One year old

One year later on the war.
It seems like yesterday,
Can we list together what was good and bad in this decision?
I mean the decision of war,

No one likes wars, and no one suffered as we did, from wars,

I will speak the part which is related with Iraq as an Iraqi, and you
can speak on behalf of yourself,

Let me start with me, one year ago: an Iraqi person.
Life :(yes, I am a life:)
a body walking. Don't think. Don't feel. Don't see. Don't hear.
Just living. Live until my expiration day,

Who am I? Where am I? Why me?
Many questions, but no answers,
The same dark tone,

Then, "48 hours"--- the time offered for saddam and his two sons to
leave Iraq. This was the first shock to our live bodies and dead minds,
but it wasn't enough to bring us life, The whole world hoped that
saddam will take the right decision, That's what the world hoped, but
who knows? This man knows how much he loves war and fighting. It was
his favorite hobby.

The operation starts,
Can this operation bring us life?
This war was the fastest war in history. Also the cleanest war: 21
days, and the marines are in Baghdad.

Now, one believes.
Look at how all these armies just collapsed.

We look about us, and think "Where did they go? Where is the nightmare
which we used to see all the time? Where are our jailers? Where are our
life-stealers?"

It's the 9th of April, It's a historical moment when we see the statue
of saddam falling down: the statue of fear and anger, and punishment,
is falling down!
I am alive now! I can feel!
I cried when I saw those historical moments,
I can see, I see all that fear collapsing,
I can hear, I hear the voice of joy and happiness,
I am back to life!

One year has passed,
What did this war offer to us?
For the first time, war offered something good. This war, which is, to
me, as to many Iraqis (and not all) is a liberation. It's a victory of
good over evil,

I will be exaggerating if I say the whole issue was related with, or
because of, just one person,
That means that we didn't understand any of what was happening,
Yes, saddam was responsible for a large part of what was happening,
but
there were also people who assisted him and were helping him, Also,
there was the perfect environment and circumstances for him to do so,
from one side.

From the other side, there was the part which was related to us, the
people of Iraq.
We didn't do anything to help ourselves, We were only thinking of
ourselves , concerned for "only me"...
But, to be HONEST with you, I was always blaming the regime and his
wrong way of dealing with things , and we are getting the results, of
all those years of the wrong way of living ,and it will take a long
time before we can understand and realize the meaning, of many things.
Words, and feelings, and much else.

"Democracy is a behavior."
We can't sell it or export it. We must learn it and live with it and
feel it, I lived all my life away from something called democracy, and
I may be one of many people who didn't feel this gift. I lived a life
that was full of pain and suffering and fear, A world full of wars and
violence. I didn't know peace, and I learned that wars never bring
peace, Violence never brings anything but being only more violent, Hate
brings hate.

To me, this war has good sides, but it also has side effects.
Let me begin with good things, The 9th of April is my birthday, or
like rising from a grave, back to life, I can't describe it. It's a mix of
feelings, as it is to many other people (...and not all.)
I was born, and I am one year old, I am learning as a child is
learning, discovering a new, different world, I try to walk, I am
armed with "hope." A very interesting feeling! I have hope, I am looking
forward, I've got my dignity. I can say yes; I can say no, and the
important issue is, I am "free".
Maybe all these words are just a madman's dreams, kept inside him, and
it came out as a reaction,
But these wishes and dreams could be our solid, basic future,
These were some of good achievements, to me, and others, of example,

But there are also bad things. My land is now the place for terrorists
to fight the coalition, since here they are able to attack their number
one enemy,

Trying hard to make their own space, many people are now without jobs--
and they've got families, They want them to live with at least a
minimum of earning a living , and more people are asking "when will
the operation of rebuilding Iraq start? The 9th of April is in the
past, It was a year ago! what have we got for the future? Why is this
process delaying?"

Security, they told me.
There is no place secure in this world!
The example is Madrid.

And after all, north and south Iraq are some kind of secure,
Why, then?

Maybe it is us, who are very much in a hurry to do everything we lost,
To be fair, on the other side, the soldiers also are in a difficult
situation, They are in a new spot of the world, with a completely
different environment. Everything's different, and they've got to
learn many things so they can communicate with the NATIVES.
It's hard work,
And the Iraqis themselves can't accept this ,which makes a glass wall
between the two sides,
And as I saw, many of those solders want to get back home ,to their
families, to home sweet home ,and they wouldn't do all this, and go
through such a horrible time, if they didn't believe and love their
country.

I hope that gives you some idea about how we feel, after one year.
And can we, as Iraqis, know how you feel?

On another subject:
We have also our temporary constitution,
I am very proud with how it came out,
There is a lot of bright sides in it, although the items in it are not
the problem, but the application of these items correctly.

I was in college when they told me that we were having demonstrations,
I asked them "about what?" They told me 'about our new constitution.'
There was about 50 students demonstrating,
I have had the chance to talk with some of them ,and I will show you
the view as it is:

I asked them, "why you are demonstrating?"
They said ,"the new constitution."

I said, "what about it?"
They say, "It's not good."

I said, "How many of you read it?"
They told me, "We all read it,"

I said, "Which part didn't you like about it?"
They say, "The whole constitution."

I realized then, that many, if not all of them, didn't read it,
This was obvious when I asked them "What was the first item in the
constitution?"

This move shows that people didn't change in between night and day.
They told me that the "mrjaya the spiritual leader" didn't agree on
the constitution.

I told them "what about your self and your character?"
They told me "that he knows more than us and they can take the right
decision."

I asked them "Can't you decide what's good or bad for yourself?"
They couldn't answer.

I am aware that the regional, religionist side is taken over ,I am not
afraid of that issue if there is law and a good constitution, which
shows the right way.
I mean, simply, that if I elected someone to be president or prime
Minister or what ever, if I didn't see him enact the reasons which
moved me to elect him, I won't do it next time.
Therefore, we must have a powerful constitution,
but I am afraid that someone will take over again, and steal all our
wishes and dreams--
and your hard work in helping us will be lost...
. . .

Maybe the whole war issue *was* wrong-- but you start anyway, You cant
stop now, free Democracy in Iraq , is better for all.

Sarmad

From Baghdad to Madrid

Our condolences to all who were affected. Another tragedy to the world, the ugly face of terrorists actions. What I see in the face of the Iraqis, they were angry and sad for all those who have been killed in this tragedy of Madrid explosions. And believe me we know how they are feeling, we pray to God to help them.

Iraqi person.

Could our dreams be true?

We were only dreaming, That's what we could do, and you must not share
your dream with any one ,because you don't know... maybe they won't
like
your dream ,and you will be punished for your dream.

Believe me-- that's was what happening here.
A lot of changes happened here. Good ones. We can dream freely now.
It's a good thing, and beautiful that you can share your dream with any
one.
But just dreaming is not enough to move life. All of us wants his own
dream be true-- and we wish all dreams to be true, if it is possible.
I'm going to talk about the Iraqis' dreams. Many dreams came out after
they had been kept for a long time, and these dreams show how they
think
and feel ,
The shared dream for all Iraqis was to be released from Sadaam's
regime... and many of them even said "I will accept any one who will
help us, even if he was the devil himself!" That was because of what
we
suffered ,and you might feel for us, but you could not imagine our
situation. Three destroying wars ,thirteen years of sanctions ,two
million killed , four million left the country ,and the rest despaired
in their ignorance ,

But what happened on the 9th of April made many Iraqis feel like they
were reborn, and brought others to life after they had been dead. They
began to think and respond to changes after they could not speak or
think, (even with your self!) You can now think, and dream, and share
your dream, and let any one know what you are thinking. This is one
good step forward, and the rest will come.

Before, we got only one-sided media: the regime's media, and we must
watch what they want us to watch. It was "copy and paste media." We
were drudges. We couldn't feel any thing... and even if we felt
anything, we couldn't understand it.

Now, look at what we have! More than 200 daily newspapers! In Baghdad,
more than 6 TV channels! Yes! Every one is showing their way, from
their
own point of view--but that's good thing, to have more than one
opinion. At [least] [last] we can see how all or the majority are
thinking. And disagreeing is a healthy thing, if it is done peacefully.

And as to one dream-- but it's an important one--
saddam no longer exists.

There is no doubt, that the capture of sadaam changed a lot of things
on
the ground. There are people who loved sadaam. They say that he did
what he did to save Iraq from being torn apart ,and they insist that
one
united Iraq was worth all this blood and the mass graves.
Many other Iraqis disagree with this opinion, but there are people who
think this way, here.
But as I said, the capture of sadaam shows many things, and it mainly
shows that these people are wrong, And the way he has been captured,
shows how much they were wrong ,

There's been a big change of what they call "resistance". Yes, there
are people resisting, What they are resisting is the new life of
Iraq.
They are resisting the "One, United Iraq" that they have been always
talking about! They still think that violence will solve problems ,
because this is the only way they CAN act. That, and the fact that
they
were told that they are the masters and we are the slaves. Killing is
a hobby to them.

We are sure that our determination of staying free, after we've tasted
the meaning of freedom, will be stronger than their sick dreams,

These days, Iraq is witnessing a great day. It's the Day that we will
go on to see our first constitution , even it is not final and it needs
more time to be done right--- ,but at least we've got one now ,and
there
is going be Law to be respect, We are all equal before The Law, and
no
one is above it . There will be freedom for people to express their
opinions peacefully,
And even if all this is to only hold us for a limited time, so we can
do elections ,we are so happy that they will sign this constitution .
All those who bet on civil war in Iraq , well, their dreams have
crashed on the rock of the new free Iraq . All the killing stuff they
are doing, to "create a situation between the Iraqis" will fail ,

I'm in college, as you know, and the college is like a small example of
Iraq at large. There are students from all over the country here, and
they are together, living peacefully. They are enjoying their time,
and
they have fun. No one says anything about "you are sunni!" or "you are
shiea" or"you are Arabic" or "you are Kurdish!" They would be
ashamed
to talk or look or think this way!! They say, "we are all brothers
and
we are Iraqis."

There are some people claiming that the Kurdish want to separate, and
make their own country , I am Kurdish, even though I have lived in
Baghdad all the time ,and as I told you before, there is no one who
wouldn't like all their dreams to come true ,but there is something
more
important than one's selfish dream,
Yes, the Kurdish want their own independent country, but they know
that there is a lot of trouble in their way ,and they realize that.
I've talked to many of them, asking them "why would you want to
separate?" I talked to students in the college that are new, here in
Baghdad. They weren't allowed to study here for a long time, because
you know that Kurdistan was separated from Iraq, for more than 12
years. But now it's back to being an included part of Iraq, and
those
students don't know Arabic.
You might ask, " how could they study, if they don't know how to speak
Arabic?" Well, that's why I said that I don't fear civil war: those
students are being helped, all the way, by the other students. They are
helping them to understand the Arabic language, They are helping each
other, in a way.
All I can say about it is, it might be a gift from God ,
When I talk to them in the Kurdish language, they are totally
surprised, and ask me "how could you speak Kurdish? Are you Kurdish?"
I tell them "I am Iraqi."
I tell them "If you need anything explained to you, I am ready to do
so." They tell me that their colleagues are doing their best to make
them comfortable.
Then I ask them "Do you prefer to separate from Iraq and make your own
home country?" They hesitate to answer. they tell me "We were the
victims of sadaam, and most of our people were killed in the name of
'Iraq for all' , We never got peace until we got the no- fly zones area
,and our people have been slaves under the Iraq flag ,but we know that
separating is not possible, We want to stay in one united Iraq , if
the new Iraq respects all , it it's the Iraq of Law and it treats us
as
native citizens, equal in everything ,and won't treat us as a second
degree persons ,"
To be honest with you, I am relieved when I hear them , After all is
said and done, we've got the same goals, but in a different way , and
that's good.

I want to see one united Iraq: powerful, one in everything,

Yesterday, I was speaking on the phone. I'd been called by my brother
,to tell me to look on the TV ; there was report about the Iraqi
Olympic
soccer team ,
I love soccer, as do many Iraqis, and when I watch football, I forget
about anything else ,
I think in the USA there is a "Superbowl event" and there is American
football, and baseball is more popular than soccer, Sport is a
language to communicate between different worlds,
Anyway, it was a regular report. Our teams are training. They won their
first match against Oman, 4 –0 . We were very happy. Our next match is
against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The amazing thing in this report was when Mr. Bremer appeared in the
field, playing with the players, and supporting them!!

Pretty different view from yesterday, when our team would be preparing
to go a match, and they were threatened to be punished, if they didn't
win... Even if they couldn't give more than they had...

Thank you, Mr. Bremer, for your time.
What a great person. And he is an example to many of the Iraqis,
I, myself, if he is nominated to be the president of Iraq, I will vote
to elect him, as many of us will do ,
God bless you-- to your country, and to Iraq ,

I called Hameed on Sunday. He was so kind to me. I tried to call him
from my mobile phone. (It's a new invention to Iraqis-- we weren't
allowed to use mobile phones or the internet during sadaam's time. We
couldn't write or express ourselves as I am doing now. I would have
been accused then of being a spy for America.)
Anyway, I've got to get up on the roof of my house to make the calls,
because the mobile net is not strong enough, and they need some more
time to complete it,
Hameed welcomed me ,and he told me to hang up the phone, so he could
call me back on his charge-- and he told the sweetest words I've ever
heard.
He told me "it seems that people like your writing." These words let me
fly to the sky. With all of what I suffered in my life, and all of what
I've seen , these kind of words-- or your comments-- or e-mail-- make
me
feel that life is beautiful, and it is worth every minute we live in it
,

Thank you all, there, for letting me know that I am not alone in this
life,

The other surprise from Hameed was when he told me that I can continue
my study in the UK, or the USA, and he will help me to get a
scholarship.

That is more than a dream coming true, to me , I am eager to learn and
study , and he told me something so beautiful:
He said, "Sarmad, we learn that after every darkness, there is
light."


Thank you, Hameed ,

He also advised me to keep away from bad guys, as you all advise me,
too.

Believe me. in the past, it was my thought, when I'd see something
wrong, to not say any thing and keep going on my way ,
Something changed after the 9th of April. I can no longer accept the
wrong ways, and I am more than ever realizing what is happening, and I
see things so clearly,
I know that I've got to right things, I might be killed dead,
anytime, for it, but there are many, who are ready to keep on if there
is no Sarmad , There is Zaid, and Wesam, and many, many more ,

I don't work only for my time. I work for the future , the future of
the
next generation , a generation who will learn how to plant a Rose and
draw one ,not live carrying a weapon ,

I love you Iraq ,
I owe you, USA, thank you .


There are people asking why I put the cost of the war in Iraq in my
blog
,
I wanted people to see that the USA are serious in what they are
doing.
They pay a lot of money to make the world a better place to live. I
want
you to see how your money is really used, here in Iraq, to rebuild a
new country
and I wanted to show my people that there is a lot of money being spent
on Iraq and we are not alone .

Many people are asking me "What's your opinion on Iraq having
relations
with Israel?"
As I told you before, we welcome any one who wants to be our friend,
and wants to help us.
We are human and they are too, and I will welcome any Israeli who
wants
to be a friend ,
When we first got the internet, after the liberation, I used to go to
chat rooms on yahoo messenger. I was always going to the Jewish room,
and when I was telling them that I am from Iraq ,they were asking me if
I am an American soldier. when I was telling them, no, I am an Iraqi
,they welcomed me and congratulated me that we get rid of sadaam, and
asked me "how you are feeling?" and "you are speaking to Israeli
people"
That was very kind, and nice of them ,We had been told that those
people
hated us, always. Now we are friends.
and then, when I was going to Arabic rooms, telling them I am an Iraqi
,they told me "You are traitors and you don't deserve living" and
others were telling me "you must fight, to get back your dignity ,

so we are ready to have any friendship, relation with anyone, who wants
to be our friend.

And I wont to send special Thank to "janet"she is doing agreat job ,she is my guide.

Thank you all You are my inspiration.

Please help

It was Monday, another new day from our new life. I was walking out from my department in the university when I see two of the students I know. One of them was graduated last year. I stopped by to say hello to them, and we had a little chat. I started asking them about themselves and what are they doing now. The one student seems so happy, and has no problem with all of what's happening, with the changes and events of this last year, even knowing that he was the ex-president of the student union in the college of engineering, in Saddam's time.

But as I said, he doesn't have any interest in what's happening--all he is caring about is how he can make money, any way he can. He's working in selling oil, and he has a gas station-- and you know, because of the fuel problem, he stands to make a lot of money. It's good to see people working, but there must be laws to keep, at work, and there must be a code of ethics, to develop our work. I think this will take a little time to be done, I really don't have problem with this one-- but there is what happened between me and the other
person-- the graduated one.

I remember when they graduated and I was so happy--- to see the students have their special day, the day they were waiting for since they started their first day in college. Even if it was a different situation now, they were happy to have graduated. I remember when I saw them after one month, looking for jobs, to work and do what they learned in college--- how they were happy and excited, to rebuild their own country, and I wished to help. I told them to keep on looking, to find what they think they can do and enjoy it, and that the country needs them--- the new Iraq depends on them. They are Iraq's future.

This was 6 to 7 months ago, and here he is again--- the same man, standing in front of me. A lot of changing has appeared on this man. He's another person. He is not the same optimistic, happy, forward
looking, graduated man. I asked him how he is doing. He tells me he's fine, And I asked him
did he find a job? He told me he is looking but he couldn't find one yet, I told him don't worry, you will get one. Just keep looking.

He doesn't seem to have much interest in my talking. Then we heard the sound of an explosion ( its something ordinary, and we've gotten used to it, here in Iraq) ,and I told them, I pray to god that no one's been hurt in this explosion, and they agree with me. I was happy that we shared the same feelings, We were three people, but we represent the differences in Iraqis.

I mean, one of them was from the shia majority, and the other one was from the sunni, and I am a Kurdish ,but we have the same feelings against violence and terrorists,

That was not what I was fearing, because I believe in what I call my equation (shia + sunna + Christians + assyrian + arabic + kurdish +Turkmen = Iraq) and I don't doubt it. We are different in our thinking, and the way we are looking towards things and it's a gift from God that we are.

No, my fears were because it has been a week after our last explosion, and it was one of the worst ones to me. It was the explosion of the new Iraqi head court-- and I lost many of my friends there.

So as we were standing there talking, we heard a second explosion, a few moments later, I told them again, "I hope that no one is getting hurt in this explosion", and I told them, "what did those people do to die? Isn't there already enough killing and blood? "I told them, "what did those young man do? they wanted to be in their new army, to protect their new home", and here the graduate interrupted me, telling me with cool blood, "they deserved it."

I was shocked.

I told him, "Who deserved it? and what is it they deserved?"
He told me "Those young man deserved to die."
I asked him "Why?"
He says "because they are helping our enemy." I asked him "Who's our enemy?"
He told me, "America."
I told him, "But America helped you to get off Saddam!"
He told me, "America is not here to help us! America is here to destroy our life-- our traditions, our religion, our society-- and people begin to sleep, in honey. They forget God, and they forget religion, and all they care about is life-- and nothing else."
I told him that the Iraqi person is tired, because of the horrible times they've been through, and they need some time to feel life again,---and don't worry: they believe in God. And after all his humanity has been
found again, the Iraqi will make songs to God until he dies. and God has mercy. God has forgiveness."

He told me, "We must do something to wake our nation from their dream! America will never do something good to Iraq!"
I told him, "Do you agree with those who have been doing suicidal bombing actions?"
He told me, "Yes and this is the only way to help ourselves."
I told him "Help ourselves? By killing each other? This is an unusual way to help! We must help each other-- by being armed with hope. But we must first learn forgiveness, and respect for each other ,and
we must educate ourselves and our people. You must understand that. Using force will never solve the problem. The main problem is not with the United States government. We must learn how to run our interests, and how to get best use from the opportunities we now have!"

It seems that my friend didn't like my talk, telling me that "I don't have any thing to lose."
I told him, "Yes, you have!-- and believe me, there is a lot of things worth having!"
and I tried hard to make him understand things right, I notice that he is talking, and speaking that "Islam said we must fight for our dignity!"
I told him, "Do you prefer a rule like the Taliban regime, to rule us?"
He said "I wish to."
I tried not be upset, and I asked him gently ,"Why didn't you fight Saddam? For all of what he's done, Saddam never respected any religion, and you supported him."
He couldn't answer, What I want to do is help him to not slip into the trap of religion, either.

I told him "I don't say, 'forget your religion.' You have the right to do what ever you want to do--- but you must treat me the same way, I can't accept you forcing something on me, and you cant do it by force,
We've been threatened for more than three decades. What you find, if you think it's the right thing, you must convince me to do something and let me see if I like doing it. This is the right way. "

I pointed out to him that the terrorists find using religion is the perfect tool to use, to have an effect on people, telling them that "they should fight the Americans, and all the Iraqis who work or help them."
He is from fallujah and he lives there. He told me that he and other guys fight the Americans, out there in fallujah city, but the Iraqi police stop them. and they can't work freely there, so they target the Iraqi police there.

I tried hard to convince him that what he is doing is wrong.
Again, he told me, he has nothing to lose.
I told him, " YOU might have nothing to lose, but WE have. You must know that we all like our country, and love it ,and we want to see our country developed and modern. But, believe me, we cant do it by force
and killing,"

He also disagreed with me, telling me, "We must stick to our religion."
I had to reply, "OK, but our religion is Islam, and it passed on forgiveness and teaching and respect,--and even our prophet, Mohammed [PBUH] regretted violence and killing, "

But I assure you that they misunderstand things,...
and I wanted him to understand things quite right.
The United States helped Iraq to pass over a dark age.

He told me that "the United States PUT us through this dark age you talk about, and they want now to stay and occupy our land!"
So I said to him, "OK. First of all, let me clear up some of these things to you: when all the world supported Saddam's regime, there, it was apropos. It was the Islamic revolution in Iran, and as Saddam claimed, Iran wanted to export the revolution. And didn't you also stand with Saddam and fight?
Didn't you ask yourself, 'If Iran wanted to establish Islam, then why would we fight it?'
Or do you see faith from one side only: 'your side'.--?
What happens if I am also seeing it from my side, too-- and I don't accept yours?
We cant think this way.
and I don't blame any foreign side for involving Iraq in that war. We wanted that and we accepted that and we believed in it. It's our fault, and no one's fault.
We don't make the same mistake, We must learn from our mistakes, and if
we don't, that will be a disaster, If we do that, then we can't blame anyone."

"The second thing you MUST know, is that the United States Army doesn't enjoy staying here, in this land, What makes it special? It is a destroyed land! It has nothing related with life. Do you think they
enjoy leaving their homes and life, to stay here to be killed? I talked to many of them, and they told me, 'we are here to help you to build your new life-- but we can't help unless you help your self'

He told me that "They want our oil."

I said ,"Fuck your oil!! fuck your land!!!-- What is the use of oil, or land, when there is no human life!? Humans are more important than material! I don't believe what you are saying! for God's sake! you are
an engineer now! If you are talking like that, then how do you expect the uneducated to talk!? !"

I told him, "Here's a tip, from me to you: Did you know that the income of American Airlines is more than what all of the Arab countries export, together?!"
" If you don't like anything American in your life, then why are you reading their books? why are you dressed like them?"

He couldn't answer.

"We are a destroyed country." I repeated to him. "We have nothing to depend on to rebuild our country. We only have hope, toward tomorrow, Don't kill that feeling, by mixing up things."

He seemed to be a little more flexible towards my talk, and we agreed with each other, that we must, for our country. I was so happy that I could explain things to him,

Two days later, it was the first day when Alhurra satellite channel started broadcasting, and we were so happy that we've finally got something to watch; something reasonable in covering the events, and
respecting those who watch.

I remembered this day, when I went back home. The first thing I do when I get home is ask if there were any explosions today, They told me that there had been an attack on the fallujah police station, and there were many dead people, Another loss for us... (In the evening I've been watching the news with two of my friends, and they were arguing also, on the same subject, but this was a different arguement. We understand each other ,and we look for the best thing to do) I was telling them about the talk between me and this guy.

So here is what happened. We had been watching our new space channel, Alhurra, ,and on the TV they were recreating all the killing, and we were watching views shown from the fallujah attack...

when I was shocked and shocked and shocked, to I see the same guy I WAS TALKING TO, injured, and they were treating him. He was covered by blood . The news said that he was among the attackers, and he had been captured, I couldn't speak. I blamed myself, saying that I didn't do enough work to prevent what happened, and it seemed to me that the terrorists won a round. The next day, I went to college. The whole college was speaking about what happened, and what he had to do with it. His friends were so worried about him and what happened there. I talked to many of his closest friends. They were shocked also, telling me that they don't believe what happened, It seem like a movie to us, and I said to them, speak to me about him. What's he like? What does he prefer to talk about?

They assured me that he was a normal guy, that they were hanging around together, almost all the time, and they assured me that he did not have any of these thoughts.
"We liked girls, and we were enjoying our time in college, and he was watching us getting out with our girl friends. He got a girlfriend himself. He even knew that my girl friend was sleeping with me ,and he
said nothing, We used to watch sex movies, and no one spoke about religion."

I asked them if he was hanging around with them lately, They said yes, but not like in the past. He used to stay in fallujah more, after graduation. It seems that there was something in fallujah affecting him. His friends decided to go to fallujah to ask about him and see what happened there.

Fallujah is a small city. It's about 35 minutes from Baghdad, There are about 250,000 people living there, It's a city famous for making Kabob, an eastern food with a special taste, there. The majority of the
people are uneducated. They are religionists. We rented a small bus. There were about 6 people, including me. These were his closest friends. We arrived at fallujah about 10.00AM. The city was horrible: a lot of black sheets on the houses, carrying the names of who was killed here,

We went to his home, but there was no one there, so we went to some of his friends houses, who know him well. They showed us warm hospitality, and we asked about their friend and what happened. They told us ,"all we could see was that he was lying down, and he was shot by four bullets, We asked them if we can visit him to check up on him, They advised us not to do so, They told us that he is in the custody
of the Iraqi Police and the American troops, We took their advice, "

We asked them what happened here. They told us that the whole thing started with the visit of General John Abizaid to fallujah, to see the Iraqi police center where they were training, when he was targeted by
some of what they called "mujahedeen" -- by RPG's and bombs. It was a well arranged attack ,and the Iraqi police force intervened and supported the Americans troops, That's what they didn't like, calling the police forces protesters ,

After that incident, there was an operation by the Iraqi police in the town, to catch those who who were involved in it. There were 13 people who had been caught by the Iraqi police there, The whole thing is related with those men, acutely with three of them, who are the main leaders of what they call " the resistance". Those three persons were the operations agents against the USA forces there, so they went to the police, trying to convince the police to release them. They tried everything, but the police refused to
accept, At last they offered money to the police, I got a tip from one of our hosts. He told me that the police forces are split into two factions. One of them sides with the coalition's forces and the other one sides with the resistance, and they disagree about who's on the right side ,but they seem to share acceptation and
agree on one thing --money, The group offered 15 million Iraqi diners to the fallujah police to release them. The police didn't agree. They wanted 30 million to release them. The leaders didn't agree on the request, saying it is too much, The police threatened them, saying if they didn't accept, then they will deliver them to the Americans. They didn't accept, and they warned the police members that if they handed them over to the
Americans, they will come back for revenge, The police forces told the Americans that they had caught members of what they call 'the resistance' and they wanted to hand them over.

The police force was supposed to deliver them at 9.00 AM ,and that was the time at which they supposed the Americans will be in town. It seems that the resistance got a leak from inside help, letting them know the delivery time. They prepared well for what they wanted to do. They surrounded the main axis of the town. They were armed well, and they start their attack about 6.00AM. They attacked the police station, and they managed to release their prisoners and run away. They lost only three of the attackers--- and about 28 Iraqi police members. When the American troops arrived, there was immediate investigation about what happened, and they know from the investigations that those man had been arrested for almost 12 days and the police chief didn't advise the Americans about them.

The police chief is also the governor of fallujah city. What can I say ?

Fallujah is now the center of all these dangerous movements like ansar al snaa, jaish Mohammed ,ansar al Islam and al qiyda.

Do they exist? Yes, they do.
Are they here? Yes, they are.
Where are they? well, as I told you, they've found fallujah their safest place to hide.
There are a lot of people in fallujah who could help them, and manage to offer residence to them. Most of the people there were working in Saddam's regime, and he was depending on them. They felt their loss when he fell down.

They are cowards, and they cant do resisting operations, but they depend on the Arab fighters, who come from our beloved Neighbors. They support them by money and information, to do their job.

So I think about what I can do, to cut the way off for those murderers , so they don't take control of those young men, What I can do is to help them, so they can work, and concentrate on working. I know that there are going to be a lot of job opportunities, and there are going to be a lot of companies, from all over the world, working and investing in Iraq, I was following the CPA conference and what things are going on, and when money will start to get into Iraq. I spoke to many of the managers of the CPA and went to speak about how we can develop these programs, so most of the Iraqis can get use from it, but after what I've heard and seen out there, I believe that we should do something before time runs out.

So I called a friend; he is an Iraqi American. He is working in the green zone, and I asked him if he had time to meet me. He responded to my request and we met. I told him what happened. He was concerned also
for what he'd heard, and he told me what I can do to help. He told me "'I can't give work to just any one. They've got to try hard." I told him, "I agree with you, but you see, the problem is not only with
providing work. The problem is, can they fit the jobs. I mean, I am working in college, this is my second year, and all of what they've got from education is old stuff-- all the books belong to the early 80's. There's nothing new in their education system. Most of the students can't work on the computers--- this was before the war. After the war, things got worse. Most or all the laboratories were robbed of our
computers. They don't know internet, they don't know how they can do their own CD's ,they don't know how they are to fill a form out. I watched your conference, and you depend on computers to do your work a
lot-- and that is a great thing, and we need it-- but you have got to explain the ways to them. I am trying to teach my students the right way, but I am only teaching a limited number of students, and this operation needs to be controlled by the ministry of higher education. I know that changing the style of education takes time, but there are basic things they have got to learn, I mean that on the date of 1/7/2004, there are going to be more than 5000 students who will be graduated, and most of them don't know the basics.
He asked me, "What's the solution, in your mind?" I suggested that that there should be training programs in the colleges, let's say for example the graduate level, like a course for a week or something--- I
don't know-- and we give them the basic conditions that the American or the British or the foreign companies need, so they can learn it, or how they can fill out-or fail- an application seeking for work ,or how the companies can reach them. I told him that I am ready to leave everything I am working on and help you in this thing.

He told me he will try his best to help us but give me some time, so I can see what's possible.
And until then, I am going to help them all the ways I can. I am working on new site-- you will see it link to my blog-- and I will try to guide those people to the right way. Also, I will help any American company or any foreign company--or person--who wants to invest or work in Iraq, and build a link between us and you.

And please-- if any one has an idea or a way to help, please don't hesitate, We need your help.

Thanks