Blogging in Iran

The Daily Show in Iran

Jon Stewart puts things in perspective and sends his colleague Jason Jones to Iran!

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Light at the End of the Tunnel

Nothing in this world is better than seeing my beautiful Baghdad comes back to life after years of horrific occupation and terrorism. The bad news is still flowing everyday from Baghdad but some good news is flowing as well.

Lately, I have been fond of reading a blog by a fellow Iraqi blogger called "Sami" whose blog posts prove that his love to Baghdad and all of Iraq is bigger than anyone can imagine.

One of Sami's posts that moved me the most is titled "Lightening." In it, he expresses the positive attitude that he took in thinking about the future of Iraq. He took a walk in Al-Mutanabi Street, one of Baghdad's oldest neighborhoods where arts and culture always meet. The things he saw were tangible. He saw a revival of life, a definace of the violence that crippled the very same culture for years.

My eyes became tearful as I saw the pictures he took. It reminded me that hope still exists and that some day homecoming may happen. Thank you, Sami for those great posts.

Amazing photos from Iran

It's such a disaster Ahmadinajd 'won' in the elections... Here are some great photos of the demonstrations in Tehran.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html

Washington DC's Katrina

Last weekend I saw a new print Ad displayed on the bus stop at the corner of my street. It shows George W. Bush looking out a window of Air Force One at the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with a close up photo of a person’s pair of hands holding tightly onto a piece of a cardboard with the phrase, “AIDS is DC’s Katrina” scribbled in red across the cardboard.

The above picture is a similar print Ad that was also put on a bus stop on 17th and H Streets, just one block from the White House, where I get off the bus to go to work.

It is amazing how Bush has become a symbol of failure in his own country, to the extent that this failure is printed on an Ad that got distributed across his very own country's capital where he once served as a president. So yes, what goes around comes around!

American Jews in Jerusalem use racist words against Obama

Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an op-ed about the shocking footage of the reaction by some Israelis and American Jews in Jerusalem to Obama's speech to the Muslim world.

Read full op-ed here and see the video below.

Unbelievable...

Obama in Cairo: Extending the Olive Branch

Nothing better illustrates the change Obama is trying to do with the U.S. policy towards the Muslim world than his speech today in Cairo.

By addressing the Muslims in Egypt, Obama opened a door that was closed for eight years due to the Bush administration’s horrible approach with the Arab and Muslim countries. Walking through that door, Obama was greeted respectably and lovingly by those who once hated his country to the bone.

The fact that Obama is approaching the Muslim world through such a speech is very similar to someone carrying the olive branch, in my opinion. He is seeking peace for the world, unlike Bush who sent bombs instead, not to mention his administration’s black-or-white attitude that led to ongoing wars.

In this speech, Obama didn’t show signs of weakness or humility like how some conservative republicans view it. In my opinion he was the most powerful person. He initiated approaching the Muslim world by extending his hands to combat the stereotypes and the mistakes committed by his predecessors. In it, I viewed the other good face of America. In fact, I saw that the American administration can actually be nice to the others!

Fair could also describe the speech as well. For instance, when he mentioned how Muslims and the Americans should not perceive each other depending on stereotypes. Another example is when he criticized both Palestinians and Israelis for being responsible for the horror happening in their region. I agree the Israeli settlements should stop and also agree that threatening to destroy Israel will not bring the Palestinians any good and that it should stop.

The other thing that attracted my attention was when Obama indirectly criticized what the Bush administration did. The fact that the American president acknowledges that the Iraq war was “a war of choice” is enough to say that Bush did not have to invade Iraq, yet he did. However, he stated that Iraqis are “better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein,” which I agree and disagree with at the same time. It was good to get rid of Saddam, but the life of the Iraqi people was wrecked by the ignorant policies that were made by the Bush administration. We can’t really say that our lives are better off now than under Saddam, because it’s still a complete wreck compared to that before the invasion. I’m hoping that it won’t last like this and by then Obama’s statement would fit.

Bush and his henchmen believed in imposing the Jeffersonian democracy upon the countries they invaded. It’s amazing how for the first time I hear Obama admitting that “no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by another.” When I heard that, I said, “THANK YOU!” Was it hard to acknowledge such a simple, yet powerful fact? That’s what Bush did not understand or did not want to understand. You can’t impose democracy; you teach it; you increase people’s awareness of it, but not force it the way you like, ignoring the background of that country.

Overall, I saw that the speech came in a time when tension between the Muslims and the West has reached its peak. It’s very nice to see that Obama took the initiative of extending hands. I know this speech may not leave a big impact on many Muslims and Arabs but I think it’s like baby steps. By course of time, things will change to the better hopefully if Obama continues his positive and peaceful attitudes. It’s a long road but the thousand-mile road starts with one step.

Muslim Americans Serving in the U.S. Government

From the White House YouTube page:

The United States government reflects the rich diversity of the American population. Meet three Muslim Americans who freely retain and express their own faith identities while serving their nation.

Cheney: Oops! Saddam had no link to 9/11. Oh well, I profited from this war!

What is it with all those Bush administration officials? As if it’s a game! Every time their terms end they show up and speak out loud about how they were mistaken regarding certain things. Wait, those things are not just things; they are decisions that created mayhem and horror.

After Bush’s first lying mate Collin Powell admitted on Meet the Press that Iraq did not have WMD, the ruthless former VP Dick Cheney confessed today that even Saddam had no link with al-Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Hold on a sec here: let’s see, the two the main excuses for launching the Iraq war were the WMD and the link to 9/11! So basically the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and the more than 4,000 Americans who were killed in the war were because of two lies?

And yet, there are still some people who believed that Bush was fighting terror and his henchmen fit the job. I mean Cheney is basically saying, “Screw the Americans. I needed to profit from this war financially and I did”! What else does this thug have to say so that you believe he is a criminal?