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