Emotions....

talk about my life as a young mother hoping to do the best for her children in spite of the life difficulies.As a Dentist I want to share you my occupational ticklers...

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Location: mosul, Iraq

I am a 37 years old mom ,I am a mother of 3 children. I am a Dentist. I try to make every thing perfect. The life I have, the difficulties I face make me anxious.. I like to have a social life; I cannot resist my feeling of being lonely, but I don’t have good social life, & I am lonely.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Iraqi dreams gone with the winds....

On the third anniversary of the American invasion, I wanted to compare our sentiment toward the American soldiers. After the invasion we used to drive our cars behind the troops to feel safe and secured from those who may steel our cars, because of the absence of the police at that time. The soldiers were very nice and gentile with every one, specially the children. I still remember the throngs of poor children around the soldiers, who used to give them candies .we used to feel embarrassed because of them .Because we wanted to give good impression about the Iraqis. I remember how I wished that I can shake hands with all the soldiers to show them my gratitude .I used to stand near my kitchen's windows to see the troops coming, I used to pray for their safety. Although we were not having any signs of good ,and secured life. But I had hope and belief that we will have good life and that it was only a matter of time.
My daughter Sunshine was amazed by their courageous, especially when they liberated our neighborhood few months after the invasion from a group of terrorists who attacked the mosque and the nearby police station (you can read about that in this soldier's blog.). She bought a uniform similar to theirs as well a military boots and eye pieces. She tried to look like a soldier.
I remember a friend of mine when she went to a store, and the soldiers who were shopping at that store stepped back to let her do her shopping first.
I also remember sunshine's friend when she told us about her brother when his leg was scratched during playing in the children city, and how the soldiers were very kind to him and first aid his simple injury. She begrudged her brother, because he got all the attention.
I also remember the very very long queue of Iraqi young men , in front of the Americans ' cantonments, looking for jobs.
My mother described the feelings toward the soldiers' debuting In Baghdad as a mixture of astonishment because of the quick collapse of sadams'regim,and a feeling of shame because an extraneous army reverted the regime and not the Iraqis , and because of presence of an invaders on our land. She said "all the neighbors were out side their houses watching the soldiers walking through the neighborhood, with a sight of bewilderment. Some of the neighbors gave them flowers but not all of them; others offered juice to the soldiers. But the majority was only watching".
From the first day the discomfort started when the Americans did not stop the depredation, my father's friend tried to defend one of the official institutions, when he went to the American soldiers asking them to stop the robbers. But the soldiers asked him to go home, if he is not interested to have some of Saddam's booty. He asked other soldiers, but they told him that they did not have orders to stop them. At once he phoned my dad and told him that this army is an invader and not a liberator.
Suddenly after the peaceful relationship between us and the soldiers, things began to completely change dramatically, we started to witness explosions in the streets either cars loaded with bombes, or mines left in the middle of the roads, and the Americans reaction is usually random shooting toward the walkers and many many civilians died since then. As well as robberies, and murders became the usual day threats. In other words "Complete absence of safety measures". We started to live in absolute chaos, and that badly affected the confidence between the two ,and what made things worse is that the American overstated promises , were not ascertained. We were misled, that we will have freedom, justice, sumptuous life, and we will see renovated Iraq soon.
I remember we were promised to be astonished by the difference within 6 months only!.
Now I can't find anyone optimistic about our coming days, every one is disillusioned. We live without electricity, fuel, gasoline, no jobs, no security, absence of all the priorities, the worst medical situation, although we all have high chance to be subjected to injuries or physical and psychological illnesses.
I always wonder what happened. Why? Who is murdering every Iraqi that work as translator, or pressman, or contractor? Who is behind relegating the doctors and the educated Iraqi citizens? Is it not possible for America to have power over that? Who is behind the assassination of many Iraqis every day? Why we became under the same as the Iranian governance? Why we are under an unversed government? We deserve to have peace after all the misery we had under Saddam's regime….don't you think?
Mama….

37 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have been watching Iraq both in the media and, more imporantly, from the bloggers and, yes, I too feel like despairing at this missed opportunity. If only the Americans had worked out a plan for after the invasion, things could have been so different.
stay safe, you and all your family.
starliz

03 April, 2006  
Blogger Ripama said...

Mama,

I don't know what to say about the current situation. If it were me, and if that situation happened in the US, I'd join in with neighbors and people with similar problems and complain to the city, state and federal authorities as a unified force.

If the American military is the problem. Gather friends and neighbors to complain to the base commander as a group. If you don't get any satisfaction, go to his boss, then his boss etceters.

03 April, 2006  
Blogger gatorbait said...

It is taking more time because of two major factors, resistance in the West, and the die hards refusing to quit their power from Saddam's day.

03 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mama: I truly believe that the Americans thought that when they liberated a city the residents would appoint a mayor to take charge and hire policemen to control the town, as would happen back in their own hometown. After a few weeks they discovered that the evil people had taken over the town again.

Three civilian truck drivers were killed, draged through the street and then burned and hung from a bridge as teen-age children cheered and yelled "Allah Akbar". I agree God is great but do not believe He would approve this action.

News men were beheaded for no reason. They were not doing a thing to hurt Iraqi people. They were trying to help.

I believe that the Americans can not understand how this can happen.

I feel so sorry for the good Iraqi people and American military all of who wish for a free and comfortable Iraq.

These are just my thoughts and may be wrong but I pray that we will see a change for the better soon.

03 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Mama,

You are a lovely person and your sufferring has been very long. I admire your honesty and your courage. I pray that God blesses you and keeps you safe. I am sorry for what you are going through and that we live in such a messed up world.

I am an Iraqi too but I have never lived in Iraq except when I was a baby. (My sufferring is missing my homeland and growing up in a country that is not my own - Al Ghurba). My parents had to leave Iraq in 1979 because they were anti Sadam and his regime. I have been to many countries in the world, but one day I hope to return to Iraq and it will be so strange (but nice) for me to be in a country where everyone speaks my language!

I think there are good and bad people in each country whether it is Iraq or America or anywhere else. There are also good people who sometimes make bad/wrong decisions, maybe because of ignorance or fear.

I believe the American soldiers did want to liberate Iraq, but they may have underestimated how hard that would be and may be at times they were given wrong orders.

PS. I'm sorry about the loss of family senior. My uncle died in Iraq on Christmas day (just a few months ago) and he was about the same age. He was also a kind man. It was my dream that I would visit him one day and he would show me round Iraq. I was very upset that I will not be able to see him again or have that dream come true.

03 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think what grayday says is closest to the truth.

My husband was in Iraq when the US first came in and I have to say I would not want him there now. My husband and I both beleived in the liberation of the people of Iraq. I'm sure he did many things when he was in Iraq but on of the things he was most proud of was that he helped resupply and rebuild schools for the childern. He beleived in what he was doing. We both know what a tyrant Saddam was and that he ruled with an iron fist. I still have hope. But like yours it is fading. I imagine your hope is fading faster than mine since I don't live there. I think the US made many mistakes and were not prepared for what would happen after Saddams regime fell. Maybe it fell faster than they thought it would. I can only wonder what the problem is. But there was/is definatly a problem. It has not gone well and there are people like you and your family suffering. You do deserve a peaceful life and I will keep praying that you one day get it. I am sorry that you and your family and friends are having to suffer and endure this. My Mom tells me something when I feel like I can't take anymore and that is...God does not give you anything you cannot handle and it will only make you stronger. May you have the strength to see it one day be as it should be in Iraq.

03 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, the region you live in has layer after layer of evil rulers and regimes. The layers of evil had built up so much that it spilled over into the rest of the world one morning and people from that region boarded several planes and slammed them into buildings across the America, killing thousands.

Our previous President, Bill Clinton, did not resolve any thing, he did more harm than good by agitating Osama and Saddam by throwing a few Tomahawk missiles at these guys and that made them angrier and determined to hurt Americans.

Now their are one or two commenters here who would vainly attempt to faign concern for you and your family and then apologize for a leader of the free world finnally willing to stand up and take out Osama and Saddam if at all possible, rather than continue agitating them. But in reality the commenter simple never wanted Iraq, you and your people liberated in the first place.

The primary problem is the entire middle east needs to be straightened out but there are quite a few people similar to the commenter above that don't have the guts to do that job. So the water will continue to boil and churn and one day boil back over into the US again, with greater and greater damage.

Until we take out the whole bunch of ME tyrants and the horror and death that they impose on you and your people, but that would send the liberals in the US into a state of utter rage.

The solution? Regime change Syria and Iran and the likes of Sadr with serious munitions and I can promise you things will become peaceful for you and your family.

05 April, 2006  
Blogger Kat said...

I appreciate sharing this story with us. Somedays I feel disappointed and some days optimistic. But, I have thought many times, as I have read and heard similar stories that expected the American military to be omnipotent (all powerful like gods of war) and some how be able to control 25 million people, their minds and their ambitions, I wonder why it is not the Iraqi's fault for not taking this opportunity to truly live free and peaceful?

Obviously, mama wants to live that way, but it is not obvious that others do. They are more concerned about their power, wealth and position. Under the current circumstances, unless the US did invoke powers and ruled in the fearful manner of Saddam, they cannot change all of these people. even militarily unless it commits a thousand fallujahs which I do not think is the solution anyone wants to see considering the death and destruction.

So, who can stop this war and deaths? Is it really the American military? Or is it Iraqis who must come to terms with the sectarian strife that has been promoted by and boiling under Saddam and now exists in the open as death squads and suicide bombs and political parties that are still full of corruption and using militias as a power leverage.

who controls Iraq? Iraqis do. Frankly, no matter what the American military does, this thing is not over and Iraq cannot go forward until Iraqis of all stripes, shapes, sizes, religions and political leanings decide that enough blood has been spilled and the good of Iraq and all Iraqis, not one sect or one region, is important.

Unfortunately, in these things, too many people are willing sacrifice their own and others until there is nothing. Destruction of it all is better than allowing one other group to have something or be part of governance as Iraqis.

American soldiers would jsut as soon have built Iraqs power grid and roads, shopping at the bazaars and helping Iraq than walking in some dusty road where any minute he might be blown up by some invisible person.

Only Iraqis can stop this now and they do not appear to want to stop anytime soon.

So, I pray for the safety of our men and women and the strength to see this through. I pray for Iraqis who suffer every day that they may yet live to see a real democracy, freedom and peace. I pray for those who continue to battle one another that they may see the destruction they have wrought and finally have compassion for their own people. I pray for the government of Iraq that they find their way to a compromise and determine how they may govern Iraq fairly for all Iraqis with justice and law.

I pray for mama that she may see her original optimistic view come to life and live a long and happy life with her family. May God provide for you and yours.

05 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

Mama, thanks for letting us know what your perception have been these long few years in Iraq. I wish I could answer some of the points you raise, but I don't even have a good guess about what's gone wrong :(

grayday101,

Our soldiers, many of whom are serving their second or third time in Iraq, are afraid, exhausted, and disheartened.

There's a Marine I was going to the gym with last fall who had been in Afghanistan twice, and in Iraq three times. In 4 years. He returned to Iraq for his 4th deployment there this past January.

He's in the 1st Marine Division. He was in Iraq for the initial invasion in 2003. He was at Falluja during the inititial assault after the American contractors were killed, and he was at Falluja in November 2004 as well. He's in the Al Anbar province again right now, where he's been every time he's been to Iraq, since the Marines took over responsibilty for that province in 2003.

I wouldn't describe him the way you do - afraid, exhausted, and disheartened. After all, he joined in 2000 and he re-enlisted in 2004. He's acticve duty though. It may be as you say with reservists who didn't join the military with the expectation of spending years of their lives overseas. Active duty Marines DO have that expectation, though. If he wasn't in Iraq, he'd be someplace else far from home. Possibly (probably, even) he'd be aboard an Amphibious Assault ship, sleeping in a berthing area where Marines are stacked floor to ceiling, 4 high, like sardines. Which is not a whole lot of fun either!

06 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

Mama, I have been following this invasion from before the war, and it is clear to me that the reason that Iraq is such a mess at the moment is because the Americans did not consider the desires of ordinary Iraqis when they decided to re-make Iraq into a place of their own choosing.

I agree that many Iraqis were, and are, glad that Hussein is gone.

But don’t believe that the Americans had a problem with Hussein for what he did.

No, they had a problem with Hussein because he decided to put himself in front of the needs of America.

One of the first things the Americans did after the Iraqi regime fell, was to gather up all the Ba’athists that would work with them, and incorporate them into a new security structure. These were the same people who were working for Saddam in the first place! So: the question is not whether the Iraqis were Ba’athist or not, the question was whether the Iraqis were Pro-American or not.

Wayne is incorrect when he speaks of the inability of Iraqis to hold local elections. Very early in the occupation municipal elections had been planned, but these were cancelled by the Americans when it seemed that the ‘wrong’ Iraqis might win.

Instead of listening to the Iraqi people, what did America do?

They brought in a bunch of thugs like Allawi (who was at one time a Ba’athist associate of Saddam) and crooks like Chalabi who stole millions of dollars from the Jordanian people. Then, when it became clear that Iraqis would not listen to these CIA-paid stooges, the US tried to create a system of “caucuses” where it could hand – pick the ‘right’ Iraqis it wanted in order to run Iraq from afar.

Was this listening to the Iraqi people?

Clearly, no.

Iraq is in a mess because America would rather destroy Iraq than have it fall under the influence of the ‘wrong’ sorts of Iraqis. Even now, this is true, as America turns against the Iranian-backed political groups with which it was so cosy only a short time ago, and tries to find new Iraqis to be ‘friends’ with.

Yesterday they were friends with the “shias”, and tomorrow they will be friends with the “sunnis” and the day after … who knows?

I really hope that Iraqis wake up and realize that while individually Americans may be nice and helpful, the foreign policy which they serve is utterly evil and corrupt, and that their country does not have ‘friends’ (except for maybe Israel and the UK) but it has INTERESTS … which means that you must ‘lose’ for them to ‘win’.

06 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

Just look at some of the commenters her to see what I meant in the previous post, Mama. This ‘RG’ is exactly the sort of American that I would associate with being a supporter of American foreign policy.

He says : [RG] “Until we take out the whole bunch of ME tyrants and the horror and death that they impose on you and your people, but that would send the liberals in the US into a state of utter rage. The solution? Regime change Syria and Iran and the likes of Sadr with serious munitions and I can promise you things will become peaceful for you and your family.”

See? The Syrians and Iranians are the ‘wrong’ sorts of people so they must be mercilessly killed. The Sadrists are the ‘wrong’ sorts of Iraqis, so they must be killed. The Sunnis are against occupation, so they must be killed. Very shortly, the Badrists and other UIA members will be ‘bad guys’ too, and they will also be targets. This is what I am talking about. They will turn Iraq into a wasteland until there are just three pro- USA Iraqis left singing kumbaya with CENTCOM, at which point the mission will be “accomplished”.

These Americans talk about “overthrowing tyrants” yet they supported Saddam in the 1980’s. They still support people like Mubarak in Egypt, and pay this dictator billions of dollars to suppress his own people. They threw Saddam out of Kuwait but re-installed the Emir of Kuwait as a dictator. Where was all the talk of democracy in Kuwait? I never heard any.

There is only need for “democracy” in countries that are against the USA, or that put the needs of their own people in front of the needs of the USA.

This is my point: individual Americans may seem supportive and nice, but the foreign policy of their country is ROTTEN to the core; it is hypocritical and self-serving.

06 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Bruno. We meet again.

Bruno is one of those cock roaches that has been crawling around from one Iraqi blog to another bashing any one who stands up to the murderous Jihadi thugs that reek death and destruction upon Iraqis. Even the Iraqi bloggers themselves. As you can see, Bruno has been a supporter of the repressive Iranian and Syrian regimes that are supporting the killing of innocent Iraqi people.

Bruno has been a schill for terrorists for a while now. In Bruno's skewed little mind, it is perfectly fine for thugs to kill, steal, rape and behead people and to allow roque governments that support these terrorists such as Iran and Syria do as they wish. As you can see by the comments of Bruno, he has only one solution to the madness he supports, leave the thugs alone, let them continue to wreak havoc. You will never see a logical solution to evil from Bruno. Never. He is a part of that picture.

Bruno has shown contempt for Iraqi bloggers, on numerous incidents openly ridiculing and bashing Iraqis on thier blogs.

Bruno's terrorist friends love death. What they sow is what they will get.

Keep crawling around like a cock roach on Iraqi blogs bashing supporters of the Iraqi people who are being victimized by your thugs. You, Bruno, as you have made clear at other Iraqi blogs are a loser and a deadbeat, always has been, always will be.

06 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

*correction*

cock roach = cockroach
(English Definition)
"Any of numerous oval, flat-bodied insects of the family Blattidae, including several species that are common household pests."

The Bruno species.

06 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

Too bad Iraq isn't run by hate-mongers like Bruno, everything would be wonderful.

06 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

RG, I read your post. It is quite sad to see somebody so supportive of his country’s foreign policy unable to muster a few small words in defence of it. Not even a sentence to defend what your country is doing. No, instead you devoted your rant entirely to attacking me on what you IMAGINE I stand for and what you WISH I said.

Instructive, isn’t it, for people to see how angry you get when I expose American foreign policy for the fraud and abomination that it is! Revealing isn’t it, that you refuse to deal with my arguments and have to resort to attacking ME instead of my arguments, which are the truth.

And worse, not attacking me on things I may have said (elsewhere), but on YOUR ideas of what I have said.

You have entirely invented portions of your claims.

Take this lie for example: [RG] “Bruno has been a supporter of the repressive Iranian and Syrian regimes that are supporting the killing of innocent Iraqi people.”

I have been writing on the internet for years, now. I challenge you to find a quote by me that supports what you have said there. That is simply your over active imagination at work, as are the rest of your imaginary rantings.

Please, I would like to see some quotes supporting this ad hominem attack on me. You should have PAGES of material to support your claims, the way you go on. Otherwise it is all just lies.

07 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

Mama, you can see for yourself the caliber of ‘heroes’ that pretend to be your friends. They have just one solution to the problems of Iraq, and that is to kill more Iraqis. Any Iraqi that they think is a ‘thug’ or ‘bad guy’ is a candidate for being killed. Anybody who is against America is a ‘bad guy’.

Now, where does that leave us?

I have studied the polls on Iraqi opinion.

Fully 87% of Iraqis think it is a good thing for Americans to have a timetable for withdrawal. In other words, 87% of Iraqis would like to see their country free of American troops. Does that make 87% of Iraqis ‘thugs’ and ‘bad guys’ ?

The US government knows the way Iraqis feel very well. Yet Bush said just the other day that American troops will be in Iraq for years and years to come. Does this show consideration for the wishes of Iraqis? Or does it show intentions to keep US troops in Iraq in mega bases no matter what Iraqis think?

But why are US troops in Iraq? All their previous reasons have turned out to be lies. The latest reason was to prevent a civil war. But when the Askariya shrine was bombed, and the militias were out on the streets, killing people, where were the US soldiers? That’s right, in their safe mega bases, watching TV. They will not intervene to stop a civil war. Rumsfeld himself said so. So why are they still in Iraq?

RG spoke of Iranians killing innocent Iraqis.

The most Iranian-aligned Iraqis are from SCIRI, right? Well, who trained Badr / SCIRI troops, who armed them, and who has been advising the Interior Ministry for quite some time now? That’s right, the Americans, because they thought they could get the Badr brigade to do their dirty work for them.

This link says it all: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/FUL506A.html. Here you can read all about how the US, until recently, has been working with the death squads that have been killing Iraqis.

Now, what is happening is that America is picking a fight with Iran.

So shortly, Badr / SCIRI / Da’wa will no longer be of use to the US as allies.

So now the USA will try to suck up to the Resistance and the Sunnis and make friends with them. Does this make sense, after three years of calling them ‘terrorists’ and ‘thugs’ and ‘Ba’athists’ ? No, it does not. This is merely the Americans trying to find new friends because the old ones are no longer of any use to them. They will try to use the ‘sunnis’ to kill the ‘shias’ again, when the Shia protest against the war that America is trying to start with Iran. In other words, they will get Iraqis to kill each other again.

The question is, what happens after the ‘sunnis’ have finished killing the ‘shia’? That’s right, the Americans will turn on them once more and start calling them ‘terrorists’ again.

I really hope that Iraqis realize that American foreign policy is the chief cause of the problems in Iraq.

07 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

Mama, you can see for yourself the caliber of ‘heroes’ that pretend to be your friends. They have just one solution to the problems of Iraq, and that is to kill more Iraqis.

Yes, Bruno, I bet she can see for herself who is being offensive here. She's not a fool.

07 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Eh, Bruno,

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mama,

In the war between Good and Evil, Good always wins.

Work your dreams until they come true.

A beatiful new dawn always follows the darkest part of the night.

A rainbow always follows the hardest rain.

And after a hard winter, the birds ALWAYS sing again, the flowers ALWAYS bloom.

You will see ALL of that.

08 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mama,

It is your country, not ours. We took out a dictator and his army that was killing Iraqis by the thousands. You've got to take responsiblity for the country now.

This is what freedom looks like, mama. If your country is a mess, then you have no one to blame but yourselves.

08 April, 2006  
Blogger Mama said...

thanks rg I liked the words you wrote ,you are a real friend.

09 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bruno,

May I put some of your perfect comments you did here on my blog? I will ofcourse say they are yours :) and give a link to Mama's blog.

10 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mama,
My mother in law has three children, is a dentist and call herself Mamme. We are more a like then we think. I'll forward your blog to her today!

For the discussion in the comments I agree with Bruno, he tell the ugly reality of US forigen policy we see in Iraq.

10 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

Mama,

The real point here is not whether RG is your friend or not. That is actually irrelevant.

The point is, whether HIS COUNTRY who’s foreign policy he supports, is good for Iraq or not. The point is whether the USA can be trusted, and whether its designs are for the good of Iraq, or for the good of the US. RG can write about rainbows and sunshine all he likes, but the fact is, he knows I am telling the truth, which is why his defence of US policy in Iraq is non-existent.

You have to ask yourself this one question: how are a bright future for Iraq and the best interests for the US reconciled? Answer: they cannot. So far, the laws that the US passed into Iraqi law by diktat (which have never been repealed) have laid the groundwork for complete foreign ownership of Iraq. That’s the truth.

The truth is that billions of dollars of Iraqi money was given to US companies without so much as a by-your-leave by the US to rebuild Iraq. Rebuilding which could have been done by Iraqis. Tell me, does your country feel ‘rebuilt’ yet? ( Yet according to the US, ‘reconstruction’ is almost finished. )

I think many Iraqis still support the American presence there not out of love, but because they feel that the US will somehow ‘protect’ them from other Iraqis. That thought is a fantasy. The US has explicitly stated it will NOT intervene in a civil war.

The real solution for Iraqis is to start talking to your neighbours and making friends with them. You must regain trust with one another. Then the entire street. Then the neighbourhood. Then neighbourhoods must band with neighbourhoods. And so on.

The rebuilding of Iraq as a country cannot be some solution imposed by foreigners from the top down … no … it must be a solution created by the Iraqi people themselves from the bottom up.

That is the only way you will get your country back.



Nadia --

Good to see you again! We seem to keep bumping into each other. Shukran for your words, and of course you are welcome to use any words of mine on your blog.

10 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

The point is, whether HIS COUNTRY who’s foreign policy he supports, is good for Iraq or not.

No, Bruno, that's actually NOT the point. That's only the point for YOU.

You loathe America, and Americans. We get it. We don't like you very much either.

You seem to be saying all Americans should be judged by what the US Government does. Should I judge all Iraqis by what addam did then? Or by what the insurgents do?

How about you, Bruno... what country are you from? I think we should know , so that we can judge you properly.

10 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

By the way, this is one of two Iraqi blogs I still read. Please keep you polution off it, Bruno.

10 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

That is the only way you will get your country back.

This is the problem with making the situation in Iraq all about anti-Americanism. You seem to have not noticed that Iraq is already in the hands of the Iraqis. There won't even be any US troops in Iraq in another 6 ot 8 months, and you're talking as if the US still is running everything. Get with the program, you're a couple years out of date. Will you still be on Iraqi blogs insulting Americans in 10 more years? Or will you opportunistically look for another more topical forum in which to unleash your hateful bigotry?

And who is it, exactly, that you think you are helping?

10 April, 2006  
Blogger Matt Ready said...

Mama:

Would you be willing to be interviewed on our talk radio podcast? I am trying to find Iraqi bloggers who want to have their voice heard. If you are interested please let me know.

Also, our website (http://www.vaestro.com) is a network of voice forums where people can engage in productive dialogue. I believe people in Iraq could really benefit using this software but I need help getting the word out. If you have any ideas how to help, I would love to hear from you about that too.

Matt

mattready@gmail.com
http://www.vaestro.com

10 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

[craig] “You seem to be saying all Americans should be judged by what the US Government does.”

Really? Any actual quotes by me that support this little assertion of yours?

You are wrong.

All Americans cannot be held accountable for US foreign policy. That would be ludicrous. However, Americans who know what the US is up to, and yet persist in their efforts to support the expanding shell of US imperialism at the cost of other peoples ARE accountable. People like yourself, for example.

[craig] “This is the problem with making the situation in Iraq all about anti-Americanism. You seem to have not noticed that Iraq is already in the hands of the Iraqis.”

I like your sense of humour. Iraq doesn’t even have a government yet. Worse, the ‘elected’ leader Jafaari has been rejected by the US as an acceptable choice as PM for Iraq. And the US is doing all in its power to undermine and remove him. Even though I don’t like Jafaari, the reality is that the situation is far, far from being “in the hands of the Iraqis”. Imagine France rejecting Bush as US president, and organising coalitions in the US to get rid of him, and paying the anti-Bush opposition! That would be blatant interference and management in US matters by a foreign power, yet this is exactly what the US is up to right now.


[craig] “There won't even be any US troops in Iraq in another 6 to 8 months”

Oh, good. I will bookmark this statement of yours, and in 6 to 8 months I will be sure to bring up your blatant LIE. US troops will be in Iraq for years, unless somebody kicks them out. That’s the truth.


[craig] “Or will you opportunistically look for another more topical forum in which to unleash your hateful bigotry? And who is it, exactly, that you think you are helping?”

Well, that really depends on whose country the US wants to invade, ruin and humiliate next. You will doubtless find me there. Gee, I wonder why any body might be against America …

11 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

programmer craig,

Bruno is a deadbeat from Australia. Does a considerable amount of drugs, and when coherent supports Green Peace. During the car vandalism and raping occuring on the beaches of Sydney this past summer by radical thugs, he was hiding in his room in the dark hammering away at the keyboard against anyone who would fight these thugs who were raping the women in Australia during this past summer on the beaches there.

Bruno is about the worst type of criminal/thug/cock roach you can imagine.

That is Bruno.

11 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

RG -

Thank you for your short imaginative post. It was quite amusing to smell the paranoia under your words. It was hilarious to note your lack of substance. Keep up the performance.

11 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

Really? Any actual quotes by me that support this little assertion of yours?

What, you want me to prove your anti-Americanism now? Your words speak for themselves, I have no case to prove. It's self evident, in every blog comment you make. You think everybody but you is pretty dumb, huh?

12 April, 2006  
Blogger programmer craig said...

By the way, Bruno, what are you doing here? Did you run out of Americans to insult on all the other Iraqi blogs I've seen you on?

12 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

[craig] “You seem to be saying all Americans should be judged by what the US Government does.”
[bruno] “Really? Any actual quotes by me that support this little assertion of yours?”
[craig] “What, you want me to prove your anti-Americanism now?”

You are obviously not clever enough to discern the difference between a government’s policy and the people of a country. There are millions of decent Americans which are your mirror opposite: empathic, caring and unwilling to sacrifice Iraqi lives for their own selfish gain.

I am not anti them.

I am anti – YOU.

I am anti US foreign policy until it changes.

[craig] “Did you run out of Americans to insult on all the other Iraqi blogs I've seen you on?”

Funny, I correspond with many Americans, and they don’t feel insulted by my words. But yes, I ran out of American Iraqi-haters who were unable to stand up to the light of reason and hence the truth that what they are doing is wrong.

13 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

mama: Do not stop writing because of the ridiculous comments of some people who do nothing to answer your original post.

Most of us will continue to pray for you, your family and all the good people of Iraq.

14 April, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Mama,

I, too, pray for your family, and your beautiful country. And, it hurt my heart to read your words, and feel your despair. This is the birth of a new nation, and birth hurts; it's messy.

Have we made mistakes? Yes, we have, but mistakes are ALWAYS a part of war. It is true that we were not prepared for this vicious insurgency, but that is not the same as saying that we knew it would happen, and did not prepare. To say we should have known is as easy to say as it is irrelevent now.

You ask who is planting bombs. Not Americans. I do know that those who plant the bombs are not invisible. Somebody saw them; somebody knows them.

We can eliminate insurgents when we know who, and/or where they are, but we depend on YOU, the Iraqis to tell us.

But, in the long run, this is your country, not ours. There are 25,000,000 of you, and fewer than 200,000 of us. You have to help us, and help yourselves.

If you were led to believe that 2.5 million Arabic speaking police officers fully-trained in all the subtleties of Iraqi culture, and fully informed about who the good guys, and bad guys were in each neighborhood were going to arrive and provide instant security, I am sorry, but that was an unrealistic expectation.

A previous poster said that Americans expected that you would elect local people you trusted to administer your towns. Perhaps that was unrealistic, too, but we were so encouraged when we saw what courage MILLIONS of Iraqis displayed, not once, but THREE times by coming out to vote.

But, now you have to govern yourselves. Only you can do that. You have to stop the people in your country who seek to keep the power of their group over another.

Before our horrific Civil War Americans identified themselves by what state they lived in. They were Virginians, or New Yorkers. They called, and thought of the country informally as "These United States."

After killing each other in appalling numbers, we stopped that. Oh, bad people continued to do terrible things for years after the war, but the good people realized that they far outnumbered the bad.

Do you know that many of our military bases are named after generals of the losing side in our Civil War? Probably the most beloved General in our history -- besides George Washington, the father of our country -- is General Robert E. Lee, the losing general.

I say this not to brag, but to say that you can do the same. We are no smarter, no wiser than you are.

I know there are deep divisions, and differences in Iraq. But, I also know that the insurgents are a tiny fraction of your number. They survive, because there is no united opposition, no public, united condemnation.

Mama, you can fill peoples' cavities (caries), but you can't be in every house every morning and night to make them brush their teeth. There aren't enough Dentists to do that -- anywhere.

The insurgents depend on you being afraid, and divided. Put up your own signs warning them that they'll be shot on sight, and then DO IT.

Form neighborhood defense groups. If a neighbor is being threatened, secretly arrange a signal, or hide in his house, and kill the insurgents when they come. Or call the anonymous tip lines.

What you must NOT do is hide, in fear. You outnumber these maggots. This is your country. Organize yourselves, and fight for it.

You all have to decide if you are Sunnis first, or Iraqis first; Shia first, or Iraqis first; Kurds first, or Iraqis first. If you decide you are Iraqis, you will succeed.

We can't, nor should we build your country for you. Insist that your elected leaders quit arguing, and FORM A GOVERNMENT.

And we certainly can't if Iraqis don't tell us who keeps sabotaging the electric plants, or blowing up pipe lines. Or, better, if you all don't take care of those people yourselves. They are not invisible, and there are Iraqis who know who they are!

Mama, dreams do not build countries. People do, and it's hard work, but you can do it.

18 April, 2006  
Blogger Bruno said...

[anonymous] "You ask who is planting bombs. Not Americans."

Is that so? HOW DO YOU KNOW? It would not be the first time that they have done something like this, and then blamed somebody else. (In Iran, for example.) Fact is, nobody knows for sure who is planting bombs at mosques and so forth. We do know though, that when the violence after the Askariya shrine incident broke out, US losses dropped to their lowest point in years, because Iraqis were busy killing each other instead. So, who profits, really?

[anonymous] "We can eliminate insurgents when we know who, and/or where they are, but we depend on YOU, the Iraqis to tell us."

And it is interesting isn't it, that you mentioned the anonymous hotline for tips against the Iraqi resistance, and yet somehow nobody reports them. Interesting that about half the calls to that hotline are insults, isn't it?

Another Iraqi who blogs is Abu Khaleel at Iraquna (Iraqi Letters). He gave us a good idea of who is informing for the US. He was involved in an incident where he was key in exiling two kidnappers and criminals from his district with tribal help. Ten days later hundreds of US soldiers swarmed over his farm digging everything up and turning the place upside down. It turns out that these two criminals were US INFORMERS and as revenge they identified him as an important "insurgent leader" or "terrorist".

Yeah, those are the sorts of Iraqis working for the US. No wonder nobody wants to help you.


[anonymous] "Form neighborhood defense groups. "

I agree 100% with this. Problem is, these neighbourhood defense groups are seen as "insurgents" by the US Army. But hey, don't take MY word for it. Hear what Sgt. Doug Anderson has to say:


Mystery Hangs Over Baghdad Battle
By Nelson Hernandez and Bassam Sebti - Washington Post Foreign Service - April 19, 2006;

" But in Adhamiyah, as in many Sunni Arab neighborhoods in Baghdad, organized groups of young men from the area keep watch over the streets. They say they are there to protect residents against attack by Shiite militiamen and Shiite-led Interior Ministry police who have been accused of rounding up Sunnis and executing them. Residents said it was likely that the armed men thought the patrol entering their neighborhood was part of a Shiite militia or the police. So they started shooting.
[...]
"The gunmen are suspected insurgents," Sgt. Doug Anderson, a U.S. military spokesman, wrote in an e-mail. "It is not known whether they are people from the neighborhood." //end excerpt


Funny thing is, anonymous, that I agree with a lot of the sentiment that you expressed in your post. Iraqis must leave sectarianism behind. Unfortunately, sectarianism works well for an outside power that wants to divide and rule. We all know who that is.

19 April, 2006  
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