Friday, April 14, 2006
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Good evening…
I want to continue talking about the New York conference.
On the second day of the conference, I went in the morning with an Iraqi lady to a TV station, to make an interview, and talk about the daily sufferings of the Iraqi families for three years now… we went back to the conference after 10 am, and we found the ladies who work with the new Iraqi government and the civil organizations sitting on the dais, talking about Iraq after the liberation. The questions of the audience were about: The reconstruction, the security conditions, and the public services for the citizens. They answered that there was a lot of administrational corruption in the government, that 7 ministers were put on investigation in cases of administrational corruption and the stealing of public funds, the money coming from outside the country as monetary aid also disappear under th pretext of "security expenses", that no reconstruction occurred in the country, the public services conditions, like water supply and electricity, are bad and declined, and the security conditions are deteriorated…
It was very evident they didn't have any (on-the-ground facts) to say that everything is going on very well…
It was very evident that nothing is going on in an acceptable way since three years…
So, why do they say- the Liberation of Iraq?
******************* And between one sentence and another, they bring back the same tune- the bloody, fascist, Saddam Hussein regime…
They had nothing to talk about but the past, to cover up for the failure of the present…
The audience asked them critical questions about the rights of the Iraqi women in the new constitution, and they had no answers. It was clear they never read the Iraqi women's history, what they had in the past, and what happened to them in present…
The Iraqi women had the rights of education, work, voting, driving cars, working by the same salary as men, getting a maternity leave for 6 months with a full salary, and another 6 months with half a salary. The husband had no right to get married again without the presence of the first wife in court and her approval. If divorce occurred, the house and the furniture are the wife's property. All these were rights of the Iraqi woman before the war…
What did the new constitution give to women?
They pushed them back to the age of Mullaly (the clergy), and the referential of women became with the clergy of their sect?
Is this the liberation of Iraqi women, which came as a present from the Bush administration?
************************** There were many, boring discussions…
I kept thinking; should I stand up and ask them about the Schools Rehabilitation Contracts in Baghdad, allotted to American companies by $100,000 per school, for example, then handed over by those companies to an Iraqi contractor by $2,000 per school, to paint the walls, and fix the broken glass of the windows only?
All the Iraqis know of this scandal…
Should I ask about the employment policy after the war for the Iraqis, when the education certificate or the qualification isn't important, but the important point is- are you a member of some new party? Then, you will be given a priority in employment, and those who suffered from unemployment in the past; the poor and the independents, remained in unemployment, or else they should become hypocrites, and join political Parties to get a job, exactly like when Saddam Hussein used to force Iraqis to join Al-Ba'ath Party to get a governmental job. So, what have we done. Then?
And the new Ministries acquired sectarian colors, because the government is sectarian… meaning- the Foreign Ministry, for example, has a Kurdish Minister, and most of the employees are Kurds. The Interior Ministry is Shia'at, and most employees are Shia'ats, and so on, this is a comedy, and isn't justice…
I kept thinking- if I wanted to address criticism to these women, I shall be playing a silly role, and we won't reach an end. I sat listening to the dispute between them and some of the Iraqis present, and then they went back to the tune of the fascist, Saddam Hussein regime once again…
I felt sick; these are petty psychopaths who hold no cards in their hands to debate with, nothing but a past full of malice and failure. An Iranian lady present stood up and told them: We came here to listen to new things about Iraq, we do not want to hear of the past, say something about the present…
One woman on the dais shouted angrily, objecting to that opinion…
Another woman from the audience stood up, and asked them: What do you want so you could get over the past?
One of them answered: We want an admission that Saddam Hussein was a criminal, who tortured and oppressed us (she was a Shia'at).
I laughed… I raised my hand, took the Microphone, and said: Very well, I am a Shia'at, and Saddam Hussein oppresses the Shia'ats and tortured them. I admit to you he was a criminal, but I believe he became something of the past. Please think of Iraq, its future and the future of its children, let the past go, think of the present and our problems, think of how we can manufacture our future. Get out of this condition you are in…
One of them told me: How do we get out of the past? How can we forget our pains? We are victims. We are like the Jews who suffered the holocaust, should they forget their past?
I stood amazed…
What's this logic?
Should we retain our hatrids to trade with, and blackmail people?
Are these people psychopaths, or what?
********************************* It was evident the American women present weren't enjoying what was going on, but the contradicting debates uncovered the truth of the delegation from Baghdad, especially those who work in the Green Zone, beautifying the face of the occupation, calling it Liberation, and have no positive issue to talk about to convince the audience that Iraq is going happily on after the Liberation…
And when they talk about the necessity of the remaining of the occupation forces, it is because they are terrified, asking for protection. They do not admit the negative actions of the occupation forces against the Iraqi citizens, they do not admit to the presence of victims- families and Iraqi civilian citizens, their numbers reaching hundreds of thousands, and that there are millions of people who left Iraq to live in exile, running away from the life of hell in Iraq…
They do not have any vision of the present situation, nor any solutions for the future…
They are lost, floundering between the memories of the past, their personal hatrids, and their personal ambitions, and let Iraq go to hell…
*********************** I thought to myself, and told the American women around me: Unfortunately, this model of Iraqi women prevailed over with you for three years now; they appeared in the mainstream media, they met president Bush and Congress members. They tricked (aided by the American administration) the American people, conveying to them the false story about Iraq for three years. Thank GOD we were here with them, to tell you the truth…
The Iraqi people and the American people are both victims in this war, they have been tricked by the American administration, along with some Iraq opportunist hypocrites to market the story of war on Iraq, and the liberation…
Three years of destruction, ruin, and chaos- this was what we reaped from this losing war…
Who gained anything from this war?
A bunch of corrupts, criminals, and merchants, here and there…
This is the bottom line….
==============================
Good evening…
I want to continue talking about the New York conference.
On the second day of the conference, I went in the morning with an Iraqi lady to a TV station, to make an interview, and talk about the daily sufferings of the Iraqi families for three years now… we went back to the conference after 10 am, and we found the ladies who work with the new Iraqi government and the civil organizations sitting on the dais, talking about Iraq after the liberation. The questions of the audience were about: The reconstruction, the security conditions, and the public services for the citizens. They answered that there was a lot of administrational corruption in the government, that 7 ministers were put on investigation in cases of administrational corruption and the stealing of public funds, the money coming from outside the country as monetary aid also disappear under th pretext of "security expenses", that no reconstruction occurred in the country, the public services conditions, like water supply and electricity, are bad and declined, and the security conditions are deteriorated…
It was very evident they didn't have any (on-the-ground facts) to say that everything is going on very well…
It was very evident that nothing is going on in an acceptable way since three years…
So, why do they say- the Liberation of Iraq?
******************* And between one sentence and another, they bring back the same tune- the bloody, fascist, Saddam Hussein regime…
They had nothing to talk about but the past, to cover up for the failure of the present…
The audience asked them critical questions about the rights of the Iraqi women in the new constitution, and they had no answers. It was clear they never read the Iraqi women's history, what they had in the past, and what happened to them in present…
The Iraqi women had the rights of education, work, voting, driving cars, working by the same salary as men, getting a maternity leave for 6 months with a full salary, and another 6 months with half a salary. The husband had no right to get married again without the presence of the first wife in court and her approval. If divorce occurred, the house and the furniture are the wife's property. All these were rights of the Iraqi woman before the war…
What did the new constitution give to women?
They pushed them back to the age of Mullaly (the clergy), and the referential of women became with the clergy of their sect?
Is this the liberation of Iraqi women, which came as a present from the Bush administration?
************************** There were many, boring discussions…
I kept thinking; should I stand up and ask them about the Schools Rehabilitation Contracts in Baghdad, allotted to American companies by $100,000 per school, for example, then handed over by those companies to an Iraqi contractor by $2,000 per school, to paint the walls, and fix the broken glass of the windows only?
All the Iraqis know of this scandal…
Should I ask about the employment policy after the war for the Iraqis, when the education certificate or the qualification isn't important, but the important point is- are you a member of some new party? Then, you will be given a priority in employment, and those who suffered from unemployment in the past; the poor and the independents, remained in unemployment, or else they should become hypocrites, and join political Parties to get a job, exactly like when Saddam Hussein used to force Iraqis to join Al-Ba'ath Party to get a governmental job. So, what have we done. Then?
And the new Ministries acquired sectarian colors, because the government is sectarian… meaning- the Foreign Ministry, for example, has a Kurdish Minister, and most of the employees are Kurds. The Interior Ministry is Shia'at, and most employees are Shia'ats, and so on, this is a comedy, and isn't justice…
I kept thinking- if I wanted to address criticism to these women, I shall be playing a silly role, and we won't reach an end. I sat listening to the dispute between them and some of the Iraqis present, and then they went back to the tune of the fascist, Saddam Hussein regime once again…
I felt sick; these are petty psychopaths who hold no cards in their hands to debate with, nothing but a past full of malice and failure. An Iranian lady present stood up and told them: We came here to listen to new things about Iraq, we do not want to hear of the past, say something about the present…
One woman on the dais shouted angrily, objecting to that opinion…
Another woman from the audience stood up, and asked them: What do you want so you could get over the past?
One of them answered: We want an admission that Saddam Hussein was a criminal, who tortured and oppressed us (she was a Shia'at).
I laughed… I raised my hand, took the Microphone, and said: Very well, I am a Shia'at, and Saddam Hussein oppresses the Shia'ats and tortured them. I admit to you he was a criminal, but I believe he became something of the past. Please think of Iraq, its future and the future of its children, let the past go, think of the present and our problems, think of how we can manufacture our future. Get out of this condition you are in…
One of them told me: How do we get out of the past? How can we forget our pains? We are victims. We are like the Jews who suffered the holocaust, should they forget their past?
I stood amazed…
What's this logic?
Should we retain our hatrids to trade with, and blackmail people?
Are these people psychopaths, or what?
********************************* It was evident the American women present weren't enjoying what was going on, but the contradicting debates uncovered the truth of the delegation from Baghdad, especially those who work in the Green Zone, beautifying the face of the occupation, calling it Liberation, and have no positive issue to talk about to convince the audience that Iraq is going happily on after the Liberation…
And when they talk about the necessity of the remaining of the occupation forces, it is because they are terrified, asking for protection. They do not admit the negative actions of the occupation forces against the Iraqi citizens, they do not admit to the presence of victims- families and Iraqi civilian citizens, their numbers reaching hundreds of thousands, and that there are millions of people who left Iraq to live in exile, running away from the life of hell in Iraq…
They do not have any vision of the present situation, nor any solutions for the future…
They are lost, floundering between the memories of the past, their personal hatrids, and their personal ambitions, and let Iraq go to hell…
*********************** I thought to myself, and told the American women around me: Unfortunately, this model of Iraqi women prevailed over with you for three years now; they appeared in the mainstream media, they met president Bush and Congress members. They tricked (aided by the American administration) the American people, conveying to them the false story about Iraq for three years. Thank GOD we were here with them, to tell you the truth…
The Iraqi people and the American people are both victims in this war, they have been tricked by the American administration, along with some Iraq opportunist hypocrites to market the story of war on Iraq, and the liberation…
Three years of destruction, ruin, and chaos- this was what we reaped from this losing war…
Who gained anything from this war?
A bunch of corrupts, criminals, and merchants, here and there…
This is the bottom line….
==============================
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 6:55 am 
