Thirty years of life under one of the most oppressive and tyrannical regimes in history; Iran-Iraq war; Iraq vs. the World Part I; Iraq vs. the World Part II; Thirteen years of the most comprehensive Sanction programs the world has ever seen. And now - a foreign occupation.

It is difficult to fathom the misery and the suffering that Iraqis have witnessed. As an Iraqi in the Diaspora, I have no knowledge of what it is like to be terrorized consistently for thirty long miserable years. In fact thousands of young Iraqis in my situation are not aware of the misery their people have been subjected to. We are a generation who strive to maintain our Iraqi identity in a world that does not understand the beauty of the Iraqi soul. However, the truth is, many of us Iraqis in the Diaspora do not. and may never understand the beauty of the Iraqi soul. Mainly because of the media culture that we have been surrounded by all of our lives. .

After a recent visit to Iraq for the first time in my life, it was refreshing but strange to see for the first time ever a society that has not been exposed to 21st century Western marketing ploys, images and messages that have been droned into their minds. It was refreshing to see young women who were not obsessed with their appearance and their weight. Youth who understood the importance of the family and enjoyed every minute with them. Youth in Iraq have a selflessness that is so beguiling. For Iraqi youth in the West, the influence of media images is a distracting force to our culture and spirituality – much more than we know it. .

We have all become victims, even those of us who are aware of this physical and mental incursion by the corporate West. Just take a look around at all the young Iraqi girls who not only want to look like Britney Spears, but walk, talk and act like her too. Or what about young Iraqi men who only speak ‘street’ slang because talking normally is not what ‘fit-ee cent’ taught them. We have become a subculture that is obsessed with being White, Black, Spanish – anything but Iraqi and Muslim. We as a community in the West have been taught that Western culture is superior to Eastern culture and sadly enough many of us firmly believe it and consequently enact it. .

I personally remember having preconceived notions about all Iraqis who lived inside of Iraq. I used to think of all Iraqis inside Iraq as being conservative, reserved, unfashionable, unattractive, religious, hot-tempered, backward and narrow-minded. It bothers me to know that I was in fact the narrow-minded one. I was the one who had tagged negative stereotypes to everything that I saw as being backward. I was the one who had misjudged a whole entire nation, and when I went to see for myself, I discovered that being reserved is actually a very selfless quality. A quality that we need to be introduced to in our ‘fake’ lives a lot more. I discovered that being religious is a liberating experience. And that the word ‘religious’ does not have to be replaced with the more contemporary word ‘spiritual’ in order for it to be accepted. I discovered that being fashionable is nothing to be proud of – vanity is not good for the mind. I went to Iraq thinking I would sympathize with the fact that Iraqi youth have never seen a mall but came back realizing that actually its Iraqi youth outside of Iraq who cant live without a mall that I should be sympathizing for. We – Iraqi youth in the Diaspora - are the ones who can control our destiny. Every possible venture is accessible to us and we should appreciate that luxury. However, we are the ones that are unhappy and unsatisfied. .

Have you ever been to a high-end nightclub? Notice the beautiful drapery and exquisite setup and the funky beats that lure you in. Once you enter, you see the fake smiles, fake breasts, fake blondes, fake laughs, fake tans, fake fun and fake lives. I guarantee you to try and have a decent, somewhat intelligent conversation with one of those fake people and see what fake rubbish spews out of their fake silicon injected mouths. Its all fake, none of it is real. In fact that is the exact message that I am trying to convey. The world that we live in is not real. .

This piece does not have the intention to judge anyone. In fact if anything I am only judging myself and my own foolishness about my history and roots. I am simply highlighting to others personal observations that are not as obvious as they should be. .

Our land is the land of the seventh wonder of the world ‘Babylon’, the lost ‘Marshes of the South’ and of course - what was once the nucleus of Science, Art and Philosophy – ‘Baghdad’. Ishtar, the Goddess of war, the Prophet Abraham and the Revolutionary Hussein all once laid foot on the soil of our motherland. We don’t need to belong to a corporate establishment that dictates how we should think, talk, act and look like. We already belong to Iraq.