Responses to the 2 Year Anniversary
Thank you all for the messages you have sent me in response to my reflections on the two year anniversary. I did not realize that they would reach so many people, and I am honored to have touched some of you. While the vast majority of the responses I received were positive there were some negative ones. I must frankly say I have a hard time understanding these people who attack me. For what for expressing my opinion? The vast majority were from countries outside of the Arab world. I must say that one thing I am learning through the work I am doing on my blog is that there are some people even outside of Iraq and the Middle East who seem to content to want to live under dictators, in an environment where expression is crushed. I will share some letters below in italics and my response:
Because you dont say what you want to hear I am a liar? This is a great insult to me, this is something that gives me anger. You sit in your box and tell me what is happening in my nation?
This is a very common thing I hear from people, they say I work for the USA or the CIA! I do not work for either, although I am sure if I did my family would be better off. I am a simple Iraqi young man who is scratching a living for his family. I tell things how I see them, and I am giving you what I see in Iraq so that our message, our voice is not extinguished. Interesting how the nameless have the most bravery in slinging insults!
All these things happen in Iraq, but they are not things I focus on or Iraqis focus on. They ahve become part of our life, but we look to the future, and do not want to dwell on evil. That would be self-defeating, and that would be stupid, not what I type.
Hope is worth more than oil, money or anything else that dictates your life.
This is a sample of what I have received, it is in a way a rude awakening to me of the attitudes that some people in the West hold. Perhaps I was a big naive in the past, I thought these were fringe ideas, but I see that you in the West have people similar to the self-defeating terrorists who infest our nation. If the US or Europe were in a similar situation that Iraq is in, then these people would surely be the ones blowing up innocents so that your nation would be stopped from progress.
And on that note, let me remind my friends, and these enemies of mine that progress is being made, slowly, but surely in Iraq. Yesterday we learned that the terrorists have lost more men this month than in any other month. That is not progress? The more of them that die, the closer we come to absolute freedom. They are like roaches that must be stepped on, and the more that we step on the less there are to eat at us later, and the less there are to breed more!
Long Live a Free Iraq
Long Live Freedom
Long Live the Free World
Dear Hussein:
What the hell is wrong with you, you don’t mind having your country blown up by others but you mind people not understanding you. This is a pure crock, and you sir are either mentally unstable or working for the United States.
Oliver Jordan
Because you dont say what you want to hear I am a liar? This is a great insult to me, this is something that gives me anger. You sit in your box and tell me what is happening in my nation?
Husayn, you are an idiot, I think you are really American. No, I know you are American, no Iraqi feels like you do you lying scumbag. How much is the CIA paying you to spread lies about the occupation of Iraq? I hope you get yours.
Nameless
This is a very common thing I hear from people, they say I work for the USA or the CIA! I do not work for either, although I am sure if I did my family would be better off. I am a simple Iraqi young man who is scratching a living for his family. I tell things how I see them, and I am giving you what I see in Iraq so that our message, our voice is not extinguished. Interesting how the nameless have the most bravery in slinging insults!
Sir I was linked to your blog by another website. What I found is quite interesting. Despite what everyone else in the world says, you are saying that things in Iraq are good. Ignorng the fact that everyday bombs are blown up, you are happy. Despite the fact that Americans are wasting money in Iraq, you thank them. May I ask you, are you blind or just stupid?
Richard Jones – UK
All these things happen in Iraq, but they are not things I focus on or Iraqis focus on. They ahve become part of our life, but we look to the future, and do not want to dwell on evil. That would be self-defeating, and that would be stupid, not what I type.
Mr. Husayn-
Your website would be more enjoyable if you gave us accurate news rather than just telling us about hope and other abstract things. Sure you have hope, but do your countrymen? Do those who died for imperialism have hope? How does it feel to get robbed for oil by the worlds strongest nation? Talk about these things, and then I might start reading your blog. BTW – I found it by accident
Charlene Spector
Boston
Hope is worth more than oil, money or anything else that dictates your life.
This is a sample of what I have received, it is in a way a rude awakening to me of the attitudes that some people in the West hold. Perhaps I was a big naive in the past, I thought these were fringe ideas, but I see that you in the West have people similar to the self-defeating terrorists who infest our nation. If the US or Europe were in a similar situation that Iraq is in, then these people would surely be the ones blowing up innocents so that your nation would be stopped from progress.
And on that note, let me remind my friends, and these enemies of mine that progress is being made, slowly, but surely in Iraq. Yesterday we learned that the terrorists have lost more men this month than in any other month. That is not progress? The more of them that die, the closer we come to absolute freedom. They are like roaches that must be stepped on, and the more that we step on the less there are to eat at us later, and the less there are to breed more!
Long Live a Free Iraq
Long Live Freedom
Long Live the Free World
posted by Husayn at 8:24 PM
551 Comments:
Some people have a hard time letting go of their "preconcived" ideas and cannot think outside of their own mind-set. I personally agree with your perspective, and i dont attack others that dont agree with my point of view like some of the people that respond to you. What matters is not politics but stopping the terrorists that are destroying your country and bring the light of democracy to your country, the region and the world.
Do not let these people get to you. They are just angry and confused. See there is a disease in the United States, and other places like France, it is called liberalism. It slowly corrodes the brain and makes you ignorant and irrational. You are doing good, don’t let the idiots tell you otherwise!
Your blog is great! I find it interesting that when you describe life in Iraq, people feel compelled to call you a liar. Personally, I prefer to believe the person who is there. You, after all, live in Iraq every day. Just remember, part of the fun of democracy is freedom of speech, even the freedom of morons.
Husayn,
Like Shawn said there is a disease! These people only be happy and satisfied when they hear bad news. They don't want to hear or belive good news or any positive opinion. They live in denial and self-destruction!
I don't want to upset you more, but check what some people said on the BBC
Husayn,
I am an American soldier, and was in Iraq for most of 2003. Keep doing what you're doing. People are enraged because they don't understand. I met many Iraqis like you while I was there. More than I did negative nay-sayer types. These people comment yet have no idea. Hope is eternal. Keep it up. You have my support.
Mah salamah, Sadeeqee.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Whether in Iraq, the ME, or the West, I call all these people the "anti-liberationists". They are knowingly or otherwise collaborating with status-quo suppressive regimes and attitudes.
Just to usefully oversimplify, the classic liberal position favoured intervention to undercut regimes that suppressed human rights. Because this initiative was undertaken by a conservative party and leader, the liberals found themselves having to oppose their own principles for partisan reasons. Partisanship has generally won, though there are specific liberal commentators like Geras who reject their hypocrisy.
Where'd we put that can of Raid Roach Spray?
"Hope is worth more than oil"Sissy Willis
sisu
I mean "Hope is worth more than oil"Sissy
I'm just here to make a few points:
One: Steven, "Some people have a hard time letting go of their "preconcived" ideas and cannot think outside of their own mind-set."
SOME???? From what I'v seen during my short time on this earth the word "most" would have been a more fitting word to start with.
Two: Shawn, "[liberalism] slowly corrodes the brain and makes you ignorant and irrational."
No, it is sweeping generalizations and stereotyping that corrodes the brain and makes you ignorant and irrational.By definition, "liberals" seek progress while "conservatives" seek to keep everything as it is. As one can tell, some things are better left alone (hence the usefulness of conservatism). Conversely, we do not live in a perfect world and change is often needed (hence liberalism). Be careful lest you become the idiot you condemn shawn.
Three: ahmad said that, "[liberals] don't want to hear or belive good news or any positive opinion."
Again with the gross generalizations? What is this?
Four: brian said, "the classic liberal position favoured intervention to undercut regimes that suppressed human rights. Because this initiative was undertaken by a conservative party and leader, the liberals found themselves having to oppose their own principles for partisan reasons."
People who were against the Iraq War (see, you don't have to generalize with the word "liberal") were against it because they were anti-war and they also felt the basis for going to Iraq was faulty. To say that they opposed their own principles is simply not true and shows a failure to empathize with those expressing a different point of view.
Hope does not fit their agenda, Husayn. It puts some uncomfortable cracks in their ideological veneer and they don't quite know how to deal with it. As far as they are concerned, if you can't support their notion that the US in an imperialist glutton, lusting for oil, then you can't be used to further their ends. In fact, they find your hope to be threatening.
The best approach in dealing with these characters is to carry on, day by day, rebuilding your country. As your country emerges into the full light of day, they and their narcissistic agenda will fade away into history.
I've been reading your blog for quite a while now, very pleased to get firsthand information about Iraq, and to get one Iraqi's perspective. I'm very glad to hear that the majority of the feedback you've gotten is positive; you do an excellent job and you deserve the kudos. The negative feedback...well, that demonstrates both the best and the worst of my country. The best: that we have the freedom to express our opinion, no matter how wacky -- and we use it. The worst: that some of my fellow countrymen (I'm American) can somehow twist reality to deny the good things that have happened in Iraq. Especially strange is that they would deny the hope. Keep that hope, my friend, and please...keep on blogging.
The main stream media here in the USA doesn't like good news coming out of Iraq. We are told when something blows up, but never when something is built. We are told when coalition soldiers, or civilians, or contractors are killed, but not when terrorists are killed. In fact most of the media refuses to call them terrorists.
On a better note, I just found your blog and I love it, please keep up the good work!
Greetings,
Here is a little more news.
Is it good ? or what?
http://americanfuture.typepad.com/
You're an inspiration, people who think Iraq has a bright future see you as the first, pioneers, and these first steps you take will show the rest of the world what good came from evicting the evil that plagued Iraq for all this time.
The defeatist are everywhere. They see success where they hoped for disaster and gnaw their tongues, gnash their teeth in their irrational rage. But, take cheer. They are nothing. Withering in the dawn of a new day, they will be forgotten by history.
I read good news on another blog: Iraqi citizens, fed up with terrorism, took up arms and drove off a masked gang, armed with grenades and bent on distruction. You Iraqis are truly on your way to becoming a proud sovereign nation ruled by the consent of the governed.
Zeek, reread the post and then try to justify.
Husayn, some people invest their name and their honor in a particular stand on a subject. That is why they are so desperate for Iraq to fail. Name and honor=ego.
Zeeky, Zeeky, Zeeky... tsk! "No, it is sweeping generalizations and stereotyping that corrodes the brain and makes you ignorant and irrational.By definition, "liberals" seek progress while "conservatives" seek to keep everything as it is"
It would be encument upon you to take a good, long look at who is coming up with new ideas and who is trying to hold on to the status quo.
The fact is that the roles have reversed. It is the people who identify themselves as "liberals". or by the even bigger misnomer, "progressives", who are hanging on to the past tooth and nail. The "progressives" are the worst of the two, that merely being a pseudonym for "socialist". A 19th Century theory that failed in the 20th Century has no place in the 21st.
Those of us who call ourselves "neocons" are much closer to the classic definition of "liberal" than any other group. I strongly identify with President Kennedy, and his stances on tax cuts, stopping Communists at all costs, and global interaction.
WE are the ones coming up with new ideas (like Social Security reform) that the "liberal" (so-called) are shreiking to stop. We did welfare reform, much to the annoyance of the Democratic party, and when it proved successful, President Clinton co-opted it as one of HIS accomplishments (after vetoing it twice and finally getting outnumbered on it with a veto-proof vote!).
No... the so-called "liberals" are no longer liberal, and the "conservatives" are now "neo-cons", who are more like classic liberals than the current "liberals" are.
Husayn, you are doing so well with this blog! Please keep up the great work, and take the critics with a grain of salt. They are loud, but they ARE a minority ;).
You are witnessing the lacuna that exists amidst the so-called left wing here in the west. Some of them cannot process the fact that many millions of Iraqis see a brighter future without the old tyrants in power. Remember, the same type of people once saw Pol Pot as a freedom fighter. They also refused to believe that Stalin did anything nasty because he was notionally socialist. It's an age-old problem. You can engage with it if you like, but it's probably not worth it. I salute you, meanwhile.
Husayn,dont even bother listening to the negative people around. You are doing a great job by blogging and telling us what u feel, and what your hopes and dreams are for the NEW Iraq.
You are there, THEY ARE NOT!!!
Take care and stay safe.....
"Those of us who call ourselves "neocons"... strongly identify with President Kennedy and his stances... stopping Communists at all costs"
In other words, 'mamapajamas', are you accepting ideological responsibility for all the US-supported torture and terror regimes around the world that were installed, or propped up, to prevent 'Communism'. Often, the 'Communists' tortured and murder were little more than social democrats planning to carry our redistributive land reform to reform and modernise a feudalistic society. Just like the US did in Japan.
Among these regimes was Saddam's, and US support for him cannot be seen without realising that his biggest opponents were the well-supported Communist Party. Of course, having their supporters murdered, tortured and exiled under Saddam's regime, they are not so strong now.
Was the Saddam's regime a wortwhile price to pay, 'mamapajama'? I presume you think it was, as you supprt stopping Communism at all costs. Those costs include the lives, dignity and well-being of countless Iraqis.
The liberals, progressives and socialists that you deride never supported this attitude towards the human rights of non-US people. That you do, and did, suggests that Husayn should be wary of trusting you (and US foreign policy) in the future. When there is a threat to US interests overseas, concern for human rights goes out of the window, as your self-stated ideology proclaims.
Homer from London said...
I think my compatriot Oliver has got it about right, although the agenda of the left is more anti-west than pro-socialist these days, as socialism has proved to be a failure.
It's like this, Husayn. Those people who insulted you think that America is like Nazi Germany and that Bush is like Hitler - they have even given him the nickname 'Bushitler'. You Iraqis are supposed to be like the Jews in Nazi Germany. So when an Iraqi says positive things about the changes that have occurred since the fall of Saddam it drives them bananas. How could a Jew (Iraqi)say positive things about Hitler (Bush)? He must be working for the SS (CIA).
Just keep on doing what are doing, Husayn. The angrier they get, the more Iraq will prosper. Eventually they will either explode with rage or, more likely, forget about Iraq and focus on some other unfortunate country. They have already gone very quiet about Afghanistan.
"Was the Saddam's regime a wortwhile price to pay, 'mamapajama'? I presume you think it was, as you supprt stopping Communism at all costs. Those costs include the lives, dignity and well-being of countless Iraqis."
Well it all depends what a Communist regime would have done, doesn't it? If we judge by the Communist track record in Russia and China, the Iraqis might have been even worse off than under Saddam. The 'Black Book of Communism' estimated a combined body-count of 100 million, which makes even Saddam look like a pussy-cat. Of course, since Saddam got most of his weapons and support from China and the Soviet Union, perhaps even his crimes should be lumped with those of the Communists. But some people will always blame America.....
"The liberals, progressives and socialists that you deride never supported this attitude towards the human rights of non-US people."
Yeah right. I don't remember all those 'progressives' marching in support of the millions of Russians, Chinese and Cambodians that were exterminated in the name of socialism. But I guess your 'progressives' have never had much sympathy for bourgeois reactionaries who stand in the way of social progress.
Allusions to liberals being responisible for Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge are laugable, and a demonstration that you either don't know your history or are trying to mislead people.
Pol Pot replaced an American dictator, who, in turn, pushed aside the King who had annoyed the US, in particular the CIA, for his neutral stance in terms of Communism/Western Capitalism. Not an unreasonable position to take, given the pragmatic considerations of dealing with Communist neighbours and the historical weight of Western imperialism in the region. However, the US and the CIA took the line, 'if you are not with us, you are against us', bombed the country, removed the King, installed a dictator, eventually forcing people into the hand of the Khmer Rouge, who were forced from power by the Vietnamese. Out of power, in the forests of Thailand, the Khmer Rouge were then (after the 'killing-fields') supported by the US and the UK.
Hussein
As you know in Iraq we call those nuts by saying wala yhimak il bas-hoom
transelated to English simply ....not to worry ,just wear them out! as in wearing out shoes !
How dare you to tell us what is good and what is bad for us !?
While Saddam murdering and robbing his nation the pacifist they demonstrate and scream for him ...where are they now !why ?they do n't come and gives us hand in confronting the filthy thugs if you care about Iraq and Iraqis !instead of attacking real Iraqis whome suffered and still suffering just because they want to live free with dignity ...your idiotic intention nothing but to insult ...get off our back we have more than enough idiots like you !
Thanks to the free Iraqis ,US and the allies for this great a chievement ,no return back to the life of lies and hypocrisy man !
truth
It was, indeed, another sign that the US (and the UK) were more concerned about ensuring that dictators killed people in their interests.
So, you think Saddam was worth it, then, eh, Anon.? How on earth you can claim the moral high ground over people who opposed the Iraq War. They could just as easily claim, it would have been worth it. After all, the death rate in Iraq has skyrocketed since the war began, so, in your own crude calculus Husayn should be spitting in your face, both supporting Saddam's reign and, if you could add up, supporting his stay in power.
"So, you think Saddam was worth it, then, eh, Anon.? "
Having comprehension difficulties?
I said that:
(i) 'Progressive' Communist regimes have done things even worse than Saddam.
(ii) Saddam got most of his support from China and the Soviet Union, not the US.
Husayn will also note that if the 'progressive' demonstrators had had their way Saddam would still be in power.
"Allusions to liberals being responisible for Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge are laugable, and a demonstration that you either don't know your history or are trying to mislead people."
I blame 'progressives' like Noam Chomsky, who said that Khmer Rouge would be good for Cambodia before they came to power (see 'The Indochina story') and then tried to cover up Pol Pot's crimes by attacking the credibility of refugees who had witnessed the genocide (in 'After the Cataclysm'). Let's not forget that Pol Pot was a Paris-educated marxist who professed to believe in socialism and other 'progressive' ideas.
Your crap about the US involvement fails to mention that Cambodia was being used by North Vietnamese Communists as a supply route for their campaign in the South.
Husayn,
It's important for you to understand that there are Westerners on the liberal Left (like me) who supported the liberation of your country. Frankly I resent it when people on the Right suggest otherwise. I participate in a blog that is a voice of the pro-liberation Left.
I think it's funny Husayn that most of the people telling you that don't know what's going on in your own country have English names. I think that's pretty arrogant of them.
I don't understand people who would actually choose to believe a biased media report, or some ant-american conspiracy theorist, than believe what actually comes from the mouths of actual Iraqi's. Keep up the good work with this blog, because what you write here gives accurate and balanced views which right now are very needed! Some people who thrive on demonizing a country or it's people, and are spoon fed ant-americanism, or ant-democracy propaganda, just can't handle it when something contradictory to their pre-concieved notions is said.
Same as posted above :) forgot to put my name. I don't like to be anonymous
-Travis
LOL, there are weird people everywhere. They are unhappy little people who want you under the thumb of a dictator so they can feel superior. It's the only way they can feel good about themselves, because they have nothing to offer the world.
These are the same people who came as "human shields" to protect Saddam and his thugs.
They are deeply flawed and soiled inside Husyan, pay them no mind.
My friend Husayn,
You see that you still have friends here and that we believe as you do that this was worth every moment just to see that one moment when people walked to their first free election and held up a purple finger, showing the world they made a choice freely.
I will not lie to you and tell you that, even today after your successful elections and the steady decline (though painfully continuing) violence from the so called "resistance", there are still people out there who cannot understand how this thing they opposed because either it was war and war is bad, or because they thought it was about oil and people died for that or because they think it's about American imperialism, which scares the dog out of all those old imperialist nations, was a good thing.
It is incomprehensible to them.
The line i will remember now is "hope is worth more than oil". It is and that is the reason we are there. There are plenty of other issues involved, but the most important one to an Iraqi must be whether he is now free or not. All other issues have little bearing.
For the bone head that made the American Imperialism comment from Boston, I just hope that she has more important things to do on her spring break (as I am sure that is a young, college aged "new hippy" that wrote that - that is usually the people who write such nonsence) than to write insulting emails to a guy that lives the reality and not the fakeness of her classroom/dormitory where they paint anti-American signs in peace and safety.
Maybe they would come to Iraq and protest the terrorists who cut off people's heads and find out what real guts and grit it takes to protest when some guy is video taping your group and following you home so they know who to kidnap and murder.
Instead, I'm sure that she will stay in her dorm room regurgitating Chomsky to her little college friends, safe and sound, thinking that she is a real risk taker.
If you only understood that Husayn, you'd understand why, when I read it, I didn't get angry, but almost fell out of my chair laughing.
Husayn, my friend, pay the naysayers no heed. I don't doubt for a second that things are difficult in your neighborhood, but the hope you've displayed all this time is uplifting. Those who only want to see suffering are tied to their material belongings, so they can't understand that someone who is in physical danger can yet have more fulfilling lives than they. They are the half-glass-empty folks, and their ilk will eventually vote itself into non-existence. God keep you safe, and guide your heart to continue to do what is right.
You should feel quite proud you are being attacked by left wing anti-war liberals who think your life would be so much better if Saddam was still in power.
I am from one of the so called red(neck) states and have an entirely different perspective than those who criticise you.
These are the same people who can't stand my president (George Bush) who also happens to be a redneck. We see things entirely different than the liberals. They prefer to send a stern letter or even a lawsuit to stop the attrocities. We just send Marines.
I was recently debating several issues with one of those liberal folks who stated that my religious beleif dictates forgiveness. I replied that he was in fact correct but that would be between the offender and God. All I wanted to do was arrange the meeting as soon as possible. There of course was no logical reply.
Keep up the good work and may the God of your choice look favorably upon you and your fellow countrymen.
In the meantime, we will try to arrange the meetings of the terrorists ravaging your country with the God of their choice.
Husayn
Ignore those freaks, they do not know what they are talking about.
Best thing is to publish what you wish, if they are criticising you and offering no alternative, you know that you are right
Husayn,
There will be many people who will inflict their negativity into any situation -- don't let them get you down. Keep writing since your blog is a breath of fresh air. Thanks for everything and have a wonderful life. We hope that your country will once again be free and happy.
You wrote a great piece that was linked a lot. The more successful you are...the more the crazies come out.
@Mike
Reread what post? There are too many posts, you're gonna hafta be more specific.
@mamapajamas
I believe you are incorrect.
"Those of us who call ourselves "neocons" are much closer to the classic definition of "liberal" than any other group. [...] WE are the ones coming up with new ideas (like Social Security reform) that the "liberal" (so-called) are shreiking to stop."
Your so-called reform is merely an extension of old (and therefore conservative) ideas. There is nothing new or different about the proposed changes to Social Security. Investing in stocks for retirement money you say? Yah, that's what 401ks and IRAs are.
"No... the so-called "liberals" are no longer liberal, and the "conservatives" are now "neo-cons", who are more like classic liberals than the current "liberals" are."
This is non sequitur. The neo-cons are liberals and the liberals are not? Then where's the advocacy for civil unions? Where's the advocacy for stem cell research? Where is there anything that is not just more of the same? Just because you put a new outfit on your old ideas doesn't make the ideas new.
@Mike
Reread what post? There are too many posts, you're gonna hafta be more specific.
@mamapajamas
I believe you are incorrect.
"Those of us who call ourselves "neocons" are much closer to the classic definition of "liberal" than any other group. [...] WE are the ones coming up with new ideas (like Social Security reform) that the "liberal" (so-called) are shreiking to stop."
Your so-called reform is merely an extension of old (and therefore conservative) ideas. There is nothing new or different about the proposed changes to Social Security. Investing in stocks for retirement money you say? Yah, that's what 401ks and IRAs are.
"No... the so-called "liberals" are no longer liberal, and the "conservatives" are now "neo-cons", who are more like classic liberals than the current "liberals" are."
This is non sequitur. The neo-cons are liberals and the liberals are not? Then where's the advocacy for civil unions? Where's the advocacy for stem cell research? Where is there anything that is not just more of the same? Just because you put a new outfit on your old ideas doesn't make the ideas new.
Husayn,
You're doing a great job.
Your 2 years post was quoted in Fort Wayne News Sentinel newspaper. Here's the link.
Long Live a Free Iraq
Long Live Freedom
Long Live the Free World
And long live the Author of this blog.
I claim to know vey little of what it is 'really like' in your country, but I hope for everyone's sake your vision is the true future if Iraq.
A.H.
Massachusetts
Husayn, You are doing a great job. I love your post and I hope you keep expressing your opinion so clearly and well. I am a US liberal who was in favor of the war, not because I approve of violence or imperialism or oil grabs, but because I understand the value of freedom and democracy. Most leftists and many liberals are cynical and paternalistic. They think that economic stability and welfare of the poor must come first. If that stability must be imposed by a vicious dictatorship, then they are willing to accept it. It took them 30 years to recognize that Stalin was not helpful to the Russian people. We tolerate them in the US because 1) they mean well and 2) it is important to preserve the widest diversity of opinion that our democracy can tolerate. We will always have a Left and Right in the US. Their opinions have gradually shifted over the years and that is good. The Right now has a stronger appreciation of equal rights than they used to. The Left has a stronger appreciation of fiscal responsibility. Now that the evidence of success in Iraq is coming out, the Left will slowly change their opinions, but it is a very emotional process for them. Don't take their ranting personally. They are feeling foolish and betrayed. They only need to be told the unvarnished truth. Keep telling it.
Dear Husayn,
I have been reading and appreciating your kind, open, hopeful, positve posts since the very first one you wrote. Keep doing what you are doing, because the MSM here doesn't give us anything positive, not even Fox News. The MSM is all shooting, bombing and death--even the good news is the death of the cockroaches.I read you, and three or four other Iraqi blogs, individual soldiers blogs, and the "Good News from Iraq and Afganistan" updates, that's how I know you are telling the good news with the bad.
You should know that in the 2000 election here, there was a very bitter dispute and the courts intervened. The country was split exactly 50/50. The ones who lost that election finally by a court decision have hated Bush, and thought he was wrongly the president ever since. They are still so angry about that loss and the Congressionals seats they have lost in 2002 and 2004, and the presidency again in 2004, that they cannot believe that anything George W. could do can possibly be good. They believe that since they are against him and disagree with him that he must be stupid, and he is certainly wrong, therefore you must be wrong.
I read their anger in my local paper every day. I suppose it is part of what we must put up with for living in a country with free speech, but I am 57 years old and I do not remeber another time when there has been such hatred and disrespect spewed out in our country. Free speech used to mean an open exchange of ideas and then work toward a consensus we could all live with. It was polite and properly thought out--now it is just angry, at least that is all I hear from the Democrats-- Stop Bush! Bash Bush! Defame Bush! Unfortunately their hatred for Bush rumbs off on what they think of Iraq, the war, and by association it tarnishes everything those peole say to you as well.
Remember when you read all this hatred, it is not about you personally. It is about American politics and what losing has done to some people in this country.
Please keep you hopes alive. Don't let them discourage you. Many of us in this country care very much what happens to you and to Iraq.
I started out praying for American soldiers, but the more I see of you and other bloggers, and the Iraqi people the more I started to pray for you all as well. Listen to the people who care about you, ignore those who just spew hate--they are a less violent, but very similar version of your cockroaches.
Mimi
Husayn, two great posts in a row. Keep up the good work. Like others, you have a great deal of credibility in my eyes, and ot just because you are there, but because your contributions are balanced and thoughtful.
And Shawn... take your simple minded liberal bashing to the neo-con talk show radio where it belongs. It has no purpose here.
"I still like my old label! You can't have it!" That's what both sides sound like to me. Sadly for label-lovers, things are becoming more "nuanced", with swaps and blends of individual positions in separate-but-related areas happening.
Nobody ever promised labels would last forever. Hey, remember "Better Dead Than Red!"? ;)
As far as the anti-US conspiracy theory underpinnings of the anti-liberation forces goes, I now hear clearly between the lines, "Yeah, but just wait!" when anyone points out the discrepancy with the facts so far.
As Churchill said, "Jaw-jaw is better than War-war." But when jawing is tacit permission to continue egregious exploitation and abuse, and the jawing has no discernable deadline, the "better" option has been exhausted.
Zeek: "This is non sequitur. The neo-cons are liberals and the liberals are not? Then where's the advocacy for civil unions? Where's the advocacy for stem cell research? Where is there anything that is not just more of the same? Just because you put a new outfit on your old ideas doesn't make the ideas new."
The people who are currently in charge of the Democratic Party in the US are no "liberal" at all. They are socialists. They are fighting tooth and nail to hang on to the
The "advocacy" for stem cell research is for government sponsorship of stem cell research. Stem cell research is already going on in the private sector, and does NOT NEED the government to sponsor it. Further, the scientists themselves say that they are getting better results from ADULT stem cells than from those from aborted foetuses, so it isn't a "right to life" or "abortion" issue at all any more.
Social Security reform is not just "more of the same". Your side doesn't want to hear anything about it. Never mind that if it's left the way it is, SS taxes will run your children into the poorhouse.
SS was a bad idea from the start.
My first paragraph got cut off somehow.
Repeating:
The people who are currently in charge of the Democratic Party in the US are no "liberal" at all. They are socialists. They are fighting tooth and nail to hang on to the old status quo of social programs in the US. They seem to be totally unaware of the fact that EVERY government program in existence chops 30% off the top just for the expense of running the government bureaucracy. If a charity ran with the kind of budgeting federal programs do, they'd lose their tax-free standing.
I googled Kathleen Turner name and found this. Hope it helps you understand where she's coming from.
Her agenda is obvious.
HamptonsView.com Home Page
Kathleen Turner goes Live with American Dialogue
Debbie Tuma
archive article, added 07/01/2004
Charlene Spector, Anthony Lake, and Kathleen Turner
Actress Kathleen Turner and her partner, Charlene Spector, owner of Bookhampton, did their weekly radio show live in front of an audience. Turner and Spector have been doing a political show, Called American Dialogue, on WLIU 88.3 FM, for the past year. Last Saturday night they had a special guest, Anthony Lake, who was the National Security Advisor to former President Bill Clinton. This made for a lively, and even heated discussion, since they talked about the Iraq war, and one man from Iraq was quizzing Lake on his views. This hour-long show drew a standing room-only crowd to the bookstore.
Asked later why she decided to do her radio show in front of a live audience, Kathleen
Turner, of Amagansett, said, "This show has been successful, so we decided to open it up so more people could hear it. By the way it went tonight, I think I’ll do this live more often.
Our next guest is a soldier who has come home from Iraq, and he will tell about his
experiences." Turner said she had always been "political," and basically an activist,
including her work at Planned Parenthood and the Retreat, for victims of domestic violence, in
East Hampton.
mamapajamas said: "The people who are currently in charge of the Democratic Party in the US are no "liberal" at all. They are socialists. "
That is why I said "liberal" and not "Democrat."
"They seem to be totally unaware of the fact that EVERY government program in existence chops 30% off the top just for the expense of running the government bureaucracy."
This is exactly why the only Socialist idea that I support is public education. You seem to think I'm a Democrat or something...
"The "advocacy" for stem cell research is for government sponsorship of stem cell research. Stem cell research is already going on in the private sector, and does NOT NEED the government to sponsor it."
The reason they (as in the Christian Right) aren't advocating government-sponsored stem cell research is because they morally object to it (again, clinging to conservative and not liberal beliefs). And while we don't NEED to fund stem cell research, we don't need to fund a crap-load of things that we do.
"Further, the scientists themselves say that they are getting better results from ADULT stem cells than from those from aborted foetuses [sic]"
You are obviously unaware of the fact that the simple act of studying adult stem cells is far more tedious and time consuming than studying embryonic stem cells. Of course, this is due to the shorter life span, inability to proliferate, and the general scarcity of adult stem cells in the human body. I would like to know just what scientist would rather work with adult stem cells than with embryonic stem cells.
"Your side doesn't want to hear anything about it. Never mind that if it's left the way it is, SS taxes will run your children into the poorhouse."
"My side?" What the hell makes you think you know what "side" I'm on? I happen to support the removal of Social Security altogether. To hell with the inept. And Social Security taxes are taken out of your earned income. Passive and portfolio income are not affected by SS taxes, so me and my children should be just fine.
I agreed with exactly one sentence it you post, and that was, "SS was a bad idea from the start."
The Left has a hard time understanding decision making.
The combination of opportunities that lead to the decision to liberate Iraq seems to be beyond them; i.e. free millions of good educated people, secure oil fields, stop Saddam, strengthen our military strategy in the region, stop WMD’s, spread democracy.
The words of Husayn makes me think we made a good decision.
The Left says the U.S. helped put Saddam in power.
Saddam may have used our policies as an opportunity to increase his power; but that’s even more of a reason to stop him.
Is the Left Crazy? Let’s see; you have an insane person, saturated in weapons, torturing his own people, trying to stop any peace, located in the middle of the region that wants to destroy our civilization.
We would be a lot farther along by now if the Left did not help our enemies so much in their zeal to hate the Right.
The millions of tons of food and money we send to Africa is forgotten.
America will do more when we can afford it.
The Left could help the world by getting out of the way.
A Bush song from the movie Hair
“Life, freedom, ownership,
Happiness!
All we are saying
is give life a chance”
"But I guess your 'progressives' have never had much sympathy for bourgeois reactionaries who stand in the way of social progress."
Best line I have seen all day! The sad irony is that it is true.
Don't let the moonbats get you down, I think you are doing us all a great service by showing us your courage and hope and we should all be inspired. Thank you.
Hi Husayn,
Excellent Blog. You are so right. Those people here in the west are would-be insurgents.
During the big demonstrations prior to the war they were pretending that they were so concerned about Iraqis being killed by the US-led invasion. Yet they say nothing about the insurgency mass-murderers and even support them. In the demonstration here last week-end there were many signs saying 'Support the Insurgents'
However their numbers are getting smaller and smaller - they are just loud.
When it comes to elections and voting, they are becoming irrelevant (I don't speak for Europe - I think it is different there).
The media - that's another issue. Representation-wise, they are overflooded with lefty moonbats, but the good news is, MSM is also becoming more and more irrelevant and blogs like yours are where people these days are getting information.
Anyway that's my opinion.
Forgive us for being off subject Husayn, but Zeek said:
“You are obviously unaware of the fact that the simple act of studying adult stem cells is far more tedious and time consuming than studying embryonic stem cells.”
I’m sure the good doctors would like to have some live little Jew babies to work on too.
That would be far more advancing for science. Then science will make us live forever.
"I’m sure the good doctors would like to have some live little Jew babies to work on too.
That would be far more advancing for science. "
No they don't, and no it wouldn't.
Don't let your detractors get to you. They haven't lived in Iraq under Hussein, so their worst nightmare is whatever they can imagine Pres. Bush doing next. Sad to say, more and more people seem to respond to anything that disproves their preconceived notions with denial and hostility, rather than asking if they themselves have the wrong idea.
I was also in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, and I met many more hopeful Iraqis than not. Keep up what you're doing, and encourage your fellow citizens to write, because outside of military bloggers and the Iraqis, no one is writing the truth of Iraq.
ASHOOFIK FI MUSTAQBAL, INSHA ALLAH!
I am so sorry people are directing their anti-Americanism toward you. Unfortunately, some people hate us more than they want good for you. Many are also poorly informed. As everyone says, ignore them, you cannot reason with hatred.
Husayn,
I hope you will not lose heart. Keep writing about your lives. The American people truly are with you and your countrymen. We believe we have given you just the start of a better life. We are certain you and your friends will one day turn Iraq again into a paradise along the two rivers. Every time we hear you say you will stand up to the evil men who are distorting Islam, and who are tearing down your country, we feel better about your future.
Please ask us for help, and we will give as much as we can. But with men like you, your courage and self respect will do more than billions in American money can ever do for Iraq. May the one true God bless you all and deliver to you a paradise on Earth.
Subsunk
Husayn,
I am happy to hear your hope for democracy. Please continue writing.
As a person who lives in Australia, a country who helped destroy your country, I am deeply and humbly sorry for my actions.
I wish my country could have seen that there were better ways to create social change you know have hope for than killing people and destroying cities.
I wish we could have acted better. I wish we had not inflicted what we did on you in the name of democracy.
I am sorry. Good Luck. Keep writing.
Well, it was around the time of the anti-war protests in 2002 (quite a few of which happened in my home city) that I saw the true public character of many of those opposed to the Iraq invasion.
After years of terrible sanctions and ineffectual moves against the dictator, the United States was finally going to do something serious about Saddam Hussein! Of course, this was a risky venture.
But did the "anti-war" movement make a coherent case against the war? Or were its mass marches and rallies simply street theatre-- or worse?
In those "anti-war" marches, some of which I witnessed myself, there were creepy anarchists...
There were idiotic and violent people...
There were open supporters of bin Laden...
There were scary mask-wearing goons...
There were those who were simply too drug-addled to understand what was going on...
There were Saddamites...
There were those filled with hate...
There were our friends in France and Germany...
There were even alien cults opposed to the war...
And the scenes of protests were hardly those of the beautiful Lebanese rallies a week ago... In fact, they were hideous...
So can you seriously expect many of these people to think, act, or write to you rationally? They are best forgotten, left raving and yelling as Iraq improves and they slowly realize they stood on the side of a fascist dictator lost to history.
Keep up the good work!
Hello. I am an American but not one of the crazy ones. One of the minor costs of freedom is that we have to tolerate lunatics. Oh, freedom is worth that small cost and much more but sometimes people like that can really get you down. They also embarrass the rest of us. I was very glad when I started reading Iraqi weblogs. I thought that if the protesters read what Iraqi's think they might understand but instead all they do is insult you. They are so desperate and pathetic. They say anything to keep from admiting they were wrong. Best just to laugh at them if you can.
Lynn, "I am an American but not one of the crazy ones. "
Lynn, I think we're all a lil' crazy.
"Best just to laugh at them if you can."
We definitely need more laughter in this world.
Husayn,
Thank you for keeping us informed. Let me apologize for the inappropriate and rude comments that came from any of my fellow countrymen. The people who have called you a liar are an embarrasment to me. Please do not let them disuade you from continuing to blog, but more importantly, do not believe that most Americans (even the liberals) wish your Iraqi's to fail in their progress towards democracy. Most of the liberals I know (since I live in New York City, I am surrounded by them) do not want Iraq to fail, they are just having a hard time admitting that the success is under Bush's watch. It's petty and childish and they will get over it.
I'm so proud of all of you who are fighting so hard with such determination and hope!
Dear Husayn,
It is a real privledge to read your blog and comments. I have a Step Son a Lance Corporal USMC and he tells me much of the same things you do. One thing you will find is freedom does not mean that individuals make good choices. Those on the Left here in the US are angry that they have been disproved and that they are losing in the court of public opinion. It is jealousy that their dogma is turning out to be wrong again. With freedom comes unpopular opinions. My friend better get used to it. So many of us here in the US have hopes for your Brave Countryman and your aspirations for a Free Government that reflects your culture and your people. Long Live the Free and Sovereign Nation of Iraq. Welcome to the Free World. I wish more people from the Middle East can join your people as well.
Zeek: "You are obviously unaware of the fact that the simple act of studying adult stem cells is far more tedious and time consuming than studying embryonic stem cells. Of course, this is due to the shorter life span, inability to proliferate, and the general scarcity of adult stem cells in the human body. I would like to know just what scientist would rather work with adult stem cells than with embryonic stem cells."
Oh... then by all means, let us cut corners and do things the easy way!
Please... you are missing the FACT that they are getting better RESULTS with adult stem cells. "Results" as in "they're far more USEFUL than embryonic stem cells".
I don't care what religious extremists have as their personal motivation. I am interested in RESULTS. And the scientists are getting better RESULTS with adult stem cells.
If that means they can't cut corners and do it the easy way, so be it.
Dave: "I wish my country could have seen that there were better ways to create social change you know have hope for than killing people and destroying cities."
Those "better ways" were tried for 11 years while Iraqis starved to death. Saddam was playing the UN for fools while ripping off the Oil for Food program. This is a "better way"??????? Where is your morality?
Husayn, there are people here, like Dave, who seem to be unaware that NOT ALL of the infrastructure damage in Iraq was done by Coalition bombs and troops. They seem to be totally unaware that the infrastructure was neglected by Saddam's regime for more than 20 years prior to the war, that early attempts to make repairs on structures damaged in the bombings were sabotaged by terrorists.
Some people are very ignorant of the conditions in your country under Saddam!
From mamapajamas,
"Please... you are missing the FACT that they are getting better RESULTS with adult stem cells. "Results" as in "they're far more USEFUL than embryonic stem cells". "
That's total bull shit. There is absolutely no evidence that adult stem cells will actually be able to cure the diseases they hope it will, or for that matter prove any more effective than embryonic stem cells. Sure, they've made a lot more progress than they thought they would have in the field of adult stem cells, but to say that the results are in and conclusively better is just BS.
Personally, I figure, why not study both? They're both promising and should be studied to the fullest extent possible.
Zeek, by all means study both.
But there is no reason the government should fund either.Private industry is doing fine on both types without it.
The GOVERNMENT funding is the problem.
From mamapajamas,
"The GOVERNMENT funding is the problem."
Oh? Then what was that crap where you said, "I am interested in RESULTS. And the scientists are getting better RESULTS with adult stem cells."
Egads! A flip-flopper!
"The liberals, progressives and socialists that you deride never supported this attitude towards the human rights of non-US people."
Uh... are you aware at all that the way the word "progressive" is used today is an oxymoron? I mean... people who believe in a 19th Century idea that failed in the 20th...
Please!
Zeek: "Oh? Then what was that crap where you said, "I am interested in RESULTS. And the scientists are getting better RESULTS with adult stem cells."
"Egads! A flip-flopper!"
Uh... how is this a flip-flop? The best progress is being made with adult stem cells by PRIVATE COMPANIES who are doing both adult and embryonic cells.
There is NO reason for government to fund this research at all. It's moving nicely in private hands.
Zeek: Read it. The embryonic stem cell research has been hyped, just as global warming has.
The Case for Adult Stem Cell Research
You are learning the hard way that the successful democratization of Iraq is threatening to the very Westerners you would think would celebrate it.
Why this is so, is complicated, and reflects one of the pathologies of a free society - a willingness to self-criticize becomes an obsession with self-criticism. Since this comes with freedom, I hope Iraq some day suffers from this pathology. It's a nuisance, but it is better than Hussein-ocracy, I would bet.
Good luck
Husayn, I find your blog to be of great value and I applaud you for it.
I notice that you have now included your last name in your profile which is both a sign of your courage and your concept of a free