Dear Al-Qaeda

Go to hell you pathetic bastards.

After being unable to stop our elections, the cavemen are now whining and screaming, and telling us they are going to pursue a holy war against us! The election was not only a triumph for our freedom, for our rebirth, but it was a nail in the coffin of Al-Qaeda. They had tried hard to stop us, to scare us, and to convince non-Iraqis that the election would be a failure...but we proved them wrong.

People voted, it is seen across the world as a sucess, and Al-Qaeda was unable to damage the election. Now, like an irritated baby, it is going in the media and screaming that it is going to get us now. The failure of Al-Qaeda to do anything to the elections has turned more Iraqis against them, the few who sympathized with the terrorists are now disheartened at the failure of their pathetic allies.

I hope that the world takes note of the impact of our elections on the future of Al-Qaeda. By encouraging democracy in other countries, terrorism will be slowly extinguished. The next target should be Saudi Arabia, our neighbor that is badly in need of reforms and a breeding ground for all these terrorists who cause trouble in not only Iraq, but across the world, and who were responsible for 9/11.

It is simple in my mind, terrorism is the result of autocracy. If you confine people, they find strange outlets, and lash out against others. If you give them freedom, then they are content, and abandon terrorism. I promise you that this will be the result of our election, and if this model is implimented in other nations it will shrink.

Let us not forget Afghanistan, which had its own election months ago, and has become much more stable then it ever was before.

Let me also take this time out to condem non-Iraqis who continue to deny what has happened in Iraq. I have read all over the internet comments by idiots who insist that the elections were false, that Iraqis are opressed, and that the future is Civil War.

YOU KNOW NOTHING

You are not here, you are not living as we are, you do not get an accurate picture. The election was a resounding success, Iraqis are hungry for freedom, and we are building the future together. All this gloomy talk is nothing more than lies and evil vitriol by people who want to see our nation in trouble, and wish to deny us freedom and liberty.

Shame on you people. If you do not know what is happening in Iraq, then do not open your mouth, it will only make you look dumber than you already do when Iraq is a strong, democratic and free country.

I also want to say to my fellow Iraqis that we have made great progress in the last few months, but let us not be content. There is a lot still to be done, we have just began on the path, but we have shown that we have the resolve to finish the job. Let us continue working towards a unified Iraq, let us put the past behind us, and look to the bright future, one that will only be forged if we all combine our strengths!

Democracy in Iraq is here!

I have changed the header of my page to reflect the new, improved, democratic Iraq. The turnout has been higher than expected, even Yahoo had an article reflecting this. I link it below. The article states that turnout was about 75%, so I believe it was in reality somewhat higher. And all this despite the fact that the terrorists did indeed carry out attacks, but as we all knew, it did not stop Iraqis!! People do not get scared that easily when they are so close to their goal.



What a day it has been. I am very tired, but I am at peace, something I havn't felt in this regard before. I am happy to report that I found very few people during my post-voting trip through Baghdad who had not voted. I even got a few to "convert" and go out and vote. When confronted with the fact that staying away from voting was futile, some who had opposed the election relented, and went and made their mark.

Even now, I have no idea who is going to win, but it really isn't important. It is enough for me to know that our new government won't be the result of a sham election, that it will be the will of the people. We will not know who won for a few days, maybe weeks, but this is just a minor headache, and should not be taken by anyone to attack the election or it's validity. We don't have the machinery or technology available in the United States or other countries where you can find the result of elections overnight. We will one day though, and today is the first step on that path.

Let me end today's posts with a picture I found of a woman who was so overcome with emotion at voting that she cried. I believe this picture symbolizes every Iraqi's feelings today.

The Historic Day Has Come

I am happy to report...no I am honored to report that I have cast my ballot in our election. It is such an amazing feeling to be able to have some control over the destiny of my nation, a feeling I have not known before! I was one of the first ones to report to our local voting station, and I placed my vote, my stained finger is proof (The authorities are using such a system to make sure people do not vote twice). I was not the only one to show up at the opening of the voting area, there were at least a dozen other Iraqis waiting to take part in this momentus event, and as I left, I saw tens more file in.

It is early in the day, but I am confident of the turnout of the vote. The terrorists have not scared us. They made some attempts at disrupting things yesterday when they attacked an American buildling, and in attacking balloting areas, but it has not been effective. People are going to vote. From the conversations I have had with people across Baghdad, it looks like the Iraqiya list is going to come out on top. But this is speculation and is not as important as the fact that we are voting as a nation now. No more of the shams that Saddam put us through, no more of not having control over the political future, it ends today.

It will be a day forever remembered. My voting was only a simple act, I went, I identified myself, got my finger stained, filled out a ballot, and dropped it in a box. It is not a complex or grand process to the eye, but it is one that I will forever remember and will recount to my children, and their children. And God willing it will be remembered through the ages.

So, there is not much more for me to say on this day. I am just elated and excited. So much hard work and sacrifice has gone into making this day come, and I am so speechless now that it is here. I plan on having a big breakfast and heading otu to encourage more people to vote. Let us all hope that all the recluses will come out, the Sunnis realize the importance of the election, and that all Iraqis vote in a party that builds a strong, free and secular Iraq!

PS - I am sorry for being slow with e-mails over the last few days, it has been a very hectic time for me.

One Day Left

There is only one day left until the momentus day of Iraqi history that will always be remembered, celebrated, and looked upon with happiness by future generations. It will also be a day that inspires our neighbors to develop their own democracies. I cannot wait, I have been busy the last few days with my own attempts to encourage voting in my neighborhood, I hope that these efforts were put to good use.

Its going to be a very exciting next two days. Today, the country is under a curfew which is aimed at stopping terrorists from carrying out attacks. I hope it will work. It also has the welcome effect of giving people a day to rest, and thereby sit around and talk...about politics. This will hopefully have an inadvertant advantage on the voter turnout. The borders have been shut down too, I hope this will reduce the possibilites of Iran and Syria interfering with our election.

Speaking of turnout, it is going to be higher than expected. The lack of any major terrorist attack in the buildup to the election has encouraged people greatly and made more people confident in voting, and feeling safe from the tentacles of the devilish evildoers who lurk in the shadows.

Its going to be great. Those who doubted the elections will be proven wrong on Monday, and we will have a new concrete direction for our nation. I have no idea who is going to win this round of elections, but I continue to hope and pray that it will be a party that takes Iraq upwards and turns us away from the tumultous past that many of us have grown up in.

I hope all Iraqis living outside of their motherland have taken the steps necessary to be involved in this momentus event. Those of us in Iraq are gathering up our will and are ready and willing to serve our nation. I will be among the first, and I hope to continue my efforts at encouraging people to partake in this miracle.

Bloody Day - 4 Days Left

Despite today being a very bad day for American soldiers, I believe over 30 died, I feel the pull of destiny stronger than ever. While the press is focusing on American deaths reaching a certain number, and we mourn all the dead who died for our freedom, it is at least comforting to know that the terrorists were not responsible for their deaths. The terrorists are getting weaker. The attacks they have carried out today were an anomoly, and if you look at statistics, attacks have been down.

However, if there is anytime for them to have a resurgance it is now. I have long expected that terrorists would launch an offensive before the election, and i think we are seeing the start today. Still, despite the attacks on polling stations and other targets, the will of Iraqis to vote has never been stronger. Newspapers are publishing polls that are showing high expectations for the election, in some areas over 90% are promising to vote! all this despite the tricks of terrorists.

Registration lines are starting to get more like shopping lines. In Baghdad, the rates of registration have been inconsistant, but on my way back from work today I saw a good number of people at the local governmental office taking part in the registration process. This only means that people are losing their fear of the terrorists. I only wish that the Sunni parties would stop the madness with their claims that Sunnis will be unable to vote! Sunnis are as able to vote as other Iraqis, the only thing restricting them is the parties themselves.

This is one thing that is greatly worrying me. I get this sick fear in my stomach that these Sunni Parties that are boycotting the elections are going to ruin it. They will afterwards cry that they were not fully involved, and ignore their own stupid and childish boycott!!! Just watch. The one thing that Iraq needs more than democracy right now is good leadership. Unfortunately, among the Sunnis such leadership is rare. How good can a democracy be if the leaders aren't good. This is an issue that I have not pondered before, but that I am realizing is very important.

All hope is not lost with the Sunnis though. There are some Sunni parties that are still involved. More important is the actual participation of Sunni citizens. I see their numbers rising, and polls back me up. The existance of unified Iraqi parties, meaning ones that do not cater to a specific faction is a godsend because these will probably gain a lot of vote from Sunnis, and secular Shias and some Kurds. I hope that this will put them into power, as they seek to form a constitution that seeks equality, that is secular, and which avoids tribalism, secterianism and ethnic problems.

Zarqawi is getting pathetic

The big news today is Zarqawis declaration of war upon democracy. He says that democracy is evil, and that it goes against Islam. Of course, in his version of Islam everyone you disagree with must be killed, he doesn't really follow Islam, but facism, the problem is that he is too stupid to distinguish the two.

What will the effects be of this? I think it will primarily affect those who have decided to not vote for whatever reason be it feeling threatened by the rise of Shias, or anger at the coalition forces or whatever it is that has spurred some to not vote. Perhaps some of the undecided and cowardly will be scared off. But those who are determined will not be stopped.

There isnt much for me to say about this except to reiterate how this is a sign of how pathetic Zarqawi is. He is an idiot who cares not for Iraqis, and he is desperate thats why he is taking the drastic step of actually declaring war on democracy.

I would like nothing more than to hear tommorow that he has been captured and decapitated just like so many of his victims. Even if he continues to live he will never win. He should take a page from his mentor Osama and go to hell in a cave, we dont want him here, I wish he was as brave as he claims to be and would stop hiding like a woman trapped in a burka.

He will eventually be caught, and will forever be remembered as the Iraqi version of Guy Fawkes or Benedict Arnold. It is only a matter of time. Its just a shame that many people are going to have to suffer for his evil.

Iraqi Bloggergate?

I have been ignorant to the big hubub from an article on our friends at Iraq the Model but it seems that people are angry at their views in the US. I dont understand why, is there not a freedom of speech. So what if what they or other Iraqis say is not in line with what the media says.

This is why I think polls are stupid. The opinions of people, especially a large group of people like those in Iraq are so different and diverse that simple polls are not going to give you insight into what people are thinking. For this reason it is good that there are different voices, whether they be of the Fadhil broters or Riverbend, or even some of the other Iraqi wierdos on the internet. I would think that the American media would encourage a diverse set of ideas, because we in Iraq need such thinking. For too long we have lived in a society where only certain ideas are tolerated, and frankly its going to be a change to live under a system that has freedom of speech.

For this reason, I would hope that others would encourage the discourse of ideas out of Iraq. Only encouraging a certain set is going to do nothing but retard our growth and send us back in the direction that Saddam put us in.

Its shocking and sad to me to hear the charges leveled against the Fadhil brothers. That they are CIA agents or not even Iraqi just because they have a certain set of ideas, this is stupid. This is no different than when Al-Qaeda claims that certain people are non-Muslims because they do not support Al-Qaeda. Believe me this is a common tatic of people who think in this way- if they dont agree with you, label them as being something evil or bad.

Case in point, Al-Zarqawi al-Kalb (the dog) has called Ayatollah Sistani an apostate or kafir or something because he did not denounce the action against terrorists in Falljuah. How timely that this example arise to back up my point!

I think in the end though, that this whole affair with the New York Times is good. It will give Iraqi blogs a larger voice to the world. the NYT has given us free publicity, and I think more Americans and people across the world will read our blogs and get a better sense of how things really are in Iraq - that everything is not black and white, that Iraqis are like all other people, we have divergent opinions, and you can't paint us all with one stroke of the brush!

By the way, thank you to everyone who left me Eid messages, it really touched my heart to see people from other faiths and parts of the world giving me such greetings. Even if you dont celebrate it, to share a greeting is very touching, Thank you

Eid Greetings

Today is Eid al Adha, which is the biggest Muslim celebration of the year. It is done to commemorate the sacrifice that Prophet Abraham was willing to make for God when he offered one of his sons to God and it was replaced by a ram. Many people conflict on whether it was Isaac or Ishmael, for some reason many Muslims feel that it was Ishmael instead of Isaac...in reality there are no texts in Islam which say which son it was but I guess people have their preferences.

Its sort of a day of thanksgiving for us to thank God for everything he has given us. Practically we will go to the mosque for prayers. I have already gotten ready, I am waiting for the rest of my family. Everyone gets up early and gets washed up and puts on the nicest clothes. Then we go to the mosque, which can be boring but its part of the tradition.

Afterwards its a time of fun. Everyone has their own way, people usually get together with family and friends and eat dinner or play games or sports or whatever takes their interest. The entire celebration is actually four days so we have a bit of a holiday, but today is the day we go to Pray. We must also have animals slaughtered on our behalf, and we give the meat to poor people so that noone is hungry on the day.

Im excited, its nice to have a day off to celebrate. I know that today will probably be a subdued Eid, but it is Eid nontheless. There is sadly no doubt in my mind that some attack will happen, probably a larger one. And again I point out the hypocracy of these terrorists, claiming to be working for God or godliness, but they have no problem disrupting religious festivals, or just people getting together to be happy which is in itself Godly.

Still it is a time to celebrate and be thankful. Whatever tragedies today may bring are being slowly erased. I am thankful for a bright future, for coming freedom and prosperity, for my family, and for my life. A lot of people have a lot less than I or most others, so we should be thankful for every small bit we have.

Whether or not you celebrate the day, I hope it is a good one for you and your family, and let us all pray that it is one of peace for Iraq, although we all know the animals will try to ruin it in some way.

Elections, Abu Ghraib, and Bush

Iraqi authorities are moving towards making the elections more safe through various new measures that will stop the insurgents. Perhaps the most important is allowing people in certain areas to register on the day of elections. This is a fantastic idea as it makes it much harder for insurgents to threaten people. By allowing them to register when they vote, it will take them out of harms way and make it harder for the terrorists to shut down elections before they can happen. This combined with the idea of making the elections a holiday, beefing up security and restricting cars puts us in a better position than we were in earlier. I am already hearing people encouraged by these moves. All this just shows you that we are not going to be stopped. Iraqis are determined to go ahead with the elections, no matter what the cost. These terrorist scums can keep trying to stop us, but they will ultimately fail. Iraqis are too close to tasting from the cup of greatness.

The soldier who was apparently the ring leader of Abu Ghraib was given a ten year sentence. I dont know what to feel about the sentence. The abu ghraib thing was bad, it was very embarassing for both Iraqis and American soldiers. It doesnt seem to be normal though, I think it was indeed a rare case as the army said. It did cause a lot of anger and was a very bad move for public relations though. In that regard it is important for the US to make sure it doesnt happen again. It was in a way a victory for the terrorists because some people got angry...but the effects have subsided, if the media starts talking about it now it will only open up old wounds and cause trouble again. So in this aspect, I hope not much attention is paid to the punishment given to the soldier. It was something stupid, we shouldnt even have to discuss it, to do so is counterproductive.

I also saw a tv interview with President Bush when I was at the cafe the other night. I dont know what it was, but it was an interview with him and his wife by an old woman. He seems to be a simple man. He is not very elegant, and this is why many people criticize him. However, he is not the monster that some make him to be in the media. He doesnt seem like it to me. Many people claim he had ulterior motives for invading Iraq, outside of helping Iraqis. Whether this is true or not, I dont know. And I dont think it is proper or even worthwhile to wonder if we have no evidence. The interview struck me because he seemed comitted to having American involvement in Iraq until our democracy is set up. For that I am thankful.

Monarchy?

Our friends at Iraq the Model posted an intersting link from the Washington Post about people in Baghdad talking about politics. One gentleman reminisced about the monarchy Iraq once had, and got me thinking about it.

For those who do not know, Iraq had a monarchy after World War I until 1958 when King Faisal the younger was killed during a coup by General Kassem. This dynasty was like the one in Jordan, in fact they were both related, both were Hashemites. The Jordanian and Iraqi democracy were originally from the Hijaz (Which is where Mecca and Medina are), but were forced out when the Wahhabis took over after World War I.

These Hashemites had been ruling that land for a long time, they claim to be descended from the Prophet Muhammad, how accurate that is, I have no idea, because many people make such claims as if it entitles them to some status or better position. Anyway, the British took the sons of the last Hashmite ruler and made the kings of Iraq and Syria and Jordan. The Syria plan didnt work, so it was really only for Palestine and Iraq.

I obviously didnt live during this time, but I have heard stories. Sure, Iraq was more peaceful then, but I think the entire Middle East was. Times were just differnt then. I have seen pictures, and the king of Iraq looked like a bufoon really, trying to emulate the British king. This isnt England, its Iraq.

The fact that this monarchy was imposed on us by a colonial power is interesting. There isnt a lot of support for monarchy now, but the man in the article seems to be longing for it, yet complaining about America!!! How ironic is that. Some Iraqis worry that America will impose a government of its choosing on us, but they want the monarchy back, pure stupidity.

Its ironic too when you consider Jordan, which is still ruled by this dynasty, which really isnt native but from somewhere else. They are telling us how to vote and acting as though they are representitives of the Sunnis in Iraq, yet they are led by an imposter, a remnant of the colonial occupation.

I sometimes dont understand how these things work, I mean its just plain stupidity and hypocracy on the behalf of the Jordanians to try to interfere with our elections when they are ruled by a monarchy, one that isnt even native. This is one reason why Faisal of Iraq was killed, he wanted to united Jordan and Iraq, the late King Hussein was his cousin, and they were great friends. I am not saying that the coup was a good thing, it actually ended up putting us on the path to Saddam, but I dont think the monarchy was either.

If the British had given us elections, back in 1920, instead of forcing us into a monarchy after they couldn't tame us...if they had been like the Americans and encouraged democracy, Iraq would be a million times better today, and without the problems we have today. I wouldnt have to encourage democracy, I wouldnt write this blog, Americans wouldnt be in Iraq, Iraqi children wouldnt have starved, we wouldnt have had to dealt with Saddam, or the Saudis or the Iranians.

Funny how so much can change from one action in the past.

Terrorists kill aide to Ayatollah Sistani

I got home from work, and there was a bit of a commotion. Word is that an aide to Sistani was murdered after the Maghrib prayers here in Baghdad. It was in the southern, I guess what you would call suburbs, but news of it has spread across the city quickly. I hope that this is not the straw that breaks the back of the Shias and leads them to violence. I am a bit worried though, I hear commotion that there might be some type of protest or march to show force or support for the slain aide. We havnt seen anything like this in months, I hope it doesnt turn into something bad with clashes between angry Shias and Sunnis.

Unfortunately the terrorists are still around, and today they have struck again. I just hope that the reservation that has been shown by the Shias and Iraqis in general continues so that we can get these elections done. i hope that this attack isnt the first in a string that will explode over the next few days. We'll see what happens.

Foreign Influences

One reason why people fear a theocracy in Iraq is due to Iranian meddling in Iraq. Like I said before, this is done through support for certain Shia groups, tending to be those who are anti-governmental. I believe that Muqtada al-Sadr receives support from Iran, whereas Ayatollah sistani does not because the Ayatollahs in Iran are threatened by his apolitical nature.

The other two neighbors of ours that are trying to affect our future directly are Saudi Arabia and Syria. Jordan has some role, but they can't do much for various reasons.

First, Syria. Syria always had a rivalry with the Iraqis. This goes down to the times before Islam. Its always been there for various reasons. Even during the Baathist regime, there was a rivalry between the two Baathists despite their both being secular socialists, not to mention bastard dictatorships. Syria is now in a strange state. They have a new leader, who is definately not as bad as his father, and he seemed to have try to make better relations with the US, but some segments of the Syrian government are supporting terrorists. This is especially true in the North and West of Iraq. They are in a way an equivalent to the Iranians, except they are providing support to the Sunni groups that oppose the government. I have no idea how much support they are giving, but the fact is that they are doing something. I think this is the reason why there are murmurs that the USA might attack Syria, not an invasion, but strikes on the border to stop them from aiding terrorists.

Saudi Arabia is a strange case. I dont think the Saudi government is directly supporting terrorists. No, the Saudi government is useless. It is limited in what it can do by the United States and the people. The people of Saudi Arabia are in a very bad state. I say this because they have lived in a society that is absolutely abnormal. Most of them grew up in a time when they didnt have to work and they would live well anyway. Now they are running out of jobs, but they arent used to working, so they are lazy and getting mad.

When you take this, and add it with the Wahhabism that the Saudi government has always taught you get a bad mixture. To begin with the Wahhabis are very intolerent, not just of non-Muslims, but of Muslims themselves. I dont know how well-known the history of the Wahhabis is in the west, but I have studied them due to my interest in history. In the beginning, the 18th-19th century, the Wahhabis mad their first mark when they attacked Mecca, which is a holy city to Muslims. Isnt that Ironic? These self-styled pure Muslims would attack the holy city of Islam. They didnt just attack Mecca, they killed the inhabitants and labeled them as infidels, or hypocrites because their version of Islam wasnt good enough for the Wahhabis. For this reason, the Ottoman government crushed the Wahhabis and Saudis. Unfortunately, they didnt do a good job. They stayed, and were reborn in the beginning of the 20th century.

since then, the Saudi government has tried to spread it. They havnt done a good job in Iraq, but I think they have in further off Muslim nations where the money of the Saudis masked their true intentions. I feel that they are the number one reason for the damage done to Islam and Muslims.

Anyway, the Saudi spreading of this doctrine has now been embedded in Saudi Arabia. This coupled with the bad situation in regards to employment, and life in general, people are very restricted, breeds a very intolerant view of the world. Ive been to Saudi Arabia twice for pilgrimages, and it is the strangest place on Earth.

How does this affect Iraq? Well, like I said, Wahhabism hasnt really taken seed in Iraq, but the terrorists are affective at working with the Wahhabis, probably pretending to be interested, and getting money from individual Saudis to fund their weapons and the like. Wahabbism isnt spreading here, but it has had an effect on some, and it encourages the more conservative elements to get bolder. This is why they are poisoning our nation.

I must also finish by noting that noone in the Arab world respects the Saudis. We see them as a bunch of bedouins who were fortuante to live on top of oil. I believe in America there was a TV show, Beverly Hillbillies, this is how we see them. They treat everyone who is not Saudi bad, including other Arabs. They think they are the best Muslims, and they are lazy.

I hope that the United States can use its influence to spread democracy there, but in reality, I think the Saudis are lost. The people themselves are too far seperated from the ideas of democracy that it would be a pointless endeavour.

Theocracy in Iraq

With the elections of a few weeks coming closer, many people are asking me about the Shia list that is being talked about on the news. For those of you who don't know, many Shia groups have come together to form a sort of political alliance which has the largest number of candidates in the election that is coming up. Before I continue, I should note that the upcoming election is to set up a sort of Parliament, which will form our new Constitution and we will go from there. It isnt an election for national leader like Americans had in November. That will come once we have a Constitution.

Still the possible election of a large-scale Shia coalition has some people outside of Iraq worried that we will slide towards a theocracy like Iran. I say that it isn't going to happen.

There are many reasons for this. The first being that Iraq is too diverse to be a singular religion theocracy. Since we have so many Shias and Sunnis, it would be impossible to have a theocracy without angering the other group. It would if anything lead to a civil war, but this is very unlikely. Both sides realize that our nation is one of diversity, there are afterall smaller religious groups too such as the various Christian groups, where would they be left in a theocracy?

This diversity is also ingrained in Iraq. We have lived our whole lives with other types of people. Not to mention, most of us grew up in a secular system. Saddam was a worthless man, but the Baathists were secular, at least until the end when they began trying to manipulate religions for their own use. Regardless, not only my generation, but that of my parents have grown up in an environment of secularism. I have seen my mothers pictures of her college days and the women were dressed very liberally, this continued in Iraq until the terrorists began spreading like a plague and infesting fear in the people.

So then how can people who are used to secularism accept a theocracy, or even accept a theocracy that is limited ie: one that only appeals to one religious belief? Its very unlikely, I would say impossible.

If that doesnt convince you, you should also take solace in the fact that the highest Shia leader, Ayatollah Sistani is not like the Iranian mullah. In Iran they had Khomeni who was greatly in favor of mixing religion and politics. Ayatollah Sistani has said he is not, there is no reason not to believe him. AS you all know, I am Sunni, but Sistani is well respected by not only Shias, but other Iraqis, including Sunnis. We see him as a moderate man who while a religious leader, has never been political, and we see no reason for him to be political. This is not to say that all Shia leaders are apolitical, there are others, but fortunately, Sistani is the highest, and his word trumps all others.

Finally, although Shias are probably more excited about elections than anyone else, they are not all religiously inclined. Sure, some of them are, and I am sure that a small portion would like a theocracy. But most Shias like Sunnis like Christians are average people who want to live a normal life. A theocracy would not allow this because religious matters would intrude into life too much. Iraq is benefitted by being so close to Saudi Arabia and Iran because it has shown us the problems with having religiously fanatical governments. Noone in Iraq wants to live in either Saudi Arabia or Iran. We actually want those two nations to stop meddling in our affairs.

Iraqis take pride in our nation. We are a well-educated people, our education system has produced many intellegent and modern people. I say this as my last point because religious theocracies go against modernity. I do not think that religion itself is against modernity, no, that is a shallow argument, but I think that the people who want to base governments on religion are inclined to be averse to modernity, it is scary for them.

For this reason, and the ones I have already mentioned I would be surprised if Iraq goes on the slope to theocracy. I also pray more than anything else, that I am right, but I am confident that I am, so my prayers are not with urgency.

I will address more questions in the coming days, thank you all who have suggested topics to me, they are greatly appreciated. I may be a little slow this week, I have some personal matters that are taking up some time of mine.

Democracy in Palestine

Todays big news is the election for the Palestinians. I think it would be a good sign of progress, but I see a big problem there. This is that they are only voting for a few people, and these people are from the old regime. I think the problem for the Palestinians is that they need new leaders. All the leaders they have so far are from the old group of people, which include Arafat, which have not done anything for them. Arafat was not a good leader, I think even Palestinians know this, he did nothing for them...he was unfortunately only leader they had. I am not a politician or very informed on what really happens in Palestine, but I get the feeling that they had no other option, or that the other options were worse than Arafat.

Now that he is gone, they should find a new one. This Abu Mazen is not much different from Arafat, I fear for the Palestinians that he will take their money too. They have a lot of corruption, and this is a big problem everywhere. It is a problem here in Iraq, but we hope to end it with our own elections. Look at the difference between the Iraqi and Palestinian elections. We have many many options to choose from, most of which were not in power in the past or affiliated with the old regime; the Palestinians do not have this. The leading candidate was part of the old regime.

If they want a new future, they have to start new. I honestly dont know how they can do this, but my hope is that other nations can somehow help them like they have helped us. They should make a peace period with Israelis, maybe Israelis can help them? I dont think this is realistic though honestly, because there is too much hatred between Israeli and Palestinian.

If you understand my point, that being that people need new leaders to start a new, then I think you can understand why I do not like Allawi. I know Saddam tried to kill him, but in his past he too was member of the Baath party. No doubt that Allawi has done good work for Iraq, but I cannot trust the man, and this is why I will not vote for him, and I think he will lose in the election. But this is, as I have said before, the greatness and excitement that we are anticipating. We will finally have a choice!!

Weekend Thoughts

First Ladybird has some poll information that backs up what I and many Iraqis have been saying despite protests from some people who dont know whats really happening in Iraq: people want to vote. Very interesting data

Second, my friend sent me a funny link about North Korea . The dictator who is in Axis of Evil like Saddam was is now trying to force North Koreans to have certain hair. Let us hope he gets toppled and the people of North Korea can be free and enjoy the freedom that is coming for us.

I dont have much else to report, but since it is weekend, I can give you a glimpse into my life. Today is a Saturday. I went to a wedding. This is what we have been busying ourselves with since Saddam was toppled, on weekends we usually go visit our family, I have family all over, so it makes it fun to go on trips and see them. Sometimes it is dangerous, but the wedding was here in my city, so it was very nice to see so many of my relatives. We kept all terrorists out and enjoyed a good dance.

Tommorow is Sunday and is another weekend day. I have no real plans, maybe I just stay home and play with my nephews and neices. I want to play some football, its been a few weeks since Ive had times. Maybe I can gather some friends. In truth though, it is kind of cold here. Nothing like what you have, we have no snow, bt it is chilly. Its definately cold right now, but thank God, we have heat and electricity. These things have been in good supply for the last week.

Please keep your questions coming, they always give me more to write about. Im having a good time writing this blog and appreciate all the people I am meeting through e-mail. Keep up the encouraging words, they are well received, and I share the encouragement I get with other Iraqis, to let them know that the world wants us to have a good future!

Reformed Iraqi Air Force

some of the things my brother told me may be coming true. the Iraqi Air Force has been reformed and has planes in the sky. Some newspaper are speculating that this is for an aerial strike on Mosul. Who knows what it is for, but it is a good sign that our own military is building up. I also think if there is to be a strike on the terrorists in Mosul it is better for Iraqi aircraft to carry it out than American air craft. This will continue to encourage Iraqis to vote and not oppose Americans. One big bone of contention in the past were American air strikes, and that Allawi approved them. This made him seem like a puppet. But if he can order our own aircraft to kill the terrorists, this will vanish. Of course, there is still some worry with some people that Allawi will become a dictator. I dont know how to feel on this issue. I am not a big fan of Allawi, I do not trust his past...but I am confident that if he loses at the end of the month he will leave, and our government will be democratic.

Before I go to work, I also want to reiterate my appreciation to American soldiers who are here in Iraq making a sacrifice. I was really touched by an e-mail by a soldier who was in Iraq. He shared with me his hope that he could one day see a peaceful liberated Iraq with his son, and come not as a soldier, but as a civilian, a tourist...he missed the birth of his son because he was in Iraq. But thank God that he is back home with his son. It was a small e-mail, but it really hit me, to see that this man was away from his child in order to contribute to the betterment of Iraq. I hope that my countrymen will look at soldiers like him in the future and remember what they did for us, although they were foreigners. God bless them.

Some news from Mosul

I just finished having a talk with my brother who is in Mosul with Iraqi security forces if you remember. He was telling me that things have calmed down since the attack on the American base, but everyone expects something to happen at anytime soon. This same idea was communicated to me by an American friend from Texas who is currently in Mosul. I mean they did find 18 dead people near Mosul, but they were supposidly killed in the past...but they were killed for wanting to find jobs with the Americans, which is dispicable.

Thats another topic for now I just wanted to share that my brother noted that there were some captures of insurgents that he thinks may be relatively important. What this means, according to him is that there will probably be some sting in the coming days or weeks to prevent the insurgents from turning Mosul into another Fallujah. Truthfully though, it is hard as they have been there for weeks now and have extended their tentacles in the city, in some areas they are especially influential, and as I said in yesterdays post, they are use this influence to scare and threaten people into not voting or doing good things.

My brother is optimistic that the capture of these insurgent leaders will give a better sense of intellegence on the ground and will hopefully reduce any trouble coming out of Mosul. Although he is surprised that there havnt been moves so far on targets based on what was found out by these leaders.

More terrorists than Americans?

The intellegence minister has made some remarks which have been interperted by western media people to say that there are more terrorists than American soldiers. First, this is an incorrect understanding of what he said. He said that there are in his estimation over 200,000 supporters of terrorists...I dont know the accuracy of this number, but it does not mean that there are 200,000 terrorists themselves.

He said there are about 20,000 terrorists, which is a much smaller number. A concerning number, but smaller regardless. I do not think this is a source of alarm. As usual, the media is not understanding the complete picture in Iraq. Sure, there may be a large number of Iraqis who provide some form of support to the terrorists, and they are indeed concentrated in Sunni areas as the intellegence minister said...

But you must understand that these people are not wholeheartidly supporting the terrorists. It seems crazy to me that this is the case. This is not just my own opinion though: think of it like this. I previously described the terrorists like a crime syndicate, a mafia type of organization. They are using fear and threats to force these people into helping them. The concentration of terrorists is high in certain areas, and this allows them to FORCE the civilians there into providing them shelter.

This is also why Sunnis are portrayed as being against elections. as I have said all alone, Iraqis want a new free democratic country. But, some oppose the elections for various reasons. One reason is indeed the threat or threads of terrorists. In certain cities, they have gone so far as to threaten election workers which makes it very hard for people to take part in the process. We all remember the brutal murder a week ago of election workers on Haifa Street. Imagine what the situation is in cities which are infested, or areas that are infested with terrorists like Mosul, and like Fallujah was.

I know this may be a bleak picture but it is not. As I see things, people are slowly gaining the courage, as well as the resources through the formation of a better Iraqi infastructure to not support the terrorists. There is a story floating around on these blogs about a child in Mosul who directed american soldiers to a weapons dump. This is just one example.

I know that the media sometimes makes things look very bad, like Iraq is hell. Iraq is not an easy place to be indeed, but it is not hell. We are making progress, and we Iraqis see it everyday, I dont know why it is obscured from the rest of the world. The things people e-mail me and the news I read is sometimes shocking in how inaccurate it seems to me as I sit here in Baghdad.

These godamned terrorists are a virus

The governor of Baghdad was murdered yesterday by terrorists. Ali al-Haidari is yet another Iraqi who has been martyred for freedom, and we all will remember him for dying in the cause of our great nation. This attack has jarred me, I must admit I am very angry. These scum terrorists continue to disrupt our lives, our government, and our future.

These terrorists, and those of you who have left me messages criticizing my desire for a democratic Iraq are one in the same. You are insects who do not care for Iraq or Iraqis or Arabs or Muslims or Humans or anything but your own egos, your power, your evil hearts and the love of destruction. I ask you, why do you continue to plague our nation. I ask you why do you continue to disrupt our lives. Why? We do not want you here. You claim that the Americans must leave, if they leave, it will only be after you leave. The Americans are not sabotaging the future of Iraq like you terrorists are. How many thousands of Iraqis have died because of the terrorists. How many thousands of people have died across the world because of their friends and brothers? This shows you for what you are, a virus.

I ask any of you who support the terrorists to answer me. I ask any of you terrorists who may read my blog to answer me. I ask any of you Iraqis who continue to support the terrorists to answer me, or better yet, just tell me, why do you continue to support a force which is crippling our nation?

The thing that gets me the most angry is that this foreigner, this Zarqawi, who has failed at his attempt at presenting himself as our liberator, as our victor, as one of us is issuing idiotic and disgusting statements. He said in regards to the murder of governer al-Haidari "We tell every traitor and supporter of the Jews and Christians that this is your fate"

I say to you al-Zarqawi you filthy dog, that YOUR fate is to die like the dog you are. You are a supporter of death and destruction, and your crimes will catch up with you. I pray every day to God that the Iraqi or American forces find you, and that you die a death fitting for an animal such as yourself.

My prayers go to all the Iraqis who have died, and who will die today, tommorow and in the future fighting these vermin. My prayers go to all the Americans and coalition soldiers and their families who have sacrificed their lives so that people from another country can live a good life.

Why dont Iraqis take up guns

Ive been posed the question by Dan about why Iraqis dont take up weapons against the terrorists within our own nation. Its a good question, and one that I feel must be discussed at length within Iraq.

My own answer is that people are not confident that doing this will result in long term good. Sure, I can go outside with a gun and try to harm someone who is a terrorist, but I am putting myself at great risk. I may suceed in killing them or hurting them, but I dont know how long it will be until their friends come and kill me, or worse yet my family. The sad fact is that law and order are not yet well established in Iraq. Our police force is growing in strength, but it is nothing like what you have in the United States. Any actions that an Iraqi would take on his own would leave him open to retribution, and unfortunately away from the protection of authorities.

The next question is why dont people band together. I think that this is much more feasible. But I suspect that people do not trust their neighbors to the degree required of forming groups to protect their neighborhoods with arms. It has happened on a small scale in certain areas, but in densely populated areas it is hard, its hard to even know if someone down the street is an insurgent, insurgent-supporter, or a friend.

I think this is not a scenario isolated to Iraq. In any country where you have something like a crime syndacite operating, and thats essentially what these terrorists are, its hard to respond to them without large force, which is something that can most effectively be wielded by a government. In my mind, as I have said before, our best plan of action is to bear the terrorists for the next few weeks, support the Iraqi and American soldiers who hunt them down, then vote, and form a strong government which will be able to not only protect the average Iraqi, but also give Iraqis the confidence to take action against the terrorists, whether it be through taking some type of physical action against them, or simply reporting their position or their supporters to authorities without fear of retribution.

It is naturally an ideal scenario where Iraqis can drive out terrorists themselves. But unfortunately who the terrorists are is not necessarily easy to understand, nor is their location, or their numbers, or who supports them. Believe me, I am sure most Iraqis would like nothing more than to take a weapon themselves and exterminate our nation of this vermin, but it is at its base a very risky situation. No doubt that most Iraqis are willing to die for their nation - but what would happen to their family, to their daughters, their wives, their sons after their death in such an action is a horrible prospect that shakes many Iraqis, and Im sure many people in such a situation to their core.

Sunni in Elections?

Interesting about-face going on in some parts of Iraqs, Sunni groups are now encouraging Sunnis to get involved with the elections in Iraq. I dont know if this is due to a realization that not being involved is politically stupid, or if the leaders of various Sunni groups are geniunly in support of democracy, but I think its a good trend.

Jalal al Talbani is one Sunni leader who has started to encourage his followers to become active in this months elections. If more leaders follow his example then hopefully we will see a large Sunni turn out at the end of the month.

Its ironic that he is pushing for more involvement though, the infamous Muqtada al-Sadr seems to be wavering on his commitment to democracy. He originally led an insurrection but gave it up with promises of his being involved with the political process. HE is again wavering, making claims that the elections support "imperial crusaders". I get the feeling he's up to something and is going to be an unexpected source of trouble when elections do happen at the end of the month.

Let us hope that his trouble is kept to a minimum.

Happy New Year

Happy new Year everyone. I think it's still 2004 in the Western Hemisphere, but its been a new year here for over three hours now.

I just got in after attending a modest celebration. Some extended family members decided to have a dinnerparty and we enjoyed ourselves eating with our kin looking forward to a new year. The celebrations in Iraq were nothing like what you will have in the United States, but we are optimistic, and looking forward to a good 2005.

God willing, or as we say here, insha Allah - this will be the year which gives birth to a new Iraq, and a new future for us. I hope my children will live in a nation that I was denied as a child. I hope that future generations remember this as a monumental year of a new beginning. I hope that my grandchildren will celebrate the centennial of this year in 2105 as they reflect on the growth that Iraq has had since that fateful year.

My sincerest hope and prayer to you all for a good new year. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope see a new Iraq and new future this year!