June 28, 2004; Baghdad, Iraq

Today Iraq gained its sovereignty. It came 2 days earlier because of fear that the security situation was going to escalate and literally explode in the countdown to the 30th. Probably the best decision that the American’s have made in a while.

There weren’t very many explosions today not much action in the city, as far as I was concerned

Nonetheless, we decided to go to the Karrada since Al Ameriya is a hot spot for resistance fighters, because the Airport Road runs right through it.

It was a day of celebration, to some degree. The Iraqi news channels all went out on the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq to get the opinions of Iraqi’s about the handover of power. I would say that it was about 50/50, well, with all the editing and bias that the news process entails.

Many people interviewed had absolutely no hope, interest or confidence in the new government. It was pretty sad, seeing that so many Iraqi’s have such a strong bias towards the new Government.

Of course it is justified, but damn, Iraqi’s are pretty stubborn when it comes to their political opinions.

My family and I went out for dinner in a restaurant called “Al Nakhla”, a pretty chilled out place, where the seating is outdoors in a garden.

They were playing Britney Spears “Toxic” as soon as we sat down- of course, we asked them to change the station ASAP! It was a radio station called “Al Hurra”- Freedom- I believe that it is transmitted either from the Green Zone or from some American affiliated place. There’s a TV channel from the same media family, also Al Hurra (It’s the channel from the photo above). So far I have seen about 4 different documentaries on the Ex-Presidents of the U.S. of A. The freedom channel, AKA propaganda channel. It think its goal is to culture people though the non-culture of America, with bland shows like fashion TV and other Western ideology conditioning tools glorifying America.

I have to say that many Iraqi’s that aren’t set 100% against the occupation want to either live in America, or want Iraq to become like America. Well, you can’t blame them when they’ve been stuck in the dark ages for the past 35 years with no hope of ‘development’, while they watch the luxurious American life on TV.

The city was full of checkpoints today, conducted by Iraqi Police. I only saw a few tanks, on guard in well cameflouaged areas. By 11:30pm, on our drive back home, the streets were practically empty.

We heard rumours that there was going to be a curfew imposed. It was just a rumour… along with the false news that they had killed Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.

With all this mess around me, I put it behind me. I think that’s the only way to stay sane in such a mentally/emotionally/physically unhealthy place.

Its still beautiful in my eyes, though.

My family tells me that I’m still in ‘honeymoon’ phase. If I stay longer the love that I have for Iraq will turn into hate. They say that the 2 things that do not exist in Iraq are the Sidiq and Aman- Truth and Security. Think about how much we take those things for granted in our ‘home away from home’.

I will now fall asleep under the stars, on the rooftop, with the palm trees and the breeze.

June 30, 2004; Baghdad, Iraq

The day that was supposed to hold so much meaning to Iraq was just another day.

Today was a national holiday. Even IRAQNA, the cellular phone monopoly in Iraq, gave every person with an Iraqna cel phone 10 free minutes in celebration of the New Sovereign Government. The streets were emptier than usual during the 4:00 traffic-packed streets. Ayad Alawi announced that the death penalty is back in town. I think it will really work in Iraq. The security is so bad because, sad to say it, it’s the Iraqi’s who are doing the harm. There are no laws yet, they are under a foreign occupation, they just came out of the worst government possible less than a year and a half ago in the name of freedom, they are jobless, angry, and of course, armed. Obviously, their definition of freedom is something that is very different from Merriam-Webster’s, or America’s definition. When I said in a previous article that Iraq is the experiment of the century, I was pointing to the question of How can one bring freedom to a people that have no clue what the hell freedom is? There are many underprivileged and therefore, uneducated Iraqis, unfortunately. Due to either Monsieur SadDamn, or social class, these people have gotten very accustomed to lying, stealing and conducting ‘bad’ business.

Just think: What Iraqi would actually loot his/her own heritage and country in the name of FREEDOM?

Just think: What Iraqi would kidnap a fellow brother/sister in order to get a couple of thousand dollars, and make a business out of it?

Just think: What Iraqi would agree that blowing up a car in the middle of a shopping district in order to ‘possibly’ kill 1 or 2 Americans is justified?

Maybe the Americans thought they were bringing freedom to the good, suffering, weak and trustworthy people of Iraq. Unfortunately, they were very wrong.

SadDamn has trained entire generations of people who do not know what trust is. SadDamn’s torture has trained even more generations of people who do not know what trust is.

Enough about Freedom and Trust. Let me tell you a story.

The Iraqi Police captured a ‘gang’ that was responsible for a kidnapping web (which if you don’t know by now, is a big $$ industry here! Welcome to the Dark Ages). They detained the group of criminals, and a few days later, the Americans came to their station and ordered the release of the prisoners. Apparently, they had been given information that the ‘prisoners’ were being tortured and humiliated by the Police. The soldiers and the Police had an altercation, and they refused to release the men. What turns out is that one of the gang members had connects that had gone to the Americans and told them that the police at this certain station were ‘abu ghraibing’ the prisoners! The ‘truth’ came out eventually, but it literally ‘left’ the room. I can almost guarantee than none of those soldiers will believe an Iraqi again.

Another one? Ok, I’ll tell you another story.

My cousin is a doctor, and yesterday night during her night shift with another doctor, one of their patients died. He was an 80 year old man who had come in with burns a month and a half ago.

So, Allah Yirahma. Once his son found out, he went into a fit of rage, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and proceeded to scream “ILA AKTILHUM! ILA AKTILHUM!” (I’ll kill them!). He broke the glass of the wards, and as the two doctors ran into the only room that had a lock, he beat the door down.

From 4 am until 5:30am, this was going on, until the police finally came and arrested the guy.

The doctors’ snuck out from the back with 3 ‘bodyguards’ and are in severe shock today. One of them is taking a month off… my cousin says she needs to give it time in case they will come back for her.

The police released him and all he had to do was pay for the glass that he broke.

Now if you think this story is extreme, imagine that this actually happens on a very regular basis. Why? Because they can get away with it.

There was a saying in Baghdad a few months ago that my other cousin told me about: 7Hil Mushkiltak ib Alf oo Nus (1,500). “Solve your problems with 1,500 Dinars!” Whats 1,500 Dinars? A rumana- hand grenade! Yes, they sell for only 1,500 Iraqi dinars, the same amount as 2 packets of cigarettes (the cheap kind).

Crime is the business of choice in the Free Iraq. What the hell did they expect if there was no law/justice/repercussions for the past year and a half!?

I must say, I am very happy that the government is finally put in place. And those “End the Occupation” protestors who call the new President and P.M. “puppets” don’t know how badly those puppets are needed right now and how risky their job is. They are doing Iraq a favour because I don’t think that anyone would be willing to attempt to control this chaos.

Even if they are puppets, I really hope no one cuts off their strings yet because they are desperately and urgently needed in this lawless country.

Oh yes, and something very interesting happened yesterday. My family friend who works at an internet café in Mansour told me that they had some unexpected visitors. Three tanks parked in front of the store, and a couple of soldiers walked in with an Iraqi translator. He took my family friend on the side and asked “Have you received any sort of threats or been in danger in the store?” They conversed, and he gave him a few pages with phone numbers, contact numbers to call in case anything happens or they get threatened in any way.

Then, the soldier took off his glove, shook his hand and told him “Thank you, sir”. His daughter took a picture with the soldier and they left. Interesting. And it’s only the 2nd day of the New/Free/Sovereign Iraq.

I had given 250 dinars to a young poor boy on the street last week. He snatched it from my hand and walked away. “Shinoo, matgool shukran?” (What, you can’t say thanks?) After he reached about 2 meters away, he turns around and says “Thank you, miss” (in English!) Sometimes, Iraqi’s need to be reminded of manners- but they’re in there somewhere.

July 1st, 2004; Baghdad, Iraq

I watched SadDamn Hussein on TV today, with a fly buzzing around his face and his voice trembling and weak, along with the rest of Iraq. We were switching from Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, doing this bias test. Of course, the King of Propaganda won. Al Jazeera not only did an interview with a pro-SadDamn Jordanian lawyer, but went to one of the most anti-American areas in Baghdad- AlAadamiya. They did the same thing on the day of the handover. They went to the worst areas in Baghdad, where most car bombs and explosions happen, and interviewed people on the street. The furthest thing away from reality.

Despite the handover, the American troops are still very visible. I saw a bunch of hummers driving- patrolling- down 14 Ramadan street and Rabeie Street, two of the most bustling streets in the city.

I don’t know if it’s a good idea to be so visible at this point. Although yesterday, in Karrada, I saw an American hummer being shared by US and Iraqi troops, and they busted out the Iraqi flag and stuck it on the front of the hummer. I’ve been seeing more and more Iraqi troops around Baghdad.

Wallah khatiya, these young boys and men in the Iraqi army and the Police. They have been targeted by those criminals more and more in the past few months.

At 11:45 pm today, we probably experienced the worst explosion in my area since arriving here. We don’t know what it could have been, but it was most probably a mortar that landed very close to our street- maybe on the Iraqi Army checkpoint a few streets away. The house shook, and the windows were very close to shattering. My body reacted in the craziest way; my heart started racing, and I actually started shaking.

This was nothing, hamdulallah. What about shock and awe? How did people actually stay in their homes and deal with the bombs and explosions that were happening around them? Imagine the fear, imagine the reaction to hearing a ten-ton bomb drop somewhere in your city. I can’t even imagine it. It’s the scariest thing, and I wish that the people of Iraq will not go through such a thing again.

My cousin was telling me about the B-52 bomber. It departs from London and takes it 5 hours to arrive to Baghdad in order to attack. So, during the war, he said that they had heard on the radio that the B-52 had just departed London, and everyone started freaking out. No one knows which neighborhood it’s going to bomb. Bascially, it just stations over an area, in the sky, and proceeds to drop bomb after bomb after bomb after bomb after bomb until the area is erased and deleted. Imagine the psychological effects of hearing a series of bombs dropping and not knowing if its going to land in your area or not…. Just the sound is something that is so intensely frightening; it leaves you in major shock.

The Iraqi people have suffered a lot. When I look at my cousins, my family, and practically every living person I see still functioning, I just don’t know how they can laugh and be normal and actually talk about the war. Brave, brave people.

The people of Iraq have been overlooked and disregarded… and treated as obstacles to the ownership of the region by SadDamn and the US. Shinoo Thanibhum? (what have they done to deserve this?)

We discovered that the ceiling in one part of the house cracked due to the explosion that happened today.