madly in love with Iraq

22.10.06

War pornography

“The following programme contains scenes of sexual nature and strong language from the start”
We hear the above before showing an adult movie on TV.

And we hear the following before broadcasting reports from Baghdad, Baquoba, Kirkuk or Amara:

“What you are about to watch includes events which some viewers might find disturbing and distressing”.

How considerate and thoughtful of them.

I highly respect and appreciate human rights. And I am all for the freedom of speech, the freedom of choice and even the freedom of putting a veil on. But I cannot categorize the freedom of following or ignoring an ongoing war under any of the above.

These scenes and reports should be enforced and made mandatory to watch.

It is very easy to sit and say “Oh war is horrible, I don’t want to see this” , and believe me people in here do turn off or switch over to other channels, and then go to bed and get on with their lives.

But it would not be as easy if these scenes haunt you and make you toss and turn all night.

Bush and Blair think that history will substantiate their plans and value their role in the War against Terror. They are sure it will be celebrated as another D Day (National memorial to the allied forces who participated in World WarII).

Indeed it will!

I am not writing this for Bush and Blair because I think they are both hopeless cases. But I am writing to the people who are still defending and giving various excuses to this tragedy. And not only that, they are attacking Iraqi bloggers( kid , Miraj,treasure )and accusing them of being Baathists or backing Sunni insurgents and so on.

For a change I am not going to talk about the invasions’ accomplishments!
But about the Iraqis. Our dear American readers love to put the blame on us and love to clear their conscience from the guilt on our account so let it be.

I don’t believe criminals and killers were born with this inclination. But I strongly believe that your surroundings and circumstances can make you one.

Amara sits on the biggest oil field in Iraq and yet it was and still is the poorest city in Iraq.

Basra our only port, oil rich and the home of millions of date trees was a battle front in two devastating wars. It lost everything not only her sons but her palm trees as well.

Sader city, over a million and a half inhabitants, situated in Baghdad was a rubbish dump and her sons the fuel of Saddam’s adventures.

Najaf, one of the holiest cities to Muslims was stripped off its role and turned to a dirty and ignored ghost city.

The country was ruled by a bunch of gangsters. These rulers destroyed the social structure before physically destroying the country.

We had a culture of reporting on each other, not only for financial gains but for fear of being accused of not reporting when hearing comments or jokes against the regime!

As a kid in school, I was ordered to bring my father’s and mother’s certificate of nationality; to prove none of them is of Persian origin! And since my mother was of one, I still remember I passed water while handing her certificate to the principal.

And my experience is nothing compared to others, but I have a scar. Others have bitterness and distrust and the frustration of living in poverty and deprivation in a supposedly rich country.

Still, we were not ready for your democracy if you believe you came all the way to install one.
Yes we voted and we are responsible for the idiots who represent us at the moment, but we never had proper elections before and we don’t know how and whom.

I hate the word tribe, and when I see tribal leaders meeting on TV, I wish I can just shut them up for ever. And the same goes for religious groups.
Many of Iraqis have the same feelings, but we are minority. This is how our society has become and it will require a long time to regain its sanity.

We were not given a chance to celebrate Saddam’s fall, we had no time to lick our wounds and cry over the mass graves. The doors of hell were opened and we were stormed by Takfiris and Wahabis who grouped with other local criminals and ex-regime gangs.

War brought lawlessness and made our blood cheap and worthless. It only added more scars and more distrust and ruined all our hopes.

Nothing, absolutely nothing can justify a war.

So please stop kidding yourselves. We are all against this war.