Christmas in Baghdad

The team of “Only for Iraqis” has again surprised us with a new online comedy animation video with a powerful message: Do it yourself and do not wait for others to do it for you!

Their new video starts with the narrator saying that on Christmas Eve the world was celebrating, except Baghdad because it was coated with lack-of-electricity darkness.

In the dark, an Iraqi child was waiting for Baba Noel (Santa Claus) to bring him the bicycle he wanted for Christmas. An Iraqi old man comes across him and tells him to go home because Baba Noel is giving presents in America, not here. The kid becomes angry and tells the old man he’s not going home unless he gets his bike. He was wondering why Baba Noel was giving presents to children all over the world, except the Iraqi children.


The old man feels bad and decides to help. He calls Santa but Santa was aggressive. He didn’t like how his name was turned into “Baba Noel.” He then calls Iraqis “terrorists” and says he’s not going to Iraq.

The old man then calls Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki for help! Unsurprisingly, the Prime Minister cannot help! Not willing to give up, the old man calls all his friends and acquaintances and posts a wall ad, calling on all Iraqis to bring their generators to use them light the Christmas tree and to do Christmas themselves this year.

And they did! They set up the huge Christmas tree and decorated it with lights they turned on through their generators. After the lights were on, Iraqis took to the streets to celebrate Christmas, and their city became brighter than ever, first time in years.

Indeed! The message in the video was very powerful. It urges Iraqis to stand up and start rebuilding their country themselves, instead of waiting for others to help them. It’s time to do that before it’s too late.

Watch the video (Arabic):

The New Islamic Republic of Iraq

Iraq has officially become like Iran and Saudi Arabia. It is now a country that bans music, theater and alcohol, a country that I can call the New Islamic Republic of Iraq.

What a tragedy! Why don’t they call it “banning life”?

Is that art?!

Last week, the Iraqi government shut down social clubs that serve alcohol in Baghdad, enraging the educated class who demonstrated against the extreme Islamic-inspired order. Today, Iraqis woke up to hear a far worse order; the Iraqi Ministry of Education has banned theater and music classes in Baghdad's Fine Arts Institute, and ordered the removal of statues showcased at the entrance of the institute without explaining the move.

In a country that went through wars, sanctions and a horrific totalitarian regime, art remained defiant against Islamic extremism throughout centuries. Art has always been an integral part of Iraqis’ lives. Yet today the turbaned Mullahs, who are turning secular Iraq back into the Stone Age, have denied Iraqis’ the right of keeping art part of their country, erasing the Mesopotamian heritage that we inherited thousands of years ago. I wish the Sumerian makers of the Golden Guitar were alive, 3000 years later to see what has happened to their country.

Iraqis raised their voice and democratically elected a secular slate last March, but the Islamic fanatics who wrote the post-Saddam constitution wrote it in a way that they will always be the winners who will get the majority of the seats in the parliament.

We need two things: a new constitution and an atheist regime. Not secular, atheist. That’s how we can achieve success in arts, science and modernity. As long as there is a religious regime, no country will ever progress! Gods and politics will never reconcile. I choose not to side with religion. I choose to side with sanity.  

Celebrating Investigative Journalism in the Arab World

Representing ICFJ at the conference.

Investigative journalism in the Arab world has been an alien type of journalism that was never really powerful or effective, if existed. But in recent years, it has become more and more visible, despite the risks and dangers Arab investigative journalists face in defiance of their totalitarian governments.

The visibility and the new activity of this type of journalism appearing in several Arab news outlets has become more and more known and encouraged, thanks to international and regional media assistance organizations. Investigative journalism today is better than ever in the Arab world and is still in progress. Today, Arab investigative journalists are defying taboos and challenging high-level officials with facts they obtained through thorough investigation and reporting.

Such a vast improvement was evident at the Third Arab Investigative Journalism Conference, which was organized by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), a Amman-based, regional media support network that seeks to support independent quality professional journalism, through funding in-depth journalism projects, and offering media coaching.

During the conference, which was held from November 26 to 28 in Amman, Jordan, three investigative journalists from the Arab world were awarded the Seymour Hersh Award for Best Investigative Report.

I had the honor to represent my employer, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) there, meeting the winners and several other prominent Arab and international journalists such as Drew Sullivan from the United States, BBC’s Tim Sebastian from the United Kingdom, Mark Hunter from France, Hisham Qassem and Yosri Fouda from Egypt and others hailing from 16 Arab countries.

This year’s award was presented by ARIJ, in coordination with ICFJ, which last year honored American investigative reporter Seymour Hersh with its Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism, recognizing his outstanding work over 40 years. 

Me with the first place winner, Dlovan Barwari

The winners of the ARIJ/ICFJ Seymour Hersh Award were from Iraq and Egypt. Iraqi journalist Dlovan Barwari, whom I had the honor to work with for the Washington Post in Iraq, received the first place award for his investigative report that tackled the issue of the female circumcision in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan. His fellow Iraqi journalist, Milad Al Jibouri, won the second place for writing a report in which she investigated the recruitment of young Iraqis by militants and armed groups, taking advantage of their traumatic war-tainted childhood. The third place winner was Egyptian reporter Siham Al Pasha who investigated the use of poisonous material in furniture-making in Dumyat, Egypt and how this material is imported in broad daylight.

The three winning reports competed with 16 other reports that reached the finalists list. They were written by reporters from Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

To further boost independent quality investigative journalism in the Arab world, ICFJ has partnered with ARIJ to create six investigative units in Arab newsrooms. ICFJ’s Knight International fellow Amr El-Kahky is creating these first investigative reporting units in Jordan, Palestine and Egypt.

The one mile road starts with one step, so says the proverb. Investigative journalism in the Arab world is taking its baby steps. It’s flourishing and advancing to create better societies and communities. Kudos to ARIJ and ICFJ for making this happen!

People’s Souls

Photo Credit: Hadi Mizban, Associated Press, via The New York Times

I was with my mother in the back seat of a taxi cab, heading back home from the market, when the driver said something that still rings in my ears. I was eleven years-old then and it was 1991, right after the U.S.-led coalition forces ended their Desert Storm operation.

The streets were alive with people going back to work, shopping and retrieving a bit of their normal lives as cease fire was announced. Then, a few months before Baghdad’s infrastructure was rebuilt, Baghdad looked like a broken skeleton.

“We’re destroyed,” said the taxi driver, as he started a conversation with my mother.

“Inshallah, everything will be rebuilt and return to normal,” my mother said in a very hopeful and positive tone.

“They sure will,” he replied. “But who will rebuild the people’s souls?”

Nineteen years later, those words cannot but make me think of what happened, still happening and will happen. For a while I got carried away with the busy life in America, until the last few days’ terror attacks that rocked Baghdad brought me back to my senses. They reminded me that Iraqis’ wounds are far from healing, and that it will take generations to overcome this trauma.

Your Father Is Not a Victim, Mr. Aziz!

As I was checking the latest tweets on Iraq on my iPhone this morning, I came across a BBC World tweet that read “Tariq Aziz is a victim, says his son http://bbc.in/9uCfME.” I shook my head in disbelief as I read what the son said. I retweeted and commented, “No, he isn't, said the Iraqi people!”

A few hours ago I listened to a recorded interview with him again, repeating his same statement on BBC’s Radio Live5, as I was waiting for the presenter to introduce me to the audience to comment on this topic.

He added that his father was not involved in criminal acts against Iraqis. He admitted that his father was in the government and that he was “serving his country,” and here where this statement set me off.


‘Up All Night’ program presenter Rhod Sharp knew what to ask me, and I expected it. As an Iraqi, do I agree?!

No, I don’t! I think Aziz was part of the tyrannical machine that held a strong grip on Iraq for three decades. He was one of the closest people to Iraq’s infamous tyrant for a long time, and was a loyal Baathist until the very end of the former regime in 2003.

Serving his country? He must be kidding me! A lot of Iraqis were tortured, killed, abused and exiled under his watch. He was not serving his country; he was serving Saddam and the Baath party that terrorized and destroyed Iraqis. He knew very well that he was a member of an abusive regime.

To my surprise, the Vatican urged Iraqi authorities not to carry out the death sentence against Aziz. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told the AP that the Vatican usually would pursue any possible humanitarian intervention to halt an execution via diplomatic channels.

Hmm... I wonder why the Vatican didn’t intervene when the Saddam regime, to which Aziz belonged, executed Iraqis in every possible inhumane way. At least he was tried with dignity and put on trial unlike many under Saddam who were hanged, shot to death, put in burning acids and thrown in the human grinder that fed the fish in the Tigris River with fresh ground human meat.

But now the question is will his execution make a difference in the new Iraq? No it won’t. It’s a still a mess and a big mess. Will it bring Iraqis together? No it won’t. Will it divide them? They’re already divided. The only outcome I see is maybe the closure that those who were victimized by him will finally have.

Some say he’s an old, dying man! Yes, but justice is justice. It should not be based on emotions; it should be based on facts. Others say he was educated and well-spoken. I say, Saddam was educated and well-spoken too. Does that mean he should have not brought him to justice? And many say those in power in the new Iraq are worse. I totally agree, but does it mean we should not bring the former criminals to justice?

So yes, Mr. Ziad Aziz, your father was not a victim and you grew up watching your own people suffering by a tyrannical government with which your father worked! But I can’t blame you for defending him. He was your father after all.

WikiLeaks Iraq War Logs Are Out. Nothing New! Now What?

We all knew it. We all experienced it. We all weren’t surprised by it. And by ‘We’ I mean Iraqis who went through the successive years of mayhem since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. 

The information in the 391,832 U.S. military documents that were released yesterday by the Whistle-blower website WikiLeaks did not come as a surprise to me. You shouldn’t be surprised either. Iraqis have been talking about this over and over for years on blogs, newspapers, TV and radio stations and through human rights organizations.

The Iraqi people have been frequently complaining since ever about torture conducted by the Iraqi police. They have said it nonstop that the foreign security contractors have been killing civilians haphazardly, and sometimes for no reason. Shiite militias controlled the streets of many cities in Iraq and appeared to be well trained by Iran to kill and torture.

Many thought we were exaggerating or saying things that are not supported by facts, but now our words are finally backed up by evidence! I’m happy these WikiLeaks documents finally came out. However the questions remains: Now What?!


The U.S. government apparently knew all about the killings of innocent Iraqis, Iran’s training of Shiite militias and Iraqi security forces’ abuse and rape of teenagers in prisons. Nevertheless, they decided not to take actions, not to intervene!

So what will the United States do in response to the that? Apologize to Iraqis? I don’t think so. Even if they do, will this bring back the lives of the thousands of civilians killed in the war? It won’t. Will it make Iraq safer? It won’t either. Will it change the current miserable political situation there? Not at all.

As an Iraqi, I don’t need an apology. I need justice. I need to see those who committed crimes against my fellow Iraqis get what they deserve. As for the Iraqi torturers, I don’t see them being brought to justice anytime soon, simply because they are under the same sectarian government that let this happen under their watch. We need a new government. We need new people to run the country and make this happen. Iraqis made their choice in last March elections, but the sectarian powers are refusing to give it to the moderates who were elected. Until this happens, I don’t think justice will ever be achieved in Iraq.

Demodictatoriyah: New Online Cartoon Criticizes Maliki's Clinging to Power

A new online satirical cartoon,  depicting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and his competitor Ayad Allawi arguing about who rules Iraq as a Prime Minister has emerged on the Web recently.

The cartoon, entitled “Demodictatoriyah,” is made by a recently-launched Facebook group, called “Only for Iraqis.” It is posted on the group’s YouTube channel which has more than 100 subscribers already since its launch on October 11.

The cartoon is the latest criticism on how Iraqi politicians failed to establish the new Iraqi government since the parliamentary elections held more than seven months ago.


The slate led by Maliki trailed one led by a former interim leader, Allawi, by 89 seats to 91. In the seven months that followed, neither side was able to pull together a coalition that would allow them to create a new government. But on Oct. 1, Maliki struck a deal with a Shiite faction that had previously opposed him, putting him within striking distance of a majority in the new 325-member Parliament. (Read the full New York Times coverage here for more on this election)

This development helped shape the online cartoon which obviously is anti-Maliki. It starts with the Pink Panther famous music, followed by Maliki walking to a stage to recite a poem. In it he, threatens and mocks Allawi while the event is broadcast on TV. In the background, people are heard clapping, while Maliki recites the poem. However, when he finishes a man’s hand pauses a cassette player which apparently was the main source of the cheering and clapping audience.

The cartoon is hilarious. The sarcasm in it is to the point and expresses my views and the views of many Iraqis who did not vote for Maliki’s slate.

Here is the translation of part of Maliki’s poem as heard in the cartoon. It’s the closest I could do but you’ll get the point:

The [Prime Minister] seat is mine
Everybody should go away
If the people object
I swear with my mother’s soul I will exterminate them
The party that does not want us
We don’t want it either
We are about to finish the oil
And I’ll make you [Iraqis] broke
But whoever voted for me
I will give him more than he stole
And those voted for the other man [Allawi]
Let’s see how useful he’ll be to them

Enjoy the cartoon!

Let’s Put Our Emotions Aside and Think Logically

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

One of the things I often love to do on my iPad is checking out a photo app, called “TheGuardian Eyewitness.” Today, I came across one of the photos that kind of struck me and encouraged me to share it on my Facebook profile.

The photo was of a group of shirtless, masked Palestinian teenagers being run over by an Israeli car driver in the mostly Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. The kids, as the photo caption states, were throwing stones at Israeli cars.

Sharing the photo on Facebook created some kind of intense debate between me and a good high school friend of mine, who expressed his anger against the Israeli driver who was being attacked by the teenagers.  The comment was very aggressive, demonizing and out of context that forced me to debate it.

Like many Iraqis and Arabs who care about their Palestinian “brothers,” my friend wrote something in which he indirectly implied that the car driver was the terrorist. He mentioned in a sarcastic way that, “Netanyahu also released a statement for killing the militants and promising that Israel would continue pursuing terrorists anytime and anywhere,” ending it with four exclamation marks.

That was not surprising, as unfortunately most Arabs let their emotions control their actions. I used to be that one too. I used to refuse everything against the Palestinians, and I used to let my emotions speak before my brain thinks. But not anymore!

I couldn’t take sitting back and not respond. I knew what his answer would be. I even knew that responding was not going to do any good, but I decided to better try than not.

I looked at the photo over and over and it was very clear who was being attacked. So I said, “The kids were the ones attacking the car drivers. Besides, if I were the driver and got attacked by anyone, I would do whatever I can to get away from them. Since the kids were hit in front of the car, it's possible they threw themselves there to harm the man. This is not even a tank!!!!”

That intensified the heated debate. At the end, my friend accused me of being biased and that I shouldn’t be weak and if I don’t believe in my “Middle Eastern principles” I should suck it up (which I think he meant to ‘shut up’ basically).

But I did not shut up and I did not suck it up. I think it’s about time to say what needs to be said, which I wrote in my replies to him.

I believe in a two-state solution. This would end the suffering and the struggle and let the peoples of Palestine and Israel live in peace. For saying that, I know some people will call me a traitor, ameel (agent), anti-Arab, anti-Palestine… etc.

Not that I need to defend myself, but no, I’m not all of the above! I very much sympathize with the Palestinians. I call for ending their struggle, and I look forward to seeing them having a great nation some day. Saying what is not wanted to be heard should not turn into accusations of loyalty.

Enough is enough. Fighting is not a solution for both sides. They have been doing this for decades. What have they achieved? The Palestinians have been resisting Israel and calling for wiping it off the map. It’s not gonna happen and neither will the disappearance of Palestinians from their lands, which the Israelis are trying to achieve by expanding their settlements.

It’s time to stop and look back. It’s time to look at their situation, at themselves, and think! And it’s time my fellow Arabs sit back and think logically before letting their emotions block the voice of reason that could be the very solution for that crisis.

Hijacking Mesopotamian Heritage

The last time I attended Babylon International Festival was in 2000. Then, it was a celebration of the world’s arts and culture and a revival of a civilization’s history. There performed various Arab, Asian, European, American and African artists, dancing and playing traditional and contemporary music, leaving Iraqis enjoy precious times as they endured the hardships of the Iran-Iraq war and the 12-year international sanctions.

But today, seven years after it was canceled due to the US-led invasion, the festival opened with failure and disastrous atmosphere. No dancing, no singing! Nothing but two badly-performed plays on globalization and hating the United States. The reasons, according to The New York Times, were religion and politics!

The Times reported that the deputy governor of the Babil province, Sadiq al-Muhanna, “declared the ban on music and dance… which he called offensive to Muslims during religious ceremonies for Imam Sadiq.”

This news came in like a lightning strike to me. It is really sad that religion hijacked the entire Iraqi society, whose culture and art battled and survived dictators, wars, barbarians and invasions throughout history.

Iraq was a country where culture and arts met and flourished. It was a country that gave birth to great artists whose imprints were recorded for thousands of years across the globe. But today it’s a country marked by religion and only religion. Instead of reviving our glorious history, the leaders of the new Iraq are forcing that form of submission. They coat Imams’ graves with pure gold; they block streets for weeks in celebration of death or birth anniversaries of those Imams and now they cancel the entire basis of the Mesopotamian civilization: appreciation of art and culture.

We have become worse than the most conservative countries in the Middle East. Even in Saudi Arabia, where men and women are flogged if found mingling with each other, people celebrate their culture by dancing and performing in national festivals, and they don’t even have Mesopotamian heritage to revive.

My heart breaks for Iraq. It makes me gravely sad to see how religion has become the winner in the former secular country that I remember.

I dream of going back. Every day. But the Mullahs hijacked my country and turned it into a bigger mosque, where people cannot do anything but pray to deaf ears. I’m afraid the dream is shattering. I’m collecting the pieces but not sure how long this will last.

Newsweek iPad App: Creative and Smart

I was lying in my bed, getting ready to sleep while holding my iPad which I bought two days ago. I responded to emails, tweeted, and checked my Facebook homepage after I brushed my teeth, a ritual I have been doing before going to bed since my life became completely digitalized when I bought my iPhone nine months ago. One last thing I remembered to do: check if there are any interesting apps to download.

As a journalist/editor/writer, the first thing I look for is news! I found some really interesting news apps such as the AP, abc News, the New York Times and Mashable. Nothing too fancy or different than those of the iPhone until I found the Newsweek magazine app!

Wonderful, smart, creative, innovative and addictive is all I can say to describe this app. It actually intrigued me to open my sleepy eyes and write this post on my iPad for the very first time since I bought it.

Like many news outlets struggling to keep up with the falling revenues of print editions, Newsweek is no exception. It actually charges for its content, even though their app can be installed for free.

I was a little bit disappointed in the beginning when I saw that, but when my eyes caught the free iPad issue of the magaine, with the headline "Politics in The Age of Obama," I was kind of intrigued to click- or touch to be specific. I downloaded it and I'm happy I did.

My index fingers navigated through the issue and found the magazine to be look fancier and nicer than its print editions. My first thought as I saw it was, "This is so creative and smart!"

I kept digitally flipping through the pages and reached the page where Newsweek's editor and Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Mencham's remarks on the this new innovation: (for larger view, please click on the image)

The iPad is such a great invention. Now I don't really need to buy any print edition, sadly speaking, but it's the digital age and we have to cope with it. This device helps me gather everything I like in one place, and easily navigate through them with the tips of my fingers. I can read my favorite book, read the news, check my emails, post photos, tweet, facebook in a new revolutionary way. Yes, the computer does that too but it's more convenient to carry a light tablet rather than a heavy lap top around! Besides, it just feels better and nicer!

There are still a lot of people who are resisting the digital way our life is heading to, and it's fine. Let things take their course in life like they did when clay tablets, paper and Web browsing were introduced.

I was among those who strongly resisted paying for news, claiming that I could easily get it for free online, until I remembered that nothing was for free and that as a journalist I should support that because that's how journalism will survive like it did when people paid for the newspapers and magazines before content became available for free. 

So let's embrace it instead of resisting it, and let's have quality digital journalism material rather than free bad-quality information that could negatively affect our lives.

And here is to more blogging via the iPad and to finally going to bed!

Digital Manipulation Blunder and Defiance

A serious journalism ethical question was recently raised in the Middle East after Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram published a doctored photograph, falsely depicting President Hosni Mubarak leading the Middle East peace talks.

The photograph was first spotted by Egyptian blogger Wael Khalil who posted the doctored photo, showing Mubarak in the front and the original one that shows he was in fact walking behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II, as American president Barack Obama led the men to a media event at the White House.

In a front-page Op-Ed, Al-Ahram’s editor-in-chief Osama Saraya was shamelessly defending the fabrication, explaining the doctored photo was an “expressional” picture showing Egypt's historic role in the peace process.

"The expressional photo is a brief, live and true expression of the prominent stance of President Hosni Mubarak on the Palestinian issue, his unique role in leading it before Washington or any other," he wrote.

It is really shameful that such statement comes from the editor-in-chief of the newspaper himself. Mr. Saraya appears to be worried about satisfying the totalitarian regime, rather than reporting the truth.

Even if Mubarak, as Saraya claimed, is leading the efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East, wasn’t it better for the paper to portray that in words and facts, rather than a fabricated photograph spotted by bloggers?

I must say I am very disappointed with how some professional journalists present the information to their people, and I’m very much impressed with the role the Egyptian bloggers are playing in working as fact-checkers and monitors to the Egyptian press!

New Golden Domes? What about the people?

Celebrating Eid Al-Fitr in Baghdad this year came with the reopening of the Kadhimiya shrine domes! The domes, that had been already coated with pure gold hundreds of years ago, were re-coated with new shining, pure gold tiles.

I first heard about the news today when a coworker of mine shared the photos with me. I was literally shocked and disturbed at the same time. I sighed and thought about all of the money, gold and the resources that were used to carry out that project.

Secretary General of the Kadhimiya Shrine Fadhil Al Inbari talked to Noon website (Arabic):

“The [project] was directly funded by the Shiite Endowment. The total of number of tiles used to cover the dome is 10261. The work process lasted 6000 hours (equivalent to two years of continuous work). The total weight of the pure gold that was used to cover the dome is 112,400 Kilograms, and that 300 workers, engineers and technicians worked on it.”

This doesn’t end there! Al Inbari told the website that they have started a new phase of rebuilding the minarets of the same shrine with 3600 Kilograms of pure gold as well, in addition to building a new shrine for Mohammad Al-Sadr, the Imam who was murdered by the Saddam regime and whose son Moqtada Al-Sadr’s militia was responsible for the murder of thousands of Iraqis during the sectarian war.

I thought about the barely-functioning power grids, the absence of clean and sanitized water in rural areas, the lack of security, the dying agriculture, the Baghdad greenbelt that should protect the city from the dust storms, the orphans who go to bed hungry, the elderly who cannot afford medicine … and the list goes on and on.

What is sad about this is that there are millions of people who supported and believed in this “reconstruction” process. They preferred that this money goes to such a project and not their very own country’s infrastructure, which they have been suffering from for a while.

I guess those who supported it should stop complaining about water and electricity and let the late Imam whose grave is covered with a golden dome fix the electricity and bring them clean water.

It is really ironic that the very same people, who criticized Saddam for the very same reason of spending Iraq's money on building gigantic mosques, do the exact same thing.

Give Iraq a Break!

When Saddam Hussein used his tyrannical methods to control Iraqis, he left an entire population traumatized. I mean really traumatized, not my-cat-don’t-speak-with-me traumatized!

This is a fact, but what surprised me today as I was reading the news is finding out that there are Americans who claim they are traumatized by him!

Jane Arraf of the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday that Iraq will pay $400 million for Saddam’s mistreatment of Americans. She writes:

The claims include compensation for emotional distress from the children of two contractors seized near the Iraq-Kuwait border in 1990.

Emotional distress?! Seriously? The entire population of 25 million are already traumatized, not only by the actions of the dictator who brutalized his own people, but also by the two successive U.S.-led wars and the 12 years of international sanctions when hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children died of hunger. Talk about emotional distress!

It is really disturbing to see such people file law suits against a country that is trying to stand up on its feet to rebuild and revive its life. What is more disturbing is that those people are so inconsiderate that just because they have “emotional distress” they want to prevent millions of dollars to be used in rebuilding a country that their very own country took part in its misery.

So let the “traumatized” contractor's sons enjoy yet another beautiful day at school with their brand new backpack the Iraqi government paid for, and let the real traumatized Iraqi children battle their bomb-filled, insecure way to get to school.

Give me a break! Give Iraq a break! Isn't it enough what had already happened?

"Burn the Quran" Farce

It’s going to be really bad! I mean REALLY bad! This was all I could think of as I read the MSNBC article about the Florida pastor who is organizing the “International Burn the Quran Day” in Florida on the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

I had a sinking feeling right away. It awakened memories of the Muslims’ protests against the satirical cartoons that lampooned the Prophet Mohammed five years ago.

I could see it again: protests, attacks on embassies, burning flags and attacking westerners.

This is such a bigoted and improper provocation of Muslims around the world. In fact, it is a killing of all what has been built of good will between Muslims and the rest of the world for the last few years.

Before heading to work this morning, I watched the pastor’s interview on CNN International. I focused on what he was saying to the anchor and noticed that he is totally ignorant of what Islam as a whole is and how different it is from Islamic fanaticism.

I could tell from the way he was talking, he was yet another Sarah Palin-like bigot and no more than that. No intelligence and no logic.

The Huffington Post quoted him in an AP interview, saying, “Instead of us backing down, maybe it's to time to stand up. Maybe it's time to send a message to radical Islam that we will not tolerate their behavior."

Well, let’s see. First he criticizes the Muslims of being violent when he himself is inciting violence. If he wasn’t, then why wouldn’t he find other alternatives “to stand up” and “not tolerate” their behavior? Isn’t it better to think logically and sit down with Muslims and hear from them directly or is it just an excuse to do something that may cause fury around the globe and probably create a religious war?

On the other hand, he is being smart. He is using THE most powerful weapon to poke the bear! He knows very well that the holy Quran is far more important to Muslims than the cartoons that were published in the Danish press. He knows that this may lead to a worldwide controversy that- God forbids- end up in a big mess, something he seems thirsty for.

And he is not doing it out of the blue. According to ABC News, he previously “launched an online video series called the "Braveheart Show," which he uses to preach anti-Islamic sermons to an audience larger than the 50 families who belong to the church. He even once sent his children to school, wearing "Islam Is of the Devil” T-Shirts!

That tells you a lot about that guy!

Luckily, this controversy has drawn criticism from many who are trying to quell the fire before it’s lighted. The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus condemned the event and said it could "endanger troops" and damage the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan.

The White House, the State Department, and Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith leaders in the U.S. and around the world, including the Vatican, have condemned this plan as well and called for ending it. And today the US Attorney General was quoted, calling it “idiotic and dangerous.”

However, it worries me that despite all of this condemnation it may not be enough to avoid the anger of the Muslims around the world who will be extremely offended.

This event will definitely be a useful tool to terrorists to launch attacks anywhere in the world. Civilians will be hurt, soldiers will be killed and the gap between Muslims and the West will be way bigger than it is right now. Then, it will be too late to talk!

Quite honestly, I don’t know what will make this bigot stop! All I can hope for is that Muslims do not react to it-if it happens- violently and the Americans stand up to defend their fellow Muslim Americans and stop this farce!

Are you Muslim?

“Are you Muslim?” uttered the man who asked me about the time first. I wasn’t sure what to respond at first. I thought of the taxi cab driver who was attacked in New York City after he was asked the same question.

It was about 9 a.m. when I was standing outside the Greyhound bus station, trying to breathe some fresh air before my bus to Philadelphia arrives. There was no one there other than the man, and it just didn’t feel right.

It took me another second to remember there were security officers inside the station. I thought I could be safer if I went inside. I finally said, “No” and stepped back to the station.

I kept thinking about my answer as my feet were driving me inside. I felt guilty, even though I’m not a practicing Muslim. I don’t fast. I don’t go to mosques. I don’t even pray. Yet something inside me told me this was wrong. On the other hand the voice of reason was telling me it’s OK. This man might have had bad intentions like that who cut the Muslim cabbie’s throat in NYC.

This fear did not come out of nothing. It all started earlier that day, around 7 a.m. on the Metro train. It was a Saturday morning, August 28, and I was going to the bus station to head to Philly. To my shock, the Metro train was filled with strangers. People you could tell were not from DC.

There were hundreds of them at the Metro station. The train was literally packed and I had to squeeze myself. I finally remembered that they all came for the Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin rally at the Lincoln Memorial. They started introducing themselves, coming from Maine, South Carolina, Ohio, etc and were all wearing T-shirts with patriotic signs and American flags on them.

As I got on the train, they started staring at me, making me very uncomfortable. They were talking about terrorism, 9/11 and healthcare. They were also talking about how free America is and how terrorists want to take advantage of that! All while looking at me!

I put my hands in my pocket next to my phone. I wanted to make sure I can dial 911 in case someone attacked me. Luckily, no one did, except that they gave me those you-stole-our-country looks.

All the way to Philly I kept thinking about what was happening in DC at that time. Thousands of conservative Americans gathering, listening to someone like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck who hijacked the word of logic, brainwashing the crowd with their racist and hateful slogans. It reminded me of the time when my mail was open and thrown aside in my apartment building after the Fort Hood shooting incident and how some people would look at me before they decide to sit next to me or not on the bus!

This all kept me thinking about the fate of this nation. It makes me feel very sad. Despite all the difficulties and hardships I’m encountering in this country, I love it and call it home now. The last thing I want to happen is to see it descending to destroying the diversity that made it what it is.

However, I can still say that I’m glad not all Americans are like that.

The Hurt Locker: An Invitation to Think!

Now I know what this fuss was all about and why “The Hurt Locker” won all these Oscars. Simply, the movie is stunning from the very beginning to the very end.

There are two strong themes in the movie: courage and war addiction.

The protagonist of this film, Staff Sgt. William James appears to be enjoying the horrors that accompany his bomb-defusing job in war-torn Iraq. He is courageous and seems to be fond of what he does even though he knows he might die in any moment as he defuses bombs.

This kind of addiction does not stop there. It follows him home. What soldiers, citizens and reporters go through in a war zone change everything in their lives, something that was strongly portrayed in the film. Back in the U.S., James’ wife appears to be indifferent about the horrors he saw in Iraq. This is a major problem many armed forces members and reporters face after they leave the war zone for home. It becomes too normal for them to live there and that’s why I think many of them return back to the war zone or go somewhere disturbed by conflict to relate to. Others get divorced!

From an Iraqi citizen’s perspective, I think the film was believable. Director Kathryn Bigelow and the rest of the cast did a wonderful job in portraying how Baghdad looked like during the war. To me, the setting was very similar to that of 2006-Baghdad. Empty streets, trash everywhere, fear in the eyes of everyone, distrust everywhere, broken glass and insurgents running freely in the streets of Baghdad. What made the film even more authentic is the Iraqi actors who speak Iraqi Arabic.

The film is by all means a great portrayal of how war looks like. It invites people to think twice before uttering stupid words in front of those who witness war, like my grad school classmate who told me that he cat was “traumatized” back in 2006 when just a few weeks before that I had seen dead bodies in the streets of Baghdad. It invites people to endure hardships that might be nothing if compared to what others do in war zones.

Hello stranger! I’m tweeting nearby your house. Come attack me!

Keeping privacy is something I learned to control instinctively, thanks to years of wars and the former police state where I lived that forced me to understand how to protect myself from interferers.

Our digital age has become a little bit difficult to control with the dozens of social networks available nowadays, which I’m kind of obsessed with. However, I’m reconsidering all of that. I have no longer become the private person I used to be, and I need to put an end to that.

On my iPhone I have an app called “Echofon” which I use to read the latest tweets tweeted by the people I’m following on Twitter. It’s a really cool app, that is very intuitive, fast and easy to use, unlike the extremely-slow twitterberry app that I had on the BlackBerry I had before I switched to the iPhone.

While “Echofon” is really good, it recently added a new feature that became available after I installed the latest update of the app. It offers the “Nearby Tweets” feature which allows the Twitter iPhone user to basically see whoever is tweeting nearby his/her place. This is not it. The feature depends on the iPhone’s GPS technology, allowing the user to locate the tweeting people on Google maps, identifying their exact location accompanied by the Tweeting person’s twitter page, photo, Web site link and the entire timeline of his/her tweets. See the screenshot posted in this entry.

As I noticed this, I have become so disturbed. I actually can walk to the tweeting person’s house and recognize him/her through his/her photo posted on their Twitter page. What disturbed me the most is that there are psychos in this country who can basically hurt you if they disagree with what you say or tweet, to be specific. So through this app, I can easily be attacked and even if I’m not attacked I don’t have my privacy anymore.

I don’t want some people to know where I live. Period!

This is not the first time I come across a privacy breach. Last month when Google announced its Buzz social media network, I woke up to see that I’m following literally every Gmail person in my contacts list. That was not the worst part. Thank goodness millions of people complained that the flawed Buzz system was ruining their privacy that it finally changed.

In Iraq, Google Earth made me nervous all the time. Insurgents, known for their use of technology, were able to locate basically anything they wanted through that satellite service.

Today, it’s not only the redundant and repetitive Google Buzz but also Linkedin (which I totally find useless), Foursquare (which I see as a place where people go to get coupons because some weirdo tells them they became the kings or Queens of their neighborhoods), FMyLife, Jaiku, Plurk, Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous, Yammer, Qaiku, Geni.com, Hi5, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Orkut, Skyrock, Qzone, Vkontakte, RenRen, Kaixin, ASmallWorld, studivz, Xing, RunAlong.se, Bebo, BigTent, Elgg, Hyves, Flirtomatic, etc… The list is too long for me to count.

All of these are too much. I find most of them useless, except for Facebook which I consider the most “private” amongst them. At least I know I can control who sees my content and even what content they can see!

You might have heard this before. Technology is making our life better but it’s also hurting us. I strongly believe we should stop for a minute before we tweet or facebook our content because this may put us or/and the others in danger.

Visiting the Prez's House

In two successive days I had great things to witness. Yesterday, I voted in my country's major parliamentary elections, and today my friends and I had the chance to take a tour at the White House!

What great experiences, vote for my country on one day and visit the house that supports democracy the next day!

For more pictures, visit my flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bassamsebti/.

I Voted for Iraq

Today, I fulfilled an important task: I voted in my country’s parliamentary elections. As an Iraqi citizen who adores his country, I couldn’t be happier and proud after I cast my ballot.at the polling center in Arlington, Virginia in the United States. A sense of relief and optimism rushed into me after I did that. There is nothing in this world that can make me happy than seeing my beloved Iraq heal its wounds and be a better place so that I return and stay there forever.

By voting today, I have become part of the change Iraq is awaiting. Even though I'm thousands of miles afar, I still work hard to make Iraq a better place. It may take five, ten and maybe twenty years to rebuild the country but the thousand-miles road starts with one step.

Long live Iraq.