madly in love with Iraq

17.6.07

The pomegranate

The Fruit of the moment!
The pomegranate is the most fashionable, the most expensive and the talk of town and health magazines now a day in the UK at least.

To buy a small salad tub with few pomegranate seeds scattered on top will cost you much more than usual. If you want to impress people, sprinkle some on top of dips, fruit salads and even rice and wow you will look so cool and really with it.

For me the sight of pomegranates takes me years and years back to my childhood when these fruits would stay in the basket untouched till my dear mother wash them, take the seeds out and put them in a large bowl in the fridge. Only then I would grab a spoon and dig it in the bowl and start eating and eating till I finish it off.
“Shut the fridge door, or take the bowl out and eat as you like” my mother would say.
“Just few spoons more and I am up” my usual answer used to be. They were so addictive and had this sour sweet taste that you cannot get enough of.

Poor Brits, they think they are eating pomegranates, while in fact they are eating something that looks like them, but far from the real taste, I wish they can try the ones grown in Baqouba or Karbala, they will know then that they’ve been cheated out of their money and taste!

This goes for nearly every other fruit or vegetable. Tomatoes are the best example, you find cherry tomatoes, beef tomatoes, plum tomatoes and tomatoes on vine leaves, and really they should be called cherry plastics or plum plastics. Where are they from our shapeless, disfigured, dented and full of spots ones?
Our ugly tomatoes full of juice and flavour will put all others in shame!

I once paid a fortune in an Italian restaurant to eat samples of few truffles brought all the way from Tuscany in Italy, and were served to me in such a fuss as if I was about to eat pieces of gold!
Oh my dear Iraq, if only they’ve tasted your muddy truffles that we used to buy in big sacs and spent ages to clean.

The last but not least are the Californian dates!!!! I feel sorry for whoever is gullible enough to spend a penny on buying them.
How unfair, the land of dates is on hold at the moment and has left the field to the amateurs to have a go.

You can spend millions to grow whatever you want, but money cannot buy you a fertile land of thousands and thousands of years, money cannot buy you water from the Tigris and the Euphrates, let alone the natural farming skills that are far from sophistication and high tech but full of hard work and genuine love to the land they inherited and never thought they would have to leave one day.

We the people of Iraq are exactly like our crops! Rough, tough, harsh and scarred, but once you open them up, you see the real flavour of kindness, generosity and genuineness.

The other day I watched a programme made by a British journalist embedded with the American forces stationed in Al Doura area in Baghdad.
One of the officers speaking of his hard and dangerous mission said that he doesn’t respect the people who live in this area, and that he will do so only when they will inform about the criminals who are planting roadside bombs!

His face and words stayed with me for days. At first I was angry and upset, and then I thought of how much this man knows about real fear and danger?

He was never brought up in a culture of fear and injustice that is for one, and he never experienced the feeling of losing a family member out of retribution that is second, and third his assumption that those people should have trust in him is baseless.

Then I sympathised with him and felt that probably he believes he is doing good, but in reality he is been cheated and his country has served him with plastic tomatoes instead of the real ones.

Look at them Bush and Blair and the rest, they come out well groomed and in their expensive suits speaking of peace and terrorist free world, and the truth is there is no difference between them and the masked men who slaughter people on TV. Actually those men are their own making. The only difference is the first sleep in comfortable and lavish beds and the latter sleep in caves. I bet they have the same nightmares though. They both carry the weight of our blood; assuming they are human beings and have feelings, which I doubt.

You know they came all the way to destroy the real taste, the real flavour of Iraq and with this they want to convince the world that there is no taste but their own.
Whoever agrees to theirs is great and moderate, the rest are evil and should be uprooted.

They are winning though, they brought their best fertilizers and advanced tools and planted the seed of hate successfully.

It is growing, but I have faith in our land, I have faith it will reject this weed and reserve the real seed.

62 Comments:

  • We the people of Iraq are exactly like our crops! Rough, tough, harsh and scarred, but once you open them up, you see the real flavour of kindness, generosity and genuineness.

    Maybe only an Iraqi can see that?

    Most of your post looked like bigotry, to me. I'm asking again... why do you want to live in Britain? You obviously don't like the British! I don't either, but I don't choose to live in a country where I loathe the people. You know what I'm talking about? And please don't move to the US.

    BTW, I didn't know we grew dates in California. I've had date palms in my yard before, but I don't recall them ever having dates on them! Maybe they were the wrong kind. It's the canary island date palms that are popular here, because of the way they look. I've always thought date palms in Cali were just cosmetic! Hmmm... well, I guess I learned something, besides that you hate British and Americans (which I already knew from your previous posts)

    How are the cherries in Iraq?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 7:59 am  

  • Its not easy to mix in a diffrent communty that the one you were raised in Craig.

    Straightforward is not a thing you usually find here.

    By Blogger Zappy Corleone, at 10:08 am  

  • by "here" i mean the U.K.

    By Blogger Zappy Corleone, at 10:09 am  

  • Hugs.

    / Nadia

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:47 pm  

  • While Bush and Blair are responsible for the war in Iraq, I object to your comment that they are also responsible for planting seeds of hatred in your country. That was done by Al Quaeda who knows how to exploit dormant passions. In all fairness, had there not been a real potential for this mutual cruelty between Sunni and Shia, would the atrocities take place?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:00 am  

  • eva,

    People everywhere are racist deep down inside.
    We all think that our colour,race, religion or whatever we believe in is the best. The only difference is in controlling these feelings, repressing them and live and let live. that is if there is something to live for, and in our case there isn't any currently.

    When there is lawlessness, injustice and poverty the first result is a power struggle,and the concept of joining your race or sect to gain strength.If there were no Shia and Sunna there would have been something else like different tribes or different race.

    What happened in Iraq was intentional and well planned for beforehand to wreck the country and busy it with internal fights, and would have happened anywhere else when a country becomes a failed state.

    If we hate each other that much we wouldn't have waited for the Americans to come and tell us about it.
    Look at the Palestinians at the moment. Can you tell me why are they fighting with each other? and who is the real beneficiary from this mess? and why now?

    If you understand that you will understand exactly what is happening in Iraq.

    By Blogger hala_s, at 9:21 pm  

  • Well I think
    Saddam planted a few seeds of hate
    during his 35 years ...

    Ask a few people in the Kurdish
    north what they think of say
    Bush/Blair/Saddam/bin-Laden ??

    (or don'y you count Kurds as Iraqi)

    if you ever go back to Iraq ask the
    women of Hilla about the Mass Graves Saddam filled with their
    male relatives ... or are the
    mass graves of Saddam now considered Western Propaganda ??

    And while your at it ask the people of Kuwait about how beautiful the inide of the Iraqi fruit is !!!

    The simple horrible fact is
    that the most brutal elements of Saddams internal security forces
    were much larger and much more
    loyal to the cause of dominating
    Iraq ... and
    the number of Shia who want not only fair representation in the new
    Government but revenge for 35 years
    of Saddam are also much larger
    and also loyal to their cause.

    It is absurd that Bush/Blair
    planted the seeds of hatred in Iraq.

    There were at least 50 bombings
    attacking the Shia civilian areas
    before the now consistent
    retaliatory killings began taking place ....

    Your country has extremist elements
    on both sides who the small
    relative to the population as a whole are large in terms
    being able to handle them easily

    Always pointing fingers at the western powers will not heal Iraq
    or solve the Palestinian/Israel issue ....

    Iraqs competing factions need
    to look at themselves

    I am hoping Iraq moves quickly to
    reconcilliation and a lasting peace
    So you and Zappy can return home
    and enjoy the Pomgranates and tomatoes

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:40 am  

  • "Look at the Palestinians at the moment. Can you tell me why are they fighting with each other? and who is the real beneficiary from this mess? and why now?"

    The Palestinians are fighting with each other because they are unable to reach compromise among themselves. I'd stay away from the Palestinian argument if I were you, Hala. It only underlines the amount of intestinal hatred that sustains the violence in the Middle East. Surely, no evil outside forces incited the Palestinians to raid Arafat's house and steal his Nobel Peace Prize! No one, least of all Israel, incited them to teach their children a profound hatred of Jews and the Western world. No one but themselves turned them into suicide bombers. In what way would this benefit their enemies?No amount of wishful thinking could alter this. Please, be honest with yourself!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:00 pm  

  • The war being waged in Iraq must end not only to allow you to live your lives in relative peace, but to unite as humanity and stand up against those who use war and politics for financial gain and power.

    We need to SHOW the strength of opposition to the war, to show that regardless of race, religion, politics or location – that we want this war to be brought to an end now. In the media, Iraqis are shown divided and violent – but we know that media is not accurate and that it is often used by those in power to manipulate public sentiment.

    If you as an individual, as an Iraqi, as a member of any race, want an end to this war, please join visibly with others from all religions, politics, races and places, by wearing a home-made, white fabric armband to show your agreement with just one statement “I want an end to the war in Iraq”.

    I realise that in this harsh and complex world, that simple symbolisms of unity seem small – but with this easily available and free symbol, we can show our numbers, our opposition to the situation and our desire to stand against the violence and abuse.

    After I started the ARMS AGAINST WAR campaign (www.armsagainstwar.info), I came across a quote that perfectly reflects it:

    [Two thousand years ago, a Roman Senator suggested that all slaves
    wear white armbands to better identify them.
    "No," said a wiser Senator.
    "If they see how many of them there are, they may revolt."]

    Please give this campaign your consideration, no money, no other agenda, just an easily agreed single statement that unites a divided world in one act of unity, one step to choosing our more peaceful future and one step to self empowerment.

    Thanks for reading and I sincerely wish you well.

    Namaste,
    Tina Louise
    www.armsagainstwar.info

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:38 pm  

  • anon
    I don't need someone to tell me about what Saddam did.
    I have relatives and friends among the buried in the mass graves.

    Saddam's crimes don't make the Americans less criminal.
    He planted a lot of seeds not few, but his cruelty and oppression although was specifically aimed at Shia and Kurds but he was a dictator and his evil touched even members of his own family. Iraqis hate for him united us. The wars he incited killed us all and ruined the whole of Iraq.
    Some people seem to think that attacking the Americans crimes means we want Saddam back and this is what I really called absurd.
    What do you guys want us to say? We love America as it brought democracy to us?
    Do you prefer we say we are bad and we don’t deserve your liberation?
    You know what is your problem? Your problem is you see things from your own point of view. You try to apply logic to a situation that is beyond logic, you expect people to behave in a civil way under no services, no security and no future.
    You go and ask the women of Hilla about their lives now and ask them how the invasion has improved it. They will never praise Saddam, no sane person will do that, but they won’t praise the Americans either.

    eva
    I am very honest with myself and I do face realities.
    And you know why the Palestinians reached this point of conflict? It is not because they are thieves as you have stated. It is because Israelis and Americans did not like the results of the democracy they are trying to achieve.
    They put Arafat in house arrest for two years and did their best to destroy Fatah and when democracy led to Hamas they did not like it.
    You know why they are fighting? They are fighting because they are hungry and they are cut off all resources. They cannot reach a compromise with Israel because Israel will never agree on the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.
    The Zionists that we are teaching our children to hate stole our land and kicked us out.
    And go and ask them if they teach their children to love us if you don’t mind.

    tina louise
    Thank you.
    Tell them about wars because they haven't been through any...

    By Blogger hala_s, at 10:29 pm  

  • [craig] “I'm asking again... why do you want to live in Britain? You obviously don't like the British! I don't either, but I don't choose to live in a country where I loathe the people.”

    That’s an excellent question. Why don’t they just stay in Iraq?

    Oh … that’s right, because AMERICA invaded Iraq and turned it into hell on earth. And here’s Craig, bravely harassing the survivors of the destruction wrought upon them. Now, why does it not surprise me that one of the invasionists should engage in such behaviour?

    Blaming the victim.

    What morality.

    I rather think that Iraqi refugees should move exactly to America, if they like, and that a big chunk of land should be given just to them. Perhaps that would make up in small measure for the destruction of their land.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 11:22 am  

  • [hala] “What happened in Iraq was intentional and well planned for beforehand to wreck the country and busy it with internal fights, and would have happened anywhere else when a country becomes a failed state.”

    Read this: first an excerpt from one of the Neocons that planned the war:

    “Today, Wurmser has moved into the White House, where he is the chief “Middle East advisor” to the Vice-President. In effect, Wurmser has been promoted by Cheney for being such a successful warmonger and fabricator. That’s the way it works. […] “In a series of papers and a book, Wurmser argued that toppling Saddam was likely to lead directly to civil war and the breakup of Iraq, but he supported the policy anyway: ‘The residual unity of [Iraq] is an illusion projected by the extreme repression of the state.’ After Saddam, Iraq will ‘be ripped apart by the politics of warlords, tribes, clans, sects, and key families,’ he wrote.”//end

    http://www.takimag.com/site/ arti...the_web_of_lies

    then, read this, which supports your statement that a failed state / country under invasion breaks down into anarchy:

    “The whole region appears to have been in a state of anarchy, and an Irish officer on the British side observed that the "violence and passions of these people are beyond every curb of religion and humanity". He left a graphic account of conditions prevailing in the Carolinas: "They are unbounded and every hour exhibit dreadful wanton mischiefs, murders and violence of every kind, unheard of before. We find the country in great measure abandoned, and the few who venture to remain at home are in hourly expectation of being murdered, or stripped of all their property"."”//end

    http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2001_summer_fall/amer_war_3.html

    Yes, that’s Americans during their Revolution against the British. They seem to have forgotten the horrors of war, it seems.


    [hala] “And you know why the Palestinians reached this point of conflict? It is not because they are thieves as you have stated. It is because Israelis and Americans did not like the results of the democracy they are trying to achieve.”

    And this statement of yours too, is grounded in fact:

    “ Senior Hamas official Mushir al-Masri blamed the United States on Friday for attempting to promote a revolt against the Hamas government, after U.S. documents showed that the Bush administration will provide $86.4 million to strengthen security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. "We demand that Abbas reject this U.S. policy, which is tearing the Palestinian people apart," he said. The new policy would expand U.S. involvement in Abbas' power struggle with Hamas.”//end

    http://mpacuk.org/content/view/3231/34/

    [hala] “Some people seem to think that attacking the Americans crimes means we want Saddam back and this is what I really called absurd.”

    Damn right!

    By Blogger Bruno, at 11:23 am  

  • And now, it feels almost Off Topic, but on your post, which I originally wanted to comment on: You are not the only one bemoaning plastic tomatoes and tasteless veggies. Here in SA they actually put the pathetic balls they claim are tomatoes under red lights in some shops to make them seem redder. And then there are some that are blood-red, but when you eat them you can taste that they are not ripe. WTF is up with these weird vegetables that are floating around these days? I grew some tomatoes myself in my backyard (at great difficulty – green fingers I have not) and the difference was amazing. After your post I am now wondering if the Pomegranate in our backyard can compare to Iraqi ones … ;)

    By Blogger Bruno, at 11:24 am  

  • bruno
    As long as it is not genetically modified it will taste good.
    For the sake of making extra money for some, we are losing not only the real taste of food but the taste of real life altogether.

    By Blogger hala_s, at 9:12 am  

  • i thought genetic modification was banned in europe. i wish i could say that here.

    Most of your post looked like bigotry, to me.

    pot, meet kettle.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:27 pm  

  • Sitting on a couch, in a secure part of the World with 24 hours of water, food and electrcity pointing fingers at others and blameing them for trying to survive. thats ugly.

    it like a British MP once said "oh yes the U.S. State department went to Iraq to Sprinkle Democarcy Dust from tinklebells ass, and every Iraq would turn out happy"

    22 Billion Dollars of U.S. tax payers money worth of Democracy Dust, down the drain.

    By Blogger Zappy Corleone, at 10:41 am  

  • there are more Iraqi Refugees in the World today (Post 2003) than anytime in History.

    By Blogger Zappy Corleone, at 10:43 am  

  • [zappy] "it like a British MP once said "oh yes the U.S. State department went to Iraq to Sprinkle Democarcy Dust from tinklebells ass, and every Iraq would turn out happy"

    LOL! Yes, isn't it amazing the simplistic ideas some people have of nations that have been around since the time of Christ?


    Hala_s --

    I have to wonder about GM foods. I threw one of those really red tomatoes out into the garden, and a month later it was still intact, not rotten like a normal tomato would be. There were a few tiny specks of what looked like mould stuck to it, but other wise it looked like you could eat it. That was scary. I hope they didn't splice scorpion genes into the damn thing.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 8:28 am  

  • Hala, what is your opinion of the 7 Iraqis and Jordanians who have been arrested for terrorism in Britain, the last few days?

    Do you still think it's OK for Iraqis to live in a country they hate?

    Do you think these terror attacks are caused by a neocon conspiracy?

    Do you think the British deserve it?

    Bruno, how about you? bet you are sitting in front of your computer laughing your ass off, aren't you?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 6:09 pm  

  • [c] Do you think these terror attacks are caused by a neocon conspiracy?

    I think these attacks are caused by blowback from the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq by Britain.

    [c]Do you think the British deserve it?

    The British public, no. If they had their way there would never have been an invasion in the first place. Now, if they had blown up Blair, I might be able to get behind that.

    [c] Bruno, how about you? bet you are sitting in front of your computer laughing your ass off, aren't you?

    No, I'm not. These attacks will harden stances against refugees and against Iraqis. That's bad, not good.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 11:17 am  

  • The Americans supported the tyrannical regime in Iraq with military surveillance information during the Iran-Iraq war. The war was initially waged to protect American oil interests in the Gulf. The American 'regime' knew about ALL the atrocities committed by the Iraqi Iraqi regime and turned a blind eye. They supported it for protecting their interests. Then the tyrant invaded Kuwait (with a nod from American Ambassador April Galespy)and the Iraqis knew 'real' indiscriminate agression for the first time. When that didn't work. They were STARVED for 12 long years by US imposed sanctions. Millions of Iraqi children died. Ambassador Albright referred to it as 'Collateral Damage'. Then what was left of the Iraqis that didn't flee, were 'Shocked and Awed' into a new reality that never existed before; CIVIL WAR -caused and created by non other than the same super power to 'divide and rule' and control the world's THIRD LARGEST OIL RESERVE. And some Americans have the audacity to ask, 'Why are you in my country?'. WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OURS? WHY ARE YOU THERE DESTROYING US? You DESTROY the world so that your own economy thrives. You wage wars everywhere for strategic economic purposes, you support tyrannical regimes (so the poor majority are not just fighting a 'regime', they are actually fighting a SUPER POWER!), and when these poor people scramble to safety away from the HELL you have created everywhere else, you ask them what they are doing, 'in the belly of the beast?'...People of this mind set were born EVIL. They are the same seed that breeds the tyrannical superpowers that are wrecking our world through wars, pollution, destruction of every kind...but guess what? It will come back to bite you! And it has already. What goes around always comes around eventually!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:49 pm  

  • Eva,
    I wonder what you would do if someone kicked you out of your land, cornered you in a 'tight spot' and then made sure you got no source of money, food or clothing or any form of sustanance for a good while? What would that turn you into? Trust me you would surprise yourself!
    Unfortunately, Jews take so much for granted and fail to see beyond thier noses because they do not want to confront the fact that they stripped a people of their land, rendered them homeless and further denied them existance in the most simplest human forms...That is the truth that no Jewish person would like to admit anymore than the Americans will admit to how they annihilated an entire people (in millions) to establish their colonies! It's really jews who long since should have been 'honest with themselves'...Charity begins at home, Eva!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:40 am  

  • Don't they have local farmers markets near you? The best produce to get is the produce from small family farmer markets. They are not as clean, or as visually appetizing as the commercial stuff, but they have much more flavor.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:30 am  

  • Excellent comment, Anonymous. The irony of the war is that all the racists that hate Arabs claimed that they were doing it "to free the Iraqis". Now that their rotten venture has failed, these same warmongers are angry that the Iraqis they were supposed to be saving are scattering all over the world, including to their countries. The invasionist's true colours are finally showing.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 8:58 am  

  • U.S. Grown Pomegranate's are $3 a piece! here, I checked at the Sainsburys today, and they don't look fresh.

    By Blogger Zappy Corleone, at 4:04 pm  

  • 3$?! That's daylight robbery.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 8:46 am  

  • Hay Hala_S Your missing the wonderful weather were getting here :)

    By Blogger Zappy Corleone, at 2:20 pm  

  • Bush & Blair did not come to Iraq uninvited. Years of pro-democracy movements, working underground with free countries to overthrow totalitarianism, are coming to fruition.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:48 am  

  • The irony of the war is that all the racists that hate Arabs claimed that they were doing it "to free the Iraqis".

    I was going to dispute this, but then I realized that you, Bruno the great white South African hunter, are a racist... and that you claim you are doing what you do because you support freedom for Iraqis :)

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:10 am  

  • Hala_s,

    You know what is your problem? Your problem is you see things from your own point of view.

    That seems to be your problem, as well.

    Craig: Bruno, how about you? bet you are sitting in front of your computer laughing your ass off, aren't you?

    Bruno: No, I'm not. These attacks will harden stances against refugees and against Iraqis. That's bad, not good.

    Oh. Yeah. I forgot. You care SOOOO much about Iraqis. Don't you?

    How come I never see you on Palestinian blogs? Or Sudanese blogs? Or Lebanese blogs? Because there aren't any Americans involved in those conflicts for you to rant and rave about?

    I bet you soon as an American showed up with a rifle in any of those conflicts, you'd be there to express your concern for their suffering victims, wouldn't you?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:19 am  

  • Oh, yeah, how's about those suffering Somalis, Bruno? Why no outpouring of grief for them? Isn't that a little closer to home, for you? Don't the Somali refugees count?

    I bet they'd count a lot if there were some American troops in Somalia, huh?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:21 am  

  • [craig] “I was going to dispute this, but then I realized that you, Bruno the great white South African hunter, are a racist”

    How was your time in the Einsatzgruppen, Craig? What happened when you ran out of bullets?

    [craig] “How come I never see you on Palestinian blogs?”

    Because I don’t have the ability to split myself into four parts. An amoeba like yourself, now, that’s different. And also because I believe in concentrating on the greatest crime first … in this case being your invasion and destruction of Iraq. You sound rather hysterical, buddy. Evidently my efforts are having an effect. Good.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 10:56 am  

  • Nice try, Bruno. I wonder if anybody believes that your hate for the US has anything to do with your obsession with Iraq?

    Are you really claiming that the invasion of Iraq is a bigger "crime" than the 60 year old unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict? That puts you distinctly at odds with your Arab friends, doesn't it? Isn't your buddy Raed Jarrar a Palestinian? I noticed as soon as he arrived in the US he became a Palestinian activist, and stopped calling himself Iraqi. I even saw him on the news once. He didn't even mention Iraq. He mentioned Palestine.

    Your bad taste in friends is bad enough, but at least you could turn coat when they do, don't you think?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 8:19 am  

  • [craig] “Nice try, Bruno. I wonder if anybody believes that your hate for the US has anything to do with your obsession with Iraq?”

    Oh, wait, let me see. You invaded a sovereign, un-threatening country that you had been starving for over a decade on false pretexts, in a quest to establish complete US pre-eminence over the globe. Your invasion results in over half a million Iraqis dying, and millions more displaced.

    Right, I can’t see why that would get ANYBODY worked up.

    Maybe its just another day’s business to YOU, but to the rest of us it is a scandalous outrage.

    [craig] “Are you really claiming that the invasion of Iraq is a bigger "crime" than the 60 year old unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict?”

    So you’re admitting that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is a crime? Or are you just trying to steer the discussion anywhere but the US invasion of Iraq, and the attendant mass slaughter?

    [craig] “Isn't your buddy Raed Jarrar a Palestinian?”

    He’s ½ and ½. Doesn’t stop him from fighting on two fronts at once. Myself, I like to concentrate my efforts. Again, it seems I’m having an effect, judging from your whingeing on the matter. Good.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 8:52 am  

  • The greatest crime first? What about Darfur for crimes? Or the starvation of millions of children in South Africa? I wonder who has killed more Iraqis; American's, British's, or the Iraqis themselves.

    As for all the belly moaning about how this person did this and that person did this, or how this person or these people are making it hard for them, get over it. Maybe if Iraqis were more interested in building, fixing and survival, they might able to survive. Seems to me that most Iraqis are so arrogant, they figure that the world is making all their troubles. Other people�s greed and other nations are always at fault. If this is true, and all others are at fault for the state that Iraq is in, why haven�t the Iraqis stood up for themselves. If times were sooooooo bad during Saddams reign, why did all you faithful, good Iraqis put up with it.

    Not like the Iraqis haven�t been fighting among themselves for centuries now. They needed outside interference to cause them all the grief and give them a scapegoat for there lack of desire to have personal freedom and security. How can Iraqis blame the world for what is going on there, and turn a blind eye to there own internal hatred for themselves.

    I have been following blog�s, media and comment section for a couple years now, I rarely comment anywhere, but I find my disgust growing on a daily basis. Iraqis are quick to say the US this, the US that, and then turn a blind eye to who is killing the most Iraqis everyday. Don�t think that I agree with the war, or the US�s motives, I have held hope for Iraq�s people to gain freedom and self direction, to be able to move forward from a state of such oppression.

    But I must admit that the more I read about Iraq, and the more I read from an Iraqis perspective, the more disgusted I become. People can take care of themselves, they don�t need other people to give them hand outs. They need to have the desire to have a good life, no one is going to give it to them. I find it amusing that Iraqis cry about their country while they are packing there bags and fleeing to other places. How is this caring for your homeland? Don�t you think that to get past the oppression that in numbers you might have a chance to stand? If you can�t stand on your own, they why should anyone in the world try to help you out? Why is it that Iraqis complain about the US, but don�t complain about the internal fighting/killing/torture that is being done on Iraqis by other IRAQIS. You are so civil, and such an old nation that the world should be in awe at your farming, food, and whatever, yet you can�t even secure your own back yard out of fear of your own people.

    Maybe since you guys are so informed, you can explain to me how it is that a people who have been fighting among themselves for so long, can so quickly blame everyone else in the world for their own crimes. And maybe you can make me understand why you come to our FREE countries, where you don�t live in fear, you have food and electricity, roads and cars, opportunity, security, and self direction, and then you, cry and complain about how it was so much better in Iraq, and how everyone else needs to fix Iraq.

    Its not up to anyone else in the world to make it better for Iraqis, its up to Iraqis, and I will find it harder and harder to give sympathy to a people who are so self centered that they can�t figure out what the real problems.

    I am fully expecting to get flamed, but that�s fine, after all, this is just my opinion, and when I go home, and play with the kids, eat my food, and live in my comfort, I will try hard not to forget about the people who fought and died to ensure my freedoms, after all, it was just handed out to them, there were no wars, or civil unrest.

    And no, I don�t live in the US or Britain, so please don�t play those cards in retaliation.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:05 am  

  • Bruno,

    So you’re admitting that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is a crime? Or are you just trying to steer the discussion anywhere but the US invasion of Iraq, and the attendant mass slaughter?

    Neither the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands during the Arab-Israeli conflict, nor the US occupation of Iraq now is a "crime". But I'm using legal concepts for the word "crime" which Arabs (and South Africans I guess) don't seem to care about.

    I was pointing out that your claim that the US invasion of Iraq was the BIGGEST "crime" in the middle east is at odds with what Arabs themselves believe. Including your bestest buddy in the whole wide world, Raed Jarrar.

    Where is your solidarity, man?

    He’s ½ and ½.

    He isn't "half and half". His father is Palestinian. That makes him Palestinian. Not half and half. What the hell kind of "expert" are you? You don't even know the citizenship laws of Iraq or most other middle-eastern countries. But does that stop you from talking out of your ass? Noooooo....

    Doesn’t stop him from fighting on two fronts at once.

    Well, apparently it does. After he married his Iranian-American wife, he used his status as a PALESTINIAN to get a visa into the US. He calls himself a Palestinian activist now, not an Iraqi activist. He doesn't even call himself Iraqi, period. And he doesn't mention that he lived in Iraq for a few years. He doesn't mention he ever lived in Iraq at all. Except on his blog. It is his identity as a Palestinian that he (and his siblings) are parlaying to their advantage.

    Myself, I like to concentrate my efforts.

    Yes. You like to concentrate your efforts *against America* - because it is America you care about, not Iraq, and not Arabs, and not human suffering. If you gave a shit about human suffering, there is plenty of work for you to do on that front right there at home in South Africa. You haven't noticed?

    And you chose Iraq because you can get a lot more traction than with Afghanistan, because it's an unpopular war.

    Again, it seems I’m having an effect, judging from your whingeing on the matter. Good.

    Declaring victory again, dude? So unlike you, isn't it?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 11:02 pm  

  • [bruno] Myself, I like to concentrate my efforts.
    [craig] “Yes. You like to concentrate your efforts *against America*”

    In other words, you’re in the position of the gangster complaining to the police why they didn’t catch all the other gangsters, because, hey, it’s unfair that they pick on HIM. The US is the biggest gangster on the planet right now. Damn right I concentrate my efforts against you. And what you have done to the Iraqis and to Iraq is despicable, and vile. Damn right I concentrate on Iraq.

    [craig] “His father is Palestinian. That makes him Palestinian.”

    Oh, right, he just materialised. He didn’t have an Iraqi mother, and didn’t grow up in Iraq, either, did he?

    [craig] “After he married his Iranian-American wife, he used his status as a PALESTINIAN”

    Wow, you’re really obsessed with Raed, aren’t you? Fact is, he’s done PLENTY of work FOR IRAQ. He organised medicines and relief for Fallujah when your criminals razed it to the ground. He was instrumental in disseminating and exposing the sham Oil Law for the instrument of daylight robbery it is. I don’t give a hoot whether he sees himself as Iraqi or Palestinian. I’m more interested in the goodness of his actions. Evidently you really are disturbed when people try and help others, aren’t you? Have you seen a shrink lately?

    [craig] “And you chose Iraq because you can get a lot more traction than with Afghanistan, because it's an unpopular war.”

    Ya think? Actually, no. I regard US military action against Afghanistan as legitimate, since they hit you first. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I support the ongoing massacres of innocent Afghans that have been increasing over the years, by your forces. Now, maybe it you’d left Iraq ALONE and concentrated on rebuilding Afghanistan PROPERLY, you wouldn’t be in such a mess, would you? It’s unravelling on both sides, isn’t it?

    Your evil deeds have come back to bite you in the ass, it seems.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 7:47 am  

  • [anon] Maybe if Iraqis were more interested in building, fixing and survival, they might able to survive.

    Maybe if foreign forces weren’t in Iraq demolishing everything and shooting people up, they would be building and fixing.

    [anon] “Seems to me that most Iraqis are so arrogant, they figure that the world is making all their troubles.”

    Seems to me, some people are so ignorant that they haven’t noticed that Iraq was invaded by foreigners that decided to turn Iraq into their own personal warzone, and playground for their agendas.

    [anon] “why haven’t the Iraqis stood up for themselves.”

    In actual fact, they have. They have killed thousands of the invaders and sent back tens of thousands of them as casualties. The US now talks of “military solutions” as being impossible.

    [anon] “They needed outside interference to cause them all the grief”

    In actual fact, the US entrenched a sectarian agenda from the first moment. The US decided to remould Iraqi society into something that would suit it. The US decided to put some of the most sectarian and murderous people in the region into the armed forces, and train and support them. Its like I invaded the US and put the mafia in charge of the police. GOSH, I wonder WHY Iraq is in such a shambles?

    [anon] “I find it amusing that Iraqis cry about their country while they are packing there bags and fleeing to other places. How is this caring for your homeland?”

    I find it disgusting and vile that some people have the guts to laugh at others that are fleeing a warzone trying to save their lives and the lives of their families.

    [anon] “Don’t you think that to get past the oppression that in numbers you might have a chance to stand?”

    Evidently you have NO IDEA of what is happening in Iraq these days.

    Stand for WHO?

    The Kurds?
    Al Qaeda?
    Badr?
    Sadr?
    The Turkomen?
    Fadhila?
    The Baath?
    The US?
    Dawa?
    SIIC?
    The Resistance?
    The Shia?
    The Sunni?
    Iran?

    The entire country has disintegrated, and ordinary Iraqis don’t know which way to run. This was predicted, it was foretold, before America invaded. Now that it’s happening, you blame IRAQIS?? Get lost.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 9:36 am  

  • Here's some Palestinian news, since Craig thinks I should be covering it as well:

    "A probe by the Israel Defense Forces indicates gross misconduct in the Lavi Battalion after an officer and five soldiers went on a rampage last week in Dahariya, south of Hebron. [...] The officer and soldiers took over a Palestinian taxi and bound its driver, and while driving with him shot and injured a Palestinian in the town they said looked suspicious. They abandoned him bleeding and left Dahariya without reporting the incident to their commanders."

    http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/889414.html

    Israel? Isn't that the country the US maintains and arms to the tune of billions of dollars per year? Isn't that the Country that the US helped invade Lebanon? Isn't that the country the US shields at the UN day in, day out?

    Yet again, we see the Amreekan connection.

    You strike the tree at the roots, Craig, not at the branches.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 11:53 am  

  • Wow, you’re really obsessed with Raed, aren’t you? Fact is, he’s done PLENTY of work FOR IRAQ. He organised medicines and relief for Fallujah when your criminals razed it to the ground.

    Exactly. And who was in Falluja, Bruno? The same murderers, criminals and terrorists taht you are over there on Mama's blog sympathizing with her about when she condemns them.

    Those are the people Raed Jarrar supports. Those are the people YOU support. Murderers. Butchers.

    Don't you get it, yet? do you REALLY not understand that you've been supporting the forces of absolute evil in Iraq, for 4+ years? And now you pretend like you don't support those filthy beasts, and expect people to believe it?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 8:28 pm  

  • Programmer Craig, you should be named Blog STALKER Craig. Is there any particular reason why go to almost ALL of the Iraqi and many of the Palestinian blogs leaving your inane and useless comments?

    Does it make you feel better at night to go to bed thinking that you were a mighty internet warrior "defending" American on the blogosphere?

    Get a life loser (loser of epic proportions)--better yet try getting laid it will make you less obsessive about Arab blogs. Nobody cares what you say, least of all me, I just thought I'd point out to people that you are a freaking loser that is literally STALKING the Iraqi and Palestinian blogosphere with your most ridiculous, racist, ethnocentric and backwards hillbilly comments.

    Oh and by the way your gravatar is really, really gay.

    Yeah, yeah, now tell me about how I am a Palestinian terrorist supporter or whatever nonsense propaganda you repeat. Blah blah, you aren't even original or interesting anymore.

    Thanks!

    By Blogger Shusma, at 8:12 pm  

  • Dear Palestinian Terrorist,

    Programmer Craig, you should be named Blog STALKER Craig. Is there any particular reason why go to almost ALL of the Iraqi and many of the Palestinian blogs leaving your inane and useless comments?

    I only comment on ONE Palestinian propaganda site - the only one that I have found that doesn't moderate dissenting opinions completely off the blog. Oddly enough, I've only seen you comment there once. Why is that? DO you prefer the propaganda sits that don't allow people to disagree with you?

    As for the Iraqi blogs, my country is in Iraq, for better or for worse. I have a better reason to be on Iraqi blogs than you do. You're a Palestinian militant... what the fuck do you have to say about Iraq that has merit? Do you wnat to encourage Iraqis to be as retarded as Palestinians have been the last 60 years? Will that make you feel better about being a Palestinian shit-for-brains?

    Does it make you feel better at night to go to bed thinking that you were a mighty internet warrior "defending" American on the blogosphere?

    Do you sleep better, being a supporter of international terrorism? Being a supporter of the victimization of innocent human beings, to support the Palestinian "cause"? Well, do you?

    Get a life loser (loser of epic proportions)

    A Palestinian calls me a loser? Palestinians are the biggest losers in all of recorded history.

    A Palestinian tells me to "get a life"? Palestinians have been so unhappy with their own lives since 1948 that they have destroyed the lives of people all across the globe, to draw attention to their own misery. I HAVE a life. I'm unwilling to let you spoil it, just because you believe in your terroristic cause. I will take your life from you before I will let you ruin mine. Believe that.

    --better yet try getting laid it will make you less obsessive about Arab blogs.

    Is that an offer? Send me a few pictures and I'll consider it. If you are good looking enough I might ignore the fact that you are a murderous ideologue for a night or two.

    Nobody cares what you say, least of all me

    That's why you commented here, no doubt :D

    I just thought I'd point out to people that you are a freaking loser that is literally STALKING the Iraqi and Palestinian blogosphere with your most ridiculous, racist, ethnocentric and backwards hillbilly comments.

    It's funny that when I pointed out some of your racist comments about people in the past, you replied that you only cared about the rights of Arabs. If that's not racism, I don't know what is.

    Nice touch making an ethnic slur against me in the same paragraph that you call me a racist :O

    Oh and by the way your gravatar is really, really gay.

    And yours is a picture of a Palestinian plane hijacker.

    How "gay" is it to represent yourself with a photo of an infamous terrorist and then claim you aren't a supporter of terrorism?

    Pretty lame.

    Yeah, yeah, now tell me about how I am a Palestinian terrorist supporter or whatever nonsense propaganda you repeat.

    You ARE a Palestinian supporter of terrorism. That is the statement you make with the avatar you have chosen for yourself. That Laila woman hijacked at LEAST two airplanes back in the 1960s. She *IS* a Palestinian terrorist. And you obviously support her.

    What do you want me to say? This (a supporter of Palestinian terrorism) is how you have chosen to present yourself. It's what the world sees and knows about you.

    And anybody who has ever read your comments on various blogs is aware of just how hateful and violent you are.

    You're a filthy beast, in human clothing.

    You should be hitting on Bruno, not me. He likes your kind.

    Blah blah, you aren't even original or interesting anymore.

    I'm hurt! Really, I am! It's not every day I get called "unoriginal" by a Palestinian propagandist! How many decades have you guys been repeating the same old, same old?

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 10:31 pm  

  • This comment has been removed by the author.

    By Blogger Shusma, at 4:07 am  

  • You can't expect me to read all your meaningless crap, Programmed Craig. If you can summarize your above comment with an emoticon so I can get the gist of it.

    Thanks!

    By Blogger Shusma, at 4:12 am  

  • No wonder you like to hang out on blogs where everyone agrees with you.

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:10 am  

  • i'm sorry, but i can't believe that you people are still wasting time responding to such an unapologetically racist turd. comments can be put in moderation and it's seriously a wonderful thing.

    i like pomegranate but i don't understand the plethora of pomegranate oriented products springing up all over the place lately. this flavoured tea i tried the other day tasted like cough syrup ugh!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:37 pm  

  • Egg plants in TESCO is 70 Pence at TESCO online its 99 Pence and at ASDA its 49 Pence

    By Blogger Zappy Corleone, at 1:48 pm  

  • Is that anonymous you, CSS? I can't imagine anyone else would think it's "racism" to condemn a Palestinian terrorist! Do Palestinians have a God give right to murder people, or something?

    As far as "moderation" - that isn't necessary. All Hala has to do is ask me to stop reading her blog, and I will. I've never yet stayed on a blog after the blogger asked me to go.

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:29 pm  

  • [craig] “And who was in Falluja, Bruno? The same murderers, criminals and terrorists taht you are over there on Mama's blog sympathizing with her about when she condemns them.”

    Oh, come on now, that’s crap. A tiny fraction of those captured in Fallujah were foreigners. If you’re making the blanket case that the Fallujans themselves are murderers and criminals, then you can go get knotted.

    [craig] “do you REALLY not understand that you've been supporting the forces of absolute evil in Iraq, for 4+ years?”

    Al Qaeda? The same folks that the US IS RECRUITING RIGHT NOW, in Iraq, because it has SO run out of options to deal with the legitimate resistance? No, I don’t think so. Besides, it was THE USA that invited them in, in the first place, wasn’t it?

    [craig] “As for the Iraqi blogs, my country is in Iraq, for better or for worse. I have a better reason to be on Iraqi blogs than you do.”

    In other words, if only we bombed and pillaged America, then we would have a “right”, whatever THAT may mean, to comment on the US and its immoral, cowardly invasion of Iraq? I don’t buy that logic.

    [craig] “I will take your life from you before I will let you ruin mine.”

    Ooooh.

    The ‘tough boy’ routine again, is it? Somehow, we’re all less than impressed with the toughness of a guy that wants to kill a woman because she’s making him look stupid in the comment pages of some blog. Is that ‘ruining’ your life, Cwaigie?

    Sniff, sniff.

    Have some Kleenex.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 1:09 pm  

  • [CSS] “I just thought I'd point out to people that you are a freaking loser that is literally STALKING the Iraqi and Palestinian blogosphere with your most ridiculous, racist, ethnocentric and backwards hillbilly comments.”

    Have you noted the hysterical note that has crept into his posts, though? He’s been battered from pillar to post, and all he has left are his rants. Reminds me of the US position in Iraq, actually.

    [CSS] “Does it make you feel better at night to go to bed thinking that you were a mighty internet warrior "defending" America”

    :lol:

    Yeah, he’s defending the homeland against all those hordes of fanatical internet Muslims that will, if he’s not careful, possess his toaster and burn his toast.

    [CSS] “Oh and by the way your gravatar is really, really gay.”

    So you also noticed it!

    Maybe he spent too much time picking up the soap in the Marine showers … ;)

    By Blogger Bruno, at 1:11 pm  

  • Bruno,

    Craig “And who was in Falluja, Bruno? The same murderers, criminals and terrorists taht you are over there on Mama's blog sympathizing with her about when she condemns them.”

    Bruno: Oh, come on now, that’s crap. A tiny fraction of those captured in Fallujah were foreigners. If you’re making the blanket case that the Fallujans themselves are murderers and criminals, then you can go get knotted.

    I didn't say a fucking word about "foreigners", Bruno. You did. And I'm not going to argue about the "high quality" of the Baathists, insurgents, and Al Qaeda in Iraq shitheads who took over Falluja. They were what they were, and we all know what that is. You and Raed liked it just fine when terrorists took Falluja over. Why don't you admit it?

    I'm skipping the rest of your crap. Clarify your position on kidnap, murder and and the takeover of towns by terrorists gangs and maybe I'll be interested in discussing, but as of now it seems to me you are just an apologist for terrorism.

    See, Catholic Sunni Shia? He's just your type :P

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:35 pm  

  • Have you noted the hysterical note that has crept into his posts, though?

    You've been saying exactly the same thing for weeks. Is that your new tactic? I've been saying the same things about you for a couple years. If you really believe all your opponents are suddenly losing their composure, maybe the problem is in you, Bruno. Does it bother you that nobody takes you seriously anymore? That people treat you like a cartoon character? I've been treating you that way from the start. I'm not one of those who used to believe you had something valid or interesting to say.

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:42 pm  

  • Oh, and Bruno? Why don't you take this opportunity to ask your new Palestinian friend what Raed's actual nationality is. After you get that clarified, maybe you can admit you were wrong in a few years? :P

    By Blogger programmer craig, at 5:44 pm  

  • [craig] “And I'm not going to argue about the "high quality" of the Baathists, insurgents, and Al Qaeda in Iraq shitheads who took over Falluja. They were what they were, and we all know what that is.”

    Yeah, except for that the bulk of the people IN Fallujah were Fallujans, fighting for their OWN city.

    Except for now that you’ve sealed the city off, installed every imaginable measure to ensure that the evil outsiders don’t infiltrate Fallujah, resistance STILL continues there. Why? Oh, that’s right, because maybe the people defending Fallujah WERE AND ARE FALLUJANS.

    The only shitheads in Fallujah were your vomitous Marines, which conducted a general massacre of the population and virtually destroyed the place. We all remember the brave yank soldiers shooting wounded prisoners in cold blood. We all heard of the stories of Iraqis burying their children in their backyards. Children which were wounded by your shellfire, and unable to reach hospitals because your dogs shot at any moving thing in the streets. Get lost, you bag of old puke.

    [craig] “If you really believe all your opponents are suddenly losing their composure”

    Just you, boyo. You’re sounding ragged at the edges. You sound bitter and desperate. You sound embarrassed that the “global hyperpower” just got smashed up by a bunch of tribesmen and patriots armed with nothing but small-arms, home-made bombs and brass balls.

    Too bad.

    Those are the facts, and you will learn to love them.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 1:16 pm  

  • I'm going to stick with my new policy of only commenting on the first paragraph of your replies.

    Yeah, except for that the bulk of the people IN Fallujah were Fallujans, fighting for their OWN city.

    Fighting? Is that what you call it? Kidnapping people from all over Iraq and dragging them to Falluja to be butchered? That is fighting?

    And who were they fighting when they were doing that, Bruno? They were at war with innocent Iraqi civilians? They were at war with journalists? Construction workers? Teachers?

    That is the kind of "resistance" that you delight in, Bruno? Then what are you doing here, pretending to be sympathetic to Hala when she complains about the violence in Iraq?

    By Blogger Unknown, at 5:14 pm  

  • My mom puts the pomegranate seeds into a bowl sprinkle a few drops of orange blossom , a bit of sugar and a tiny sprinkle of cinamom. mix the lot . Yumm

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:42 pm  

  • HERE is some news that I was expecting for a while:

    http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070810-9999-1n10haditha.html

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2146122,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

    Yes, It’s the HADITHA MASS MURDERERS, aka “marines” that got off because, you see, they were really stressed, and as everybody knows, stress makes you kill innocent women and children. Also, we have to consider the fact that Iraqis are natural-born liars and therefore unreliable as witnesses. Furthermore, Iraqis might concoct further massacres, because, you see, they might want their relatives to die for the money. Finally, the real hassle is that Marines might hesitate in shooting somebody in future, and we can’t have that happening.

    (Rather kill a bunch of women and children than let a single “tewwuwwist” get away, right?)

    Unbleievable?

    It’s all there.

    Read it.

    By Blogger Bruno, at 11:07 am  

  • fuck you

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:54 am  

  • Most of your post looked like bigotry, to me. I'm asking again... why do you want to live in Britain? You obviously don't like the British! I don't either, but I don't choose to live in a country where I loathe the people. You know what I'm talking about? And please don't move to the US.


    Beglaubigte Übersetzungen
    learn something useful

    By Blogger mewmewmew, at 3:51 pm  

  • hooray, your writings on theater and writing much missed!

    By Anonymous 網頁設計, at 7:06 am  

  • Hala thanks for your beautiful essay . Just for the stupid who tells that it is AL Qaeda and not Bush bla bla bla... Al Qaeda is Bush, is US and SA and UK... I share your love for your land, keep it, it worths an empire

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:14 am  

  • Do all the good you can, love freedom over every other thing and, even if it was for a throne, never deceive the truth

    L.v. Beethoven

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:17 am  

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