…
Do they join their government in its crimes against the Iraqi people? Or are they against her?
It is time the whole world, and especially the Iraqis, should know the true attitude of the American people from this war…
************************************
When we met people in churches and universities, we found them understanding, and annoyed at what is happening; the media isn't telling them the truth about what is going on in Iraq, the military commanders appear on TV for hasty minutes, then disappear; they deliver great statements like: everything is going well in Iraq, so far… we shall not abandon that country for it shall sink in a civil war…
And I look on, with my hand over my check…
I remember the pictures of the Iraqis who fell and died, their blood running down the streets, by trapped cars, explosions, random shootings, and assassinations… hospitals can no longer take more corpses, graves can no longer take more dead, and hearts can no longer bear what is happening to us.
Who is targeting us?
Who is killing us?
Who is taking our lives and blood so cheaply?
We never imagined that all the venom in the world came to Iraq, and its victims are the Iraqis…
Why?
What was our fault?
Our houses demolished over our heads, families dislodged, men either killed or imprisoned, we are deprived from water, electricity, medicine, and the simplest necessities of human life…
If it was true that this war was waged in spite, against Saddam Hussein, then there he is, imprisoned in their hands…
Why do they direct their revenge against all Iraqis, and Iraq itself, why did they target museums, art galleries, and national libraries? Why were these destroyed and burned, why did they bring mercenaries with them, to carry out their plans for them; we were hiding in our houses, aiming to protect our children and families, and the death and devastation squads are roaming Iraq for three years now, spreading destruction and corruption…
They all asked me- who is doing this in Iraq?
I told them- the same question is being asked by the Iraqis… ask the occupation forces, they know everything, they are responsible for everything, and they bear the responsibility of all that befell us for three years now…
******************************************
When the occupation forces entered, the Iraqi cities were calm, observing events, and there wasn't any who decided to confront them or resist them… not even in Fallujah, or Abu Ghareeb, Ramadi, Al-Ghazaliyah, Amereiah, or any other town and neighborhood…
But what happened was the ill natured behaviors of the army, and their disrespect of the people, which provoked people's anger…
I remember how they blew up the ammunition storages of the Iraqi Army in Al-Autayfia neighborhood in Baghdad; which was a warehouse among the houses. People went to implore the American officer in charge of the situation, that they should bring out the ammunition and take it away, then blast it, to preserve the lives of families. But he refused, and the warehouse was blasted. People evacuated their houses before the explosion, and when they came back, they found 20 houses demolished. We saw the report with our own eyes on TV screens, people got angry and asked: who will compensate us?
Who cares for our lives?
After three years, these same questions are still raised in the skies of Iraqi cities, without getting an answer…
There is a clear heedlessness about the lives of Iraqis, their feelings, and properties, since the beginning, until now…
And people began to rebel, the resistance against the occupation started appearing, for they pushed people to be angrier, and more extreme. The Iraqi violence and ferocity was a reaction of their violence and ferocity…
They were the ones who started on this path…
That is; in addition to all the stories of random shootings, killing civilians, and their recklessness about the lives of Iraqis, as if they were dogs…
We do not think these were individual behaviors, but rather there is a planned and studied policy. This was proved by time…
Before the Abu Ghareeb scandals were announced to the world, people in Iraq heard about them…
And it was that which ignited the rebellion fire in Fallujah; the occupation forces moved on to besiege Fallujah, bringing out only women and children, then bombing the town. Meaning- a mass annihilation of men in Iraq, under the pretext they were terrorists. This is what they told the world. That is- those against them and those who had nothing to do with them were put under the same punishment. And of course that created more anger and hate in the Iraqi's hearts against them…
They never respected our feelings, they treat us like animals; no water or electricity in Iraqi towns, just killings, prisons, and terrorization against people…
The Iraqi minds are targeted by assassinations, imprisonment, marginalization, or dislodgement from the country…
The hospitals and universities suffer from severe shortages in medical and educational staffs…
Someone out there wants to destroy us, crush us, and push us back to the dark ages…
Who was it who came to us, bearing all that much of malice and hate?
It seems that the first stage of their scheme was: Destroy everything in the country; from the symbols of civilization to humans, show them no mercy, shred them to pieces, and spread the gangs of killings and the death teams to terrorize and frighten them. Those are Iraqis, their history says they are brave, heroes who reject occupation and imperialism, give them no chance to take a breath. Destroy them from all sides, start a sectarian war by mysterious hands; the hands of unknown mercenaries who wear masks, killing from this side and that side, spearing no one, then, continue with the campaign of bombing mosques, prayer houses, and the shrines of Imams, as an extreme limit of hate, to strain the situation…
The Iraqi's hearts are sad about what is happening in Iraq, and they do not know what to grieve about….
For the loved ones who died, or ran away from the country, were imprisoned, or those who disappeared. For their towns; bombed and demolished, or their towns filled with trash, the smell of death, and death teams…
And there are no services offered to people; no water, no electricity, no medicines. No security, no stability, no hope of a shining future…
Where would hope come from, while the crows fill Iraq…
Black crows, a symbol of death and ruin…
*****************************
People no longer send their children to schools, because of the spreading terror …
Life is coming to a halt, and dying…
There is no longer a meaning to life…
You live here in safe, beautiful cities, you have security, water, electricity, hospitals, schools, restaurants, and clubs…
People there are imprisoned in their houses, terrified…
Why do you deserve to live, and we don't??
And the occupation forces forbid any annunciation about the numbers of the dead and wounded in Iraq… my colleague in the delegation said that the daily average of the dead and wounded admitted into Al-Yarmook hospital is: 20 deaths and 30 wounded, and that the central morgue receives about 1600 corpses monthly… that is the estimate of 50 deaths in Baghdad alone…
How about the whole of Iraq?
A hundred deaths a day?
And that is not counting those who died in the bombing of Fallujah, Al-Qaim, Al-Ramadi, and the other towns…
I mean; how many thousands and thousands of Iraqis died?
Is this the Iraq Liberation you brought forth??
This, in brief, is the condition of Iraq now…
*************************************
I meet people everyday, to tell them the sad story of Iraq. People apologize, saying they did not know…
And I say: well, now you do know, what shall you do?
I do not want you to be sad, cry, or apologize; we do not want that…
We want to stop the blood loss in Iraq… your government's policy destroyed us for three years now…out of which we reaped nothing but destruction and ruin…
How can we trust them to remain for more years?
Iraq became a ruin…
We want you to get them out of Iraq…
Not just by withdrawing the armies, but to stop building the accursed military bases, that signify they will make Iraq a colony for tens of years…
The Iraqis are not fools…
Our demands are clear and specific:
Get them out of our country, if you really love us….
Put a timetable for the army withdrawal…
Let us build a national unity government, not that of a dirty sectarianism…
Let us construct a national Army and Police Force, not militias and mercenaries…
Stop building the military bases in Iraq…
Lift off your hands from Iraq…
Leave Iraq for the Iraqis……..
Let us treat our wounds, and repair what you messed up…
We've seen enough from you…………
************************
Translated by May/Baghdad.
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 5:25 pm 
