My days in Iraq are always busy. However, yesterday was very quiet and normal. Nothing serious happened to make me very busy. I seized the opportunity to spend the whole time surfing the net. I flipped through blogs and websites, and chatted with some friends about politics and other issues. G., my friend, told me Baghdad Burning has posted a new post. I was very interested to hurry up and read it as she hadn't posted anything since the referendum. I was shocked when I read her entry. She posted something about the POWs [Prisoners of War] in the 8-year Iraq-Iran war. She was accurate in every single word she described about how Iraqis suffered in that period.
Accusing Abdul Aziz Hakim and his late brother and what they did in "torturing the Iraqi POWs", she moved to talk about her fears of a possible domination of the Kurds and Shiites to power in Iraq. Unfortunately, she didn't leave a space for people to comment. Instead, she preferred people email her. I took parts of her entry and commented on them in the email I sent her. Following are the parts I chose and the comments I left on them. I am sure some people would think by that email, I am supporting the Shiites. I want everybody knows that I am not supporting anyone. I am an objective and secular person whose main job is to convey the truth to the whole world.
Hi Riverbend,
I read ur last post and wished there was a place to leave comments in. there are few things I'd like to share discussing with, if u don't mind.
- "It showed what I later learned was an Iraqi POW in Iran. I watched as Iranian guards tied each arm of the helpless man to a different vehicle. I was young, but even I knew what was going to happen the next moment. I wanted to run away or close my eyes- but I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot, almost as if I too had been chained there. A moment later, the cars began driving off in opposite directions- and the man was in agony as his arm was torn off at the socket. "
I felt the same thing exactly when I watched it back in the eighties. It was one of the most horrible things I've seen yet. I felt very sad when the government removed the statue in the Palestine St. that represented this crime.
- " Every Iraqi who had a missing relative from that war, saw them in the agonized face of that POW who lost his arm. SCIRI head Abdul Aziz Al Hakim and his dead brother Mohammed Baqir Al Hakim were both well-known interrogators and torturers of Iraqi POWs in Iran."
First of all, I am a secular Iraqi but one thing, do you have any evidence that Abdul Aziz Hakim and his militia did interrogate the POWs?
Maybe I am speaking like this because I am a reporter which has to be neutral and depends on facts. You are talking about this as a fact without explaining where did u get this fact from? When ? to make the reader convinced of it.
- "The referendum results were so disappointing and there have been so many stories of fraud and shady dealings (especially in Mosul), that there's already talk of boycotting the December elections. This was the Puppets' shining chance to show that there is that modicum of democracy they claim the Iraqi people are enjoying under occupation- that chance was terribly botched up. "
As a reporter, I've talked to many people, including Sunnis in Adhamiya, Mosul, and Anbar who said that they were very happy that the constitution has passed. The reason as they said is that they are fed up. They want peace back, they want stability they are deprived from for two years.
- "Americans constantly tell me, "What do you think will happen if we pull out of Iraq- those same radicals you fear will take over." The reality is that most Iraqis don't like fundamentalists and only want stability- most Iraqis wouldn't stand for an Iran-influenced Iraq."
Ok, what about the Wahabi and Salafi radicals who are causing much pain in Iraq by considering every single policeman, soldier, or government employee as an infidel??!! Isn't there a small space at least for them to mention?! I am not saying the Shiite radicals are innocent but I am saying what about the Sunni Wahabis and Salafis?
- "Iraq has been the land of dreams for everyone except Iraqis- the Persian dream of a Shia controlled Islamic state modeled upon Iran and inclusive of the holy shrines in Najaf, the pan-Arab nationalist dream of a united Arab region with Iraq acting as its protective eastern border, the American dream of controlling the region by installing permanent bases and a Puppet government in one of its wealthiest countries, the Kurdish dream of an independent Kurdish state financed by the oil wealth in Kirkuk… "
Also here, you haven't mention the dream of the radical Salafis whose dream is to turn Iraq into another Afghanistan.
Riverbend,
I totally understand what you are going through now because it's the same feeling of most of the Iraqis, but that doesn't mean to be biased. In this post, you are against Iran, Shiites, and Kurds only. You totally forget to mention that Iraq has enemies who are turning the country into a hell.
I had to be indulged in a long discussion with my friend about this post and how River bend considered Kurds and Shiites, who are Iraqis, as enemies while she totally forgot to mention that there are foreign fighters come from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Sudan and some other countries to do operations against all Iraqis under the name of "Jihad".
By that time, my friends and colleagues J, O, and N were in the office. We all talked about different subjects, including movies and DVDs. J told us she watched a "great" movie and she wanted us to watch it as well. She gave it to O and today N will watch it. "Do you have a comedy DVD?" I asked J. "I need to laugh and smile," I said.
Jumping from her chair, she said, "I know what to bring for you." The Simpsons Collection was one of the DVDs she brought. I liked the idea of watching a funny cartoon. When I returned back home, I had a shower, had dinner and then watched the Simpsons with my favorite Iraqi tea in my hand. That was the first time I ever watched a cartoon at night. I even haven't watched cartoons since I graduated from school 2 1/5 years ago.
