Iraq The Lasting Love - العراق اسميك المحبة

Baghdad: More Than 50 Years Ago

2010-06-03T23:45:00.001-07:00

Majid Kakka and Haithem Yousif 2009

2010-06-03T16:34:00.001-07:00

I come to you
My eyes will answer for me
I did not sing for you
It is the wound inside of me

Not my fault to leave you behind
Believe me, my Home
I had no other choice
I miss to be in Baghdad
To be in al karrada
and in al mansoor

These are from the lyrics of this beautiful song by Iraqi singers and musicians Majid Kakka and Haitham Yousif.

Majid Kakka (on the left of the picture) is known for his wonderful work with Bells band in mid 1980's. I would never think of anyone who could re-produce Iraqi Maqam and traditional Baghdadi songs the way he did during that time.

Haitham Yousif (on the right), known as "the Prince of Love" (he issued an album with the same title). He is known for his warm voice and beautiful melodic songs. He reached stardom in the early 1990's.

The song is about Iraq, Iraq that will never be forgotten in spite of all the years living abroad. The song reflects little details on their feeling towards their home country, but with deep lyrics that would bring a lot of flash backs to any Iraqi.

The lyrics of the song are by Hazim Jabir, the music composed by Haitham Yousif, the music arrangement, mixing and mastering are by Majid Kakka. The song is recorded and filmed at Bells studio in Detroit, USA.

Bells Studios? this is Majid Kakka own studio, right?

Both are considered masters in their genre in using synthesizers in their songs. This musical style became the dominant in Iraq since the early 1980's and it replaced gradually the bands in Iraqi music circles and sites such as Al Seed or Al Ilwaiya clubs in Baghdad, until it became rare to see a band with a drummer and bass guitar. The development of Iraqi music is not the subject of this post, but not a lot of Iraqis liked the transition to using synths in Iraqi songs. However, it did not ruin it, but surely there were some who abused it.

I loved it in the beginning when Yousif enters the studio and the way Majid Kakka greets him with "ahlaaaaaaaaaan" with a strong hand shake that ended in a big warm hug.

The song in total is very catchy, and one of the reasons I guess is because of the combination of the two voices: it added more to the beauty of this song.

More on artists can be found on their respective websites - unfortunately, Majid Kakka and Bells band website is down. However, Haitham Yousif's website is running and can be visited here

Listen, watch and enjoy

Abdel Karim Qasim

2010-04-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

After hearing and reading about the news recently circulated all over the world wide web about Iraqi
Prime Minister, Noory al Maliki, and his salary, I thought of putting pictures of another Iraqi leader, Abdel Karim Qasim

Does that ring a bell?

Old Iraqi Adverts

2010-04-24T03:00:00.001-07:00

I got the below pictures from different websites, forums and via email.

I am not going to repeat the regret all people expressed by comparing yesterday to today, I just enjoyed and shared with myself the mourning on what Iraq was and what has become.

Albaghdadia… Enemy of the State

2010-03-24T01:37:00.000-07:00

Among the most favorite Iraqi satellite channels in my list I would put albaghdadia on the top of such list - not that I consider other channels to be bad, but I love albaghdadia and have great respect to its staff. Albaghdadia is transparent, direct to the point, realistic because it reflects the actual status of Iraq and the Iraqis. It is straightforward because there it is bias to a political party or siding with some political figure or movement. Albaghdadia has always been a great source of the highest level of quality information, a source to disclose secrets, ready to jump in where the challenges and risks exist. I love albaghdadia for Abdel hameed al-Sayeh and Azal al-Sayyab’s excellent (and emotional) presentation on TV. I love and respect them for the beautiful language they use on their shows: the combination of perfect use of Classic Arabic language and literature with a cute flavor of southern Iraqi accent. I love Albaghdadia for the brilliant Nouran Hassan, whether on daily news bulletin appearance or when she summarizes the week events on her show “End of the Week” – this is the correct translation, guys! I love albaghdadia because it has the black-comedy, the honest critism of everything related to Iraq as I watch every Monday “The Conversation of the Deaf “ show, and its figure of Daoud Al-Farhan. I love albaghdadia for the down to earth attitude coming with the response and remarks from Anas Al Bayaty on “one hour and a half” show, and his innocent laugh while addressing a guest in the studio or by satellite. The above are drops in a sea regarding the reasons why I love watch this Iraqi channel.

I love albaghdadia because this channel stands by the common Iraqi citizen, and reflects the real situation of Iraqis in Iraq and abroad: interviews with Iraqi expatriates, present on most occasions and events outside Iraq - I attended a number of events in the Netherlands where coincidently seeing Albaghdadia crew filming and making interviews with people. This brings me to the topic of today: the early morning daily show “Pleasant Morning for Iraq”. I watch a replay of this show every night at around 11:30 – due to difference in time zone I cannot watch it when it’s aired live around 7am.

What happened yesterday to Minas Al-Suhail and the crew of Albaghdadia while doing live coverage for “Pleasant Morning for Iraq” from Baghdad’s district of “Al Qahira” was outrageous and frustrating. It is not the first time that one of albaghdadia reporters and crew being harassed and even beaten up by personnel from Baghdad Operations Command. But, yesterday’s assault was different, first because the two men attacked al-Suhail and his colleagues were from the Terrorism Combat Force, an entity belongs to the military intelligence within the ministry of interior; second, the assaulters called albaghdadia journalists and cameramen while attacking them with “Ba’thists”!

Is this enough or do I have to explain where those two assaulters came from??

May I say that what happened to Minas and his colleagues is some kind of reflection to the pro-elections-mood by some figures from the government who come out on TV with nervous (and angry, sometimes) faces threatening or warning when voting results appears to go in opposite direction to what they desire?

Why beating up a reporter?? What guilt did he make? Is it listening to the suffering of people doomed by its rulers for decades are considered as guilt?

Why beating up a reporter?? Is it wrong for a reporter to reveal the truth about how the country is still being looted by all sorts of scumbags, obvious from the bad services, well, by the lack of services on every street and house? It seems that it is so insulting for a government official to see a man in his 60’s presenting his case to million of viewers. The insulting part is not because an old man is complaining; it is because the complaint is so righteous that an official will not be able to listen, will not be able even to find a hole to hide in.

Why beating up a reporter?? Obviously the answer can take us back in time when Saddam used to rule the country. Saddam planted the seeds for bringing up a violent culture, where the use of hand and pistol dominated the behavior of many in dealing with any damn situation. Someone would argue that Iraqi society is just bloody or violent (I heard that before), but I simply do not agree, we were not born with a pistol in one hand. We were not by instinct ready to go on the streets of Najaf and start bad mouthing, slapping and kicking the hell out of the unarmed. The resemblance between the old times under the former regimes and now are strong, and there is a common thing between now and then: the presence of a camera...

Then, the camera was used by the ruler to put fear in the hearts of people –Saddam filmed his fake coup attempt back in 1979, and his brother filmed his own rants and bad mouthing during a big meeting for the Ministry of Interior.

Now, the camera is in the hands of others, the media, the people, and it is revealing the truth on daily basis. It is disclosing incompetence, and makes the voice of the citizen heard, loud and clear.

Minas Al-Suhail, Ali Al-Khalidy or Haider Nasir, Mustafa Ibraheem, Hussain Asad and many others like them, from Albaghdadia or any other honest TV channel, are names I greatly admire. They deserve a medal, not a dirty hand trying to stop the truth from coming out.

Al Amiriya Shelter - Documentary

2010-03-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

I received an email from Sahab bringing my attention to Al-Amiriya: The Shelter.

Sahab, for those who still don't know is one of few committed and honorable people around documenting and showing the truth about atrocities too place against the Iraqi people, focusing on the shelters of death, one of these shelters is Al Amiriya - first time I wrote about this tragedy was last year, then I wrote about the interview Al Baghdadia channel conducted with families of victims.

The documentary is made by Siham Jouhari, a French flim maker of Morrocan origin, known for the award winning short movie “Faces of wrath”, about the war on Gaza in 2009.

I took a look at the website but could not find any news or a source to the movie.

Anyone knows about the movie, please let me know.

Kadim Al Sahir - Alrasm bil Kalimat (Album Review)

2010-03-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

I bought the album when I was in Abu Dhabi last year October. It was around that time when the album first came out. During my three weeks stay the only music played at the Abu Dhabi Carrefour super markets were songs from that album.

Kadim Al Sahir is a pioneer and made his mark making songs with lyrics in Classical Arabic. I don't listen frequently to songs from such a genre, so I have to be careful with what I say about Al Sahir songs. Having said that, it does not mean I did not enjoy songs like “Hel Endaki Shak?” (Do You Have Doubts?) and “Ikhtary” (Make A Choice) from this master of profession Iraqi singer. Speaking of those two songs, mind you there is some 9 years gap between each song when I first listened to them, but both carry some special magic formula – here I am not making comparison or to say that they are better or worse than other Al Sahir songs like “Layla” (not Eric Clapton), or “Madrasa Al Hob” (School of Love), or even “Qooly Ohiboka” (Say You Love Me)…etc

Now that I talked about how I see Al Sahir’s music, I want to say that the magic formula I just mentioned is felt with a big dose on the new album, “Alrasm Bil Kalimat” (English: Drawing with Words), especially on the title song, but lets stop here, I will talk about this song in a bit.

All songs on “Alrasm Bil Kalimat” album were composed by Al Saher himself, except for “Al Jareeda” (The Newspaper), a song with lyrics written in Gulf-Region dialect, and composed by Mohammed Shafiq, A Saudi musician who worked in the past with Al Sahir on songs from previous albums.

The album kicks off with “habeebety” (My beloved). The lyrics of the song are taken from a poem written by the legendary Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani. Not my favorite song from the album, but I liked most the use of wa-wa guitar effects. From reading the lyrics and listening to the music I imagined a man deep in love with his woman, do passionate about every move, look, touch, even with the way she dance. The video clip of the song translated the song in the best way possible and as I anticipated. The second song is the orchestra like hit single “Al Mahkama” (The Court). This is an epic song, and to many it is the surprise of the album. The song is a duet with Moroccan female singer Asma Lemnawar. I read somewhere that the song originally made to have Al Sahir singing the song with Syrian female singer, Asala but due to financial differences such cooperation was doomed. Anyway, If these rumors were true, the second best choice is resulted in a masterpiece. The lyrics of the song is written by the great poet Kareem Al Iraqi, a man known for his god-gifted ability to bring words to live with deep words and passionate sentences. No one could or can beat this man in such a style. The song tells the story of a man and a woman standing virtually before the judge and pleading for justice, each presenting his case and tell stories of pain, agony, jealousy, bad friendship, and what was in the past and what has become… but… did they lost the love they had for each other?… contradiction within human nature... happy ending?

Below is the official video clip of the song, which was filmed in Ukraine, and directed by Hussain D’ebis.

There are six songs from the album performed with Iraqi dialect. Having that number of songs in Iraqi dialect has indeed boosted my support for this album, not being bias here, but the music is so beautiful that no one can just dare to skip from one song to the other. Each song carried a different flavor, musically, of course: there is the traditional Choby dance on “600 boosa” (600 Kisses). I was expecting the song to be played live when I attended Al Sahir's concert a couple of months ago in Brussels, but that did not happen. “Daggeet ween il bab” (Knocking the Door) is another Iraqi dialect song and have the same feeling as songs from al maqam al iraqi songs, such as "Gulli ya Hilo" or "Ghali wil Nabi Ghali". Al Sahir does not need to prove anything to anyone, but putting traditional musical elements to a newly created song like this is another living testimony of his genius. The next song, “Iskut” (Don’t say a Word) has a spoken words intro, I am not a big fan of this, but when the music starts till the end (it did not need a number of times of listens), it makes it one of my favorites from that album, especially with the high pitch part in the middle of the song, just stunning. A big salute to the way this song is mixed too. Another epic song from this album is “mo tabee’y” (Not From This World), it falls in the same realm as "AlMahkama", in my opinion, but sang with Iraqi dialect. It is a song that is like another piece of jewelery presented in a luxury box to the listener, a fantastic story telling of a man listening to his best friend who is torn apart by the thin line between love and hate. The last, but not least is the song “Il Hilim” (The Dream): gives me the impression that this song is an attempt to approach Lebanese and Syrian listeners, yet, this mid-slow tempo (I call it "saltana style") is by no means considered as commercial or a fills-up for the album. I just love to repeat the beautiful intro of the song before I pull my finger away from the CD player to listen to the song as a whole.

If I want to talk about the title song from this album it would needs a separate post to write about, so I will keep it brief, especially when I see myself ignoring the rest of the album is a sort of injustice, in my opinion, and to this great musician (and I have to mention his band) and to the effort he put on each song. For that reason I decided to write a full album review, as already seen.

The song “Alrasm Bil Kalimat” (Drawing with Words) is composed by Kadim Al Sahir himself and the lyrics are taken from a poem written by Nizar Qabbani in 1966 – a poem that generated a lot of critics then because of the language and reference to a lot of details in the female body. "Don't ask me to recall my past life, as the story is long, my queen. You find me in every era, like I am millions years of age." It is a story about a man looking back at his past glories, his conquests in the land of sirens, and what has become of him today; a decaying soul, incapable of love and passion, the pen and the paper became his only salvation.

The music of the song was done using heavy symphonic arrangements. I felt like 9.34 minutes is too short for such a magnificent piece of music. The song is warm and powerful, rich with its musical elements; genius to merge classical music instruments in such a way with Arabic music style and scales i.e. maqams.

The mastering and mix of two songs from the album “Alrasm Bil Kalimat” (Drawing with Words)has been done at the Masterdisk Studios in Paris, France, but the rest of the album was mastered and mixed at the AVATAR studios in New York June 2009. This is the same recording studio that hosted a great number of music pioneers such as Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, John Mayer, and Al Di Meola.

For heavy metal fans, this is the same studio where progressive metal legends Dream Theater recorded their superb albums “Black Clouds & Silver Linings” and “Systematic Chaos”.

To summarize the above, the songs are like priceless paintings that depicted love, relationships, emotions such as shyness, sorrow, contemplation, deprivation and sleepless nights, as well as good and bad friendship.

Final word, buy this album if you didn’t, listen to the songs, enjoy perfection in music making and its arrangement

Elections 2010: Elections Day

2010-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

Chaos, is the word I can describe the situation when I went to vote today in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

All the arrangements by the Iraqi election commission is just a farce.

We arrived around noon, we were four families with women, children and the elderly.

I was anticipating the strong presence of the Kurdish community, so I was not surprised to see them celebrating and chanting their centered-sun flags on many spots and in the hands of the young and old. I did not see the Iraqi flag, any version of it, held by anyone except for a man and his son.

The first sight of festivities was in the parking lot, seeing five young men standing next to their car, taking photos for each other with their digital camera and dancing on the sound of the song "Shid Heelak Ya Iraq" playing loud from the car stereo. Just outside the parking lot, and in a very big open area there was a group of men and women, hand in hand, doing the traditional dance on Kurdish music coming loud from the speakers of a car. Few meters walking further towards the first entrance gate there was a crowd watching another group of Kurdish people doing the same song, or maybe another song, I don't speak Kurdish so I won't be able to recognize what is what.

At the main Entrance, on its right side there was a space allocated for people to leave their belongings, such as cameras, mobile phones, handbags...etc No one asked me, though, so I just walked onwards and there was the big surprise waiting for me: hundreds of people queuing, not queuing, in fact piling up like sardines. On the rare left side there were two TV camera's put on stand, one of them of the Iraqi official TV channel, AlIraqiya and the other of Kurdish News Network, but no one was behind either of them.

After seeing the situation, the families I am with decided on letting the children behind with one or two of us, and the rest start with their patriotic struggle! However, after just 10 minutes one of the families with us left and did not come back, they stayed in the car till we finished voting. When I came back I found out that they finished three packs of chewing gum with the children with them.

There was no consideration for the old, the children, or the ill. Every now and then someone emerge behind the high fence and call specific name. OK!!! even if he would find the man or woman he is looking for, how would he expect him to pass through???? From time to time the gate is open for one or two and suddenly it is opened and a batch of groups rush inside. Why is this? I don't know

I should not only blame the commission for this chaos, there are some people who just don't have any respect or the least of manners, like that young man in his late twenties who just indulged himself to the front of an old lady just to have a Kurdish chit-chat with his friend. Talking to him was no use, he just tried to say something in Arabic about a phone call. It did not stop to that, while the wave of people kept on pushing, that guy and his friend did not think for a moment about the people behind them, so I stretched my arm around the old woman and started to push the two guys away as I can.

A big man with the a badge hanging from his neck emerged from behind the check-point white tent and starting making signals to someone he knew among the crowd, and shouted "lift the baby-cart and come here" and signaled to move from behind the people. I could not take it anymore, I shouted at the man while pointing to the family left and behind me (a man, his wife, a baby in his small wagon and a small girl of 5 or 6) by saying "what is their guilt of this family then? why discriminate this family from the other. There are a lot of families stuck here". He murmured something, maybe cursed me, I could not hear him, but that generated anger in the young family man and exploded and started screaming as hard as he could:

"Shame on you, shame on all of you. We ran from Saddam's tyranny years ago, and now we are getting humiliated by you. Shame on you, bastards".

After almost two hours shouting and protesting this horrible trap they have been put into, someone behind the fence, half leg in his car and the other half outside was calling us, the voters, by the microphone and saying in Kurdish, Dutch and Arabic that they are going to organize the queue for all of us and he pleaded to assist the police to separate the old and families with children so they go in advance. That created more protests by the people, because there is no way to make such a separation, but at the end they managed and both the young family I mentioned earlier and the old lady got a chance to go in.

Did I mention that the cold weather? it drilled our bodies in spite of the heavy clothes we were wearing? There was a young man in his thirties wearing a white winter coat, hands in his pockets and standing like a chained man from top to toe except the one centimeter steps he was taking when pushed. The man was shivering in a way I have never seen, and because of the packed place, the vibration from that was felt by people surrounding him.

After a couple of time moving forward we stopped for sometimes on the small bridge that separate the main entrance from the path way we came from. It was an angel where I could see the packed pathway with people, and seeing many families give up and treat back for good. Suddenly, a man with short red hair standing in the middle of the crowd turned himself and started talking to the woman standing behind him... he quickly held her, the woman was fainting on his hand, he kept like pushing her to the back trying to find a gap to get her through the crowd. She was holding herself from falling, still had strength, but when they moved out of the crowd to a small corner she lost consciousness. The police came and a female police agent sat down on the floor and took the woman in her arms and started to give her first aid while talking to her and try to comfort her.

After that, like 15 minutes passed I managed to get through the main gate to the check-point white tent where two large metal detectors were erected on each side. At that moment, only the family man of one of the four families was with me. The rest were lost in the crowd. After checking what my pockets and what I have in my pockets - my cigarette lighter was confiscated - I went through the main yard to the main entrance of the voting compound. A young man was standing at the door giving pooling station numbers to every person want to vote. However, he did not give me a number - and I saw many people later did not have numbers and entered the voting station.

The voting compound reminds me of a bazaar, something like the Beverwijk bazaar here in the Netherlands or Souq Al Hamidiya in Damascus. No smoking is allowed but I could feel and see the smoke in the air. While waiting I talked and listen to some people who had one thing in common: they were very angry and extremely frustrated from the way the election high commission organized the event. There was a family of three woman in their thirties who came with other families in a bus all the way from France. They were furious, they even mentioned something about had a fight with the election commission representative at the check-point white tent. One of the two women screamed "There must be someone here who would observe all this crap and write about it on the internet. Someone must tell the truth about all this nonsense farce." A man who was talking to her said that they were not the only people from outside the Netherlands, there are other people came here by bus from Belgium.

The voting process was not that hard or complicated. The three men sitting in the voting station controlled my papers, they were very nice and they varied in the way they tried to show their official official or seriousness, I even exchanged traditional Arab jokes with one of them, a man of 50's with a very warm smile before I left them and gave my vote. I noticed while watching TV that the way we submit the voting application inside Iraq is different than the way we have been asked to do it. Here the voting application must be folded after choosing my candidate, put in a A5 envelop, seal the A5 envelop and put it inside an A3 type envelop, and seal, then I am allowed to put the big envelop in the voting plastic box.

So... a process of merely 5 minutes took me exactly 5 hours to complete

Here, you can find pictures of the event with an article in Dutch

Below is a video from Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) on the elections:

And the below video is from Radio Netherlands Wordlwide:

Elections 2010: Ready To Go

2010-03-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

I called a friend of mine some time ago today to check with him about the elections.

After the mess (and the news) yesterday during the elementary round of the elections I can't say that I can trust the posted anywhere.

The deal is like this: my friend, his wife and children, I and my family will go together to the pooling station. In addition, we are calling all people we know so we can go as one group there and vote. I know some people who are not going to make it on their own, either they don't have transportation quick enough to take them, and there are friends we know that due to their health/disability who defenitely would be looking for some assistance.

Depending on the people coming with us, we will decide if we are going today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Sooooo, its going to be a long day.

In fact, its going to be a long weekend.

Elections 2010: Its Getting Ugly

2010-03-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of the parliamentary elections, but not for the public, it is restricted to allow only voters from military personnel, prisoners and the sick.

To summarize today's political events we can put the major parties in two categorese: the first is the calm, illustrated by media broadcasts of the government and Iraqi National Alliance (INA), for example, while on the othe side there is the panic sort of statements published in different media sources, such as that from Ayad Allawy's AL-IRAQIYYA (IRAQI NATIONAL MOVEMENT) who staged up his fears from false voting.

But throwing leaflets from helicopters warning people from voting for Allawy, as former prime minister announced? this is not a way.

I don't like seeing a media source to watch channels showing their bias to one side rather than the other, yet, Alsharqiya channel is showing publicly its support for Ayad Allawy since yesterday. Speaking about this satelite channel, every Iraqi knows how this TV channel focuses on disclosing everything related to the mess Iran is making within its interference in Iraq. I saw an advert yesterday or the day before yesterday, it focuses on one issue in particular, questioning the purpose from barring any candidate from running in the upcoming elections (like what happened with Al Mutlaq, of course). In addition, it educuate people with good quality graphic CGI effects about the danger that Iran is pausing and the chance Iran is taking to convert Iraq to another persian province, but the interesting thing is when showing the Iraqi flag: the old flag of Iraq, the same flag used by Saddam Hussein since 1990 when he "wrote" the word "Allah is Great" between the three green stars.

Terrorist attacks has its share in today's news: There was also three suicide attacks on three polling stations this morning in Baghdad, where military officials, prisoners and the sick specifically allowed to vote left more than 15 innocent people dead and many more injured.

What's odd in all of this the interviews with people on TV, most of them afraid of further attacks to disrupt the elections, others are almost sure that the elections would not be transparent as it should be, yet, all of them want to vote

and

all of them are hoping for security and stability

Did someone said that the country became safer???

Elections 2010: This Does Not Look Good

2010-03-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

This is getting ugly: today and yesterday three major events, in my opinion that would be an essential factor to change the course of the elections next weekend.

Before I do that, I want to say something to two people whom I talked with and insisted that Iraq is safe now, safer than ever...

Give me a break... In the past weeks, Iraq became the nr.1 country in using suppressors for assassination attempts, because it became one of the cheapest things to manufacture.

Anyway, lets get back to what I want to write about:

First: Today's Terrorist Attacks:

The first event I want to talk about is the triple terrorist attacks in the city of Baquba, Diyala province earlier today, which left more than 50 innocent victims dear and double the number injured. Yesterday evening I of the silence before the storm. The attack today drew a lot of news, maybe because of its altitude and the number of vehicles used, but there were other attacks in other cities such as Basra city in the south the day before yesterday, and Mousel end of last week?

I go back to the concept of silence before the storm: as I said, suicidal attacks did not stop all over the country, adding to that a statement by an American military official saying few weeks back that the terrorists will use new means or ways to erupt the upcoming elections. Does this means that what expected to come would be more horrible than what we have seen in today's attack and the ones preceded it? All this to keep Iraq unstable, and making people be afraid from going to the voting polls, but would this work? It did not work 5 years ago, it won't work this time either.

Speaking of keeping Iraq unstable, a friend of mine told me last weekend that in no one's interest to have a stable and prosper Iraq. Her say is based on a documentary that emphasizes on conspiracy theory and how specific people in specific hidden places in the world are running the whole world, its nations, leaders and individuals like poppets

As I said, I am not sure what effect these attacks would make! People have already made up their minds, not only if they are going to participate or not, but Iraqi also made up their mind on which candidate they think would be the right person to select.

I have to praise the role Iraqi media played in preparing and educating the people for that purpose, and I am not going to avoid mentioning the great effort by AlBaghdadia, AlSharqiya. AlArabiya (from Iraq program) and AlSumaria satellite channels, for example, where hours of their coverage were digitally captured by many and uploaded to Youtube on daily basis.

In addition, I have to bow my hat for many Iraqis from inside Iraq and abroad who are posting all kind of messages on Facebook and twitter (and via emails) encouraging people to go and vote.

Iraqis are looking for change.

Iraqis do not want to stay behind

Iraqis want to see their country recovered from its wounds

Second: Prime Minister Interview with BBC

The second is news is the interview that BBC Arabic conducted with Prime Minister al Malaki yesterday. By the way, from the excerpts of that interview, al Maliki did not look comfortable, he looked nervous, even became agitated from some of the questions put forward to him. The Iraqi Prime Minister rejected with firm tone in his voice any coalition with Ayad Allawy if the chance would appear after the upcoming elections. He also accused other political parties of receiving financial support from abroad, without mentioning any in name, but any smart boy can figure out the direction he is taking the viewer to. Speaking on foreign relations, I did not see anything new related to his government stand towards Saudi and Syria, among other countries. At the same time he strongly defended his government's relations with neighboring country, Iran,laughing out U.S. accusations against Iran for its interference in Iraq's internal affairs. Prime Minister emphasized that all these accusations are part of the tension between the U.S. and Iran, he does not share these views, but "any U.S. official is entitled to his own opinion or point of view."

The conclusion, al Maliki's State of Law coalition message to neighboring countries nothing but: screw up, all of you. Other countries must make the move, not Iraq.

The exception to the rule is of course Iran.

OK, let me rephrase what I have just said: al Maliki government will not have any normal relations with any Arab country.

To be fully just regarding this issue, I am not going to put all the blame on al Maliki and his government for the lack of popularity in the Arab world. It is also Arab countries and governments share the blame. Watching and observing the news nowadays makes things clear how much Arab governments and leaderships would be more enthusiast seeing Iraq's top officials other than the current one.

Third: Mohamad Al Shahwany's: Secrets from the Wizard's Hat

The third and final thing is former secret intelligence chief, Mohamad Al Shahwany, and his interview that will be aired this evening on the anti-everything-related-to-Iran satellite channel, Al Sharqiya.

The man left Iraq last year to unknown destination (some say he is now in London, and others say he is in Lebanon). He left Iraq after his disagreement with the current government on the way security and intelligence have been tackled, especially after the attacks that rocked baghdad a couple of months ago. Some say that this man will disclose all "forbidden secrets" related to the hidden-agenda Iran has for Iraq, and that he had evidence of Iran's involvement in the latest attacks on governmental building last year. The trailer I have seen on TV yesterday predicts a lot of secrets to be disclosed, indeed, and will have big implications on the results of the elections.

But...

What a timing!! why did Mr. Al Shahwany decided to talk now? or is it pre-recorded some time ago but Al Sharqiya decided deliberately to air it tonight, 4 days before the general elections?

Elections 2010: Mithal al-Alusi

2010-02-27T13:57:00.001-08:00

Every single Iraqi knows Mithal al-Alusi, but for many non-Iraqis he is the only politician from Iraq who visited Israel, a move that drew a lot of media attention and public negative responses, for that he has been accused by many Arabs of treason, because his move "is an attempt to rip Iraq off from its Arab nationalism principle, and from its ultimate goal: The liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation." All this because he attended an anti-terrorism conference in Israel in 2005.

Without going into the right or wrong of his doing related to that visit, the man made his visit public, but it was his fault for being honest. It is no secret nowadays the number of Iraqi and Arab politicians already visited Israel secretly in the past years, in peace and war times, and many made trade and economic deals behind the curtains with Israeli officials, while in public showed resentment, or at least rejection to the idea of having normal relations with Israel. So, what is the big deal?

Before I continue, I tried not to start this post on al-Alusi by writing about his visit to Israel. I did not want to sound like another media trumpet when talking about this politician, but I fell in the trap! It was not intentional.

Anyway, there no single person can ignore or even try to deny the fact that Mithal al-Alusi is one of the most outspoken figures among Iraq's politicians. To take the matter to extreme negativity, some describe him as being rude or ruthless - on a side note, some call it a good attitude depending on the situation. His outbursts at journalists and his reaction to questions during TV interviews on a number of occasions is resulted in mixed reactions, not to forget the reaction to his strong presence during meetings in the parliament.

The look at this man's face gives one indication: frustration mixed with anger, a lot of anger, but with sadness, in fact a lot of grief. I don't blame him, as one of the turning points of Mr. al-Alusi's life took place in 2005 when unknown armed men ambushed his convoy in western Baghdad in an assassination attempt, which resulted in killing two of al-Alusy's sons, Ayman, 29, and Jamal, 24, along with a bodyguard. Two years later, Culture Minister then, Asaad al-Hashimi, has been identified as the kingpin behind the killing and was convicted in absentee - Asaad al-Hashimi is now under arrest by an Arab government and should be returned to Iraq in the near future, unless...

I might disagree, and say that al-Alusi's facial expression of grief and anger are merely an expression of frustration towards the situation in Iraq, a bizarre situation where only "open-minded" Iraqis would share and agree to mourn, and to some extent explode from agony.

When I say "open-minded", I am referring to those people who did not align themselves with some who took the news of the killing of al-Alusi's sons as an opportunity to take moral revenge or gloating, by saying "he deserve it, that traitor, because of his visit to Israel." This is non-sense, and inhuman, well, it is common that human value in Arab countries is considered the least to think about - Bush used Arab countries for the torturing and bring up confessions out of his Crusade war prisoners, remember? George W. Bush realize such fact and used it effectively.

Maybe for the above reasons Prime Minister al Malaki asked Mithal al-Alusi (twice?!) to take the position of head of Intelligence and Security system of Iraq. He declined the offer.

Al-Alusi political history is no secret, full of struggle regarding his opposition to the dictatorship of Saddam Hussain. He is affirmative and determine, for example, in December 2002, he was involved in the takeover of the Iraqi embassy in Berlin to protest Saddam's tyranny, and was convicted of hostage taking by a German court and sentenced to three years in jail. His sentence was later reduced to house arrest. After the fall of former regime in Iraq al-Alusi went back to Iraq and resumed his political career with some obstacles here and there due to his outspoken nature, but to all al-Alusi is not just another politician who used to live in exile (Germany), like many we know and heard about, who used to live on social benefits from his host country (and donations from sources with foreign agenda's), while attending meetings and conference to outset the then dictatorship in Iraq.

But... What can Mr. Alusi do for the future of Iraq?

Is he the right person for Iraq?

Iraq needs a strong man to rule, bring people altogether united. Iraq needs ONE figure to clean up the mess, at least for the coming period, at least for the coming 4 to 8 years, especially after the political, social, economic chaos we witnessed after the invasion of US forces and the sectarian violence engulfed the nation and fed by God knows who from east and west.

Wait… I don't want to be misunderstood, Iraq does not need another Saddam, and will never have another Saddam for many years to come, and maybe will never come. Iraq needs a strong political figure with a lot of power, a man who can compensate Iraqis for what they have suffered all the years that gone, but at the same time he can and without hesitation ram his fist do hard down and with might on those who dare to play with the fate of Iraq and the Iraqis.

Unfortunately I did not see that in current prime minister, people praise al-Maliki for being a nice man with nice personality (some call him merciful!), but did not describe him as being powerful, strict, decisive, and I don’t buy these calls by some who align him with promoting law and order, because reality showed that there is none exists in Iraq.

To the contrary, the qualities of power, determination and baldness all apply to Mithal al-Alusi, yet, many agree that other things goes hand in hand and Mr. al-Alusi has two weaknesses: The first I already mentioned, his renounced visit to Israel. In my opinion, Isreal is not the United States, neither it is South Africa to just turn the page and starts with another chapter and a new reality. The Arab-Israeli conflict is a complex issue, take a look at what happened after Sadat of Egypt made his move in the late 1970’s, the move was not prepared, the people and citizens are not prepared.

The second point taken against al-Alusi is what some people call it "the political mood of Mithal al-Alusi", or "the quick change of heart regarding Iraq's political scene", as others put it.

To start with, I don't recall someone calls al-Alusi with being Ba'athist, I doubt that someone would dare to do as such, and I laugh when someone dare to call al-Alusi as being Ba'athist, because this show the level of ignorance such a person has, especially that he was one of the founding members of the committee responsible for chasing Saddam's followers after 2003, as I read... but wait, he might get branded with that, is it maybe due to his thick mustache?

Anyway, al-Alusi does not believe in reconciliation, just a one-shot-and-go type of person - maybe this is one of the differences between this man and former prime minister, Ayad Allawy. In addition, Al-Alusi is not a fan of the concept and principle of Arab unity. Further more, he accuses the Arabs of being the portal for the U.S and western allies used to attack Iraq, thus, for the misery Iraq has plagued with. Mithal al-Alusi is a patriotic, meaning Iraq is the first and last priority. He is known for saying "If the interest of Iraq is found deep in hell, I will go there for the sake of this interest". In addition, he shares with his fellow politician Ayad Jamal Al-Din loath and strong hostility towards Iran, because of Iran's interference in Iraq's internal affairs. He shares with Ayad Allawy, though, the idea that Iraq must have a secular government i.e. rejects having religion and politics on the same table, in spite of his strong ties with religious and tribal leaders all over Iraq. Having said the above, it all makes a very complicated formula, in fact, it makes the voter confused by such a figure, taking every point I took independently and deeply into a long and vast argument.

This post is just sharing my thoughts on another distinguished political figure in Iraq, and not to promote another politician. Last time I talked about Ayad Jamal al-Din, tomorrow might be the turn to write about another politician. I would like to share my thoughts and ideas with my friends and fellow bloggers, and to exchange ideas.

On this occasion, having people exchanging their thoughts on the future of Iraq is important, the most important thing for the sake of the people who suffered a lot from wars, dictatorship, death, loss, occupation, being a victim of other’s selfish desire…etc

Above all, we all did see the current government and its conduct in the past 4 years.

I believe it is time for change.

The below video al-Alusi talks about the assassination attempt that killed his both son’s

Real Fake!

2010-02-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

This is related to my post on Ayad Jamal Al-DinIt makes me happy that people read my blog and express their admiration to what I write.

Having said that, it saddens me to see someone who just take parts of my writings and tr...anslate it to Arabic and put it in on an Iraqi website under his signiture.

I would be honored if that person just asks my permission like dear friend, Iraqi Birjwazi did and asked me, becuase this is the way civilized people deal with each other. I will be more than happy to do the translation myself to that person and send it to him/her and not seeing my work published under another name.

Elections 2010: Ayad Jamal Al-Din

2010-02-13T09:30:00.001-08:00

After watching his live-interview with Albaghdadia Tv. I thought of writing about what many consider him as the most controversial figure in Iraq politics today, it might be because he has consistently argued that freedom, tolerance and security walk hand-in-hand.
Mr. Jamal Al-Din was born in Najaf in 1961. He went to exile when he was 16 years old, lived in Syria for some time before moving to Qum, Iran where he studied Qu’ran and Shari’a for eight years. He completed his studies earning master degree in philosophy. He is a father of six and lives in Baghdad.

Ayad Jamal Al-Din is the only Iraqi cleric who is promoting for a secular Iraq - he even calling for tolerance among atheists, simply because he is not "representing God's word on earth" - Maybe the reason for that is his big influence by the writing of Ibn al Rumy, a Muslim philosopher and mystic lived in the 9'th century. He strongly believes in Ibn Al Rumy’s say that “religion came to serve the human, and not human was created to serve religion”

He is most known for calling to separate religion from the state: his principle applies to the fact that the state does not have a religion, the people of that state believe in different religions and have different believes, therefore it is not righteous to brand that state with one religion or faith. He praises the political system in Turkey, and expressed his admiration to the doctrine of the United States of America, because both represents the essential concept of building a secular and successful state.

From his own words I quote: A secular state will guarantee the rights and respect of its citizens and a religious state will make its citizens alienate themselves from that state.

His attack on today’s definition of freedom in Iraq did not please a lot of people, check the video below where he was asked whether the bloodshed in Iraq in previous years can be considered as the cost to freedom and democracy in Iraq. His answer was that “we (in Iraq)don’t know what is the definition of freedom, and we don’t know how to deal with the concept of freedom. We are like a small bird who was born in a cage, his father and mother were also born in that cage, as their grandparents before them for more than 1400 years. Now, America came and broke that cage, but that bird is not able to fly high, because he was in the cage for all these years, and never learned how to use his wings. All this caused by our inferior culture, and I don’t the beautiful and tolerant concepts, teachings and principles of beautiful religion of Islam, which set the rules for respect to all humans, I am referring to that culture that made the citizen born and grew up with one thing in mind: to be a slave to his ruler.”

I am not surprised after hearing that this politician had more than 6 assassination attempts on him! Not a lot of people would like to hear such talk today – the uploader of this video is one of those furious from Jamal Al-Din’s talk.

Speaking about that, Jamal Al-Din’s view on other political parties: He calls for transparency among Iraqi politicians, and emphasize for the call for all political parties to declare who is funding them – with all the corruption for the last 4 years and more, Ayad Jamal Al-Din won’t have a lot of good friends around. In addition, he calls for an end outside interference in Iraq’s politics, and THE ONLY SHIITE FIGURE who publicly rejects Iran's role in interfering in Iraq, in addition to his calls for a free Iraq, this include freedom from US occupation. He was for sometime a strong ally to former Prime Minister Ayad Allway (both formed an alliance but fell due to Allawy's policies and overtures to Iran), but he mentions during that interview with Albaghdadia TV that he would be the first to join Allawy on a condition to make the latter’s view on the relationship with Iran clearer and more transparent.

The big question is: will he succeed? He has a big fan base and supporter from both Sunni and Shiite inside Iraq and abroad, mainly because he is calling for the freedom of belief (this is the main concept that Europe adapted after the end of WWII). However, many people are afraid of a cleric in power - someone put it like that "if those religious men in suits came to power and since 2003 did not make one single move to make life easier for the ordinary Iraqis, how do you expect me to elect a cleric?" Ayad Jamal Al-Din replied on a number of interviews that his appearance has nothing to do with the agenda his party is campaigning – he has photos and videos not wearing the Shiite cleric custom, by the way. One of his comments on outside looks and appearance is his rejection to the idea of a woman wearing a headscarf (hijab) in order to find work - which became now the situation in Iraq for many females.

In fact there is a bigger question came to my mind: will he be allowed to succeed? Does Iran ring a bell? What about Saudi Arabia? Ayad Jamal Al-Din criticized on one of the interviews both the first Muslim Khalif Abu Baker and Ayatollah Al Khumaini, and put them both on the same level regarding their use (or misuse) of power.

Finally, I don't want to give the impression by writing this post that I am doing some kind of a free propaganda or promote the image of any political figure, including Jamal Ayad Al-Din, that’s why I didn’t mention his promises in his campaign related to bringing basic services for Iraqis and creating jobs for the unemployed…etc

These are just some thoughts I wanted to share on a political figure in today's Iraq, especially with the elections heat are approaching day after day.

The elections will be next month, 7 of march, unless something will happen that will force it to be postponed - Iraq is the country of surprises.

Below are videos I picked randomly of interviews with Jamal Al-Din (with English subtitles)

Cartoons On Iraqi TV

2010-01-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

This post about cartoons, specifically the most famous cartoons millions of Iraqi children used to watch on TV in the early and mid1980's when a "big shift" was taken by officials at the TV station from showing Eastern European made cartoons and to focus on Arabic dubbed-Japanese animation.

In the late 1970's, or maybe earlier, cartoons from Poland, such as the semi-silent type of cartoons like the polish cute adventures of Lolek & Bolek were the most famous children animation. My brother and I used to imitate those two characters and try to re-live their adventures.

It worked, most of the times.

Another famous Polish cartoon character was Reksio, the cute puppy who was famous for his human-like body-stretching after his night sleep, and his ability to learn fast from his mistakes and teach other pets good things about life around them.

I loved his tip-tapping using four legs from time to time

The "shift" I mentioned in the beginning to Japanese animation was taken in the early 1980's, thanks to Lebanese media companies and their excellent work of Classic-Arabic language dubbed cartoons, and making use of voices of famous Lebanese actors like Abdel Majid Majthoob, Mahmood Sa'eed and Jihaad Al Atrash. It became a dilemma when other Arab countries followed suit, such as Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt: the breath taking adventures of Adnan and Lina (or Future Boy Conan, as it is called in its orignial version), is a great example.

Anyone interested in the official website of this cartoon character, click here (in Japanese)

However, "Sandy Bell" was girl's all-time favorite. I was mostly interested in her van/ minibus when she grew up in later episodes and started working as a journalist.

There were other cartoon series, such as Zeena and Nahool, a story about the adventures of two bees (Zeena female, Nahool male) in the vast and mysterious green forest. I think the success of that series prompted authorities to buy another "Bee adventure" show, I am referring to the ultra-depressive bee Bashar, who spent the whole series looking for his mother.

Does anyone know the link between that bee, Bashar, and Saddam Hussein?

Another cartoon series that gained instant success from the first episode was "Lady Oscar". it was about a young woman in France who has been raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of Versailles Palace Guards, and whom later becomes very close to French queen, Marie Antoinette, before and after the French Revolution.

During that time I noticed that some episodes of that show were edited. Some episodes were shorter in length / time than previous ones. I believed that the reason was that some scenes were axed (by censorship) on a number of times. After all these years, thanks to the internet to prove my theory right, because I don't recall seeing a romantic scene like the below

In order to provide variation to the material shown on TV, it is just a speculation though, there was in the middle of all this "Japanese-animation-mania by Iraqi TV officials", Barabpapa came along, a family of colorful-shape-shifters, which became the inspiration for many to have their pictures, on school-bags and magazines, for example.

I still doubt that Iraqi TV bought all episodes from this series, or maybe one season, because this show is repeated never-seen-before shows on Dutch TV, to this day .

On a related matter where uncompleted animation show, I add "Faris Al Fadha''" or Captain Future or Kyaputen Fyūchā, as its called by original makers. I watched every single episode of that series and I was convinced that not all were shown on Iraqi TV then. However, that was one fantastic show.

It was a big inspiration to me when I used to draw and write about science fiction at younger age. Maybe that was the reason

After all these years, traveling and watching television shows in different countries, I became more convinced how skilled are those people used to be responsible for the children programs department at Iraqi TV. The material provided by the officials then were not something that can by any means considered as outdated, as I thought back then - I was furious then, because TV did not show Spider-man or other Marvel or DC comics super hero characters.

These compliments extend itself to include those highly-skilled men and women who used to bring joy (and education too) to millions of Iraqi children with their work and effort on "Majallaty" and "Al Mizmar" - both were children magazines that included comics by different Iraqi artists. It also included educational information on history, technology, society, in addition to competitions and games, such as puzzels.

Without emphasizing on government's influences, the work those great men and woman did for Iraqi children in the media is something highly appreciated. In the middle came the period of bloody war waged and Iraq was deep involved in it (Iraq-Iran war), so political and military authorities were keen to boost its propaganda as it saw it necessary in all media aspects as an effective weapon to be used to win any war.

Speaking of wars, one of my all time favorite cartoon series I loved to watch was the "Blue Submarine" (or Bluenoah, as called by its creators). Its about a very advanced submarine (and a huge carrier) that was in a war against alien invaders to planet earth.

It was another fantastic show, with fantastic ending

Sasouky is another Japanese cartoon that stole the hearts and minds of many children in Iraq at that time, simply because it was about two things: magic and Ninja martial arts... what a combination!

What was the worst cartoon series? In my opinion, there were few, but the first comes to mind was Iron Man - not Marvel's Iron Man, I meant the Japanese animation, originally called "Dinosaur War Izongorg". The show was not fully animated, some scenes encompasses of actors in monster suits doing the jumping and fighting - an art widely known in Japan as suitmation, and other scenes with simple Japanese animation.

To me, despite its success world-wide, it was one of the most awful shows I have ever seen, yet, all children wanted to become the Iron Man, the hero who defeat gray-ugly and fat pre-history dinosaurs and monsters.

Mentioning monsters here brings me to talk about the ultimate and one of the longest aired animation show ever played on Iraqi television: Grendizer, or Goldorak (in Japanese)

That show was unbeatable, no Iraqi child will ever forget Grendizer. It tops the list, with one exception, which I will come to it later. Boys and girls, mainly boys, were influenced by that show. More than 70 episodes on daily basis, where each episode showed earth and humanity on the verge of destruction and threatened by Mighty Vega and army of green soldiers attacking using their speedy UFO's. That show has everything; in addition to the super robots huge battles using deadly and catastrophic weapons, the details of space ships, places, bases given on that show were amazing. Grendizer as a show contained slow but stable story-line development, as well as character and inter-relationship progression to each (even with the customs they appeared in on later stages showed their transformation from the teenagers to those mature men and women), it had comedy and even love. Most children know the title song by heart, I mean the Arabic version of the song, it has the same melody as its original Japanese version, but with Arabic lyrics. All children became familiar with the weaponry the giant super robot use, and all children sit with anticipation at air time, waiting and trying to guess which weapon Grendizer will use against the new enemy today - what helped learning the different lethal weapons Grendizer uses against his enemies were the rantings during the different battles of main character and the "driver/controller" of that super robot, I mean "Prince Daisky". He call each weapon with its name upon using it with powerful tone and impact.

I think that Lebanese actor, Jihaad Al Atrash, did sing the main theme song, I am not sure.

Parents watch their Children watching the show with eyes wide open, focused (and some would turn world up side down if someone say something while watching the show). By the end of the show, specifically, a long gasp and "WOW" would come out from the child's mouth when seeing the final fatal slam by the giant Grendizer on his enemy monster or robot.

I heard that Mazinger was the only show that can beat Grendizer. I can't agree, or disagree because I have never watched Mazinger, thus, Grendizer remain in the top of list, except for one show that in my opinion can be on the top of the list of animation ever put on Iraqi TV:

Sindbad!

But talking about that show will have to wait for now.

This is the intro to the Arabic version of the famous cartoon series

This is the original, Japanese version

Happy Muslim New Year

2009-12-18T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hope is what kept us going through all the changes, all the difficulties in life. Hope is like the driving force for a better future. Hope and determination are the two things that would make our dreams come true.

Happy Muslim New Year to all and may peace be upon human beings

Iraqi Food

2009-11-25T02:22:00.000-08:00

On the occasion of Eid Al-Adha I decided to write this post about Iraqi food. It is not about what families are cooking during Eid, but this post is an illustration of the different food and menus Iraqis are famous with.

Wish all Eid Mubarak and may all wishes come true, most importantly health, happiness and peace.

Iraqi food is so strongly influenced by its neighboring countries, Turkey and Iran, in addition to a limited influence by Indian food – thanks to British occupation in the early 20'th Century. In spite of that, Iraqis has adopted these “foreign cuisines” to their taste, as a result, Iraqi kitchen gained some sort of uniqueness.

I start with one of the most famous Iraqi dishes, Masgouf. It is a whole-skewered fish barbecued on an outdoor grill. It is known mainly by Baghdadis in Abu Nuas street, where restaurants and cafe’s stretching along the bench of river Tigris.

By the way, most of these restaurants used to open after sunset time. You see the workers prepare everything, from cleaning tables, washing the marbled floor with a water hose in one hand and a broom or a sweeper with the other. Slowly the sun goes down and the night is lit with the stars, with the colored bulbs and neon lights of these restaurants. Gradually the music of Um Kalthoum and other classic Arabic music harmonizes the atmosphere, nothing but to make this night, like any other night, something not to forget for the guest.

Did I mention that Araq and Beer is part of this?

Some people’s passion for Masgouf prompted them to try this at home, as in the below picture.

P.S. I like his Pyjama.

Ok, lets move on…

The second in this list is Lahm b ’ajeena … The olive on top as shown in the picture below is optional, of course.

With some little modification to the recipe, the way it is made in different middle eastern countries, the name also follow suits. In Syria, its called “Safiha”, in Holland it became known as “turkse Pizza”, in other countries its known as ”Lamejun” , or Armenian Pizza. However, in Iraq its called Lahm b’ ajeena, literally means meat on bread.

The way Lahm b’ ajeena is made by making baked circles of dough topped with cooked tiny-chopped meat and onion.

Many Iraqi families, including mine used to consider Lahm b ‘ajeena as an appetizer. The view of the pile of steaming baked pastries on a plate, along the tea pot and cups, all put on a big tray carried by my beloved aunt, who happens to be the best in my opinion who make Lahm b ‘ajeena was one of my all tune favorite experiences ever.

By the way, Lahm b ‘ajeena is not by any means can be compared to pizza. It is like saying that orange and mandarin are the same.

This afternoon I was invited for Dolma, and was so delicious. A lot of people know and realize that Dolma dish came originally from the Ottoman empire times, which like anything imported to a culture it has been adapted to the way the people of that culture make their food. That’s why Dolma in Iraq is not the same Dolma in Syria or Turkey – read somewhere that Dolma is also known in Lybia!

Dolma is made of stuffed vegetables with meat and served warm. The vegetables used varies, such as tomatoes, green or red pepper, or aborigine, or with the use of Onion, which is one of my favorites and one of the most used for dolma in addition to the wide use of grape leafs.

Next… its Kleecha!

I found astonishing watching the energy when our mothers, sisters or aunts indulging themselves in a a consistent task of making Kleecha, especially a couple of days before the Eid?

There are two types of Kleecha I know of which used to be baked back then when I was in Iraq: one stuffed with dates, another is stuffed with sugar and walnut.

I have never ever seen anyone have been served Kleeche being satisfied with one piece only. Two and more is the name of the game. In addition, Kleeche won’t be complete or considered tasty, in my opinion, until it is served with hot tea, not coffee or anything else. Don’t you agree?

OK, lets turn to something else...

I still did not figure out why it is called “Kubbat Hamidh”, maybe because of Citric put with the soup? Who cares, it is just another delicious Iraqi meal.

As the picture above shows, it is a kind of soup, with rounded meat balls, mixed with cooked vegetables and other stuff, such as grain, onion…etc

There are families/ restaurants who make Kubbat Hamidh differently as in the picture below.

Lets get back to sweets, and the one I am talking about is a real dessert, it is Zarda. I am not referring to the sexy Greek power princess from Marvel comics. The ingredients are rice, almonds, oil, sugar, some add raisins, saffron and food coloring to the recipe too.

Zarda has never been one of my favorites, but many families adore it because of the combination and taste of it.

P.S. Its not my handwriting on the picture above

This means that my name is not Abbas

By the way, anyone feel like Tikka?

Focus on the grilled tomatoes…

Ask any former soldier in Iraq about them: “Bagilla Bil Dihin”, “Shalgam”, and “Lebleby” . All of these are linked to “remote food serving”. I made up this name. I am referring to hucksters or Peddlers (if this is the right term for people pushing carts and selling food and drinks in public places such as public garages and markets. The picture below is an example on how these carts look like.

Speaking of public places and peddlers, they also used to serve desserts, such as “Datly” – see picture below.

Bureg, not Chris de Bureg, is one an extremely oily food. It is is a type of baked or fried filled pastry. There are some families who prefer to make Bureg stuffed with vegetables, and other families find the most common, stuffed with meat more tasty… anyone noticed how Iraqis favor meat in most of their dishes?

Ask any Iraqi “what is Yabsa w Timmen”? The answer will be imminent, with a “of course, are you kidding?" It is nothing but white beans in tomato soup and chopped meat. It is one of the most famous and considered by many as the most bombastic meal in Iraqi Kitchen.

After having Yabsa w Timmen, the best way to digest the food is to have an afternoon nap, otherwise the situation will be critical. I think Semolina soup is the only closest thing to the gravity Yabsa w Timmen can generate.

How many of you would be craving for Tishreeb? In other countries they are called Chickpea Casserole or Tishreeb Hummus. There are two types of Tishreeb known in Iraq: Tishreeb Laham, which made of a lot of very well cooked onion, saffron, chick-pea, what else? ah, big chops of lamb meat with bones, and beneath this whole chaotically-organized-food-making infrastructure we have small pieces of bread soaked in lamb soup.

The second type of Tishreeb is “Tishreeb Dijaj”, which includes the same bombastic ingredients but substitute lamb meat with chicken.

I know one way to eat this thing: pull up your shirt arms – its going to be a mess, believe me, dive in your fingers (all of them) into the soup-soaked-bread plate, and cut a piece with your fingers nails and tip of your fingers on that thin bread. some of them would go for a wild round-like-move with the fingers and with the bread plug in a little from everything, and hop it quickly into the final destination - your mouth and stomach. For those not familiar with the rituals of eating Tishreeb, don’t wait too long or try to mud down that oily piece of bread… if you do that you won’t be able to catch up with the rest.

Anyway, that’s called: eating with bare hands, if no one noticed.

Anyone dare to say eeeeuwwwww or baahhh????

Speaking of Iraqi bread, that’s how people in villages and public places and even bakeries not long time ago bread was made

I know that Pizza is Italian, but I want here to tell about the first time I went to a restaurant specialized in serving Pizza. That small restaurant was located at Antar roundabout in Baghdad. That was in the late 1980’s, if I remember correctly. It consisted of just four or five small tables by the window where I used to watch the gradually building up of number of young men during noon, because girls from Al Hareery secondary school for girls has just ended their school day. The pizza I ordered was exactly the same as in the picture below.

OK, that's enough for today

I hope that this post won’t cause some stomachache or move someone’s appetite, especially for those on diet.

Ismail Alfarwachi Concert

2009-10-01T00:08:00.000-07:00

Ismail Alfarwachi is one of the best artists in Iraq in the late 1980's. A fabulous singer and a musician who put his mark with his style among many stars in that period such as Raed George and Adel Ogla.

Alfarwachi is a graduate from the fine art academy in Iraq and started his musical career with Raed George band as the lead singer. His raise to stardom came in 1990 with the release of his album "doos ala galbak", which branded his style with the use of synthesizers mixed with traditional Arabic maqam (scale). In 1991, during the Gulf War, Ismail Alfarwachi lost his right leg in the war but that did not prevent him from resuming his career with more and greater success, and recorded a lot of albums, such as "yal Habeebe" and "Khamra Al Hob". My personal favorite was "habeebty inti w bes". Remember, his fame came after recording a live album and not a studio album, so that was a motivation to record more live albums during his musical career. One to remember was "Hayra" - I still remember some of my friends while I was in Baghdad used to play that album loud in their cars' stereos and enjoy every song.

In late 1990's, I think, Alfarwachi left Iraq and re-located in North America, and his concerts in Canada and the United States were a source of envy of many Iraqis not living in that continents to have the chance to see that great artist live. However, Alfarwachi determination to be with his fans had no limits, he toured in the past years many other countries in the world, such as Australia, Jordan, New Zealand and the Netherlands. His appearance and touring was and still bringing happiness for many Iraqis living abroad who still remember and listen to music from the old days when real good and professional music used to be made.

Last year, Alfarwachi recorded and filmed the song "Inte Iraqi", a song that describe the feeling of an ordinary Iraqi who loves and proud of his country. The song became one of the most seen and listened songs on the internet by Iraqis for some time.

Now... this is the chance for those living in the United States, especially in Phoenix, Arizona to meet the prominent artist because he is advertising for his live concert on October 10. Click on the image to get full details on how to book your ticket and more info.

It would be great if anyone can record or film the concert. Drop me an email if anyone do that.

Which Is Better? Shiite, Sunni, or Muslim?

2009-09-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

The two parts video below are from a debate between an Iraqi political analyst, Sabah Il Khuzaey and a Mohammed Al Qizwini, a religious scholar from Iran. It is part of a coverage of the anniversary of the death of Fatima Al Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed, and the wife of Imam Ali.

The video begins with a question by Sabah Al Khuzay asking the Iranian Cleric's permission to ask questions about the Shiite faith. The latter declined and saying something like "pleae address all your questions to my office in Tehran (the voice is not that clear). The Iraqi man appealed "... Can I talk to you, please, from a Shiite to a Shiite"? The Iranian cleric answer came quickly and with confidence "I don't consider you as Shiite. I saw you on TV last night and you said that you are neither a Sunni or a Shiite, so I don't consider you as Shiite".

Sabah Al Khuzaey was not intimated by this answer, with eyes rolling, trying to focus to understand the voice on the other side due to its bad telephone communication, he asked back:

- Are you... are you Shiite or Sunni?

- I am Shiite (with more confidence and pride in the cleric voice)

- and I am Shiite too

Al Qizuiny replied calmly

- no! you are not Shiite...

But before the cleric finished his sentence Al Khuzay extended his hand to the camera as a gesture of questionning the last remark of the Iranian cleric and said:

"is it for you to decided?"... "are you in the right position to decide if I can be sunni or Shiite"?

The Iranian man replied with the same tone "yesterday you came on TV and said that you are neither Sunni or Shiite, you said that you are just a Muslim".

That reply was the trigger that marked the end of the Iraqi man's tolerance. The influence of provocation was clear, so he said "but (if I say that) do you think of it as blasphemy?"

"which one is better in your opinion? to be referred to as Sunni or Shiite? or is it better to be identified as Muslim who believe in no god but the one god and Mohammed is the prophet of God? Which one is better in your opinion?"

The Iranian cleric said " "Yes, anyone believe in that is a Muslim, but I still don't consider you Shiite, because non of what you said yesterday and today on TV is coming from a Shiite person"

At the question by Al Khuzay, it looks like the Iranian has dropped the line, but that did not prevent the Iraqi political analyst from having the urge to say his mind. He made emphasize on a number of facts, most importantly that the common Shiites in Iraq are different in their believes and mentality from their counterparts in Iran. That Iran with its interference and their fraud in writing history of Islam hundreds of years ago did ruin the beautiful principles and basics of this believes.

After that broadcast, Al Khuzay became the target of many who didn't agree with his opinion on Shiism and various internet sites and discussion forums either put him as the rightous Shiite, or the infidel Shiite - depending where to look.

One of the attempts to undermine Al Khuaey own theory of tolerance among different sects in Islam was from a Shiite who called him on phone, recorded his conversation, and uploaded it on YouTube as 7 to 8 parts, under the title "The Truth About Sabah Al Khzaey". The interviwer named himself Abu Ali. This Abu Ali is claiming in the info of his voice video that all what Al Khuzaey is doing by coming on TV and bash clerics from Iran like Al Qiuiny was only an attempt from the Iraqi to win the affection of the Wahabies", especially that he is only appearing on Al Mustakillah satellite TV and he sits with other Saudi religious figures on debate shows.

By the way, I am not a fan of Al Khuzaey, and the only reason is his compassion for Saddam as a former leader of Iraq and his praise for Saddam's achievements. Clear enough to say that his support for the ressistence is unconditional in fighting the US occupation. But which ressistence he is refering to? Interuptation does not need a lot to know which ressistence in question!

However, I like his concept of never to differentiate between one Shiite and a Sunni and his strong opposition to accepting such a concept as blasphemy?

I agree with him when say "it is the most shameful thing to call this man a Shiite or that man a Sunni".

He identify the current Iraqi Regime as "sectarian".

He also identify Shiites rituals as imported to Iraq, such rituals as slapping the face, hitting the head with an axe on the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussain, or saying bad things about the three Caliphates Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman..etc

From all what I have said about this man above, my conclusion is simple, Al Khuzaey is an example of how Iraqi people became divided, or is it that the comparison between now and then made many feel sorry for the days when Saddam used to rule the country, forgetting that one Saddam in power has been substituted with 10, carrying the same methods on every aspect and every way one can imagine.

Part One

Part Two

More from Iraq’s Old Days

2009-09-27T12:18:00.001-07:00

I don’t want to give the impression that I am pro-monarch person regarding the political system in Iraq because of the many occasions where I put pictures of that period on my blog.

I am not anti-monarch either

I am only trying to reflect different aspects of the history of this beautiful country and its beautiful people

Click on each image to get larger view

I will start with Al Khadmiyah, Baghdad, in 1919

For those wondering how the first king ruled Iraq after the country creation looked like, This King Faisal, in traditional customs

And below is another picture of the late king wearing western suit.

Below is a picture of the first leader of the Republic of Iraq.

King Faisal II, the last king of Iraq before it became a republic

Look carefully, for Baghdadis, look close, do you recognize the structure?

This is an aerial shot Abu Hanifa Mosque in Al Adhamiyah

According to the picture, this is Al Rasheed street in Baghdad, 1950, during some flood

When I saw the picture below, I started to think, these are red double decker buses for public transport, which was used in Iraq till the fall of former regime. The picture below is like bus schedule of the lines these buses was taken around Baghdad.

No difference from these I see in bus / tram stops here in the Netherlands

Ironic… no, sad, because Iraq in late 1950 used to be no difference from any civilized country around the world

This is a picture of a reception at the ministry of foreign affairs in Baghdad during monarch period.

Elegance!

Look at the way Iraqi Prime Minister, Noory Saeed bowing in front of the lady, the prestige in the way the head of the Iraqi government at that time is greeting a lady.

According to the source where I found the picture it is “Nuri Pasha Al Said. Probably in Pakistan. Ayoub Khan President of Pakistan in Background. Not sure if the lady is Mrs Ayoub Khan. Also to be seen in the photo, Burhan addin Bash'ayan and Fadhil Jamali”

King Feisal's 2nd birthday. According to the source: “I have tagged the children I recognise.
In this photo: Muna Al Farisi, Salwan Baban, Anisa Sadoun, Aysar Sulaiman, Lamis Al Daftari, Nasser Al Haideri, salwa sati' Alhuseri, muhsin Suleiman”

This picture is taken during the inauguration of King Faisal II.

Notice the guard drinking water!

Also… anyone noticed the similarities in the uniform those guards are wearing?

This is from an evening with Um Kalthom. The source of the picture says that the people in the picture are: Jamal Baban, Najib Al Rawi, Mumtaz Al Omari, Fazila Daghistani, Suad Al Omari, Nimat Yasin Al Hashimi, Nuri Al Said, Salima Daghistani, Tawfiq Al Sweidi, Tahsin Qadry, Obeyd Al Mathaifi

I liked the comments from which I took the photos from and I will quote it here:

“All the models were Iraqi ladies from prominent families. Can anyone imagine this kind of event taking place in Iraq today????”

The below picture of a fancy dress party where Iraqi Prime Miniter Noori Saeed, his wife Naima standing to the left of Photo. Their son Sabah and Ghazi Al Daghistani in Daghistani costume seated.

Another picture of a reception party at the embassy in Tehran where King Faisal II is seen with other distinguished guests such as queen Shahinaz

Royal hunting where King Faisal II is seen in the light jacket

King Feisal's Birthday Al Rihab Palace . May 2nd 1946. Um Kalthum sang at this occasion

The below picture is from the Baghdad Pact session in 1955

Iraqi Prime Minister, Noory Saeed (left) with Turkish politician Adnan Menderes at the airport.

It has been said that the only statue remained untouched after the 2003 war was of Al Sadoon in central Baghdad.

The picture below is from the unveiling ceremony of Abdul Muhsin Al Sadoun's statue. Baghdad May 20th 1933

Abdel Kareem Qasim in one of his visits

This is an illustration of how Al Khayyam cinema theater

Do You Know Iraq?

2009-09-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

The world should know Iraq through the pictures below:

Its about history, might, power, glory, art

Its about nature, fun, joy and social life for the young and the old

Iraq is about simplicity

Iraq is about genius, music, and spiritual beauty within its people

Iraq is where the first law was discovered, where rules and discipline towards a better humanity have been set

Iraq is where the good food is

They said that Paris or Rome, or New York are called "the cities that never sleeps"

Baghdad, with its glory nights, used to match with such great Western cities.

This is how the world should see, and know Iraq.

That's Why I Made This Blog

2009-09-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I received an email, in it there was a question on the purpose I created this blog.

My answer was...

I don't the world to know Iraq through the pictures below

Ilham Al Madfai

2009-05-29T01:47:00.001-07:00

Ilham Al Madfai was and still considered a legend in the history of Iraqi music. He is the one who brought western music (guitar, bass, drums, organ) to Iraq and transformed traditional Iraqi Maqam songs into something musically new no one has seen or done before, taking his first band, The Twisters, into fame in Iraqi music scene.

Ilham Al Madfa is till this day an influence to thousands, if not millions of Iraqis, young and old, men and women.

Below are songs of a performance live during 1970's of "foug al nakhal" and "chel chel" songs. I think Ilham Al Madfai is using Guitar Flanger Effects on the first song.

Listen to the dominant bass lines on the below songs, obvious influence of Jazz combined with chacha rhythm. Listen to how the Hammond organ is doing harmonies and melodies fills, simply amazing.

This song is one of my ever favorite... I love the chromatic bass there aligned with the warm voice singing the song.

According to the official website, Ilham Al Madfai is now recording his new album between Amman and Beirut.

Source of the videos are from IraqiBaghdad2009.

Ammo Baba... In Pictures

2009-05-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

He loved his country.
He loved his people.
He challenged everything in order to serve his country to the last breath
He became the symbol of success for Iraq and Iraqis
His ill health did not stop him
Harassment did not make him give up.
All Iraq is shedding tears for this legend.
God rest his soul.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

Sheik Al-Modaribeen, Ammo Baba

2009-05-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

"He is the one who put the basics for football school in Iraq's modern history"

"He is called the father of all football trainers"

"He is the master of Iraqi football"

"There is no one like him, no one will be like him"

The above are just some of the words echoed by many people upon receiving the news of death of Ammo Baba today in Dhuk, north of Iraq

This post is a tribute to this great man. He will never be forgotten.

May God bless and rest his soul

Below is a report on Ammo Baba's school of football for children in Baghdad

Behjet Al-Jubouri

2009-05-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Big applause for Iraqi actor Behjet Al-Jubouri.

Many congratulations for receiving the award of the best supporting actor on his role in one of the most controversial Egyptian movies of last year, "Chief Omar Harb". Al-Jubouri plays the role of a reckless Iraqi man living in Egypt who didn't care much but for spending teh time getting drunk or gambling. I saw part of the movie last year, because of the bad quality of the copy I didn't finish it till end, but I loved the role Behjet Al-Jubouri played, he did it wonderfully.

It fills my heart with pride and joy seeing that depsite all the difficulties Iraqis have gone through in the past decades and until now, there are still beautiful, inventive, couragous people here and there shining like stars from the deep darkness of a glooming night.

Other Iraqi actors call him "the genies". Mr Al-Jubouri played different roles on theater, movies and television. People watched him as the cold-hearted villain; he also played the good man who fight for the good of his people; a lover and he is even known for his ability to combine drama and comedy in many roles.

Behjet Al-Jubouri is originally from Dhi Qar province. From a family who wanted their son to be a doctor or an engineer, instead he joined the institute of art where he got his diploma. During the 1970's his focus was mainly on the theater, especially after moving to the capital Baghdad. In addition, he directed a number of plays for school theater in his own town, Al Nasiriayh.

In mid 1980's Al-Jubouri took parts in movies, such as the historic epic-movie "Al Qadisiya" (tells the story of kicking out the Persians from Iraq by Muslim armies - one of my favorite movies), and "Another Day". His appearance on theater was magnificant, no Iraqi would forget his part in "a House and 5 Doors" or "Suberbans". Years later and after the decline in producing and making plays on theater in Iraq, the focus was turned towards the silver screen, through the 1990's. The prominent actor appeared on many TV series such as "The Whale and the Wall" and "Cradle of Fire".

I loved his role in "Wolves of the Night" series, where he played a gang leader who just got out of years in jail when he decide to make one last adventure before retirements.

Like many actors and artists from Iraq after the fall of the Iraqi regime, Al-Jubouri left his country in 2006 to Egypt - some sources indicates that the main reason for leaving Iraq was the actor deteriorating health which needed special medical care.

Al-Jubouri is known for his harsh critic of the status of the Iraqi TV drama at the moment. His repraoch of Iraqi artists (actors as well as directors) being reckless is not by any means the reason for him to try to seek opportunities outside Iraq. His judgment is based on his love for his profession and his wish to see Iraqi media and TV drama and theater in aprticular improve. His observation is not new, actually, one of the reasons he quit acting for a short time back in the 1980's was because of his fear from the the ill-fate of many great old actors by the former Iraqi regime. Yet, he emphesized on many occasions that Iraq still a great source of talents in all kind of arts, and the potential is huge if the opportunity and financial resources available.

According to some sources, Behjet Al-Jubouri is working on a big project, a TV series based on true events taken from records of Iraqi secret service during the Saddam era.

This is something I am looking forward to.

From my heart I wish Behjet Al-Jubouri health, especially with the news about his heart health problems recently.

From my heart I congratulate Mr Al-Jubouri again for the award.

Below is the trailer of "Chief Omar Harb" - seen on 0:59

U.S. Justice

2009-05-25T01:27:00.000-07:00

The scumbag shown in the picture on the left is Steven Green, who is identified by Wikipedia as a war criminal.

Is there justice in locking up this thug for life time in prison?

I don't believe so

Any society in any country in the world should wipe such people from the face of earth. Some people might not agree with me on the death-sentence, but would letting such people breath from the same air is a mistake.

Am I in position to judge him? yes, as a human being, and this drug and alcohol addict must be executed. What more

According to a source, one of the reasons this thug was not giving capital punishment was that rural Western Kentucky people are conservative libertarian, generally opposed to giving any government the right to kill its citizens, and the kind of Bible Belt Christians who believe in personal redemption. They rarely give death sentences, and when they do those are rarely carried out. (Three people have been executed in Kentucky since 1978.) Pvt. Green moreover had confessed the night of the killings to a sergeant who, to protect the unit, did not report the crime and got Green out the military, out of Iraq. Once in the federal court system, Green had tried to plead guilty twice in exchange for his life but the federal government had twice refused to accept his guilty plea, apparently wanting a show trial. Aware of his confession and attempts to plead guilty, Kentuckians would reliably reject what might be construed as an attempt to turn a capital murder case into a political bargaining chip. The predictable choice for these Kentuckians would therefore have been a quick unanimous vote for life without possibility of parole.

But all this apply to the United States and what is happening in the United States, yet, the crime was committed in Iraq: Gang-raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her 5-year old little sister, her mother and her father, inside their house, then set fire to the house before leaving with his 4 accomplices. All this cannot be easy going to look at it from a cultural and religious point of view.

Would today's verdict be any difference from the earlier one by the court? I don't think so! this family is Iraqi, not American. Second, the whole thing is among different parties have been politically maneuvered.

If there is any person from the jury has an honor, an honor to imagine the brutality and what that filthy boy and his friends did, he or she would easily bring justice to two innocent girls and their families i.e. sentence him to death.

Saddam's Readiness for War

2009-05-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sad but true...

It is not sad that the nation has lost a great a leader, because I don't give a damn about that leader, simply because he caused so much pain for decades to Iraq and the Iraqis, secondly, he was the main reason behind bringing all the mayhem Iraqis are living through at the moment... it all goes down to his arrogance, greed and miscalculations.

The footage has been found in 2006 (after the war), I asked around and the answer was it never been aired on official Iraqi TV before. There is an article from the NY Times on this video.

I won't talk about his trial, about his miserable end in this post, but below is a video of a leader who wanted to fight with a slingshot and other weaponry - as they were illustrated by an idiot minister.

This is how a president of a country used to fool himself of inventing a reality that applied only to his sick and filthy mind.

This leader of a great nation is the same one who said back in 1990 that the great boys of Iraq (il-waieelad) will rise up out of nowhere in the desert and with a handful of sand will bring down apache helicopters!

Sad but true

Al Habbaniya

2009-05-19T03:15:00.000-07:00

Al Habbaniya is a huge lake in the middle of the desert located between the city of Falluja and the city of Ramady, west of Iraq. Its size is approximately 700 m2 and can take more than 60 thousands inhabitants.

In the late 1970, the government in Iraq launched an ambitious project that turned the area into one of the most luxorious tourist resorts in Iraq. People of all ages, families with children, group of young boys and girls and university students from Baghdad and neighoring towns and cities used to go there to enjoy the weekend or spend either Al Eid or other holidays there. In addition, many young married couples decided to spend their honeymoon by booking a room in the luxurious hotel or in one of the small bricked beautiful houses.

There are many facilities used to be available for the visitors in Al Habbaniy: there were tennis courts, basketball fields, bycycles can be rented. There was a small hall with electronic games, not to forget the swimming pools, and the two disco halls - one on the rare side of the lake.

In the late 1980's Al Habbaniya became a destination for foreign tourists. I remember seeing groups of men and women from the Gulf and western countries when I used to go there.

I have been countless time to Al Habbaniya. Since I was a child my parents used to take me there accompanied with other family friends, playing with the kids and enjoying the sun and the water. Things didn't change when I grew up, only that it was with group of friends from the neighborhood or joining with colleagues from university. That's why I have a lot of good (and some bad I won't talk about) memories related to Al Habbaniya. Thus, this place has a special meaning to me, until now.

After the 2003 war, the resort was converted into a shelter for poor and displaced families because of the secterian conflict. In addition, a new military base was installed with the purpose of training soldiers as part of the process of forming new army brigades and police squads for Al Anbar province - I even heard that the major military hospital for the American army is located there.

Below are pictures I found on Al Habbaniya during its golden period

Happy House Mall

2009-05-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

After the news of a skyscraper plans in Najaf, below is a picture of the first commercial center or a mall in Baghdad.

Its called "happy house", located in Al Dhubbat street, in Al Adhmaiyah neighborhood.

I am delighted with this news, because it proves my theory that there are people in Iraq who believe strongly in life, in moving on, in spite of what happens.

The picture was taken during the opening ceremonies of the mall, with honored guest Al Eesawy, deputy prime minister of Iraq - that's why we see a guard with automatic weapon appear in the picture.

The image is from Ahmed Al Taai and Ahmed Al Salihi profiles on facebook

Skyscraper In Najaf

2009-05-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

I never heard of this until now. I am trying to imagine a skyscraper stretching high in the sky of the city of Najaf. This is not the big deal, it is nice to have something like that. According to the news source, this skyscraper is part of an expanded 10 years plan to modernize the city of Najaf, and that this design is going to be implemented by a Kuwaiti company. However, the cost of building the skyscraper only is 38 billion dollars! And that part of that amount of money is already has been paid to the Iraqi government!!!!!!!!

Shahrazad

2009-05-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous woman is Shahrazad.

This woman did not use her femenine tools to attract and change the bloody habit of her husband, Shahrayar. She used her mind, her intellegence to soften the heart of a sadistic mind.

I wrote about Shahrazad in 2007, while writing about her statue in Baghdad.

The story of 1000 nights and one night is an inspiration to generations of story tellers, movies makers, musicians and poets.

It will remain so, forever and ever and ever.

Basrah: Old and New

2009-05-09T11:19:00.001-07:00

In the last post I put a number of pictures of beautiful north of Iraq. Today I am putting pictures from the further south of Iraq, from the gorgeous city of Basrah (or Basra, as in some sources).

I found the pictures on the Internet, so anyone claims rights to these photos, please let me know - the main reason for publishing these photos is to share, and to show the beauty of Iraq.

North of Iraq

2009-05-06T02:29:00.000-07:00

I received the below photos by email, they are of the north of Iraq, a spot on earth that by some historians is considered the outreach to what believed to be the Garden of Eden

Raad & Mithaaq

2009-04-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

The twins were born in in Al Sheikh Ali neighborhood, in Baghdad 1973, which is a popular area in the Iraqi capital. They started singing in wedding parties for free, singing cover songs by famous Iraqi singers such as Yas Khidhir and Riadh Ahmed. Also they covered Um Kalthoom and George Wassouf songs in their performance list.

Raad and Mithaq Al Samaray became known to the public in 1998 when they were invited to a radio talk show hosted by Majeed Al Samaray called "dialogue, with no limits" where another host was present, the famous Iraqi musician Talib Al Gharagholly, who was stunned by the performance of the twins and gave big compliments and adviced them to work harder and to exercise in order to improve better with their musical career. Since then, the twins appeared on a number of programs and talk shows, and for years followed they built large public base through many live performances in Iraq and Syria.

At that time, the Iraqi twins rejected the idea of making their own music, because of their family's objection to the idea of making a career in music, in addition to the high cost of making music, which is financially not affordable for them. Yet, the time came when the twins had to take the decision, and "Dhihketly" was the key to fame. A song that was made as a video clip, Central-Iraq dialect in the lyrics was used, and a funny story line of two look-alike brothers fight for the heart of one girl. The video clip of the song also boosted the success of the song. Bigger success achieved when the twins appeared on Al sharqiya TV channel in an interview on "Tarachi" program, while they were filming another video clip of one of their songs.

This was the first time I saw those guys on TV and saw "Dhihketly" later on.

The twins put it clear more than once that they are not eager to make quick dance songs, because they like to make slow, romantic, and more melodic style of songs. However, the songs they became known for are the quick and semi-commercial, yet, according to them will and should not be considered as the brand they would be known for.

With the help of Iraqi artist, Yihya Al Jabiry, Raad and Mithaq Al Samaray appeared more on TV and they became more willing to participate in different Iraqi music activities - there is a very nice "mawal" on the internet by the twins singing for Iraq.

Love their voice, and the combination of traditional Iraqi singing style with the modern technological mixing of the music.

Dhihketly

Aleesh

Ya Ammi Aleene

Ibn Il Iraq

Mawwal

Wrestling: Iraqi Bedouin vs. American soldier

2009-04-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Wrestling between an Iraqi and an American soldier.

Reading the comments on YouTube, some smart think that it is a real wrestling... it is just for fun

Interview

2009-04-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

The video below reminds me of movies like Airplane and hot shot.

6 Years Later

2009-04-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

It was one of the most important decisions I made in my life that made travel and be in

Syria

on this day 6 years ago. While I was there, I felt the tension because that date, the fear of what to come in people’s eyes and in the tone of their voices. Taxi drivers, friends I met there, shop owners, everyone who knew who I am and where I originally come from.

Watching with anxiety live TV of the statue falling and Iraqis run to slap the statue with everything their hand can hold was a relief, it was the end of a regime that doomed a nation for decades. At the same time, the happiness was not complete, because of what to come; it was an occupation that toppled the regime. Not that I was foreseeing the future of Iraq, except for the fact that there will be… kingdom come

This happened in the past six years. It is when US troops marched through and beneath the statue of liberty in central Baghdad. Burned and let others burn and loot everything, which dragged the country into a long abyss – some call it the return to the stone age of a country in the 21 century.

I was reading a blog post written by an American woman in 2003 when she expressed her fear and concern on what might happen to a dear friend of hers who joined the US army and was sent to Iraq. At the end of her post, she was hoping that her friend will come back quickly … “after he kills some hundred of Iraqis”, according to that blogger.

I don’t know if the friend of that American blogger made it back – that blogger stopped writing last year. But there is one thing for sure: the macho attitude depicted in that blogger’s words did not resolve but to other than more dismay, for every human being living on this planet, and there is no exaggeration here.

The US occupation of Iraq generated a feeling of loath towards that country by millions all around the world. Many Americans I read about and talked with traveled abroad and went back to the US with uneasiness about how others treat them, to the extent that some would say “I am Canadian” when asked about the nationality – A mix of fear from hostile reaction or that of a shameful sense of guilt because of their government actions.

Reminds me of the time many years ago: the whole world hated us because of Saddam

However, the real tragedy was put upon the Iraqis; hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis paid the price for others, and Iraq became the beacon for all kind of battles, where each claim victory on the other. The result was over a million deaths and millions displaced – not to count women who became widows, children who became orphans, parents lost their children, families lost their properties and everything they own, and millions had to beg for the mercy of other countries to accommodate them.

After 9 April 2003, Iraq became a different country from that I used to know.

It became entirely different from the Iraq I was dreaming of.

How? Iraq topped the list in the last six years as the most corrupted country in the world. In addition, the number of martyrs and the altitude of humiliation ordinary Iraqis faced with reached a record breaking level. Ordinary people got locked in a circle of violence that only provides gains to strangers - The term “strangers” applies also to some Iraqis who dig with their hands deep into every aspect of the country’s economic, social and religious aspect, thinking that Iraq is indeed was the cave where Ali Baba found the ultimate treasures of Baghdad.

Speaking of treasure, I should not forget those with sick minds and shaky faith in their country; I am talking about those Iraqis living abroad who found in Iraq after the toppeling of the regime the golden opportunity to gain political and financial benefits: from those who turned from engineers to car dealers, for example, and started exporting used cars to Iraq; or people living in Europe on social security help suddenly turned into land owners in Iraq. I am not going to talk about those politicians and head of academic institutions who forged recognized university diplomas and became suddenly an important person with PhD in certain field of expert.

History and culture, and even the Geo-political nature of Iraq have been violated in the ugliest way: Everyone noticed the ongoing process to turn Iraq to “the Arabic province” of Iran is just one of many examples. Hundreds of thousands of distinguished figures in the Iraqi army became either jobless or a target for senseless assassination attempts, thanks to the notorious Bremer.

What saddened me most, after 6 years of observing the political scene in Iraq is the sum of lies put forward, the number of manipulations in the words of those who come on TV or write on the internet and newspapers talking about Iraq and what is happening in Iraq. Politicians talk about their honesty, their achievements, about their care for the Iraqi people, about their unlimited power to serve Iraq, to help in bringing justice to those deserve justice. It is outrageous that all Iraqis, from north to south knows certain people or certain individuals as being liars, and those liars know that ordinary Iraqis think that way about them, but they became so shameless to continue in what they are doing. This is not limited to Iraqis, it expands to include other known figures from other countries...

Wait a minute, the whole war and occupation thing is based on a lie and manipulation

9 of April 2003 marked the end of tyranny in Iraq. That regime promised the Iraqi people years before that date a no giving up of power until the whole country turn into ashes.

Saddam made his promise true!

A side note, while people remember and watch the anniversary coverage of the fall of Saddam’s regime on different TV stations today, there was an interview yesterday and today with Dr. Hasan Al Bazzaz, the brother of former Prime Minister, Abdel Rahman Al Bazzas, who died in 1973 after he has been jailed and brutally tortured by Saddam’s Regime. The broadcast came on time, in my opinion, to remind people of a period in modern history of Iraq, to make us link this to that and remember how Iraq used to be and how it became after the occupation.

Will we, as Iraqis learn from our past, from such a bloody and sad history of our country?

There is no contradiction, and I can't say that days under Saddam were better. We used to see threats of military and secret intelligence, where they would storm our house at any minute. We, as Iraqis, have been into a position where the brother cannot trust his brother. We remember how Saddam and his clan butchered innocent people for no reason, confiscated lands and houses from citizens because one of Saddam's family liked that land, slay on anyone's throat if he or she would say anything that might give a chance for Iraq to pprogress and to become one of the most advanced and economically powerful countries in the world.

Not to forget that the former regime, because of its insanity caused a country with massive rich resources goes in deep hole of debts. Finally, it was the same regime that crushed the country into a position where the weak and the strong from all over the world would feed on its remains.

However, in spite of all what happened, all the sorrow, wariness, heart-bleeding events took place in the past years I do share optimistic views on the future of Iraq. There are many who agree with me. Ali, a fellow blogger, who changed the name of his blog from “Ali the Translator” to “A Better Iraq”, is a great example. In addition, my dear friend, B, is another example. He and his very ill mother have a dream to see Iraq flourishing and alive, that one day they would take their families back and participate in building the future of his beloved country. My dear friend, R, is another example, a person who would argue with best friends around and not to let someone say something bad about Iraq, with insistence that the country will be better - in fact R says that the country is going on the right direction despite all what happened and what will happen.

In the past six years, there are wonderful people from all aspectes of life who depicted positive picture of new Iraq. They have their fears, but they have the motivation and determination to move the country forward. I read about those on the internet, I hear about them from friends and relatives. I met some of them who fled the country a couple of years ago because of the secteian conflict. All of them made me happy, proud, and more optimistic. Those wonderful and couragous people challenged the occupation, stood against the secterian and religious attempts to tear the country apart, pushed the bastards who wanted to enforce their agendas and ideologies within society away from every street and alley in Baghdad and other cities. Those Iraqis I am talking about did not believe in Sunni or Shiite; Did not believe in a Kurdish or a Chrisitian; did not believe in that tribe or the other. They did not have a faith in anything, but in one God, and in one country called Iraq... their lasting love.

Images by
Ghassan747
drDIGITALhamodi

Zuhal Sultan - National Youth Orchestra Of Iraq

2009-03-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

I couple of days ago I received a request via the email below.

It is about a young Iraqi woman, named Zuhal Sultan. According to the email, Ms. Sultan is campaigning to form the first ever National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, with further plans to tour around Iraq. At the moment she is in the UK to participate in a conference.

More about this below.

Anyone living in the UK and reading this post, please pass through the message below and if anyone can attend this event and get some pictures, maybe, that would be nice to post it here too or let me know where they are posted.

Any way of support given is much appreciated to make this initiative a success.

I am writing on behalf of a wonderful initiative that a young pianist in Baghdad is campaigning to establish in Iraq. If you are currently in the UK we would like to invite you to a very special event and we would be very grateful if you could forward information via your website, and suggest individuals or organisations with whom we might get in touch to make the most of this special opportunity.

17 year old Iraqi pianist Zuhal Sultan is campaigning to form the first ever National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. Zuhal believes the orchestra can bring together young people from different racial and religious groups. She wants the orchestra to give the young people a voice and to help them feel optimistic about their country and their future: “I am aware that I cannot erase years of war and conflict damage, but what I can do is bring positivity back into people's lives.”

Zuhal plans to form an orchestra of young people that meets at a summer academy for rehearsals each year, then tours across Iraq and abroad.

So far Zuhal has gained the on-going support of Channel 4’s youth campaigning project ‘Battlefront’, voluntary music charity Making Music, US-based music organisation Musicians For Harmony and conductor Paul MacAlindin. She also has the support of the Master of the Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who has offered to be the orchestra’s composer-in-residence.

Zuhal has been scouring her country for talent and has already found 40 potential youth orchestra members. Her current quest is to find professional musicians abroad to volunteer one-to-one tuition for these young people via the web. Not only is there currently no youth orchestra in Iraq but there is also a dire shortage of professional musicians in Iraq to train these young musicians in their craft.

It’s an ambitious project, but Zuhal is an extraordinary and gifted young woman, and she is determined to succeed in her plans.

In a wonderful and timely gesture the British Council and Fairsay (eCampaigning charity) have made it possible for Zuhal to travel to the UK and participate in an international eCampaigning conference. While she is here, she will give a recital at the Wigmore Hall in London at 1pm on Thursday 2 April, hosted by Battlefront. Zuhal will play and then talk about her project and about life in Iraq for her and her peers, with a Q & A session. It will offer a unique opportunity to learn more about this inspiring project.

Tickets for this event are free – you just need to sign up at http://zuhal.eventbrite.com or email joanna.woolf@rawtelevision.co.uk.

Whatever your interest – be it in spreading the word, in volunteering as a trustee, as a potential donor to this project as it gets off the ground, or simply out of personal interest in seeing something positive happening in Iraqi musical life – please come and support Zuhal at this event and join us in welcoming her to her first visit to the UK.

Justice Will Prevail

2009-03-08T15:14:00.001-07:00

This is the slogan the families of the victims of Al Amiriya shelter in Baghdad during a live coverage from the bunker itself by Al Baghdadia satellite channel a couple of days ago to commemorate the victims of that criminal act during the 1991.

There were interviews with families of the victims and other people living in the surrounding area of the shelter – one of them told the story how he heard the first blast and after the second he ran towards the shelter, went to the second floor and saw people in flames screaming for help. Another told of his son who was in the shelter when it happened, the father went inside and saw his son, he was 12 years old then rapped in a blanket, his body was burned from toe to head, the whole flesh was eaten by the fire.

The families of the victims, old and young men and women appealed to the Iraqi government to re-open the shelter to public, which was closed in 2003 after the US occupation of Iraq. They called for effort and work on rebuilding the site and to make it a museum for others to see and remember those men, women, children and elderly people their lives were taken without purpose, and reason.

Some families were puzzled with the fact that human life is precious in many countries, taking an example of the terrorist attack on PAN AM flight in 1988, and they asked for justice, a similar fairness in assessing the altitude of this tragedy .

I was surprised to know from that live coverage that the US forces entered the shelter in 2003, torn up the pictures of victims hanging on walls, stepped on some of them with their boots and even sprayed their machine guns on the walls.

While I was watching, it crossed my mind many places I visited in the past in Europe to commemorate the victims of World War I and II, not to forget Hitler’s victims e.g. Auschwitz.

Would be wrong if Al Amiriya shelter be included as part of UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites? Maybe not! It is not the Pyramids.

It all goes back to one concept: how valuable those who died to their own people in order to make others from other countries acknowledge their rights, for justice.

Big Celebrations in Al Adhamiyah

2009-03-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

I just had many flash-backs of the old days when I was there, like many I was seeing on television celebrating today the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohammed. Sometimes I used to go with a group of friends, another time / another year I used to go with the male cousins, another time on another year I used to take the whole family and we meet with other relatives and friends there. Women, old and young carrying lighten candles, which became a ritual on that day for many to do. Some parents used to buy new clothes for their children, like it was Eid ul-Fitr or Eid al-Adha.

I love the look on people faces then; it used to be joy for some, obedience for others, happiness was the most obvious look. It used to be the moment when people gather from different areas and neighborhood of Baghdad to Al Adhamiyah.

Today the authorities closed the bridge linking Al Adhamiyah and Al Kadhmiyah from cars crossing through between the two neighborhoods. However, pedestrians was included and many from different ages were seen crossing and approaching the site of the celebrations.

The only difference from the old days is that today were a number of passing military barrages in between the thousands of people, and the presence of heavy security. I am delighted to see old and new Iraq comes as one in my eyes and my mind.

Most, if not all of the people interviewed by Iraqi TV stations expressed their relief because of the security. Most of the people, if not all were emphasizing on reconciliation among all Iraqis and that Iraq return to the old days when no different between Shi’a and Sunni or any other ethnic or religious group. I loved the fireworks shot by people to the bright sky, loved the young and old reading poems expressing a feeling of joy on that day.

Al Adhamiyah is bright again, not with big lights surrounding Abu Hanifa mosque and the surrounding, but the brightness and the beauty came from the people celebrating on this blessed day.

Congratulations to all Muslim everywhere and Congratulations to all Iraqis

Al Amiriya Shelter

2009-02-27T02:45:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago, Iraqis recalled one of the darkest moments in their country's history when two GBU-27 laser-guided bombs were dropped by stealth fighter planes on Al Amiriya shelter in Baghdad, at about 4 a.m. on Feb. 13, 1991. This resulted in more than 400 men, women and children burned to death. It has been said that the children were asked by their parents to keep on watching cartoons so they won't be afraid.

The first missile cut through ten feet of reinforced concrete before a time-delayed fuse exploded. Minutes later the second bomb followed the path cut by the first bomb.The explosion inside the bunker pressed the bodies against walls and ceiling, caused a very high temperature., thus carbonizing both flesh and walls. When rescue began, there were bodies found pressed against walls, which were less carbonized. One clearly recognises shapes of bodies, faces, mothers holding children.

According to the U.S. officials at that time, it has been thought that the shelter was a command center. Some rumors were circulating at that time that Saddam Hussain himself and his commanders were hiding in that bunker. The White House, though, in a report titled Apparatus of Lies: Crafting Tragedy, stated then that US intelligence sources reported the blockhouse was being used for military command purposes. The report goes on to accuse the Iraqi government of deliberately keeping "select civilians" in a military facility at Amiriyah. However, Jeremy Bowen, a BBC correspondent, was one of the first television reporters on the scene after the blast. Bowen was given access to the site and confirmed that no evidence of military use (report aired the next day on BBC1).

The shelter now is considered as a shrine where pictures of the dead babies, women and children hanging can be seen. However, many of the traces of that massacare can be seen in different spots.

Many things have been written on Al Amiriya Shelter, such as the article written by Ali Asadullah in 2000, or Ibrahim Alloush's article in 2002, or how Ramzy Baroud's called it the chamber of horror in his article in 2003. However, there is a exclusive blog (in Arabic and English) on the tragedy, can found here to commemorate the victims of Al Amiriya Shelter. It is by a blogger under the name Sahab, who also created another blog about the children from al Hanan orphanage. It contains many pictures and videos, in addition to eye witnesses and interviews with people concerning this genocide. In addition, in 2001 a research center has been established in Madrid, Spain named after the doomed site i.e. Al Amiriya Center for Documentation and International Initiatives, that deals with the autrocities committed by U.S. forces during that war (they seems to fail to foresee the future and the events followed 2003 and until now).

God bless the souls of Al Amiriya Shelter vicitims, and may they rest in peace, forever and ever.

Below is a video filmed in 2003 of the shelter

Kurdish Embassy In The Netherlands

2009-02-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

I felt that it was some kind of sarcastic joke when he said that the Iraqi Embassy in the Hague, the Netherlands, is not a representative entity of Iraqi state rather an embassy of the Kurd. The website of the embassy is nothing but a immature attempt by some immature person who decided to play around with some Java scripts, cropping GIF and JPG images, and fiddling with some HTML codes - I don't remember when but I am certain that I talked before about this website, yet, this is not the core purpose for this post, but it looks like that those who are responsible for authorizing any article on the website do not even have the courtesy to check anything before publishing. Worse than that, there is some emphasize which to me is done on purpose to put forward anything related to Kurdish language to the front as if Iraq as a country consists of Kurdish majority and "other ethnic groups" minorities, including Arabs. The majority of the downloaded documents for official ratification are Kurdish, I am talking about 99% of available to be downloaded PDF files.

I managed to get Arabic language forms of some of these available, and I could see the shameful grammatical mistakes in Arabic on many of what has been published. The method used to write anything on the website is rubbish, any Arabic speaking person would be disgusted and frustrated to the highest level.

Why Do You Kill, Zaid?

2009-02-17T09:45:00.001-08:00

Below is a video of an interview with DR. Juergen Todenhoefer, a former German politician and an author who spent time in Iraq, specifically in Ramady province. He tells the story of Zaid, an Iraqi young man's path into joining the ressistance in Iraq against the US occupation, and gives an insight to the reasons behind such a decision for an ordinary Iraqi who rejected war and violence in the begining.

With English Subtitles

With Arabic subtitles

Special thanks to those who did the great effort of translating this interview to both languages.

The official link to the book is here

Oldest Photos of Baghdad

2009-02-06T05:48:00.000-08:00

I am posting in this post a batch of photos, which is considered as the oldest photos of Baghdad ever made. According to the website I nicked the photos from, it is between 1910 and 1939

Stuart Haugen

2009-01-09T01:11:00.000-08:00

I was surprised that such a politicians has no website, blog, not either a Wikipedia entry anywhere on the internet. Is he like the Batman of the Republican Party in France? The only reference is on the Observers website:

About Me:
I'm the vice-chair of the Republicans Abroad France.

* City : Paris
* Country : France
* Languages : English
* Date of birth :
* Profession : Politician
* Blog or Web site :

Interests :

* Election
* France
* Republican
* United States

OK, this is the deal: this man came on France 24 satellite channel on Face-off talk show last December debating the reason behind the behavior of Muntadhar Al Zaidi, if someone forgot who is this man: he is the only man who I didn't agree with on what he did if it wasn't meant for George W Bush - the shoe thrower.

Stuart Haugen accused Al Zaidi and the channel he works for as being pro-baathists! and that Muntadhar Al Zaidi was a prominent Baath party member during Saddam years. This man reminded me of another a person who put a remark on a blog one the night after the incident, by saying that Muntadhar Al Zaidi is Sunni and for that reason he did that. Haugen also accused the debater in front of him of being a manipulator, while every word he said was the best and perfect example of manipulation, from the shoe-thrower to the middle-east political system.

As many said, Al Zaidi's own fault against people like Stuart Haugen is his view on politics: "I’m Iraqi and I’m proud of my country" and that he utterly rejected the occupation and the civil clashes. Or maybe because one of many opposed to the security pact(because it threatened Iraq's sovereignty).

It started to become like a normal habit to me to almost say with every post I put on this blog (to save time for readers to browse through my two blogs to know my political view: I was happy that Saddam was removed, I am against the occupation and especially after all the crimes committed and the chance made to ignite ethnic conflict in Iraq - yes, democracy, Mr. Haughet is not a hot chocolate mug to be made to warm up the stomach of hungry Iraqis so you expect them to suddenly switch from decades of tyranny to a smiley pro-US puppets.

I have three suggestions for Stuart Haugen - basic politics lesson:

Read more about Iraqis and their culture: the main reason the United States failed in Iraq, because the US administration is ignorant. The super power of the world has launched an illegal war based on lies; this followed an invasion that gave a chance to let every single sign of civilization either looted or destroyed, among many other “nice-doing” that even turned those who were happy that Saddam has gone would be full of hatred towards those who helped in toppling that dictator.
Check out Wikipedia on Muntadhar Al Zaidi, it sure “confirms your allegations that he was a Baathist”, yeah, right. I just googled his name, nothing serious
Check the video footage of the shoe-throwing, I did hear " this is the farewell Kiss, dog". This will give clear indication, a very good one, really, that the shoe was an expression of sorrow, frustration and agony towards everything Bush had caused to Iraq and the Iraqis.

When Shoes are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Can use Shoes

2008-12-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

Bush Vs. Shoes - Amazing videos are here

Code Pink Rally At White House

2008-12-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

8 minutes video of a rally in Washington, inspired by the Muntadhar Al Zaidi farewell kiss to President Bush

Iraqi Farewell To Bush

2008-12-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I read an interview with U.S. President, George W Bush with ABC news where he expressed his regret on the war in Iraq and admitted wrongness in waging that war in the first place. After reading that interview I was wondering if it is possible to impeach this American president for crimes against humanity, not only Iraqis, but also the U.S. loss of men and money. I received a reply to a comment on that interview from someone who accused me of "yearning the days of Saddam". My answer was asking that person if he sees the similarity between Saddam and Bush in following the same conduct of butchering a nation.

Iraqis threw and slapped the statues of Saddam with shoes and slippers in 2003. Today I saw a similarity in giving farewell to Bush: throwing shoes at him and called "Dog".

Zayouna neighborhood Today

2008-11-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Zayouna used to be one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Baghdad.

I received this picture of the neighborhood after heavy rain today.

Security Pact: Approved by Parliament

2008-11-27T14:41:00.001-08:00

Today the Iraqi parliament has voted to accept a deal on the future presence of US troops. This means that US troops will stay in the country for another 3 years. In addition, the parliament voted on another resolution that call for a referendum in July 2009, during which the public will get the chance either to accept or reject this pact. What does that mean? This means that this pact will replace the U.N. mandate, which will expires at the end of year, and according to the agreement sets June 30, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from all Iraqi cities and towns. This will be followed for a December 31, 2011 for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq. Without going into the details of the agreement and what are the advantages and the disadvantages, this is a new chapter begin in the history of Iraq (I am not echoing the words of George W Bush, who welcomed the decision by Iraqi lawmakers), but having an occupying force that defied the whole world community, launched a war against another country, and at the end it replaces the force of that international community law by closing a deal with the government of that occupied country, all this sounds awkward to me from the point that the country is still not healthy enough (politically) to make such agreements. Some argue that this is one of the main reasons for approval on that security pact, but as a friend of mine put it: what a mess!

What will happen next? Will this help in restoring security to the country? and how? everyone is talking about the sovereignty of Iraq being violated the moment this pact is approved – of course there is always the counter opinions to that, especially seeing how Iran already penetrated within the political and social structure of Iraq today, and some of those agreed on the Iraq-US security pact was driven by the fact that this would limit the Iranian influence. How far from truth is it? that remains to be seen. On the other hand, those for the agreement argue that it would bring stability to the country by giving enough time for the Iraqi forces and military to be 100% ready to take control of all Iraqi cities and villages on their own. I am not with this agreement, neither rejecting entirely – I am with cooperation with the United States on different levels, but on a condition that this would respect the will and integrity of a sovereign state. The way this fiesta has been going on for months now with many rumors on what is good and what is bad about the agreement is something that raise suspicions. The way the whole thing came around is also like “here, you have to sign these papers, we know what is good for you, sign, and lets get into business” Therefore, with the absence of clarity it is not possible setup a concrete opinion on anything. In addition, I don’t know who to blame? is it the U.S. for imposing its will on Iraq, as some indicates, which will cost more suffering by the Iraqi people, especially seeing the past 5 years did not deliver but more sorrow and agony and above all that violence. Or, should I blame the Iraqi government that did not show a little mercy for its people since the fall of the dictatorship and until this very moment? However, I don’t think that the blame can be put on the U.S., it is our house, Iraq is our house and we should care for it, not someone else.

I get back to the same question: what will happen next? demonstrations? yes, there will be peaceful demonstrations. More violence? and by whom? yes, and by different parties to put one blame on the other. To make long story short: there will be no stability in Iraq, as long as no stable government exists i.e. a government that reflect the opinion of the common citizen.

I wish many times that I could be proven wrong on some issues, this is one of these things I would hope for being wrong in it.

You Are Iraqi

2008-11-20T00:21:00.000-08:00

Raise Your Head up and high because you are Iraqi.

This is a song by Iraqi singer, Ismail Alfarwachi, called "You are Iraqi"

Saddam’s Slaughter Factory: The 1979 setup

2008-11-07T16:42:00.001-08:00

Albaghdadia satellite TV station has become in recent years by many regarded as a reliable source for the disclosure of historical events took place in modern Iraq, by conducting interviews and show reports on Iraq during the time when Saddam was in power. I mentioned once before an interview on this station with Faisal Al-Yasiri, where important part of how people in the regime used to behave and their attitude. In addition, many Iraqis had the opportunity to watch the controversial interview that Albaghdadia did with Raad Al Hamdani, a senior military commander during the 2003 war in Iraq, who explained in details the circumstances and focused mainly in his testimony on the way Saddam, and his elite (including his sons) dealt with the political and military aspects before, during and shortly after that war.

A couple of days ago I watched another interview on Albaghdadia satellite TV station. It was with Saleem Shaker Al Imam, a former military commander and a diplomat in the late 1970's. He was another witness of Saddam's brutality during that period as his testimony focused on the notorious Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) conference on 22 July 1979 – two weeks after Saddam assumed presidency. There are a number of names given to that meeting: some call it “Saddam’s purge of the Ba’ath party”, some call it “the setup”, and others used to call it as “the slaughter of the comrades”. Saleem Shaker Al Imam was among many high-profile Iraqi politicians and military commanders Saddam accused them of plotting against the “the new leadership of Iraq” with the help, support and sponsorship of Syria. During that time, Saleem Shaker Al Imam was a senior diplomat in the Iraqi Ambassy in London when the he was called and ordered to fly back immediately to Baghdad. Al Imam did not have any prior knowledge on the events of the meeting and that a number of Iraqi politicians, such as Mohammed Ayesh, Ghanim Abdel Jaleel and Adnan Al Hamdani were taken into custody. Such knowledge would not qualify him of being a collaborator with them in trying to topple Saddam. Further more, the airplane he boarded first made a short stop in Damascus International Airport! Yes, it is the same Damascus, the capital of Syria. This is something very strange, because if Al Imam was planning to participate in that alleged “coup”, he would simply made precautious measures and would be applying for political asylum in Syria, and not to continue with his trip to Baghdad, right? Al Imam arrived in Baghdad a car with two security service men in suits were waiting for him at the airplane. They put him in a car and was taken to a building used to be called “the Jewish temple”. There, he was among many politicians he knew very well from the old days, either through military or political career, and there were some whom he met there for the first time in his life. All were put before a court established to trial those “conspirators”, it was presided by Na’eem Haddad, Sadoon Shaker and Barzan Al Tikriti (Saddam’s half brother). The result was considered as one of the most inhumane mass murder in Iraq’s history: quarter of the RCC members were executed by shooting them to death, another number of men were jailed between 1 and 20 years. It didn’t stop till that, Saddam extended his punishment to include family members: He issued an order to confiscate all properties like houses, lands, money in banks, belongings…etc The wives of these men executed or jailed in July 1979 were fired from their jobs; some of those wives were also been arrested many times after some fabricated accusations related to bad-mouthing the government; others were submitted to harsh psychological harassment, they were terrorized by intelligence services agents for years followed. Other family members like cousins, nephews, husbands and wives of close relatives till 4’th degree have faced with the same fate.

That was the final episode of a series of hunting down Iraqi political and military figures by Saddam since he was appointed as vice president in July 1968 onward. Names like Hardan Al Tikriti and Abdel Khaliq Al Samaray used to bring shivers to Saddam, that’s why it was essential for him to take them out in mid 1970’s to ensure that his ambitions to become the only leader, the one who cannot be challenged, argued with or threatened. Speaking of Abdel Khaliq Al Samaray, when the 1979 meeting took place he was already under arrest since 1973, but it was the best opportunity to include him with the others in 1979, because according to Saddam, letting an opponent stay alive means a ticking bomb would explode at anytime, for that reason it must be ignited or take it out.

According to one source, on 18 of July, few days before that RCC meeting Ba’ath party leaders were invited to a dinner party at the presidential palace where Saddam asked all of them to write a detailed report of any meeting they might have had with Adul-Hussain Al Mashhadi or Mohammed Ayesh. Saddam has ordered that the meeting to be filmed on Video tape and those copies of that horrendous play to be distributed on every single governmental organization, ministry, military academy and all Iraqi embassies abroad. I have seen the video tape many years ago. I also have seen a copy of that video with English translation with it. I don’t know the source of that copy. The author of the book, Republic of Terror, summarizes the events took place in that meeting, as follows:

ON the 20th of July he convened an extraordinary conference of the party in an unremarkable hall near the presidential palace which was to be the setting for a most ugly piece of business strongly reminiscent of Stalin’s show trials. On his orders the proceedings were videotaped. It was his intention to ensure that every Ba’athists everywhere should know the power which is now ruling the country, copies were sent to thousands all over the world, it is badly shot in black and white and the sound is of a very poor quality but nothing can hide the dramatic nature of what was taking place. The proceedings were opened by one of his thug who announces the discovery of the plot and declares that all the conspirators were in the hall. Then a man who has until very recently been in charge of the presidential office and the secretary general of the RCC but who has recently voiced some misgivings about the wisdom of the coming war came into the hall walking very slowly and speaking with apparent difficulty, he makes a lengthy confession in which he condemns himself and accuses four other members of the leadership of participating in the plot which he blames on the president of Syria, the man has been put under arrest soon after the RCC meeting when he was so stupid to oppose the adventure Saddam was now committed to undertake. Throughout all these events he was sitting alone at a table on a slightly raised platform slumped in his chair smoking one of his favorite eight inch Havana cigars the smoke wreathing around the table as he listen. The delegates are disturbed, nervous and shifting trying to decide how to react, then the leader stands up and start to read from a list of names in his hands, a name is read and the figure who has been mentioned is seen taken away from the hall by one of the security men who were encircling the delegates, another name is called and another doomed creature is taken a way and so on and it continues for sometime by the end of it Saddam has worked through a list of 60 names, there is a box of tissue near him when he reads some of the names he finds it difficult to stop a very strong stream of tears from his eyes!! That same day a special court found 55 of the named men guilty and sentenced them to death by democratic execution a devise of Saddam’s creation which means that senior members of the party has to take part in the firing squads which ensures a no going back; responsibility is spread.

By the way, that method of filming such an event was used later on in the 1980’s by Saddam second half-brother, Sab’awy Ibrahim Al Hasan when he was the minister of interior. Uday, Saddam eldest son also found that method of terror useful, check the Iraqi Olympic Committee meetings.

One of the things that Saleem Shaker Al Imam did make clear on that interview is: First, all those who have been accused of the conspiracy against the government were innocent. Second, there was no plot backed up by Syria in the first place, and none of those RCC members did plan anything to overthrow the government. Third, all the men who have been either executed or jailed were selected because of their own political view, which in itself would pause a grave danger to Saddam plans for the future of Iraq. Mr. Shaker Al Imam is not the first to confirm this, but he was the first from the 1979 setup victims who gave his own testimony. Before him, Salih Omar Al Ali, an opponent of Saddam, and used to be one of the closest assistants to former Iraqi president Ahmed Hasan Al Baker, reiterated on a number of occasions in interviews on different Arabic and international channels and newspapers that the notorious 1979 meeting was nothing but a mass-assassination operation, designed and skillfully crafted by Saddam’s criminal mind to wipe out the last big obstacle from his way to successfully take control over Iraq and its resources. Another witness of that event recently interviewed was Hamid Al Joboury who confirmed on al Jazeera channel that fact.

I would say: Those men were smarter than Saddam politically and militarily, for that, the only way was to stab them in the back. By that, Saddam came out of this and for years to come unchallenged.

Guide To Iraqi Satelite TV Stations

2008-11-07T00:37:00.000-08:00

We used to talk about movies and shows, we used to ask each other "on which channel? is it on channel 7 or channel 9?" I don't know how the name came about, and why 7 or 9! In the late 1980's and early 1990's the name was changed to "First Iraqi Channel" and "Second Iraqi Channel", the latter was replaced with another channel called Al Shabab, which was known as Uday's (Saddam's son) sponsored TV station.

After the fall of Iraqi regime and as a reaction to the heavy and excessive censorship of the government, and with the support of the US for some, many Iraqi satellite TV stations were starting to broadcast, I talked about that in an earlier post about until 2007, there are more than 22 TV stations can be picked up by NileSAT satellite. This is new Iraq.

I found a link in English listing the names of the most common and known Iraqi satellite TV stations, for those interested in knowing about these channels and their political / social agenda.

Why am I writing about this? Maybe because I have finally installed a satellite TV at home?

Headlines 11 October 2008

2008-10-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

These are the headline news on Iraq for the 11'th of October 2008.

I never believed in what I read and heard about Iraq becoming a safer place for ordinary Iraqis.

Does this screen shot from the headlines on Iraq gives any indication of yet another peaceful Iraq?

Another question: are we now over with hearing about those trying to inflict sectarian war among Iraqi Muslims so they turned to Iraqi Christians? It is all over the news, there are who are accusing the Kurds of committing crimes against the Christian community in north of Iraq, but why would they do something like that, if we assume that the media is telling the truth? Some spokesman from the Iraqi government accuses al-Qaeda after "their failure to rage war between the two main Muslim groups living in Iraq". Yet, more Iraqis are fleeing as a result of the latest attacks in Mosul. In the meantime, Baghdad has witnessed another bloody morning in different areas, one of them a remote car bomb explosed in Al-Bayya, a neiberhood wouth west of Iraqi capital, killed eight people and wounded thirteen.

Wasn't Al-Bayya a target in previous years? Did the government and after all attacks on this area in Baghdad realized how to protect this area, and other areas? Iraqi government yesterday promised to protect Christians and a government spokesman said that such attacks on the Christians is new..." and that around 1000 policemen has been deployed to protect citizens in Christian areas of Mosul. Who read this post can easily figure out what I am trying to say: if the government was not able to protect Al-Bayya, how are they going to deal with the new situation of Christians being threatend to be killed or flee their own homes?

Al Sharqiya Interview With Al Sarmady

2008-10-04T05:17:00.000-07:00

Sarmad Al Sarmady is a professor from Babel, Iraq. I mentioned him a couple of time here and here. He sent me an email telling me that he has a new profile on Facebook. He also told me that he was interviewed by Iraqi satellite channel, Al Sharqiyah. The video of that interview below for those interested.

Vote For The Cutest Iraqi Children

2008-10-04T05:05:00.000-07:00

I don't think I am late for posting on this competition, it runs on weekly basis; A new group created on Facebook by a number of Iraqis called "the cutest Iraqi children". People can put their children photos or their own photos when they were children.

The first prize photo winner will be the group's main photo for 5 days. The second and the third will have their photos published as the group's picture for two days after the 5 days finish of the nr.1 picture winner.

There are also discussion forums on that group where people would exchange and share their ideas on the subject.

Woman In Uniform

2008-08-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Conflicting Responsibility For Iraq

2008-08-13T06:22:00.000-07:00

More than a week and in the news and I am reading more about more blame to put on Iraqi government and officials for failure in boosting the economy of the war-thrashed country. In addition, more concerns about the contracts US military already involved with in re-construction of Iraq since the end of 2003. Military contracts in Iraq cost taxpayers at least $85 billion since the 2003 invasion through last year, and the amount is estimated to hit $100 billion by the end of 2008, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday. According to the Los Angeles Times website, scrutiny about costs of contractors in Iraq and neighboring countries has come to an increase. In addition, two senators, Democrat Carl Levin and Republican John Cornyn have voiced their outrage and demanded that the U.S. should stop panting American taxpayer for reconstruction projects in Iraq and let the Iraqis pay with their earnings from oil sales. According to an Aug. 5 report put out by the Government Accountability Office, which serves as the investigating agency for Congress, American agencies have so far spent $23.2 billion on oil, electricity, security, and water projects since the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. In contrast, “The Iraqi government spent $3.9 billion on those needs in the past three years.” According to senator Levin.

The USA Today explained the situation in similar way but in different context; "(Iraq as) a nation that desperately needs electricity, water, housing and other infrastructure is sitting on money it won't or can't spend. Meanwhile, U.S. taxpayers have funded the vast majority of Iraq's reconstruction. " The article continue to ask a valid question, illustrating at the same time the official answer delivered by the US government "With its infrastructure in tatters and Iraqis in desperate need of basics such as electricity, why isn't the Iraqi government spending much more of its oil wealth to rebuild the country? Iraqi and U.S. officials say that the Iraqis don't have the financial expertise yet to spend their money, that anti-corruption procedures make the process cumbersome, that the war made rebuilding perilous, etc. Perhaps. But these are weak excuses in view of how much the lack of progress in Iraqis' daily lives undercuts the U.S. effort there." The enitre article can be read here.

The above is just a fractions from the many sources I read in the past weeks about the increasing concern and in many cases anger in Capitol Hill and other US governmental locations about the costs of this war. The voices about the cost of the war, reconstruction efforts, security, all are not new to anyone following the news in Iraq, we have been hearing this for years, but we also got used to the known method of putting pressure on Iraqi officials, blaming them for incompetence in many ways, such as lack of determination to fight corruption, or lack of expertese to provide infrastructure services for citizens, as indicated above. Before I continue, I want to make something clear: I am not defending any Iraqi official, simply because I don't support any of them. I also don't want to put the blame soley on US government or on George W Bush (of course, for making the US as super power got stuck in a situation, like a paper jammed in the middle of a printing job - it won't be printed out, and cannot be pull out and cancel that print job. I am not doing that, I know that corruption can be best be set as an example in Iraq, I am also confident that everybody knows about some Iraqi government officials who bought villas in Iraq's neighboring countries (I don't know about European and other countries, maybe they did that too), so, it is not something that new, the golden opportunity is there since the moment Saddam was toppled in 2003 and until now.

Yet, why is it now that voices about costs and responsibility became louder, and the number of people calling for US to backoff from Iraq is increasing? why now? There are who would answer that voices were there, long time ago, many years ago, but they are now louder than before, in calling for this mad war and illegal occupation to end, and that it is time for the boys to come back home. Another explanation is the way things are now, compare it to that back in 2003; US troops infatuation with Iraqis has long been lost! The country used to be governed by one Saddam, now there are ten Saddams. The people had to deal with the little of services and goods during sanctions and war times, they managed to survive like any basic creature on earth, but now, more and more people are fleeing the country for economic reasons - not talking about political reasons in the first place. The country was on the edge of a civil war (still stands), but now we have the Kurds turning their weapons into the south and east because of Kirkuk... in short the country is falling apart, while both active power (US) and legeslative power (Iraqi government) want to get rid of their responsibility.. Wait a minute... does all that has to do with the fact that Iraqi officials are pressing demands on a scheduled withdraw from Iraq and that no security pact cannot be reached in the near future?

This is just a speculation, nothing more, nothing less. I don't blame those two senators for ranting on costs or any govermental organisation for showing displeasure with such a reality, but my question is valid, everything has been politicized for the sake of the interest of a certain group or government. This has been proven in the past and the game is far from being over.

Again, the situation in Iraq shows real incompetent in the way the government is dealing with the most basic services. It is August, and ask any Iraqi and he or she would first complain about how hell fire the weather can be best described, no airconditioning because of no electricity and no water, no that and no this...etc Yet, the buzz on costs like these of the two senators can give other indications to the stand of the US in Iraq, one of them is: we can't take it anymore, the responsibility in Iraq must be taken by Iraqis! New York Times described Iraq like…”a dark cloud,” “a deep hole,” “a descent into hell,” “an oil fire,” “embers in the night,” “a cancer patient,” “Vietnam,” “South Korea,” “a teenage pregnancy,” “a variable-rate mortgage.” There is more to that, but whether the reader is Iraqi or an American, it doesn't matter anymore... take your pick.

Central Railway Station in Baghdad

2008-08-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

Central Railway Station - Baghdad 1959

Central Railway Station - Baghdad 2003

I have been a number of times to this station, I even mentioned that in on one of my trips when I traveled to the beautiful northern city of Mosul with friends from the neighborhood.

As someone put it "Every single man served in the Iraqi army knows this station".

Baghdad Central Railway station is one the distinguished symbols in Baghdad, one of many in lasting love, Iraq.

Books on Iraq

2008-08-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

A True Story of Bravery and Betrayal in the Iraq War
My War
The Boys from Baghdad
The Last True Story I'll Ever Tel
In Foreign Fields
Making a Killing
Killing Time in Iraq

This is not by any means some free advert for Iraq war books. Most of these titles are of books about soldiers (and people) served by UK and US military during and after the 2003 war in Iraq: Some tells the story of a soldier got lost beheind enemy lines; or those who were face to face with the enemy and like a lion in the middle of fire heroically escaped death or capture; or on a man who worked as as an assassin, or hired killer, or as officially known a "contractors" who protect convoys routes out of Baghdad...etc Some of these books according to their writers are based on true stories, others, did not openly admit it, but the tale goes beyond reality, nothing but fiction that uses true events in Iraq .

In past decade, god only knows how many times I read about stories like these - some of them were about how Saddam's methods on cracking with a first of fire and metal on the heads of poor Iraqi people. On every trip I used to take to the UK and the US, I used to spend some big amount of time searching for books about Iraq and read them with anticipation. Sadly, though, it was 9 out of 10 cases where I realized that such books were just another show like these we used to watch on TV and video tapes when I was a kid.

Since the end of 2003 war and until this very moment, Iraq became the source for political and financial gains. This time and with such books Iraq became the source for the imagination, fantasy, in addition to the story telling aspect for many writers, not to forget what fame and status a strong story from inside Iraq would provide for those who tell it.

Iraqi People!

2008-07-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is how Iraqi people do when they are in hard and difficult time. This is Iraq I know, where the young give a hand to the old!

There is hope in New Iraq

The Second Life of Babylon

2008-07-31T03:51:00.000-07:00

Below is a fellow up article/interview on the story I posted regarding Arts Professor, AlSarmady, who indulged himself in the world of Second Life, very interesting interview and article on the same subject. The original article is here

"Shortly after the airstrikes came streaking into his country but before Saddam Hussein was plucked from a hole in the ground, a young Iraqi student wrote and directed a play. This video documents its second public showing to a thousand Iraqis in September 2003, but the debut was that May. "I was thinking that the drama must act some new things, so I want to study what was not allowed before 4/9/2003," he tells me. That was the day when many in Baghdad celebrated the end of Saddam's regime, and despite his professors' reluctance, the student convinced them to collaborate on his play, which expressed how “Saddam and evil were brothers”, as he puts it to me. "I told them that I have plan to change the theater history in Iraq," he recalls. "It's not easy to do that, but in theory I can talk what I want..."

In September 2003, Second Life was undergoing upheavals of its own. The tax revolt was just winding down, leading to SL's re-birth as a true user-created world a couple months later. And though it may seem strange, it was probably inevitable that the Iraqi student and the virtual world would eventually converge. This year, they finally did: on August 5th, a Resident named "alsarmady Eel" was born. Because by then, the student had become an arts teacher based in Babylon, with an Internet connection that was strong enough for him to discover Second Life, create an account, and reach out of Iraq and touch the metaverse. But only just barely.

Thousands of blogs rage around the topic of Iraq-- though most aren't about Iraqis themselves, who are generally relegated to abstract concepts in a larger debate. This blog is not part of that conversation. In any case, most will agree that this is among the war's most unlikely consequences: one of Second Life's greatest advocates is an Iraqi professor who visits the world in search of Philip Linden, the man he's anointed the inventor of "the 8th art". When he can even log in, that is.

alsarmady Eel discovered Second Life in his research, he tells me, after passing over other 3D chat programs.

"When I discovered Second Life it was a dream," he writes to me in fractured but eager English. (I am interpreting many of his statements, rough hewn as they are through an Internet translator.) Since Professor Eel didn't have a bank card, he created a free account, and explored-- and reveled.

"The second flight is the dream of life, [offering] the possibility of meeting all the people from anywhere [around the] world... and to see how they want to be in the imagination." This led to an insight from his computer terminal in Babylon. "[T]his is very important, what distinguishes Second Life from all previous experiences in the digital world." Now he had a mission, not just for himself, but for the people of his tattered country: "I hope all Iraqis register and I will work to achieve this through the books [I] write about Second Life. It's the last art. This is a fundamental assumption."

This is what he means by calling Second Life the eighth art: "There are seven arts we all know," he argues. "Poetry, painting, music, theater, singing and photography and cinema. And there [are] subsidiary arts graduated from [them], but not as major as the seven arts." All of them are substantially the same, he says, "[B]ut in Second Life, man lives in the world of art through the production of a new digital life, without physical or philosophical borders, such as exist in real life... we have a life in our mind and it's ours, but if we can share it! That is a big move to a better world."

And this is why he is hoping to get in touch with Philip Linden. "NEW life need a new philosophy," he says, "but he is not a god so we have to [create] a philosophy of art!" Professor Eel says he's creating this very thing in his writing, but with limited resources, it's difficult to convey it to anyone outside Iraq, let alone the Lindens. He attempted it with an obscure comment to an unrelated post on Second Life's official blog, a YouTube video scored to Jon Bon Jovi, and most striking, a direct video plea to Philip, who's depicted in a visionary pose-- to which Eel has added the caption: "This man had no idea what he did to the philosophy and the art!"

His dream is to have an institute where he can teach Iraqis about Second Life and its role as a new form of human expression. A Second Life Institute based in Babylon, one of the world's most ancient cities-- capital of Hammurabi, the king who codified the first known written laws of civilization in 1760 B.C.

"Babylon's a safe city," he assures me, "So I can teach the 8th art and Second Life." A supporter of Saddam's removal, he finds fault with much the US has done in his country since 2003, but hopes they'll restore Iraq as they did Germany, after World War II. He thinks Second Life can help in this regard. "Let's don't forget that SL is the United States' front door now!"

But that will require Internet access that is faster and less sporadic than what he has. After several tries, we're unable to meet in-world, even through Movable Life, the web-based SL viewer, and resign ourselves to talking in Skype. One night, however, his Internet connection across the Middle East to San Francisco stabilizes, and for a few minutes, a Babylonian scholar appears at the river near my office:

alsarmady Eel's connection is so poor, he appears like the shell of an avatar, every limb and plane displaying the notorious "Missing Image" message. The reason for this is a mismatch between what I see on my monitor, and his avatar's appearance; due to a bug, the textures of his identity fail to load properly on my computer-- or for that matter, anyone else in Second Life looking at him. (When I tell him this later, he fears that's how all Iraqis will be seen here, ambiguous and unrecognizable.) Trouble is, somewhere in between Iraq and the Western world, what this Iraqi yearns to be is obscured, and lost in transmission. But then again, that is not a problem confined to Second Life."

An Iraqi's Second Life!

2008-07-24T04:57:00.000-07:00

According to a journalist working for the New York Post, an Iraqi has managed to join the virtual world called "second life". His nickname is AlSarmady, and the full article is below:

"Alsarmady Eel" is the name used in the online world of Second Life by an arts professor who lives in Babylon, Iraq. Last year he joined Second Life because he decided the Internet was, as he puts it, "the 8th art," allowing "people from anywhere . . . to see how they want to be in the imagination."

An appealing notion, one that he'd written extensively about. But because broadband in Iraq is still unreliable, his understanding of this strange virtual world based in San Francisco remained mainly abstract and secondhand. (The few times he was able to log in successfully, he'd just briefly appear as an unresolved blur.)

Last week, however, I received an instant message from Alsarmady Eel, sent within Second Life itself.

"Hahahahah," he announced, after I teleported over to find him standing in a thatched hut by the sea. "From Iraq. Nice to see you here. I got better Internet, but how do I look?"

"Very skinny," I observed.

Professor Eel had managed to find a wireless provider in Iraq, he explained, and though the service was rather pricey, it was worth it. "I am so happy and lost," he said. "Please take me to somewhere I can talk about my theory." I introduced him to some people who write about or express ideas similar to his, including two named Bettina Tizzy and Eshi Otawara.

After some brief introductions, Professor Eel told them what was on his mind. "I am asking the philosophers all over: what philosophy can describe and appropriate explaining this interactive digital life?!"

They continued to talk, but I had to go. I left Alsarmady to get to know his new friends. Then hours after I'd logged out, I discovered something wonderful had happened.

Bettina Tizzy and Eshi Otawara had taken him to a sandbox, so they could show him marvelous virtual objects. "He asked us to do him a favor," Bettina wrote me, "on behalf of all of the people of Iraq: he wanted us to make him a new Iraqi flag."

But Eshi had another idea. "She said, 'No, I will not make your flag, but I will teach you to make your own.' "

So she showed him how to make a banner, then a pole, then how to upload a texture. He worked diligently from his computer terminal in Babylon, and after some time, Alsarmady Eel was done. He raised the flag of his country over this other place in which he'd also become a citizen.

Wagner James Au is the author of "The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World."

Whether that Iraqi is seeking new adventure by fleeing a relaity and endulge himself to another reality, a virtual one, this is something to be determined, but one thing is for sure, there are some Iraqis who are looking for any means and every means available to catch up with the advanced world of technology in spite of difficulties and barriers in providing normal internet services i.e. broadband connection...etc

Thanks to Iraqi Facebook University for the information.
Link to the article here

Barbershop Hani

2008-07-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Barbershop Hani

Jump over, and you'll find me!

Painting Of Old Iraq

2008-07-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Image by: Afghan

Visa For Iraqis To The Netherlands

2008-07-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Why don't Dutch embassies - or any other embassy of any other country in the world - do one joint effort and put a big sign at their compounds' main gates, saying "No Visa for Iraqis"? This will really save a lot of time and energy for both the Iraqi who is applying for the visa and for the embassy employee. Most importantly, maybe for the Iraqi, it would save a lot of money!

I realize that the whole world knows about Iraqis who still on the run because of the horrible situation their politicians put them into around the years, but denying them visit visa in such a pathetic way as I am going to explain is something beyond humane!

There are a lot of Iraqis around with Dutch nationality who would love to invite their relatives (sister, brother, aunt...etc) to the Netherlands. The Dutch embassy in Baghdad does not issue visit visas - actually if we look into their website, they don't issue anything related to visas, passport or any other sort documents. In this case, Iraqis should be either have to apply for a visit visa at the Dutch embassy in Amman, Jordan or that one in Damascus, Syria. Entry to both Arab countries became difficult since the end of last year - in the past, anyone can take a taxi or a bus and travel to these two countries. Now Iraqis have to go to either Syrian or Jordanian embassies in Baghdad to apply for an entry visa. They have to pay more than 50 dollars fee and they have to give valid and approved (with written proof) on the reasons they want to enter these two countries. The written proof can be a medical report or school enrollment certificate, or business related authentication. For visit trips to relative to the Netherlands, all embassies would ask for: invitation from Dutch signed and approved by the municiplity of city or twon the invitee from. In additon, three kopies of salary statements must be also submitted with the visa application form and the invitation form. Optionally a letter to the embassy explaining the purpose for the trip can also be sent. All these documents must be first be checked by the Jordanian and Syrian embassies to verify the truth behind that person's applying for entry visa. After a couple of days, a week to the most, an entry visa is granted and that poor Iraqi would be able to travel and arrange a date where he or she would go to the Dutch embassy to submit all these papers, again! Additional to that, some of these embassies ask for more papers, such as, ownership of a property in Iraq and bank statement - according to the law and regulations for applying for a visa, these two are only asked in case someone is applying for a tourist visa and not in case Dutch citizen inviting someone to the Netherlands! However, the Iraqi comply with no objections, thinking that this country has the right to ask anything and acquire anything!

Then comes the interview: it is indeed asking about every single member of the family; about work experience; education; children; marriage date - if married; what is the purpose for the visit? how long is intended to stay? If there are children or relative living in the Netherlands...etc

From all people I heard from and talked with, all of them went through the same experience: bad treatment by the Dutch embassy staff in Jordan and in Syria - consensus on: The way they talk is like talking to a piece of garbage and not a human being; emotionless, faces with no expression; they ignore you or just don't answer you when you ask something - keep head down like they are busy writing notes; and some make fun in a sarcastic way that sometimes hurt the feelings!

After all that degradation, the Iraqi is given a reference number, and asked to call in a month or forty days time to check whether the visa application has been accepted or rejected. The forty days passes by, and many Iraqis waited much longer- months! After that period is completed, a simple answer is received with a written letter: "...not convinced that you are going to leave the territories after your stay permit ends..."

After all that money spent for staying at a place in another country, expenses for food and drink, and visa fees; after all the energy spent in traveling outside Iraq ( some took a leave from their work to arrange their trip, and some just left their families behind thinking that they would go like any human being for a vacation) and the time consuming arranging papers here and there; above all that, the hopes and expectations were becoming higher and higher every day passes by to see relatives after all many years... All this vanished... and the worse part is the bitter experience of being directly or indirectly being looked down at by that embassy employee, as if that Iraqi has no dignity - some sort of a human litter, or as if that Iraqi is begging for that visa!

Return To Eden

2008-07-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Any Iraqi remember these characters in the picture above. One of the most favorite TV shows for many Iraqis during the 1980's. Return to Eden is an Australian TV show about luxury life, money, greed, adultery, love and seduction, but people every night were eager mostly to follow up on the events of Stephanie's (Rebecca Gilling) revenge plan from her unfaithful husband who teamed up with Stephanie's "best" friend to kill her by threwing her to the crocodiles and take over her wealthy family holdings. Stephanie has been rescued by an old man who took care for her till she was fully recovered from her facial and body injuries. After that, Stephanie decide to take revenge but with a risky yet smart plan. She had cunning plastic sergury and was transformed into a very attractive and seductive woman who worked in the fashion business and that's how she would be able to get closer and closer to those who wanted her dead.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Artist's Comments: This was a sunrise that we saw in Iraq on New Years Day.