Peaceful methods.

I’ve just heard about the execution of the 12 Nepalese hostages and I want to send my sincere condolence to their families on their terrible loss at the hands of the criminals who call themselves resistance.

On the other hand, I was following the news about kidnaping the french reporters and the demands of their kidnappers regarding Hijab ban, and frankly I was surprised at the beginning, as France was always in a way or another supporting the “Iraqi resistance” plus that reporters in general have served a good role in giving some sort of legitimacy to the so-called resistance. So why would the kidnapers do that, especially when it seems that there’s no money involved in the deal? Are they serious about their demands or are they just trying to satisfy their ill nature by killing innocents just because they are foreigners claiming they are doing this to support Islam and Muslims in France?

There’s a wide variation of organizations that adapt kidnaping foreigner in Iraq with quite a various agenda for each group and it’s not easy to tell to which group these particular kidnapers belong until the case ends with either killing the hostages or releasing them. However, and after listening to reactions inside and outside Iraq to the threat to kill the french journalists, the whole issue seems less vague and I can say I have an idea about why they are doing this and what the outcome will be.

I’ll take the ‘risk’ and say that these criminals won’t kill the reporters and they will free them, although it may take longer than 24 hours. I hope I’m right and I wish I’m not hallucinating but I have reasons for such believe.

I believe that these people are not concerned at all about the Hijab issue and that it’s not a coincidence that they carried this operation in Iraq and not anywhere else, although they are using the Hijab ban as an excuse to get some support from some Muslims that are emotional more than rational.

The other point is that France was and still friendly to most arab and Muslim government which are the usual source for financing terrorist groups in Iraq, so why being ungrateful and why piss them of? It is true that one of the objectives of terrorists in such operations is to discourage foreigners from coming to Iraq so that Iraq looks very unsafe and so that construction efforts get hindered when workers and firms refuse to come to Iraq or demand higher wages. However, reporters are not included, as they are the ones who are supposed to tell the world what a chaotic place Iraq is, and many of them are doing so with different intentions. The only exceptions is when the reporter comes from a very ‘evil’ nation such as Italy, USA, UK...etc.

It’s worth noting that most of the kidnaping are not carried out by ‘true Islamists’; meaning people similar to Bin laden, but rather fascists and ex-Baáthists with some weak Islamists who are ready to compromise unlike the very determined suicide attacks carriers and planners.

The other point that made me believe this is just a bluff is the attitude of certain organizations towards this event such as the “Association of Sunni Scholars”. These people are usually in close contact with the kidnapers (if not in alliance) and they only show efforts to release the hostages when they know it’s possible, and have tried to obtain political gains through playing this role, like what happened after the release of the Japanese hostages (which were released because most Iraqis believe that japan is a very friendly nation and they didn’t want to look bad by killing innocents). Even Al Jazerra showed their strong disapproval of such action for the 1st time when they always remained ‘neutral’ in other cases (you know, because they are just an independent source of information). They went as far as issuing an announcement that condemn the kidnaping of reporters and demanding their release!

Still why are they (the kidnapers) doing that and what will they gain by releasing them? Well, remember what Saddam did just before desert storm when he kept foreign hostages inside his palaces and wouldn’t release them until the USA would promise not to attack him? He made an exception with the Russian workers in Iraq. First he used to visit these families and show gentleness when talking to them and broadcasting it on TV and finally he released them after many demands and visits from famous characters and ex-diplomats from all over the world. This is just the same which is very stupid and sick but still it’s his and his followers’ reality.

These kidnapers don’t care about Hijab and they appreciate the french role and reporters role in general in Iraq, but they believe that such operation and after releasing the hostages would give a message to the west that, “we are peaceful people and we listen to demands made peacefully and to demonstrations even when we don’t agree with you” they are trying to encourage a forighn policy similar to that of France and certain belief among some westerns that peaceful methods work better than force with terrorists, and also saying that they wouldn’t mind what the internal policy is. This is of course different from the hardcore islamists’atittude but I believe these are not involved here, as its just not their style.

The other benefit would be what will certain organizations achieve by opposing such operations and possibly by interfering to help releasing the hostages. what Saddam failed to see and what saddamists still fail to see, is that such behavior will never impress the majority in the west and will always be rejected. That’s mainly because these terrorists do not comprehend how important the human freedom is in the west as well as to free nations and individual everywhere.

I could be wrong, and I hope I’m not, for the sake of the reporters and their families, but that’s the way I see it and the next few hours will reveal everything (probably).

-By Ali.

Many of you have probably already read Arthur Chrenkoff's good news from Iraq, part 9, but I thought I should post it here too in case anyone missed it.
Note: This was also published in the "Opinion Journal" and Winds of Change.

Continuing crisis.

The battle of Najaf is over but the crisis has not ended yet as well as battles in other parts of Iraq. We are now in another "truce" as long as the reasons that led to this crisis haven't been resolved yet and as long as every party still has demands that he sees as essential and cannot be negotiated, and at the same time each party sees himself as not defeated in that confrontation. As a matter of fact both parties have achieved some of their objectives and their losses are somewhat acceptable except the Iraqi people.

This crisis has shown that the reality on the ground is still far from our wishes, but that shouldn't make us lose courage and despite the pain and bitterness we should keep our eyes focused on our goal and try to learn from lessons that we can benefit from in the future, as it's not unexpected at all that we will witness another similar difficulty in the future.

It has become more than obvious that there are many international parties that seek to destroy Iraq or at least hinder the democratic process in Iraq, and those parties have proven their ability to mobilize certain powers in Iraq to serve this role in a way that makes it hard for anyone to throw a direct charge against them, but they have said it clearly and more than once that they won't spare an effort to make the democratic process dies in it's cradle. They call it "helping Iraqis to get rid of the occupation" and we all know what they mean by that. They will go on with their plans even if it means drowning Iraq in blood, our blood of course.

Here I see that the Iraqi government should deal firmly with this issue since Iraqi officials know the truth of this interference and its goals. There have been many announcements made by Iraqi officials in this respect but they have not been taken seriously by the other party, as the issue has become a matter of life or death for them and they will not stop their destructive efforts unless the crisis move into their land.

Some political trends in Iraq still see in Iran a strategic ally despite that the main parties who had good relation with Iran previously, have learned the lesson, and have been minimizing their contact with the Iranians slowly but steadily, as they know that the Iranian regime is the one that's going to lose in this confrontation with America and that this will probably not take a long time, and no one sane wants to stop with the losing part. This becomes more evident when we see that those who still believe that Iran will have a big role in Iran in the future are mainly young people with more passion than brains.

But what was the role of the people in this crisis? Iraqi people had taken a clear stand in this battle despite the fear and threats, as the militias had the louder voice in the tension areas and it's difficult for civilians to stand against that, as you are facing a young man 18 year old or even younger who have no education and who carries an RPG or an AK47 pointed at you and your family, and you know that he won't hesitate for a moment to use it. Still many Iraqis and in many occasions have asked the government to stop these people by all possible means, and I don't know why the cries of those Iraqis didn't get enough coverage. The people of Najaf had a clear stand against these militias and the tribes there took their arms to stop the militias from taking control of their areas and they helped the police in their fights too, and that was why they couldn't control the governerate building and the police stations in Najaf despite many attacks and had to settle in the old cemetery and the shrine.

Sadr and his followers have lost all the support from the majority of Iraqis as a result of their doings and this will be revealed more clearly if they took part in any elections in the future although I highly doubt that they will ever do that. It has become obvious too that this movement has attracted many fascists from different parts including Ba'athists and those who could't find a place in the new Iraq. Add to that the sabotaging the oil pipe lines and infrastructure which left everyone here bewildered and angry with total lack of understanding to why they are doing this.

The other crime that cannot be forgiven is what happened in the "religious court". I think that if what happened gets a fair coverage, it will destroy the Sadr movement and rid it of any possible left support among Iraqis. What happened in this court was huge and was the worst crime since the end of the war. It resembles to a great extent what used to happen in Saddam's prisons in a way that makes us feel unsafe once again. Frankly the scene that was broadcasted on TV, shocked me and terrorized me. I started to feel really afraid and my mind recalled moments and pictures I've tried so hard to overcome the fear that they generated inside me for decades.

If you had asked the majority of Iraqis about security, they would tell you that Iraq is not secure now but that they are not afraid and they feel safe. Now, and after the latest events, most Iraqis started to feel unsafe again, and I'm talking about being afraid that you'd be killed or tortured for something you said and for an opinion that doesn't match with that of the "shadow of God on earth"; Saddam before and Sadr now.

Everyone should know the truth about what's happened in that court and the criminals who were responsible should be dealt with very firmly. What's needed now is a fast and thorough investigation so that everyone knows what would happen if such people were allowed to remain free, not to mention taking active part in political life and getting into the position of decision making.

It will be a huge and unforgivable mistake to take what happened lightly and will make the rest partners in the crime and the crimes that would follow. Some parts may want to catch their breath and avoid anything that may inflame the situation and end the "truce", but this issue is too dangerous to be left for another time or to be subject to compromise.

The way these policemen, ING members and civilians were, tortured, killed and mutilated shows not only the brutality and savageness of Sadr followers but also the bravery of Iraqis in standing against the enemies of freedom, the thing that was more clear in the attitude and determination of the leaders in Najaf that no one can deny. I felt hope and great pride whenever I saw the chief of the IP in Najaf and its governerate together with the Iraqi troops there. I felt that the future will be ours and that the hope is great in the sons and daughters of Iraq. We need more like these people; they've made unforgettable sacrifice when they continued to fight evil when their families were kidnapped and when the thugs were threatening to behead them. This is a rare bravery and one that I will always remember.

Still that battle brought some good progress too. The stand of the majority of clerics represented by Sistani was an honorable one when he declared that the security in the city and the shrine should be in the hands of the government. This was a clear recognition of the legitimacy of the interim government that will definitely give a needed support to the democratic process and the upcoming elections, as the interim government will supervise these elections and this means that the She'at clerics have decided to put their trust in the government as it does its job and showed that their (the clerics) job would not be more than giving advice and support which is also a blow to the Iranian efforts to use religion and clerics against the interim government.

All this support with that provided by the newly formed interim national conference and the growing power of the ING and IP, made the government more confident in its confrontations although we all hoped for a much better outcome. There are still many sacrifices needed and it won't be only surviving that will ensure victory, as even if the government finished all its tasks, it won't mean much with gangs and fanatics terrorizing people and making them afraid to use their rights and voice their opinions.

-By Mohammed.

Now I know the reason for the war...

No, it wasn't for control, and no it wasn't for oil. It was for tattoos!

At Saddam days there were 'laws' made at some periods (late 90s) that prohibit wearing clothes or having hair cuts in a way that simulates westren customs, you know like having a hair cut similar to that most of the marines have, or wearing shorts, or T-shirts that have a flag of a western country (especially US and UK), or any obvious English word on them. One of those days I almost got suspended from high school for a week for wearing a T-shirt with the British flag on it. I had to promise never to wear it or anything like it again. They even made a remark about my school-bag because it had the NIKE trademark!

In short, Papa Saddam was very keen on protecting us and our culture from any invasion from the west. We should dress, eat, walk and behave like a true Ba'athist who is very proud of being Arab (although you could be Kurd but you're still an Arab!) and should believe that *nothing* good can come from outside. Well, it seems that no one now can protect us from cultural invasion and I guess that's what it was all about.

Since most of the tattoo lovers in Iraq seem to be fans of heavy metal, it becomes obvious who's going to benefit from this war. Don't tell me that Halliburton (or the Zionists) don't have shares in records companies that produce heavy metal music!

:: Iraqi plant for manufacturing 230,000 vehicles annually.

:: Al-Arabiya TV Just reported that the IP in Najaf has arrested Ali Smaisem (one of Muqtada's senior aides) together with some other members of Mehdi army. Al-Arabiya broadcasted some exclusive pictures for the arrested men in a police station in Najaf.
IP sources also confirmed that some valuable items that belong to the treasury of Imam Ali shrine were found on Smaisem.

*Update: new pictures showed that among the confiscated stuff were several thousands of dollars and fake identiy cards including Iranian ones.

:: Iraqi Airways sends test flight from Amman to Baghdad.

Boring stories.

Yesterday, one of Ali’s friends came by and suggested that we go out to have dinner somewhere just to break the circle of boring routine daily life. “Do you know a good place?” I asked, “there’s a nice restaurant that’s getting very popular these days” Ali’s friend replied.

It was already 9 pm and I thought that we will find them preparing to close. I know that many places stay open until 11 or 12 but the majority close at around 10 pm but this place was amazing; the parking place was full that we had to park the car on the opposite side of the street.

The place was so neat and natural-looking and the tables were placed outdoors in a big garden with lots of tall palm trees. The restaurant lies in Jadiriyah which is so close to the Tigris river and it’s also rich in date palms and other trees which makes the weather a little bit colder in the night when compared with other areas in Baghdad.

It was 9:30 and new visitors and families were still arriving at the restaurant. At the beginning we ordered fruit flavored narghiles and soft drinks. The narghile there is quite long-lasting and one can keep smoking a single one for more than an hour.

Later the waiter flooded our table with various dishes of appetizers even before we made our orders; frankly speaking, if you eat all the appetizers you won’t have a space left in your stomach for the main dish.

Maskoof is one of the main dishes served in this rest. It’s basically river fish barbequed in a special way that gives fish a superb taste that cannot be matched and the smell of the barbeque was enough to make my saliva run.

One of things I noticed was that most of the visitors there were apparently middle class families and this is different from what it used to be years ago as only rich families could afford to have dinner in restaurants like this one. Dinner for a 6 person family costs approximately 60 000 ID (40$) while two years ago a similar meal would cost a little bit less (35 - 45 thousands) but the huge raise in incomes made it affordable once a month or once every fortnight when there are more than one working member in the family.

We had dinner but we couldn’t finish the dishes because the dish they serve is extraordinarily big and can be enough for two hungry people.
We left at about 11:30 but a lot of people were still there.

You sit in a restaurant like this one and see families relaxing with their children playing and having fun late at night and you feel that there’s ‘something’ wrong in the way MSM is dealing with the Iraqi issue. I watch TV and I see hell breaking around me then I go outside and see enough normalcy AND progress to make me believe that the people in the media are not here to report how’s life going but rather they are here reporting pre-prepared stories and to be faced with something that contradicts the picture they have in their minds would be really annoying and will mean more hard work to try to find the truth or something close to it.

So let me see, I’m a reporter in Iraq and I’m here to tell stories that sell from a land that has been invaded, as everyone is saying it was invaded and not liberated. God, that must be awful! Ok so I need destruction, death, fear, clashes in the streets, angry mob...etc. Where do families having dinner in a place they couldn’t afford before the war, or a father buying a new car for his son which he also couldn’t afford before, or a man renewing his house which was falling apart, or free speech and flourishing business, where does all this fit in such a frame?! It doesn’t! Besides, where's the action in such boring stories!? Moreover, there are pictures of death and destruction and they only need some ‘further clarification’, and that’s easier than making a whole new story. So why bother! I already have frames for good stories and I’ve worked hard in that and it would be a shame to waste all that effort and start all over again. So let’s get the story we worked on and get the hell out of here.

Do you remember the post I made about my uncle and his son Ibrahim?
If you don’t, please read it now and you’ll understand why I’m posting this:
My uncle had just visited us with his son and this time they came in his new car that he bought recently.
It’s a used 1992 Opel and it cost him 2450 $ which he managed to pay without being in debt.

The last car my uncle had was (Nasr) the Egyptian version of the Italian 1978 Fiat. He had to sell it in 1993 to cover some of the needs of his family’s daily life. He never bought a car after that because he simply couldn’t afford it with a maximum salary of 10 $ a month.

My uncle said ”on my last visit to Hilla in an inspection tour my heart was wormed when I saw that most of the teachers in all schools I visited have bought cars”.
Here’s Ibrahim standing beside his car and here’s he practicing his driving skills in our garage.

He doesn’t believe anymore that they came to destroy Islam instead he thinks that they’re here to protect their interests and when I asked him how did they do that he said “by removing Saddam because he was threatening their interests” and when I asked him about our interests he said “prosperity”.
I asked him if our interests could be in conflict with America's interests and he said "I don't think so".

They're still here at our house and I showed them the comments from the readers in responce to the post I wrote about him, he was delighted and surprised to see the support and warm wishes but he said that the Americans have a bad impression about the clerics as he said that most clerics do nor interfer in politics at all.

Ibrahim's perception of events has changed a little. He sees that things have improved but he’s still not sure about the future.

:: I found this cartoon in New Sabah; the sign on the ground says (Al-Alawee Garage) which is one of the largest garages in Baghdad and people go there to hire a taxi or get in a bus to travel for another area inside Baghdad or to other provinces also.
A driver on short-distance lines usually asks passers-by (when he still has vacant seats on the bus) to see if they want to go in the same direction of his line so he can fill the vacant seats.
In this cartoon the driver is talking to a passerby asking him to which (fedraliyah) he is traveling; (fedraliyah is the word used in Iraq to describe the part of the federal state formed by a 2 or 3 provinces).
I guess western readers will find some difficulty in understanding what this cartoon means but I’m sure Iraqi readers will find it funny.

:: Arthur Chrenkoff has posted his 3rd series of (Good news from Afghanistan). Arthur has been doing a great job in collecting and reporting good news from both Iraq and Afghanistan. It's worth reading.

Appeasment and impatience.

This afternoon there was a discussion on a program at the new Iraqi satellite TV channel, Al-Fayhaa, and they interviewed the state minister for provinces affairs, Mr. Waa’il Abdul Lateef. It’s worth mentioning that this newborn channel (which is run by Basrawis and based in the UAE) is attracting big audience in Iraq although the transmission goes only for few hours every day. This is mainly due to the daring nature of its programs and the freedom provided for the participants (mainly Iraqis calling from inside and especially from the south) to voice their opinions in the channel’s discussion programs. The people running this channel are obviously open minded with a clear patriot spirit along with high level of objectivity.

The discussion in today’s program was about the situation in Najaf and related events in other Iraqi cities and the calls coming from inside Iraq were a lot more telling and informative than most news reports we get from other channels and the phone calls together with information provided by the minister clarified many points that were considered dark spots for the public opinion. For example, the reason why people in Sistani’s office refused to receive the keys of the shrine was because Sistani’s office found out that many ancient artifacts were stolen from the shrine, and they refused to take responsibility of the shrine until the missing pieces are returned. It’s well known, and as the minister stated that the Mehdi army (or people saying that they are members of Mehdi army as the minister said) stole many priceless ancient artifacts from the safes inside the shrine, as well as huge amounts of cash.

Another reason that I think is behind Sistani’s decision is that Sistani wants the government to take responsibility for protecting the shrine while Muqtada’s assistants insist that they (Mehdi Army) do that or that an armed group that belongs to the Hawza should be formed to carry out this job. It’s obvious that Muqtada want the treasure to remain under his custody and Sistani knows that if it’s left in the hands of the Hawza, Sadr’s followers would terrorize them and get control again, this time indirectly.

Back to the discussion, the minister asked his host to broad cast some pictures from the latest press conference for the minister of defense where he showed pictures for guns and ammunition boxes (made in Iran) smuggled to Iraq and confiscated by the IP and the ING. With pictures for some Arab and non-Arab fighters. The minister confirmed also that those foreign fighters together with gun men from Muqtada’s militias released hundreds of criminals and suspects from some prisons in Iraqi southern cities and supplied them with guns and money to use them as paid fighters.

The host and many of the Iraqis who participated in the discussion showed their impatience with the “double standards of the government” and the host was very direct and forward in his questions especially when he criticized the “awkward attitude” of the government in managing the crisis in Najaf and the “shy statements” for some of the high officials in the governments saying that they tend not to call things with their real names using flexible statements when firm ones are needed and that they hide whenever troubles happen.

The host asked the minister about the credibility of some news reports that were talking about Iyad Allawi planning or threatening to resign. The minister confirmed that these reports are far from being true and that Allawi is determined to continue with his mission to the end. Yet he (the minister) agreed that there are some parties in the government that are using double standards when dealing with Sadr, and he named the Islamic parties on both sides. He said, “It’s a shame that we are still appeasing terrorists when we should have learned something from the past. It’s this kind of appeasement that made someone like Saddam control Iraq for 35 years and claim himself as the only leader and the legendary hero that Iraq cannot afford to lose”.

It’s also worth mentioning that the “House of She’at” is calling for a general strike tomorrow as a sign of protest against the “bombings and military operations in Najaf”. I’m not sure how many people will respond to this call but I’m sure it’s not going to be a major one.

The host, together with many Iraqis who called, showed disappointment in the government’s performance. The host went as far as saying, “We understand that people of Najaf and Basra are afraid to speak their minds and oppose Sadr in public fearing revenge from his followers, but are you, officials of the government afraid of him too? Or are you afraid of Iran? I say this because most Iraqis seem to think that Iran is moving Sadr behind the scene”. Then he added, “When are you going to get the minister of defense and the minister of interior out of the fridge? When are they going to do their job?”

In the end, and despite all the worries and fears, I felt optimistic when I saw a TV channel and many Iraqis support their government’s effort to go on with the democratic process, yet they were so critical of the way it (the government) has been dealing with Sadr’s issue. There’s a sense of enormous impatience among the majority of Iraqis especially those who live in areas were Mehdi Army is functioning.

"I’m optimistic because things have changed, (with more) financial support and the general standard of living. I’m encouraged".

Iraqi weightlifter said in an interview. This is the kind of athletes who carry our hopes not only for medals but also for a better future for Iraq.
Read the rest here.
Thanks to the reader, Janet for the link.

"Congratulations from Australia to the Iraqi natinal team for a great game - you played well and deserved to win.

I also commend you on saying that indeed you do mind when Bush uses you in his political electioneering. Fair enough, and thank you for expressing the sentiments - because it tells me more about the how the everyday Iraqi feels than can be deducted from the commentariate. I HOPE YOU WIN THE GOLD.

Omar, you reveal that you are not the ordinarly, everyday Iraqi when you say, "This is the *BEST* acheivment Iraq has ever acheived in soccer. Strange isn't it!? Not to me! I really expected that despite the difficult life in Iraq that our athletes were going to perform better than ever, and I believe it's the effect of freedom."

The reason why I say this is because it is not true, and it would be something that the average, everyday soccer-mad Iraqi WOULD KNOW is not true.

I don't think you know much about soccer at all, like most of the American's on this blog.

Iraq beat Australia to get into the semi-finals of the FWC not last WC but the World Cup before. To help our American friends understand - the Olympics is not the biggest thing in soccer, it is the World Cup.

That is why I still think, like so many others do, that this blog is just about run by folk who have a propaganda agenda.

If I am wrong I am happy to apologise though - but I not that you have pulled down that Israeli look-alike flag at last. Where did you get that idea from? Bet you I get banned again for saying what I think. Contrary opinions don't seem to be tolerated here."
Wadard.

I found this in our comment section and I think I have some thing to say about it:
Thank you for your wishes to the Iraqi team and Iraqis.
First, my information is totally correct and I have no idea from where did you get yours. Iraq qualified to WC only once and that was in Mexico 1986. We played 3 matches and lost them all; Against Paraguay (0-1), Belgium (1-2) and Mexico (0-1). I watched all the 3 matches, so I think you should apologize here.
2nd I won't ban you, as the rules were clear and you haven't violated any.

As for the flag, I've made it clear why we didn't use the 'old' flag and there are many Iraqi bloggers as well as Iraqis who agree with us. I was hoping that the government would have adopted the proposed flag or any other one that doesn't point to Arab nationalism only, but as this seems to be a remote possibility, I've decided to pull it down and I won't use any flag until they change it, and I think I've made it clear before that I was using this flag temporarily.

You are not the 1st one who call us a US propaganda. I guess this is because we support America's effort in our country without any question. I know we shouldn't and we should be more objective, but the problem is that we found ourselves in the middle of fierce anti-war propaganda that wants Iraq desperately to fail just to prove that America was wrong. Thus we seem to have gone rather far in our support for America's policy as well as the interim Iraqi government and I'd like to say that this was not our intention when we started this blog.

It's very hard to remain objective when you are in the middle of a war and when all your dreams and hopes are being seriously threatened everyday. However, I realize that we must have gone far in our unquestioned support for the American administration and I'll try my best to put this in mind in the future and be as objective as I can.

-Ali.

Hurray!

Iraqi football team won against Australia 1-0 to reach the semifinal for the first time in Iraq's history. Now we are going to play for a medal! Iraq has one medal only in her Olypic record; a bronze one that we won in weight-lifting back in 1960.

This is the *BEST* acheivment Iraq has ever acheived in soccer. Strange isn't it!? Not to me! I really expected that despite the difficult life in Iraq that our athletes were going to perform better than ever, and I believe it's the effect of freedom.

Right now there is lots of shooting into the air (I don't like it but at least Iraqis are happy and it's better to waste bullets this way).

I know some of our American friends are upset with the Iraqi team because of the latest comments of some players, but this is Iraq, not 1 or 2 players and the player who said these terrible words didn't even play! I wish you could forget that idiot and join us in our celebrations, as the truth must be said, it's a victory that you helped in in so many ways.

One million hits!

Last night the site meter for Iraq the model showed that there have been one million visits to this blog since we activated the site meter last January. I want to remind you that the visits from the day we started the blog until we activated the site meter are not included so we actually reached one million visits some time ago.

We wouldn’t have reached so far without the support from our wonderful regular readers who took the effort and time to introduce Iraq the model to more readers and have always encouraged us to continue.

I know that this number is not a big deal when compared with the traffic of some top blogs that are being visited by millions every month but we feel proud of this achievement because I guess it can still be considered a big deal for a blog that was started less than a year ago by three guys who never heard of the word (blog) before that.

We’d like also to say thanks to all the great bloggers and websites that linked to Iraq the model driving the attention of thousands of new readers to this blog, namely :
Instapundit, Andrew Sullivan, Roger L. Simon, Jeff Jarvis, Tim Blair, National Review, Lucianne, LGF, USS Clueless, Cold fury, Winds of Change, Soundfury, Arthur Chrenkoff and of course all my fellow Iraqi bloggers especially, Salam (the first Iraqi blogger), Zeyad and AYS who encouraged us and helped us to start this blog.
The list is too long so I apologize if I didn’t to mention someone.

By the way, because we’re celebrating this new record tonight we’re going to announce ‘amnesty’ to all those who were banned. Now everyone can enjoy freedom of speech in the comment section on one condition; follow the rules which I guess are simple :
No abusive words. And no racism.
Bye for now my friends.

BREAKING NEWS :

IP enters Imam Ali shrine peacefully and Sadr is still not found.
News are still foggy but Al-Hurra TV reported that 400 members of Mehdi militia were arrested inside the shrine.

In another related development Radio Sawa reported this afternoon that Al-Sistani from London gave an interview to a news website (link unavailable).
The reporter of Radio Sawa said :
Al-Sistani called the militias to leave Najaf immediately and hand over the city to the Iraqi government describing the presence of militias as illegitimate and that the presence these militias inside the shrine is desecrating its holiness.
Sistani had also stressed on the necessity to hold the elections according to the declared schedule saying that the results of the elections will decide who has the right to lead Iraq.
Sistani added “the coalition forces came and helped Iraqis to get rid of a brutal tyrant that murdered Iraqis and destroyed Iraq’s economy and they didn’t come to kill Muslims or attack Islam”.

This is almost too good to be true but Radio Sawa was always considered as a trust worthy source of information and I just hope that this is true as we’ve awaited such an announcement for a long time. It will deprive Muqtada of any significant legitimacy or credibility among the She’at if he had any previously. Muqtada and his thugs were dreaming to get support or at least silence from the She’at senior clerics. Now Muqtada is left with very little space to maneuver in; Sistani’s statement had put Muqtada in-between two hard choices either handing the city to the government and accepting the fact that he got defeated or he can go on with his crazy battle and get erased together with his militia.
This is important even with these breaking news. Such statements will greatly minimize any unfavorable sequel that may come after military operations due to a possible sympathy from simple minded Muslims towards an “Islamic movement” being destroyed by the government and the coalition forces.

I read this story and I felt very upset and then I got many mails asking for my comment on it.

I really think that the Iraqi Football Federation should give the 2nd player (Ahmed Manajid) at least some advice on to how much he can express his own opinions in public, as he is representing Iraq right now.

However I have great doubts about the article. Looking at the address of the article and reading through it, it seems to me that the reporter was looking for a particular answer rather than just reporting. What would you expect as an answer for asking athlets about a politician, any politician using their achievements for advertising his campaign. Also we have no idea how this question was presented!

Another point is that when someone wants to draw a conclusion from several comments he tend to pick the ones that lead to his conclusion in a strong way, yet all the reporter could come up with were comments from 2 players and the coach out of 22 players and several trainers, medical staff...etc So if those were the 'best' comments he could get, I'm interested to know what were the comments of the others since the comment from the 1st player (Sadir) was actually not that bad!

I believe if he found a worse comment other than that he would've post it, don't you think so? Finally I'd like to put this report about 3 athletes together with this picture that you all had probably seen but some of you seem to have forgot about. Maybe we can get closer to the truth by taking two sides of the story?

Democracy in progress.

In another step towards a democratic Iraq; yesterday the national assembly successfully held the elections to form the Iraqi national council in an atmosphere that is entirely new for Iraqis. For the first time we saw free discussions with the absence of fear. No one man talking and the rest just listening and nodding their heads in approval. Many members were so eager to talk and show their opinions, interrupting each other many times and of course this is all natural as a result of being forced to silence for such a long time. This led to a mess many times but it didn’t last for a long time.
Objections and the existence of many different points of view in the same place are things that no one dared to do or even think of before.

What happened was huge indeed and people should realize that this is the fruit of toppling Saddam’s regime. The effects of democracy and free speech must not be underestimated but some people are not able to show enough patience to see the results and they are very anxious to judge the whole issue as a disaster whenever some difficulties appear. Some of these people just want us to fail, others are shortsighted and some are just worried about success and want it to happen tomorrow.

We’re on the right road despite all the big obstacles created by the enemies of humanity and governments governed by narrow minded politicians who seek only their individual or partisan benefit taking advantage of people’s natural rejection for war and violence in general.
Till now there is no evidence that the disturbances and troubles -fed by many countries and groups- could ruin the democratic process and this is the true victory in this decisive battle, as the democratic process in Iraq has not stopped and was not even delayed except for few days.
It’s the best reaction to the attempts of some powers to establish the rule of violence and gun power to ensure that the Iraqi model fail which if happens will ensure their (dictators) control over their nations, and it’s a message to the violence provokers in the neighborhood that the process is not going to stop and a democratic Iraq will be a fact soon.

This event coincided with an official escalation against the militias and other trouble makers and with a threat to them that they will be dealt with strictly after they refused to drop arms and stop violence time after time until their repeating refusal became an evidence (to those who didn’t see it at the beginning) that their means and attitude are their goal. They adopt violence just for the sake of spreading violence and chaos in Iraq. They showed no real demands, have threatened And took actions to destroy Iraq’s infrastructure. It has became clear that all they want is to stop the evolution of democracy and the building of new Iraq. We recall how the militias of the SCIRI, the INC and the Kurdish parties agreed to turn into political groups to participate in the political process while those idiots who still refuse to put down their guns have obviously placed the interests of their supporters from outside above the interests of Iraq.

The conference witnessed the withdrawal of some members objecting to the way the votes were taken, and although this is sad but I believe it’s natural and cannot be avoided and it happens in the best democracies when there are debates about critical and controversial issues. There was a negative outcome of this conference, that is the wining list of candidate was the one supported by the parties that have the majority in the government. However I think this was unavoidable and at the same time has good aspects too.

It was unavoidable because the small parties couldn’t organize and coordinate their efforts to create an alliance that can balance power inside the National Assembly. Time was short and after all it’s true that the parties in the government still represent more Iraqis than the rest and are more organized and experienced in politics.

While I think it’s good because most Iraqis support the government’s policy and actions against terrorists and gangs and they need as much support as possible which they did get from the assembly when they sent a delegate to Sadr with the same demands of the government. That delegate gave the government strong legitimacy in what it’s doing in Najaf.

It’s a complicated issue that we see here. We don’t want to support the government because we are afraid of giving it more power than needed and at the same time we don’t want to weaken it’s position in such a critical phase in our struggle against the power of darkness.

I was thinking about this for some time and I think that what we need right now is an honest opposition that backs the government in its war against terrorists and fanatics and at the same time stand against it as it (the government) tries to monopolize the political field which may end up with a distorted democracy or a faked one. Till now the “opposing” groups are not really opposition, they are just taking advantage of the freedom they have been given to show themselves as representatives of certain segments of Iraqis when all they were doing is ruining all Iraqis’ efforts to build Iraq. They lack any view for the future or any constructive ideas. All they are saying is that they are against the government because it’s not elected! Do they really believe that elections were possible without an interim government?! Their objections show that they are either totally ignorant or that they say things they don’t believe in just to take advantage of the inexperience of the majority of Iraqis when it comes to politics and elections just to stop democracy.

Yesterday’s elections were far from perfect but it gave us more experience that will serve all democratic political powers in the future, and from a strategic point of view, the fact that Iraqis managed to go on with their plans to establish democracy in such unstable circumstances and with fierce fighting taking place in some parts of Iraq is an outstanding victory for all of us and an event that shows the determination of Iraqis to keep the course no matter how dangerous it is. What happened yesterday was a serious blow to terrorists and fanatics and their supporters. It’s a clear message that says, “Do your best. It won’t stop us”

By Ali.

I’d like to inform our dear readers who can't watch TV now that the 1st half of the match between Iraq and Morocco has ended in a draw 0-0. We’ll get to the second round anyway, but it’s important that we get the 1st place in our group so that we avoid Argentina; the strongest team in the tournament. A win or a draw will achieve this for us.

UPDATE: Well I guess you know we lost. Final score 2-1 for Morocco. However we still have the lead in the group since Costa Rica won over Portugal, so our match in the Quatrifinal will be against Australia, our allies! Sorry guys but we plan to win!