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Yesterday we were getting back from my wife's relative house who invited us over lunch with other relatives (the few ones that are still in Baghdad)…we had a wonderful time and a very delicious food…it was great to be with the distant relatives that we weren't able to meet because of the terrible conditions.
It was just great and we were really happy but as it was getting darker it was time to get back home…..we got back in two cars, me and my wife in one and the rest in another car. Everything was good until we reached an Iraqi army checkpoint, there were two soldiers, a tall one and a short one, I almost stopped near them and both of them gestured for me by their hand to go…so I did like I do in the countless checkpoints, as soon as I passed them one of them shouted, I didn't understand what did he say but I was almost sure it wasn't for me; he just gestured for me to go! But my wife shouted "STOP, he is shouting on us" he shouted again and this time I heard him saying "STOP NOW" so I immediately stopped and they were running at the car with their rifles pointed at me, they were screaming "get out of the car immediately and bring the car papers with you" so I smiled to them and took the papers and headed to them while they were still pointing the rifles at my head. The short one aggressively took the papers from me and pushed me hard and said "take your woman home and get back to us, I'll never give you the papers…GO NOW" I kindly smiled to him and said "I'm sorry if I did something wrong, but what did I do?" he said" shut up and take your woman home" I was burning from the inside but I kept the smile on my face and behaved calm; I immediately remembered all the comments in the previous time. I told him "my dear brother, I'm like your young brother (he was younger than me but in Iraqi this is a sign of respect) please just tell me what did I do and I'll do whatever you want" he looked at me in a disgusted way and said "you didn't respect the law, you didn't respect us and you didn't respect Al-Maliki because we are here according to his orders" I really wanted to say F*** you and F*** AlMaliki that son of the b***h but instead I said "on my head, you and Maliki (In Iraqi that means great respect) I'll never disrespect you, the law or AlMaliki, didn't you gestured to us to go and so I continued if you ordered me to stop why wouldn't I stop!....please sir have mercy and let me go, I'm a dentist and I haven't touched a gun in my life, please I have a family that depends on me, please let me go and I'll never do it again…I'm sorry I didn't understand that you want me to stop…I beg you" and I kissed his head (that's another sign of respect) but he became angrier than before maybe because he felt my weakness! I don't know, but it was sure that he will never let me go, he said "OK get back and sit in your car and I'll tell you how can you go" !!! God, the trouble is deeper now, I don't want to talk about what did he want, but I'll be so lucky if he wants money, but I have a beautiful young woman in the car…God, I don't want to even think about the untellable….At that moment God interfered, I saw my wife's relative who is an old women, she is very religious and her prayers are always granted, she was walking toward us…I remember when I went to Amman two years ago and they weren't letting young men into Amman and she was traveling with us, she walked with me when I was going to the Jordanian intelligence officer and said" don't worry, god will be with you and you'll get in" and it happened!!!…I was the only man that got into Amman in that day!! Anyway, she was walking toward us and her mouth was murmuring a prayer, thank god she saw us when the soldier stopped us and she waited to see if a trouble will happen and when she saw what happened she got out of the car and headed to us, when she reached me she said" Don't worry, I'll fix it" and she went to the bastard soldier and I couldn't believe my eyes!!! He completely changed into another person and said "OK aunt, I'll give him the papers but that's only for you" she said "he is my niece, tell me what have he done so that I know what to blame him for when we get back" and the bastard said "he knows what have he done"….etc. He had nothing to say because I haven't done anything wrong…we took the papers and got in the car…I can't describe the situation my wife was in… 5 more minutes and she will break down.
I asked the old women and my wife if he gestured me to stop and both of them said no he told you to go because I though I didn't pay attention, our relative said "you haven't done anything wrong, it's jealousy…they hate people like us because it's so obvious that we are the real Iraqis…just look at your self and look at him, your shoe worth him and all his family."
During the ordeal many things were running through my head, I was thinking about the previous trouble that I have faced and remembered the comments; that really helped me to be cool, I was thinking about my dead friend; Omar who was killed by the Iraqi army in a situation like mine, he was talking with my other friend on the phone when he reached a checkpoint for the Iraqi army in Harthia neighborhood so he placed the phone aside and my friend could hear everything through the phone…it was so similar to my case but they took him and the next day his dead body was found in a garbage!!!
I know you are bored from the same story being told over and over by me but this is what the ordinary Iraqis go through everyday despite the countless explosions and assassination. That's the army and police that should protect us!! How funny.
Few days ago there was another ugly crime, it was a female doctor that I indirectly know, she was in the fourth year of ophthalmology board, she was living with her mother because her father is a consultant of the Yemeni president and they were staying here because the doctor was waiting to finish her degree and they would go to Yemen after that, the doctor and her mother were home and it was noon when gunmen entered their house, stabbed and drilled them million times and then they tied them to chairs and burned them up…no one knows the real reason behind this crime…and it's hard to know the details in Iraq about a murder that involved women because of honor…but I know one thing…who did this aren't human at all.
I'm so convinced now that I shouldn't go out of my neighborhood unless I have an important business…at least in my neighborhood I know many people who could help me if anything like this happened… May god burn alive all those who were responsible for this.
It was just great and we were really happy but as it was getting darker it was time to get back home…..we got back in two cars, me and my wife in one and the rest in another car. Everything was good until we reached an Iraqi army checkpoint, there were two soldiers, a tall one and a short one, I almost stopped near them and both of them gestured for me by their hand to go…so I did like I do in the countless checkpoints, as soon as I passed them one of them shouted, I didn't understand what did he say but I was almost sure it wasn't for me; he just gestured for me to go! But my wife shouted "STOP, he is shouting on us" he shouted again and this time I heard him saying "STOP NOW" so I immediately stopped and they were running at the car with their rifles pointed at me, they were screaming "get out of the car immediately and bring the car papers with you" so I smiled to them and took the papers and headed to them while they were still pointing the rifles at my head. The short one aggressively took the papers from me and pushed me hard and said "take your woman home and get back to us, I'll never give you the papers…GO NOW" I kindly smiled to him and said "I'm sorry if I did something wrong, but what did I do?" he said" shut up and take your woman home" I was burning from the inside but I kept the smile on my face and behaved calm; I immediately remembered all the comments in the previous time. I told him "my dear brother, I'm like your young brother (he was younger than me but in Iraqi this is a sign of respect) please just tell me what did I do and I'll do whatever you want" he looked at me in a disgusted way and said "you didn't respect the law, you didn't respect us and you didn't respect Al-Maliki because we are here according to his orders" I really wanted to say F*** you and F*** AlMaliki that son of the b***h but instead I said "on my head, you and Maliki (In Iraqi that means great respect) I'll never disrespect you, the law or AlMaliki, didn't you gestured to us to go and so I continued if you ordered me to stop why wouldn't I stop!....please sir have mercy and let me go, I'm a dentist and I haven't touched a gun in my life, please I have a family that depends on me, please let me go and I'll never do it again…I'm sorry I didn't understand that you want me to stop…I beg you" and I kissed his head (that's another sign of respect) but he became angrier than before maybe because he felt my weakness! I don't know, but it was sure that he will never let me go, he said "OK get back and sit in your car and I'll tell you how can you go" !!! God, the trouble is deeper now, I don't want to talk about what did he want, but I'll be so lucky if he wants money, but I have a beautiful young woman in the car…God, I don't want to even think about the untellable….At that moment God interfered, I saw my wife's relative who is an old women, she is very religious and her prayers are always granted, she was walking toward us…I remember when I went to Amman two years ago and they weren't letting young men into Amman and she was traveling with us, she walked with me when I was going to the Jordanian intelligence officer and said" don't worry, god will be with you and you'll get in" and it happened!!!…I was the only man that got into Amman in that day!! Anyway, she was walking toward us and her mouth was murmuring a prayer, thank god she saw us when the soldier stopped us and she waited to see if a trouble will happen and when she saw what happened she got out of the car and headed to us, when she reached me she said" Don't worry, I'll fix it" and she went to the bastard soldier and I couldn't believe my eyes!!! He completely changed into another person and said "OK aunt, I'll give him the papers but that's only for you" she said "he is my niece, tell me what have he done so that I know what to blame him for when we get back" and the bastard said "he knows what have he done"….etc. He had nothing to say because I haven't done anything wrong…we took the papers and got in the car…I can't describe the situation my wife was in… 5 more minutes and she will break down.
I asked the old women and my wife if he gestured me to stop and both of them said no he told you to go because I though I didn't pay attention, our relative said "you haven't done anything wrong, it's jealousy…they hate people like us because it's so obvious that we are the real Iraqis…just look at your self and look at him, your shoe worth him and all his family."
During the ordeal many things were running through my head, I was thinking about the previous trouble that I have faced and remembered the comments; that really helped me to be cool, I was thinking about my dead friend; Omar who was killed by the Iraqi army in a situation like mine, he was talking with my other friend on the phone when he reached a checkpoint for the Iraqi army in Harthia neighborhood so he placed the phone aside and my friend could hear everything through the phone…it was so similar to my case but they took him and the next day his dead body was found in a garbage!!!
I know you are bored from the same story being told over and over by me but this is what the ordinary Iraqis go through everyday despite the countless explosions and assassination. That's the army and police that should protect us!! How funny.
Few days ago there was another ugly crime, it was a female doctor that I indirectly know, she was in the fourth year of ophthalmology board, she was living with her mother because her father is a consultant of the Yemeni president and they were staying here because the doctor was waiting to finish her degree and they would go to Yemen after that, the doctor and her mother were home and it was noon when gunmen entered their house, stabbed and drilled them million times and then they tied them to chairs and burned them up…no one knows the real reason behind this crime…and it's hard to know the details in Iraq about a murder that involved women because of honor…but I know one thing…who did this aren't human at all.
I'm so convinced now that I shouldn't go out of my neighborhood unless I have an important business…at least in my neighborhood I know many people who could help me if anything like this happened… May god burn alive all those who were responsible for this.
38 comments:
Get out. The new Iraq is for scum and sectarian American lackeys. There is no room for real honorable Iraqis like you and your wife. They are prepared to finish you all, especially if you are a professional and SUNNI. That scum is what deluded Americans on these blogs cheer for and call "ISF". You and I and other Iraqis know better. Apply for a school in Europe or America, file for asylum, and continue your life with your wife and children elsewhere, like your brother in law and other friends and relatives. Let those spoiled, ignorant Americans that come on these blogs help you out. It's the least they can do. They're the ones responsible for the destruction of your country and the deaths of your countrymen. They should help you leave.
May god burn alive all those who were responsible for this.
You know who was responsible for all this.
What a disgrace. I hope you and your family will be kept away from idiots like this in the future.
All best
Al hamdela a3la salama.
Hadhola awbash. you're right the jealousy runs in their veins like blood. i know of 1000os of stories about the same things happening to other people at checkpoints and even in baghdad international airport.
by the way I think that your doctor friend who was murdered in such an ugly way, i believe her murder has the signature of the mahdi army.
I think it's a mistake to let the hatred and injustices take hold and change who you are. Take the high road. Blame no one. Try to make things better for you and yours. Does this really sound that naive? I'll tell you what many people in the international community may believe who have followed Iraq news over the last 30 years: The shoe is now on the other foot - for Sunnis. We used to hear only how bad it was for Shiites for all those Saddam years. The question is, which side will put a stop to the tit for tat hatreds and violence? The Bible (new testament) says "turn the other cheek". What does the Quoran say? "Burn your enemy"?
Now, man, don't be foolish.
DO take a low profile, whenever you meet people prepared to kill you (& rape & kill your wife, as well), or ANY other kind of fools.
I have no clue about the 'true iraqi' above: maybe that murder had the signature of the Badr Brigades, instead ... those are the bastards who have been busy killing doctors, these past five years ...
those other Mahdi Army criminals do kill at random, instead.
I do suspect that the 'True Iraqi', above, likes some murders more than others.
Mohammed, you have behaved like a saint showing such amazing patience and self-control!
Please stay safe. Our prayers are with you. Even Italian from the looks of his message here. (Good for you Italian.)
I hope that the Iraqi army smashes all these bad people.
See question 11 in page 24 of: http://www.abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1060a1IraqWhereThingsStand.pdf
Many Sunni Arabs Iraqis are still quite concerned about security. However most seemed quite confident in the IA (see question 14 on page 25.
Also look at page 33 (Iraqis strongly oppose attaks against the IA) Please see this Italian.
I hope that America doesn't abondon training the Iraqi army and police. See question 34 in page 38.
Mohammed, do most people have faith in the IA? Do most Iraqis want America to do more to train and equip the IA?
May you and your family stay safe Mohammed, and why isn't your wife's aunt a government diplomat? She would be one who could bring peace! :)
I feel so sorry for you guys and I wish all the best for you and your family. But honestly I will never understand why Iraqis treat their own people like this. It makes no sense for the shiites to take revenge on the sunni people when everybody knows it was just saddam who made them suffer. And Iraq will never be able to be responsable for its rich country when your army is threatening your doctors and burning your women instead of making iraq a secure place for developing a better living. The foreign Powers will laugh about this behaviour and take what ever they want because Iraqis are to busy by torturing themselves. So may god give those checkpoint bastards a brain instead of burning them alive and i am sure we can read some optimistic postings in your blog soon! take care!
Congratulations for your blog! I'm a follower and I'm reading all of your entries. Pretty more interesting than the manipulated tv news...
But the first comment is right; leave Iraq. It's a hell now and there is no future. Better leave now with your family and stay alive with hope, than live "dying" every day in a place that is more a US/fanatism playground...
Good luck man, you will need it, and keep it on with your life! ;)
Dear Mohammed,
do yourself and all of your readers a favour, and please do squash this slimy reptile 'Anand' (May 4, 2008 12:27 PM), kicking the nauseating, grotesque thing out of your blog !
Be well,
Mohammed. I love your Aunt! Can I have her? ;-)
I think you handeled this as well as possible. If you are forced to show "respect" for scum like that it is no defeat to do so. The "respect" you show them might make them feel big and important but YOU know it's no real respect at all. Better to decieve them with false humility than to give them a reason to harm you or your close ones. That seem to be just what they are looking for.
I hope you make it out of there and can get on with your life somewhere safe.
//Marcus
anand said...
Please stay safe. Our prayers are with you. Even Italian from the looks of his message here. (Good for you Italian.)
I hope that the Iraqi army smashes all these bad people.
Those "bad people" ARE the Iraqi army, you filthy Indian freak.
an italian,
what the hell do u know about iraq, stick to ur pizzas nd pastas.
of course the mahdi army murdered 1000's of iraqis. or maybe like the american scumbags u're trying to write our story for us.
True Iraqi, JAM has to be disarmed. But the members of JAM must be accepted back into Iraqi society with the compassion and forgiveness that Iraqis are known for.
Muqtada and the nonviolent Sadrists also deserve to run in Iraqi election, and have a position in public life proportionate to their popularity. The rest of Iraq much reach out to them and incorporate them into Iraqi society (including Sunni Arabs.) There is no other way.
The quicker this happens the better . . . while there are MNF-I still left in Iraq.
True Iraqis, if not for AQ’s nonsense killing tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and if not for Baathists murdering Shia, maybe JAM and Badr wouldn’t have gone off the wall the way they did.
Mohammed, please ask you aunt to pray for me (and America) too. We could all use her prayers. You are one lucky nephew to have an aunt like that!!!
Marcus, I disagree with you. “Love thy enemy with all thy heart and soul.” It is very important to respect one’s enemy. Have you noticed the power of many religious people, like Mohammed’s aunt (but in other religions too)? When you listen to someone with respect, you would be surprised how much they listen to you. If you don’t respect someone, you might as well be speaking to a wall. Some of these IA soldiers are stressed out working day and night with sleep deprivation to serve their fellow Iraqis. Sometimes they become paranoid and over suspicious of everyone, including many good Iraqis such as Mohammed. When someone with authority, self confidence and wisdom (a religious person) talks to these soldiers with respect and compassion, in spite of themselves they want to be reasonable and help the person.
Still Marcus, something was obviously wrong with these particular IA (they weren’t IP Mohammed?) It will take years for the IA to identify and purge these bad actors. It would help if the IA had an anonymous service where good Iraqis like Mohammed could complain about specific bad IA officers.
Marcus, I don’t think there is an edge to being false. We should be genuine and treat everyone as our brothers.
“Those "bad people" ARE the Iraqi army, you filthy Indian freak.” That wasn’t necessary. And it is unbecoming of you.
The IA and IP lost 5 and ½ times as many dead as the MNF-I in April, 2008 (and this is despite the US military offering them the same medivac that American soldiers get.) Don’t you think that if the resistance stopped attacking the IA so much, the IA soldiers would be less paranoid, tense and suspicious of everyone? How do attacks against the IA solve anything? These are attacks against the army of the Iraqi nation . . . the army of all Iraqis. This army serves a democratically elected government. (Although I too wish Maliki treated sunni arabs like Mohammed better.) Surely attacking and insulting the IA the way you are doing is not the answer.
What choice does Iraq have other than improve their existing army. The Iraqi army is ethnically diverse and is the most nationalist institution left in Iraq.
You do understand that MNF-I are leaving Iraq, and that no country will consider sending soldiers to replace them. Iraqis are on their own. They don’t have the luxury of violently attacking their own army.
Iraq is a great country. It can still make it. As long as there are real Iraqis like Mohammed (and his Shia, Kurdish and Sunni Arab fellow Iraqis) still there, Iraq is worth saving. I think that Iraq will succeed despite all her current problems.
Keep safe Hamoody. I enjoy your blog.
Anand
"Marcus, I disagree with you. “Love thy enemy with all thy heart and soul.” It is very important to respect one’s enemy."
It's refreshing at least to hear you saying that these IA-forces are indeed Mohammeds enemies, that's a first.
An ignorant thug whose only authority rests with the firearm in his hand is not someone an educated and civilised person like Mohammed would ever respect. They don't deserve respect, they have no claim to it. The only people who respect someone for their ability to inflict violence alone are OTHER ignorant bastards.
Of course to show your disrespect is not an option in a case like this. And Mohammed didn't do that but kept his cool even though it went against all his feelings. I think he did just the right thing and handeled himself very well.
Perhaps YOU would have been able to honestly show respect without feeling any feelings of hurt pride, but then again to feel hurt pride one has to have some pride to begin with...
//Marcus
Stay safe, Mohammed. God bless you and your family.
Mohammed, thank goodness that you managed to get out of that situation alright! I think that you behaved with extreme self-control and courage and that this is what made the difference. Also, you must be blessed with extraordinary luck, with the way your aunt came along at just the right time.
Of course, you are right about the soldier - you did nothing wrong and that is why he got even more cross. I think you have to remember that lots of these people may be the poorest of the poor, and that maybe they are less educated also and that they feel inferior to the 'normal' Iraqis already. So to these people, they think they you are going to disrespect them and in fact maybe expect it. So then when you cornered him on what you had done wrong, this man's status and ego was being challenged (because he knew you had done nothing) and that's why he got so angry - his miserable job is all that he has to make him feel better and now you are taking that authority away by being right!
Maybe (and this is ony a suggestion) next time say something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I must be deaf, I didn't hear you shouting to stop the first time. I apologise." That way you give this miserable human something to hang his battered pride onto while defusing his anger. By all that's good, I'm sorry you have to live this way. It really sounds like it is dog eats dog out there. It's a pity you don't know somebody higher up in the police. That might help a bit.
Oh, and your stories are *not* boring, ever. Just stay alive to keep telling them.
Dr Mohammed
This is truly terror.
You stayed calm. You are still alive. But the humiliation you received from idiot soldiers must have made you very angry. How will you get rid of this anger?
Try to stay calm. [If possible, leave - but I don't need to say this, do I?] Sorry, for your wife.
Regards, steen
I see Anand is back with his endless monologues on peace and love - everybody must love everybody, except for the USA, which has the right to kill and destroy as it wishes.
That's what this individual's posts amount to.
Anand goes on about how evil the Baath and the Al Qaedists are. Except for that the US has knowingly recruited both Baath and Al Qaedists in its quest to dominate Iraq. It has also directly recruited the murderous Badr Brigade.
Anand's vision of "improving" the Iraqi Army is to recruit more of these depraved people, the only criterion being whether or not they are loyal to the USA. (Or Maliki, the American puppet).
Unfortunately for Anand, the IA will NEVER become a force of educated, united and disciplined soldiers fighting for a united Iraq. No matter what he says his phony wishes may be. The truth is that the Iraqi Army is a bunch of sectarian militias in uniform, and serves to advance the agenda of whatever political parties they serve. The debacle in Basra illustrated that point very well indeed, yet this fool insists on believing his fool's paradise. God help Mohammed if he falls into the clutches of the "wrong" IA.
Anand insists that the IA will "improve". How much more must it "improve"? It's been 5 years of improving already. Maybe his idea of "improving" is to weed out the intelligent and compassionate elements and replacing them with more pro-US types? That's the bottom line for people like him.
“but then again to feel hurt pride one has to have some pride to begin with.”
Marcus, to defeat one’s enemy you have to respect and understand them. This especially the case if the enemy is very evil, dangerous, or capable. The Bible says to love thy enemy. So do the other great faith traditions. There must be wisdom to this.
You can profoundly disagree with someone while respecting them.
All the IA are not Mohammed’s enemies, just some bad apples in the force.
“Maybe (and this is ony a suggestion) next time say something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I must be deaf, I didn't hear you shouting to stop the first time. I apologise." That way you give this miserable human something to hang his battered pride onto while defusing his anger. By all that's good, I'm sorry you have to live this way. It really sounds like it is dog eats dog out there. It's a pity you don't know somebody higher up in the police. That might help a bit”
Not a bad idea. Bruno must have a lot of practice in South Africa. Many police in South Africa are very rude without the education, sophistication and culture of IA soldiers.
You know Mohammed, South Africa suffers 1500 violent deaths a month. Africaaners like Bruno are frequently discriminated against, which might explain Bruno’s world view. Bruno has admitted that he is too scared to stop at some stop and traffic signs, less the resistance catch him and take him out of his car.
“Oh, and your stories are *not* boring, ever. Just stay alive to keep telling them.” Words of wisdom from Bruno. I agree completely.
The “Baath and the Al Qaedists” are bad news. Individual Iraqis who worked with them but now repent and want to become good Iraqis should be allowed to change a new leaf. Like Huckubee, I believe in personal redemption.
Bruno, MoD and MoI are not America. They are part of the elected Iraqi governent.
“Maliki, the American puppet” Wow, that is an improvement. At least he is no longer a puppet for Khamenai. Maliki is moving up :-)
“the IA will NEVER become a force of educated, united and disciplined soldiers fighting for a united Iraq.” That is an anti-Iraqi racist statement. Shame on you for saying that. The IA is the only hope for Iraq . . . especially after the MNF-I leave.
Bruno called for violent attacks against the IA a month or two ago. He also called for the violent overthrow of Iraq’s elected government. Bruno, I hope the Iraqi people do not take your violent pro war advice. Iraqis should participate peacefully in UN run elections this October and December, 2009.
FYI Bruno, many college educated Iraqis are officers in the IA. In fact, most of the new IA’s senior and mid level officers are “educated” Iraqi officers from the old Iraqi army. Bruno might be jealous that IA officers are better educated, mature, sophisticated, and more capable than his Africaaner military officers. Don’t worry, soon the IA will be higher quality than your Africaaner military. The IA will smash your busom buddies Bruno . . . unless they repent and change their ways.
Mohammed, sorry for being less than completely polite to Bruno. He has been celebrating ever since the casualties for the IA and IP were released for April, 2008. The IA and IP suffered five and a half times the violent deaths of the MNF-I. Bruno’s joy is a bit much to take.
So, Anand. Do you advocate respect, love and understanding for Al Qaeda as well? What about the JAM driller-killers? You love them? Strange... not many people feel that way you know.
//Marcus
Marcus, the various religious traditions do not distinguish between enemies.
The answer is yes, we need to love and respect AQ and the JAM head drillers. We also need to stop them (capture or kill) as we would stop a seriously deranged brother, father, or son.
It is hard, and tortuous, but what alternative is there?
"Forgive them Lord . . . for they know not what they do."
Dear Mohammed,
this snake Anand is an AMERICAN of Indian extraction (some sort of naturalised vermin).
His lies and his false and comical blathering are truly nauseating.
This imbecile liar fakes he cares for Iraqis, while cheerleading for their worst murderers.
Squash the foul critter, please.
@ 'true iraqi', May 4, 2008 9:53 PM.
[TI] "of course the mahdi army murdered 1000's of iraqis".
Dear True Iraqi, did I deny that ? I called them "murderers", above.
Only, in the case mentioned by Mohammed there definitely is the possibility of other perpetrators (i.e., Badr Brigades).
[TI] "or maybe like the american scumbags u're trying to write our story for us".
Not at all.
But I'm happy that you call the American pro-war commentators what they deserve !
;)
ditto, akhi.
Mohammed, last year I had said that Italian and John were Saddamists on Zeyad's blog because of the many harsh things that they said there.
But now, I am no longer sure Italian is a Saddamist. His comments this year, including here, have been quite positive, even nice. Kudos to Italian for doing the right thing (including rooting for Mohammed.)
So Italian, I am formally apologizing for calling you a Saddamist (although John remains a Saddamist in my book.) I think you might actually care for Iraqis. You are also quite clever, knowledgeable and perceptive (including regarding WWII.)
Salut!
Let us put the hatchet aside. We both agree on one thing. We want the best for Mohammed and his fellow Iraqis!
No hard feelings?
Different topic: What does akhi mean?
Final topic:
Mohammed thank you for your example, and sharing your life with us. Your challenges make our own seem petty by comparison. Inshallah, Iraq will rise to greater heights than it has ever risen before . . . lead by good and true Iraqis.
Hi Mohammed- I would rather your bad experiences end then for you to stop writing about them! Always, best you can do is keep cool and keep your aunt close. I can't defend those individual soldiers' actions, but it does seem like everyone's on edge right now.
As Anand pointed out, the ISF have taken very heavy casualties lately. Maybe you hate them and maybe they deserve it, but they are human too, out on the street, with many dangers and they would rather live, too.
Eye raki has posted about a similar experience of his friend down south here.
Mohammed,
I am praying for Iraq every single night. Please stay safe.
[anand] "Bruno called for violent attacks against the IA a month or two ago. He also called for the violent overthrow of Iraq’s elected government."
Quotes, Anand.
That might help.
I think you'll find that my position is and has always been that the "Iraqi Army" and police are irrelevant to the outcome of the war in Iraq because of their divided loyalties and because many of them are in it for the pay only.
IF they take part in sectarian attacks or IF they take part in attacks on Iraqi groups that want to expel the Americans, THEN I think that the Iraqi patriots have a right to resist these attacks.
That's my position.
Then again, I shouldn't hope for much more than distortions and half-truths from you, Anand, since I have caught you red-handed peddling lies on my country and countrymen in the past.
Unicef warns of Iraqis 'at risk' BBC 7 May 2008 17:17
It is increasingly hard for Iraqi aid workers to help tens of thousands of people caught up in fighting in Baghdad, according to Unicef.
The Sadr City area of the capital has seen the worst clashes between government forces and Shia militia.
The UN children's agency says over 150,000 people there are having difficulty accessing clean water, food and other essential services.
The Iraqi government says almost 1,000 people have died in recent fighting.
Most of those have been civilians, and aid agencies say around 60% of them are women and children.
For seven weeks now Iraqi forces, backed up by US troops, have been trying to disarm Shia militiamen, but they have faced stiff resistance.
Unicef is warning that tens of thousands of people are at risk because they cannot freely move within their communities, cut off from clean water and food supplies by snipers or by roads laced with improvised explosive devices.
Fighting has severely damaged water and sewage pipes, posing serious health risks.
Hospitals are reporting shortages of medical supplies, while other health facilities open and close depending on the ability of staff to turn up for work, and are often in locations too dangerous for patients to use.
Unicef wants better access to those in need, and is working hard with the government to get water tankers into affected areas and medical supplies to hospitals and clinics.
Hey, AmeriKans - this is worse than anything Saddam threw at them, and you brought it upon them. Why isn't your country sending relief to those whose lives you have wrecked?
[indigo] "Why isn't your country sending relief to those whose lives you have wrecked?"
Good point, Indigo.
On second thoughts, maybe not. American warmongers might have a different idea of what 'relief' is, contrary to what you and I and other normal people think it is.
Iraqis might expect sacks of flour and medicines, and get TNT instead.
You are like a cat with 9 lives. You handled that situation very very well. You are becoming an expert in the psychology of surviving.
The story about that family you told is just horrible. I'm beginning to wonder if there are only a handful of sane people left on our planet? Whatever happened to civilization?
Tacitus said it best "They terrify lest they should fear." I read on Wikipedia that it's very dangerous to be an Iraqi police officer. If you can believe the Wikipedia article more Iraqi police have been killed on and off duty than Americans. Maybe some of the Iraqi police are trying to prove to each other that they are not afraid by acting like bullies. I am grateful to be living in America where the police deserve respect and are respected.
See the actual data. The ISF lost 5 and a half times as many dead as the MNF-I in April, 2008.
The resistance should stop attacking the ISF.
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