Headscarves and terrorists

Today is friday, the traditional day that Muslims go to the mosque. Im not religious that much like I said before, I believe in God, and I like to have spiritual peace, but I am in total disagreement with fanatics and people who cram their religion down the throats of people or force it on them. This is why I am for a secular Iraq, I really wish people would agree with me in my nation.

The issue of headscarves is a big one apparently, some of you have e-mailed me an article about women wearing it nowadays in Iraq to protect themselves. I still havnt responded to e-mails, I promise to do it by teh weekend.

The headscarf is something that women have been wearing in Iraq for ages, they take it to be a sign of modesty. I think if a woman wants to do it for modesty she is welcome to do so. However, it should not be forced on someone. Only one of my sisters wears it, my mother does, but it is because she is more traditional. Still my other sisters and neices have never been pressured by anyone to wear it in my family, and one of my grandfathers was a imam at a mosque.

So, I think most women used to wear it out of their own regard. But nowadays unfortunately women indeed being scared into wearing them. That article was accurate in that light. Many of these fanatic terrorists have threatened women who they deem to be immodest. HYPOCRACY again! Who are they to deem modesty and immoddesty and it is more than just that that matters, they cannot see in peoples hearts but they act like they can.

I know some women who have been personally harasssed. This was mostly just being yelled at or harassed verbally Thankfully I think it is rare for a woman to actually be kidnapped or killed over this issue, I believe it is just a scare tactic used by the terrorists: to claim that they would kidnap or kill women who are uncovered in order to trick them into covering. It is working unfortunately.

Under Saddam women were freer in that sense, but is inaccurate to say as this article seems to be doing that they are now repressed. No, I would say things are better now. This threat of terrorists is a phantom and is one I think some people overreact to.

Still I hope that once the elections are resolved women who do not want to wear the headscarf do not have to! There is no reason for such a thing to happen in a free country, for us to be really free we need freedom of choice. I dont see the headscarf as a method of male-domination unless it is forced on women by a man, and this is happening on a small scale due to these terrorists.

But as the terrorists are weakened and as Iraqis turn away from them, more and more wwomen are feeling comfortable enough to wear what they want without fear for retribution. This was left out of the article, believe me, I see it everyday and at work, more and more women who didn't wear headscarf before are not wearing it anymore.

It must drive the terrorists and their Saudi friends crazy. I talk alot about the Saudis for this reason. We in Iraq know them. They play games with the rest of the world pretending to be friends, but they are enemies of everyone. They are poisoning Islam with their crazy understanding of it, and I am seeing the snake come home. All these attacks in Saudi are just the garbage they have created coming back to bite them. Thats what you should make of these attacks. I think that the poisoin that the Saudis created will be what killed them in the end. I doubt many people in Iraq will shed a tear, for they have caused us much suffering while sitting in their big mansions drinking their alcohol and having prostitutes while pretending to be the greatest Muslims.

Sorry for getting a little mad, but I think theres rage in all Iraqis hearts against those outsiders who are trying to destroy our nation for their own gain.

I encourage you to let more people know about my blog if you enjoy it, I would appreciate it. Keep the e-mails coming, I promise to get to them. Dont get angry if I dont respond quickly. We've had some electricity problems plus I've been busy with work and family stuff, and I cant get a regular sleep schedule, but thats not bothering me that much.

Also can anyone tell me how to make an HTML file seperate from this blog on the blogger server. Id like to make something like an about.html file.

A lot going on in the world

Im sure everyone has heard about the big problem in Asia, many thousands have died. I feel really bad about it, so many people have died in so short time, it makes me feel a bit trivial about Iraq. Sure we have had many problems, but these people have lost so many in so little time. I hope God helps them, many Iraqis are trying to help them with what little we have.

Here in Iraq there is something big going on. A battle is raging south of where I live and I can hear explosions and the like intermittently. It seems like another strike is being launched against the terrorists, I hope this swing of the hammer further hurts them. The carnage they have carried out in the last few days is a sign of their increasing fear that elections will go forward. The Shiites have not responded with violence as the terrorists wanted, and they are now going to resort to nothing less than carnage. Let us pray that they are cut at the bud in the next few days and they are damaged so much so that they do not influence the elections.

Id like to write more, but I think the electricity is going to go out soon. Please do whatever you can to help the people affected by the natural disaster in Asia. The numbers are crazy, over a hundred thousand in a few days...may God help them all, and protect us.

Im sorry I havnt responded to e-mails for a few days, I'll get to them as soon as I can.

Return of Uncle Usama

Uncle Usama has appeared on television again, just like last time, he is concerned about elections. This time he is telling us Iraqis not to vote. This is nothing more than desperation on his part. Whatever support he may have had has slowly eroded. People are realizing that there is no real benefit to supporting or even working with Usama and his minions. I mean what will the end be if a person was to align themselves with Usama? Death, living in a cave, living in a Saudi state, or God knows what else.

I think that this news is really not that big, people in Iraq are shrugging this off, its not really on our minds. All we take from this video is that Usama will definately stick his fingers into our elections in some way. I assume there will be bombings or some attacks like the ones that have already happened on election workers during the election. But we will not waver. Only by going forward with this plan of building a new Iraq will we be able to squelch Usama and his supporters. He knows that in the next few months his support base will be eroded further here in Iraq, and he is afraid. This is why he made this tape.

There was also an assasination attempt here against a major Shia leader. He is very popular, and he was not hurt, but I would bet that this attack was carried out by someone affiliated with Usama in order to scare people away from elections, scare leaders from running, and to scare Shias in general. The thing that really gets me about Usama and his ilk, these Wahhabis or whatever you want to call them is that they always talk about Muslim brotherhood and the like for their own causes, but they have no problems attacking and killing other Muslims who do not agree with them. They even say some Muslims are not Muslims, like they do with Shias. It stinks of hypocracy and the use of religion for jealous means.

I am not even a religious person, but these people who use religion for their own goals really irk me. Such rhetoric is especially dangerous nowadays in Iraq as it is being used in attempts to polarize Shias and Sunnis. The one ironic thing is that in my childhood, I remember Shia and Sunni were rarely heard words. But Saddam began making differentiation during the Iran Iraq War, and later when the Shias started rebelling. Al-Qaeda and the Wahhabis are only continuing Saddam's program in an effort to fracture Iraqis. We always read about how imperial forces used the tactic of divide and conquer in different lands, well Saddam and the terrorists are doing something similar in Iraq, but its more like divide and destroy.

I hope Iraqis see through this, and we do not fall into the trap of secterianism. More importantly, we must keep religion a private matter, in a nation like Iraq where there is a diversity of religion it is only in the best interest of all. I should end this by saying that I am from a Sunni family, but I hold no real allegiance to Sunnis, or to Shias, only to my nation which I desire to be strong, unified, and free.

Iraqis and Americans

People have asked me why do people fight the Americans. Its an interesting concept in my view. I should say first that I do not know anyone who is an insurgent, not that I know of. IT is possible though, as people do things in their own time that they do not talk about openly. But I do live in a major city so I know many people, and I know people who are opposed to the United States Army and who are apparently against elections.

I feel that these people are driven by two major factors: ego and impatience. Ego drives them because they do not see things in the large picture and are simply angered by our nation having foreign soldiers in it. Rather than thinking about why they are here, and how it will benefit us, they simply get angry and thus oppose America and whatever comes from American actions in Iraq. I say they are also impatient because they are unable to think long-term, or better yet, wait for things to take their course before they get mad. People with such a mindset are quick to blame Americans or the interim government for everything ranging from the lack of electricity to the lack of fuel to terrorist attacks and so on.

I think these are the two main factors which drive some Iraqis, in my mind, the vast minority to actively oppose the Americans and IRaqi forces, and which leads them to become insurgents. I have simplified the explinations a bit, but I feel that these factors cover other reasons for opposing America, such as the fear of losing power, or fear of other Iraqis coming to power.

There are some people who are simply after violence and who think like animals, but I feel that these are the vile terrorists you hear about on the news who execute people. They are in the vast minority here, they tend to be foreigners, probably affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Now if you were to ask me what percentage of IRaqis are opposed to democracy and Americans, I would say a low percentage. I get the feeling that in the United States, the media makes it look like many Iraqis hate America and want them to leave. I do not agree, and I feel that this is not reflected on the street. These polls that give such data are probably skewed as the people they ask may be naturally guarded at being asked questions by foreigners. And I dont know how these polls are carried out. If its by phone, then that will skew results, as not all Iraqis have phones, or phone service.

I think the most accurate idea of how Iraqis feel about American soldiers is to say that they have no problem with American soldiers as long as American soldiers do what they say they are in Iraq to do. I mean to say that they do not oppose Americans as long as the Americans act as they say they will. This has been mostly true of American soldiers, they come off as professional, and only on rare occasion do they make mistakes which anger people. Mistakes do occur though, and this is one factor which drives some Iraqis to oppose Americans. People who have lost their family whether by accident or other means to American forces are naturally angered, but I do not think most Iraqis have felt this.

So I think most Iraqis feel a sort of neutrality of anything towards Americans. IRaqis who have had good relations with Americans have good feelings towards them.

As for Americans staying, I think most Iraqis want them to leave once their job is done. This I think is mostly due to the fact that they do not want to be held accountable for the injuries that many Americans suffer to the insurgents. I realize it is very hard for them to be here, and I feel bad, I feel responsible if they are hurt in my nation, as they are in one way a guest, and I hope that they are safe.

The above is just what I feel most Iraqis think from my own interactions. I think negative feelings towards Americans are due more to ignorance than anything else. Those Iraqis who have worked with the Americans towards the goal of building an Iraqi democracy clearly understand that their job here is to assist us, and we try hard to make their job easier, so that we can all look back on this episode in the future with satisfaction.

Anyway, yesterday's Christmas went well. While we were not able to host any American soldiers at our house, I did manage to deliver to them some sweets my mother made, I hope they enjoyed them. The soldiers I met were very young, they seemed a bit tired, but were looking forward to going back to their base and celebrating Christmas. I really feel for them, especially when I see how many are a few years younger than I.

Thats all for today, keep your questions coming, I'll try to answer as many as I can and they give me ideas for topics to write on. Good night.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope that those of you who celebrate the holiday have a nice one with your families. Those of you who have family in the army in Iraq, I Hope that you and they get by ok.

Thank you for your prayers, my brother was ok, but unfortunately many others died in what was apparently a suicide bombing, very sad. I got in contact with my brother late the night of the attack, he said things were a little crazy in Mosul, but that the attackers were gonig to be punished very soon. Im trying to get him to write something for this blog, but I think it will really be me just transcribing what he tells me on the phone. Although he was ok in Mosul, there was more violence here in my city on Friday, some bomb went off. I dont get surprised anymore though, but i feel like the acts of terrorism are decreasing.

With the today being Christmas, my family is tyring to get a little festive, although we never really celebrated the holiday. I hope to give some gift or maybe just sweets to the American soldiers in my neighborhood, I guess it must be very hard for them to not be witht heir family on this day. I realize how important it is for Americans, so my family is joining me in this. maybe we can get some to come to our house for dinner, but I dont know if that would be possible due to environment here. I mean to say that it might be considered dangerous for them, which I understand.

Regardless, i think people in my neighborhood are trying to enjoy the day. Some of the Christians in my neighborhood were a bit worried because extremists in other parts of Iraq have been bothering Christians, which is wrong, why cant they let people enjoy their holiday? But my neighbors have nothing to fear, the people here are relatively tight-knit and we look out for one another. Im glad to live in a place where there is a good mix of different types of Iraqis.

The weather has been rather cold here, which is untypical. This has caused trouble for people who are without fuel and lacking heat, some people have died, I hope we can get this sorted out. ITs rally bad when there is a lack of fuel here in IRaq. The damned terrorists have blown up the lines cutting supplies. Today it is rainy, which isnt helping matters. Hopefully it wil be a quiet day though, people like to say inside when it rains, even a little bit like now.

My blog is rather new, please e-mail me with whatyouwant to hear about. I sometimes dont know what to write about but I want to write a lot.

Tragedy in Mosul

My prayers go out to everyone who lost a loved family member in Mosul. It was bad day, many people were killed. We're still not sure if they were all American soldiers or if Iraqis wre killed too. Whatever the casulaties, it shows that the terrorists are still operating. They are especially strong in Mosul, ever since the big attack on Fallujah, they have taken over Mosul. It is very bad there. My brother, who I have still not heard from, is in the Iraqi security forces there. My family and I are really worried for him, we don't know if he was hurt along with other people, I can only pray right now.

Stating the obvious

Good morning. Allawi has stated the obvious in regard to what happened. I dont get the point. We all know why the terrorists do what they do. He should stop telling journalist what anyone can realize, and clamp down on these animals further. I hope today is a day of peace. Its a little chilly right now before I head outside.

This frustration that I have with Allawi is one beautiful thing about democracy though, next month, I can vote him out if I dont like him!

December 20, 2004

I am still working out how to work the blogger, but I feel like Im learning more and having success. I am enjoying this new experience, its partially addictive, but I cant spend too much time on the computer, the electricity supply is a bit erratic, although it has been pretty good for the last few days.

I want to thank everyone for the support and pointers, they have been taken to heart. I also want to thank some of my cousins who are not Iraq who will assist me on certain parts of this project.

I want to first make a note that it is amazing to me that people who are not in Iraq sometimes get news before we do!! I think this is the amazing changes brought about by progress. I am thinking in particular about the horrible killing of election workers not far from where I am...I did not hear bout it until this morning, but some people e-mailed me about it when I was asleep. Is it not funny that I can travel to where this happened (which by the way was a major street which I think is filled with Baathists) easily, but many of you cannot but know what is happening.

It was very sad for me to hear that these election workers were killed. For you who do not know, three election workers were executed yesterday on Haifa street by some brazen terrorists in daylight. Clearly they are tring to scare Iraqis into not voting. I have seen some people who have been scared by this, which is unfortunate. I hope that the government will give more security to the election workers in the future, and more importantly that the killers are hunted down and punished.

I must say though, not all of us are shaken by this. In my neighborhood, the election council had a meeting a few hours ago, and decided to not be dettered by this murder. I was present, and we have decided if anything to perhaps be quiet for now about who will be administering the election, but not to cancel it. We have asked the government for more security when elections do happen next month. I am confident that this act will be isolated, and will not deter people.

In regards to yesterday's bombings. I wrote yesterday that I thought it was clear that this was done by terrorists, someone posted that it might be Shias from Iran. I highly doubt that. you must understand the significance of Kerbala and Najaf to Shia. I doubt that Shia would do such major crimes in their holy cities, although it has happened before, but not on this scale.

Clearly, this was done by the same elements who continue to try to stop progress in our nation, and turn it into another saudi Arabia. It was a good move by the Shias that they did not retaliate however. I am very glad to see that their leaders understand that adding fire to a fire will only make it hotter. I hope with that more people will maintain this patient face no matter what types of problems hit us on our quest for our own free elections and democracy.

Some people have asked me also if Iraqis want democracy. My feeling is yes. The problem is I think that some Iraqis are scared into believing that the democracy that will form in Iraq will not be for them. I mean to say that elements which oppose them will come to power, and this is why they are undecided on elections. I think that these people have been blinded by their leaders who are scaring them in order to keep things disrupted, and so that their leaders can hold what little power they have. I am confident that in the end we will have a functioning democracy with equal rights for all, Shia, Sunni, Kurd, Turkoman, Christian, Jew, whatever. I am a realist too, and realize that there will be bumps, but I know the Iraqi people, and we can pull this off. We must first stop listening to the snakes in our midst who would do whatever it takes to hold on to what little influence they have, and we must go with our gut.

Today

Today has been a bad/crazy day. As I am sure everyone has heard, there were some major explosions in Kerbala and Najaf. Many people have died, Im not sure how many, but I have heard that it is very bad.

The question is who did it. Its not one full of mystery, whether it is claimed or not, it is clear to me and most Iraqis that this was done by terrorists who are trying to sabotoge our nation. They targetted major cities of the Shia who are in major support of the upcoming election. I doubt this will deter the Shia or any Iraqi who are in favor of election though. why would it? We have lived a very long time in bad conditions, are some bombs going to deter us?

I say no. I wish these terrorists would understand that what they are doing is useless. It only makes them look badder than they already look, and I am sure they will be punished. That is the end result, the terrorists will end up dead, the bad part is that they have already killed so many people who did not deserve it.

My prayers go to the dead of Karbela and Najaf. I must say my heart is a little heavy, I am growing tired of this violence. It really saddens me when I see it is Iraqis doing it to other Iraqis. Even though Saddam is gone, the savagery that was part of his rule has poisoned the minds of some Iraqis. Its sad.

Hello World

My name is Husayn Uthman, I live in Iraq. I have decided to write about the upcoming election in Iraq, and tell you about how things are progressing here. I have in my short time on the web, seen that not all news is positive on the internet. I hope to give you a good look into how things are really progressing here, how we are excited about our future, and how we are working to build our nation after all that has happened in the last few years. I look forward to sharing this experience with everyone who visit my blog, my e-mail is husayniraq@yahoo.com. Feel free to drop me a letter for conversation.

Please bear with me as I learn how to use this blogger. I have some experience with internet, but not with this blog, but I am very excited about this new opportunity that I now have since internet acces is availble to me, hopefully for a long time.

About this blog / FAQ

Tell me about this blog

This blog is simply a blog by an Iraqi - Husayn Uthman (me) which catalogues his thoughts on the current situation in Iraq.

Why is it called Democracy in Iraq?

I have given it this title because I am a supporter of democracy in Iraq, and I am writing in a time of great excitement and importance in the history of Iraq, one where a new Iraq is being built with a functioning democracy leading it into the future

What inspired you to start blogging?

I have always enjoyed writing, its something I do in my spare time. Unfortunately I didnt have many public outlets for it while I was growing up in Saddam's Iraq. Since the liberation of Iraq, I have been encouraged by family members in the west to write a blog and share my thoughts as well as news from the ground in Iraq

Can you link my website/blog?

Sure, just e-mail me the information at husayniraq@yahoo.com

Is Husayn Uthman really your name?

Yes it is, but I think it's not really a distinctive name, so thats why I'm not too worried about my saftey. Although saftey concerns do force me to not be entirely specific about certain aspects of my life.

How can I help you?

Well the best thing you can do is share my url with other sites if you enjoy my website. I enjoy hearing from people across the globe, and having my blog linked to more sites will allow me to share my message with more people across the globe. You can also donate some money, it would help me pay for the internet which is relatively expensive in Iraq. My cousin has helped me set up the paypal thingy.

Anything else?

Im just a blogger, I sit on a computer and write. I don't know what benefit this has, but if it does have any, I want to dedicate it to all the people who died for a free Iraq, whether they were Iraqi, American, British, Polish, whatever their nationality.