More pictures

I quess those pictures get acceptance by most of my reader. A friend of mine, (An American friend), send me more pictures but this time the crowd is of thousands of protesters.
Here are some of the new pictures.











More and more sounds against the occupation, from every where, maily from the Americans veterans.

Read this:

"I Was Saying, See These Oil Fires? This Is Why We're Here, Guys. We're Not Defending Freedom"

And this:

"This Job Isn't Done" - "It's Our Responsibility, As Soldiers To See It Carried Out Till Every American Knows The Truth Of Why This War Has To Stop"

Not all the Americans are warmongers.

I have heard about the protest at som eof the American cities, against the war.

I looked in the internet and found some pictures of those protests.






Washington DC

"On Saturday, a Not in Our Name contingent made up of folks from across the country joined the sea of people that staged the largest protest yet in Washington DC against the unjust war and occupation of Iraq. Over a quarter of a million people marched by the White House gates."
" Thousands of Puget Sound anti-war activists marched down the streets of Seattle on Saturday, September 24th, demanding an end to the war in Iraq."

California

In San Francisco, Not in Our Name Bay Area marched along with tens of thousands in a youth-led funeral procession which included dozens of musicians, a dozen coffins draped in black to represent the thousands killed by the blatant aggression and neglect of the Bush Administration, and non-stop lively chants. Die-ins were staged along the route -- that, along with the coffins, made compelling visual representations of the human costs of the policies of the Bush Regime."

Colorado

"Two thousand people gathered in at the state capitol in Denver to demand "Get US Out Now!" The rally and march through downtown was organized by the recently formed 3 November Movement.

Not in Our Name national staff person Jeff Paterson spoke of his resistance to the first Gulf War as an active duty Marine, about those within the military who are objecting today to an unjust war, and the tactics that military recruiters are using to enlist the 200,000 troops needed yearly to sustain the war machine -- while not taking care of the veterans of this or past wars.

Local featured speakers included State Representative Morgan Carroll, union organizer Scott Silber, Mark Turner of Ripples Cross, high school students, Hashim Malik of Bay of Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation, Vietnam Veteran Mike Collins, Mike Miles, and Nita Gonzales of Escuela Tlatelolco -- with musican David Rovics."

Hawai'i

"More than 350 people - ages 1 to 87 - stepped into Honolulu's streets on Saturday to march against the war. The march, organized by Not in Our Name-Hawai`i, was joined by groups from labor, churches, the Democratic Party, World Can't Wait and more. There were pacifists, Hawaiian independence activists, communists, high school and college youth, Iraq war veterans, military families, active duty military personnel, business people and college professors. We missed a lot of the faces we usually see at the marches, but were really happy to see that many people who had not come out before had joined us."

"Friday, September 23, Not in Our Name joined the People Power Can End the War Collective for a direct action at the downtown Oakland Armed Forces Recruiting Station."





More pictures are still waiting to be published.

Who and Why...??

At June 2005, and in one of my blog, there was a discussion about the population of Mosul, does the majority of them Kurds or Arabs. I said the majority are Arabs, while the other idea was the majority are Kurds, mainly in the east side of the city. At that time I checked the Encyclopedias, mainly the Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia of the Orient, in which they said the residents of Mosul are mainly Kurds with minority of Christians and Turkomans, there were no mention of Arabs !!!. I excused the opponent commenter as he know nothing about Mosul but from the net and from what other told him.

What surprise me most is that I came accidentaly to the Wikipedia again, this time I saw the following:

"Wikipedia
Mosul

Mos?l (Arabic: موصل al-Mawsil), Kurdish: Mûsil, or Nineveh (Syriac: ?????) is a city in northern Iraq/Central Assyria. It stands on both banks of the Tigris River, with five bridges liking the two sides, some 396 km (250 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

The population of the area is largely Kurdish, but the majority of the city's inhabitants are Arabs. In 1987 the city's population was 664,221 people; the 2002 population estimate was 1,739,800.[1]"

majority of the city's inhabitants are Arabs.!!! The previous statement didn't mention the Arabs altogether!!!

I checked again the encyclopedia of the Orient and I found this:

"Mosul (m?'s?l, m?s?l') , Arab. al Mawsil, city (1987 pop. 664,221), provincial capital, N Iraq, on the Tigris River, opposite the ruins of Nineveh. It is the largest city in N Iraq and the third largest city in the country. Trade in agricultural goods and exploitation of oil in the nearby oil fields are the two main occupations of the inhabitants. Mosul has an oil refinery; its productivity in the 1980s was hindered by the Iran-Iraq War. While most of the urban population is Arab, the surrounding region has a large Kurdish population. The city is the seat of Mosul Univ. and a center of Nestorian Christianity."

While most of the urban population is Arab!!!. A big change!! isn't it?

I wonder, Did the American Encyclopedias are so ignorant, that they didn't know the real inhabitants of the city of Mosul.? Or, there were other things made them wrote that statements?
Did the referendum on the constitution had any relation to that issue.? If not. What make them change their mind.?

I really want to know.

Fraud and Corruption

The constitution passed the stage of obstructed labor. The biggest fraud in the history of Iraq. Don't say the referendum at Saddam time was bigger, NO, although those who vote yes to Saddam were 99.96%, they vote yes because they can vote nothing but yes.
In this referendum we vote "No" but the result appeared "Yes".
It is a miracle !!!.
The preliminary count early after the referendum revealed 80% "No" in Mosul, but the result 10 days later appeared 55% "Yes".
Did you know what that mean, it mean the puppet government won.

Why we don't want this government? Not only because it allied with the occupation. But also because it is a corrupted one.
you want a prove? Read this.

"There are widespread accusations that the interior ministry and SCIRI, with the complicity of US advisors, are behind a wave of terror being unleashed against people believed to be supportive of the armed anti-occupation resistance or critical of the Baghdad government."Link

"In June, Knight Ridder correspondent Yasser Salihee was shot dead

by a sniper at a US checkpoint just days before a major story he had researched with Tom Lasseter was published. The story documented accounts of killings and torture by the interior ministry police commando unit known as the Wolf Brigade, which was recruited from former members of HusseinÂ’s Iraqi Republican Guard."

"In July, the British Observer published allegations that the interior ministry was carrying out extra-judicial killings and widespread torture in the prisons under its control."

"On August 2, a witness identified one of the men who abducted and murdered American journalist Steven Vincent as an interior ministry employee. Vincent had written several exposures of extra-judicial killings by Shiite militias linked to SCIRI."

"There are widespread accusations that the interior ministry and SCIRI, with the complicity of US advisors, are behind a wave of terror being unleashed against people believed to be supportive of the armed anti-occupation resistance or critical of the Baghdad government."
Link

"The interior ministry of the pro-US government in Iraq is being directly accused of carrying out the murder of Sadoun Antar Nudsaif al-Janabi, a keydefensee lawyer in the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others that began on October 19.

Janabi was seized from his office late in the evening on October 20 by as many as 10 men. Witnesses claim they were wearing police uniforms. Several hours later, JanabiÂ’s body was found on the street near BaghdadÂ’s Fardous Mosque. He had been killed execution-style with two gunshots to the head." "Link

Is that is enough for you? It proved to be enough for many here.

No more comments

Dear commenters

I would like to apologize for my decision to close the comments' section. I took this decision when I noticed that the comments took another way that is far from what I hoped.

When I started this blog , my intention was to put the facts as I saw them on the ground, in front of the world's eyes. My father used to tell me not to believe what I hear unless I see it. Now I believe in this statement more than before because I saw intellegent and educated people who believe what is really a pure political propaganda.

I hope you come to reality and take a fair look at the situation in Iraq, not only from the American viewpoint but from a human viewpoint, forget the interests and benefits, just put yourselves in our position. An invader occupied our land, killed our countrymen, divided our nation into different sects, destroyed the infra structure of our country and more and more.
When we complained, you said we came to free you, the freedom is expensive, you have to pay.

And so, dear readers, no more comments for you..

We and the Constitution

Two days left before the vote for the constitution, but till now no body in Mosul have seen a copy of it which supposed to be distributed to the population before the referendum.
In addition till now we and our neighbors don't know yet the place where to vote which is necessory to be known in advance since there is a curfew for all vehicles started from wednesday Oct 12 at 10 pm till monday Oct 17 at 5 am. That mean no body can use a car for trnsportation from place to place inside the city, the schools, the University and all the governmental offices are closed for 4 days.

"Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the National Dialogue Council, stated that the decision of the Sunni Arabs is based on pure scientific grounds. This is the outcome of several meetings between prominent Sunni figures and other political blocs opposed to the constitution. As the constitution translates into the division of the country and the elimination of Iraq’s Arab identity, Al-Mutlaq says, the Sunni Arabs should combat this constitution by all possible peaceful means. In his eyes, only if the issue of federalism, for example, is postponed for future negotiations can this position be altered. This is a clear shift in the Sunnis’ stand: from boycotting the referendum to participating with a clear “No” vote."

Yesterday night there was a news from the Iraqi Islamic party, who declared that he will share in the vote on condition to reconsider the unsettled items after the election of the new government.

"The Shiites and Kurds have agreed that the newly elected parliament after December 15 will reopen negotiations with the Sunni Arabs on the constitution. This step was enough to convince the Iraqi Islamic Party to drop its call for a Sunni Arab rejection fo the constitution in the October 15 referendum."

Take a walk

My little daughter Najma wrote a post today, I found it very interesting and deserve reading, As I have no new post, I just published a copy of it here.

"It was meant to be a joke, but it makes sense:

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."

"Try and put yourself in their shoes".. I've been told to do so with American soldiers, over and over, and I did. It didn't give me a justification for what they did, do or have done.

You might have noticed that many incidents are caused by American soldiers, on this blog, for that, many people have turned against them in Iraq.. Latest: Mom is crossing the street in front of the university, the police start shooting too close, mom gets scared and screams.. After calming down, she looks around to see if one of her students is there and saw her.. None was there, she is relieved, she goes on..

Now, try to put yourself in her shoes! Hard? Try this:

A cousin, her children and her husband are in the car, they hear some shots and so the American soldiers go crazy and start shooting randomly.. A bullet then got really close and tore her hijab but didn't injure her..

Easy? No..

I'm sure it isn't easy.. It isn't easy for dad to come up and check if I'm alive, it's not easy for mom to call my sister every while to check if she's Okay.. Everytime a name is mentioned, the first things that comes to mind is : Is he/she shot?

For that I tell you, no one at all has the right to tell me how my country is now, unless that someone is IN Iraq, and knows how it is.. Otherwise, the most idea you have of the situation, is way less than what really is going on.

Just walk a mile in my shoes, if you finish that alive, then and only then, come and tell me what you think..

"Could you devote a post to civilian Iraqis who have been killed by insurgents, if any. And do these insurgents offer help in the same manner of the Americans who send wounded Iraqis to base hospitals and to hospitals in other countries. Do these insurgents offer help in the way of rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure like schools, hospitals, oil refineries, etc. We don't hear of this because of the Bush controlled media."

For God's sake, I have a brain.. Insurgents are not helping. But who are the insurgents? Killing Iraqis, destroying homes, kidnapping people.. Their only aim is to terrorize.
But, for that person, who goes out to kill the occupier, I say it now clearly: I'm with the Mujahid.. And if you have a problem with it, well, imagine your country being torn the way mine is, and see if you allow that.
And I invite you to come and see how hospitals in Iraq are now.. An open invitation, not recommended for weak-hearted people though! See the reconstruction in Iraq, I doubt you'll find what will interest you!

"I have read your blogs for over a year and you have changed quite drastically and I am sorry for that. Our American Soldiers are getting themselves killed trying to bring you and your country a freedom similar to what we know. If you do not want or appreciate it I hope our military decides to hand it over to your military and walk away. It seems you and your fellow countryman would instead turn on your own people that are trying to deny you {especially females} these basic freedoms."

Another American trying to show me the "right" way.. Does anyone have statistics of how many Americans and Iraqis got killed in this war..? When you do, tell me who lost their lives because of this war!! Your soldiers lost their lives because war is death, and war is a hobby of your president.
Dare you say anything more about female rights, we're strong enough to claim them.. For me, I'm totally satisfied with what I had before, as a female. The freedom I want is the one I lost thanks to your country..

"President Bush or any other leader of a country must do what is best for his or her country. That's why they are elected, if it is democracy or how they stay in power if they have assumed power in any other manner."

Even if what is good for your country is having two other countries occupied and many many people killed..? In every country in the world, there is good and bad.. Look at your own faults, maybe then, you'll be too busy to look at other country's faults..!!

Just so you wouldn't get me wrong, I listen when you tell me what you think.. But you do not have the right to tell me how I should feel, who I should love and who I should hate.. You have no right to tell me that the situation is this and that, cuz I'm here, in the war-zone, and I'm pretty sure that regarding the situation, I know better.

I am surrounded by Iraqis 24/7, all kinds.. I know how they feel, and no person can tell me that I don't. Some Iraqis are good, some are bad, all have different opinions, and mine represents most of the ones' I speak for, Moslawis'..

Anyone has the urge to kill me right now? The door is wide enough for a camel as we say, you do not have to come across this blog again..

Open-minds are welcomed.. Being American doesn't mean having an opened-mind by the way.. Closed-minds?? There are blogs that are devoted to cursing Iraqi bloggers, go join.."