method of corruption

Corruption is the disease that corrodes Iraq's body from the inside. I can say that corruption one of the passages to terrorism it is the mold of terrorism. Any terrorist can join to any ministry if he has amount of money and that what made the ministries moan of corruption aches.

Many parties finance their militias by stealing Iraq's fortunes every where in Iraq. If we want to weaken the terrorism we should destroy its mold the corruption. May be you will say that I'm exaggerate of that, but if you live in Iraq you will see this fact.

Ten days ago we knew from newspapers that the integrity commission uncovered the deal of buying cars for the cabinet that amounted millions of Dollars. After week they deposed the head of the commission and declare to Iraqis that the deposition has no relation with the cars deal (I'm trying believe them). MOI decided to prevent Iraqis from traveling without its knowledge to open a new gate for corruption by bribe the employees there (the citizens will be obliged to pay money in order to hurry their travel).

The evidence burned to hide the corruption proofs like what happened in the …….. ministry before three years and like what happened yesterday when the corrupted burned the building of Central Bank with the office of inspector general (according to one MP's statement).

The corruption series has start but has no end in Iraq.

Yesterday my brother was telling me about a girl live in our neighborhood cash 800$ to employ the jobless people. This girl has very good relations with important officials in the government especially in MOD and MOI. They use this girl as a connected ring to gain bribe.

My brother told me that he doesn't want to study any more "am I study to give money to bad women to get a job?"

is that all???

Now, I have a story to tell my son Haider about. It is a story that is more interested than Titanic and the Lord of the Rings. Its even deeper in Histroy that the story of the famous Iraqi Myth hero Gelgamish and his firs written epic that we always talked proudly about. It's the STORY OF THE IRAQI FLAG.

Yes we changed the flag and all our problems were solved in a second. Now we shall not care about the electricity problem because our flag will lighten our dark night, it will warm our frozen souls, we will not even think about the thousands of the displaced families because the new flag will be their houses and it will feed their angry hungry stomachs. Now, we will be able to reconstruct our destroyed country because we will build skyscrapers, hospitals and schools made of the Iraqi flags.

I swear I'm still looking for the word that reflects my DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT. Is that what our parliament care about? Shallow issues? Why did they change the flag? To satisfy the Kurds? Well, they will never be satisfied and they will ask for more day after day like fire, it never refuses more fuel. In fact, changing the flag added nothing to the whole political process because it satisfied the Kurds but angered the Sunni who refused to raise the new flag.

I just want to ask our lawmakers "is that all you can do? Do you think that this poor nation went to the election in 2005 when the sectarian violence was everywhere just to give you the chance to change the flag and to approve some other useless laws?

Baghdad neighborhoods

Last week my brother in law made a visit to my neighborhood in Amil (west Baghdad) having him with his parents in our house to see my mom who had an operation to her eyes which she made it abroad. It was so nice to have them with us again.

This visit was the first during the last two years. It wasn’t his fault, nor his parents, nor a quarrel between the two families which prevented him and his parents to visit us .

The reason is so obvious to Iraqi people and those who care for us or even for those who don’t. It was the sectarian violence which increased in 2006 till the mid of 2007 .

He lives in Amiriyah neighborhood while we live in Amil .Those two areas reached the peak of violence and the unidentified dead bodies which were found everywhere. Also the road that connects Amiriya neighborhood with Amil was blocked and anyone who dared from this neighborhood to cross or go to that side, or verse versa, he or she would be dead.

Most of the time, we used to see each other in a neutral area which has no sectarian violence or less than that of ours. Even when my sister wanted to spend sometime with us , her husband used to give her a lift to Mansour neighborhood where my brother would be waiting for her to be taken home. That thing was bothering us with death for the person who would dare to cross the red lines.

I remembered in August when my father was released after having 75 days in Bucca and Cropper prisons. Everybody came to see my father; relatives, friends and neighbors.

My brother in law with his parents made phone calls instead of coming to our house as the risks of losing lives were there. From our side we can’t go to Amiriyah nowadays hoping to have the social calls among the two families and all the people in the near future.

I know we have difficulties here and there ,but Iraqi people when united can pass this distress.

useless debate

Two days ago the Iraqi parliament read some laws that specialized to compensate the victims of the former regime. I noticed strange thing that parliament separated these laws into different laws one for each incident. So parliamentarians tried to lose time in useless dabates.

Really it was funny session that it presented kind of bluffing when Kurd member said, “if you will compensate the victims of Sha’aban uprising, you should compensate victims of March uprising too?” he said.

The Kurd deputy demanded the parliament issue two laws for same event. It is same uprising, in the same date but gave the months of the Christian and Muslim calendar.

I wondered why they don’t put one law for compensation and use it as a standard law and use it to compensate the victims regardless the dates, names, or sects.

Why they lose the time by dividing the events according to the places, sects, and dates although it is events happened in Iraq and its victims are Iraqis. ….. That is the important here Iraq and Iraqis, it doesn’t matter if these incident happened in summer, spring, winter, or in autumn.

I’m waiting for the day that parliament stops losing time and efforts to issue the important laws that we need today in order to pass across this difficult time.

you still have the chance

Sometimes, I feel it is so hard to write a blog because we almost talked about every single detail in our life but I found out that there is always something new in Iraq. The incident of the last two days revealed a very important truth. For those who didn't follow the news from Iraq, I just want to give a quick hint about the incidents during the last two days.

Simply an insurgents group attacked some police check points in two southern provinces. Those gunmen followed the instructions of a man who claimed that he is a deputy of a famous and main Islamic character especially for the Shiite Muslims, it's the character of Imam Mahdi which the Shiite believes that he will appear to save humanity. Many of the insurgents were killed and of course some of the policemen were killed also but this is not the point I want to talk about. My main point is a question which is (Who were killed? Weren't they Iraqi people?)

This question leads to others questions. One of the most is (why did those men followed this guy?) Excuse me if I ask the question and answer it but I think most of the readers would agree with me. I believe that those people joined this guy because they are unemployed, they need money to live and since they have no jobs and since the authorities (mainly the Iraqi government and the USA) failed in winning the simple people to their sides.

Before the elections of 2005, we heard and read thousands of promises about huge and great projects especially in the south of Iraq but after the election, all these promises evaporated. No one paid any attention to the safe cities and this thing gave the chance to the insurgents group to gain more people especially the poor simple people. One or two hundreds dollars a month is fortune for those simple people and here we are, we have now more violence and more blood shedding.

Our government didn't say anything but describing those people as misguided people but it didn't say who's false is it? Who is the one who led these guys to this tragic end? Is it only the man who deceived them or someone else?

The government still have the chance to win the battle. The southern provinces need hundreds of infrastructure projects and these projects needs thousands and thousands of workers and this is the best chance to avoid any more fields of battles because hungry stomachs are always dangerous.

This is how kidnapping look like

The following is the translation of the Arabic words that you will see and hear in this advertisement…

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

Translation…

Answer me…

Are you Sunni or Shiite?

Are you Sunni or Shiite?

Are you Sunni or Shiite?

Are you Sunni or Shiite?

The wife says: Tareq.. Tareq

Sunni or Shiite?

Iraqi…

Executed…

A verse from Holly Quran (Sedition is worse than killing)

Terrorism Has no Religion

At the end you can see the web site that made this ad and where you can download the advertisements that are broadcasted on most of the Iraqi and other Arab channels. The one you saw was the best of all in many levels.

I saw two children playing:

"Are you Sunni or Shiite?"

The child answered "Iraqi".

This video is how kidnapping look like in Iraq.

an old new tale

I'm one of the people who like the old things like old stories, old stuff , antiques and old places. One of the stories that I always remember is a story about three bulls, a white, a brown and a black one.

They live in a jungle with a lion. The lion wanted to eat them. He made a very smart plan, he talked to the black and the brown bulls "the white bull is very distinguished and if the man saw the white bull, he will come and take you all and kill me".

The two bulls asked him "what shall we do?" the lion said "let me eat him and we can live in peace". The two bulls agreed and they allowed the lion to eat the white bull. After a while, the lion decided to eat the brown bull, so he took the black bull a side and told him "the brown bull can be seen easily but you are not because you are black. So let me eat him and we can live in peace".

The black bull agreed and the lion ate the brown bull. After a while, the lion came and told the black bull "I'm going to eat you". The black bull said "you already ate me since you had eaten the white bull"

I just wanted to tell the story because I watch the news about the new coalitions between the different political parties. I have noticed just like everyone in Iraq that the Kurdish parties are working hard to achieve their political goals especially the dream of having an independent Kurdish state.

They use the Arabic political parties in a very clever way to achieve their goals. They break these parties into pieces by spreading them. Lately, they made an agreement with the Islamic party (the main Arabic Sunni party) and they work hard to win the hearts of al Fadhila party (Shiite party and a part of the United Iraqi Alliance, the main Shiite bloc in the parliament.

Everyone knows that the Kurdish parties are working so hard to obtain Kirkuk, the oil city because it's the key of announcing their Kurdish state which the Kurdish politicians talked about thousands time. The Arabic political parties (Sunni and Shiite parties) are playing the role of the bulls and while the lion role is played by the Kurdish parties.

Wake up guys and try to think about your parties as Iraqi parties not sects parties. To feel sorry and to blame each other will not help when it's too late to do anything. It's not late yet but it will be soon. You get your strength from your unity; otherwise, you are so weak.

e-mail to a friend

Hi ........,

The latest in Baghdad is a more suttle, but a more important story to tell. Because all the deliberate chaos and violence was like a curtain, keeping everyone so distressed there're incapable of seeing the real issues - the ones for which the war was faught in the first place.

Now, people may have the energy, I hope - and the heart, to look up and start taking stock of the situation. They should begin to ask questions and demand answers of those whom they elected. Have many lost faith in their religious leaders? Have they had enough of being manipulated by them in the name of their brand of Islam? Have they had enough?

But the government still feels safe, in spite of that. For who will do the serious questioning? The greater majority of the middle class has fled, and the government still has a strong hold upon their own people because of the sectarian fears - the evil seed that was sown after the occupation.

So you see, although the story may have lost some of its intensity for some readers, the real story of Iraq has yet to be told. It is sometimes illusive and dificult to tell because so much is still unknown - but tell it we must.

Power Supply !

Shortage of Electricity in Iraq is the main problem that Iraqi people suffer from .

This problem is really founded in the beginning of eighties of the last century during the Iraqi –Iran war ( 1980-1988) and it became bigger after the invasion of Kuwait having the second gulf war in ( 1990-1991).But things became worst in the third war in 2003.In the past we have the shortage for hours or days then the problem would be solved to have the full power again .

In the nineties we had a schedule by the former regime as a kind of punishment to the south making the uprising against his government in 1991 having power supply at night only and that thing lasted for several years and the generators at that time were so expensive to be used in ordinary houses , shops, restaurants , factories and hotels ,but the exception were those who are so rich or who had involved with the former regime.

After March of 2003 , we hoped that the situation would be better ,but soon we realized that the situation became the worst in all times .The first problem is the lack of planning and the second one which is not less important than the first one is the corruption which snorting the Iraqi budget .

I had a relative who is an employee and a worker in one of the projects to have new supply power station in the south. He said that he is at home since October 2005 while he has his salary coming to his house without going to work or even knows where it is and the same thing for all the workers in the project.

The point is that the manager of the project has the project money in his pocket and of course with few engineers and officials pretending that the project is going on having some obstacles of funds to get. Those salaries are not part of the contract as the ministry of electricity has to pay for them. The project should supply the workers in the project with fees per day as extra work!

So all these fees with this amount of money for unreal equipments on the ground, to have a new power supply station, are going to those greedy selfish people. The disaster is the next step made by the ministry of having limited amperes of power supply in some neighborhoods in Baghdad as a kind of test to be carried out in Baghdad and all Iraq.

Last week, they started with my neighborhood having 20 Amperes in our house (as we have three families) for six hours per day! They said that the house with one family in has tem amperes and for each extra family we add 5 amperes.

I am asking is the ten amperes enough for one family? I just want to ask the expert who suggested that brilliant idea, can we use the iron (which needs 13 amperes) to iron our clothes in this amount of power supply or the iron is not needed in this time.

What about heating and air-conditioning? Nowadays we have cold winter which leads to use heaters to make the houses warm as the kerosene heaters are not healthy (bad products) and we also don’t have this kerosene to fill such kinds of heaters. Also, we need the boiler which at least needs 15 to 20 amperes to start working .Are these things important in our daily life or not?

We know that lights , one fridge , one chest freezer , one T.V set with a decoder would be enough for the ten amperes ,but are these the only things that are necessary in our daily life ? I think this plan is made by one official to have his interests by having a contract to buy cables and contactors with a company which paid lots of money to that one to have their products reach Iraq and to hell all Iraqis .

Of course, all of the Iraqi officials don’t have such a problem as most of them live in the green zone with full time power on and those who are out of it, they have huge generators which can supply at least 1000 amperes for each one! We get rid of Ayhem Al-Samarai, the former minister of electricity, who fled to Washington with one billion in his bank account, to have dozens of Al-Samarai.

Alhamdu lillah assalama

After I made sure that my daughter was only shocked and dazed, but unhurt, I leaned back to take a breath.

Her transport had to take his car to the fitter for some minor repairs and I was giving her a lift to school. One checkpoint after another all the way to a central main road where we could relax a little from the bumper-to-bumper lines of cars. As we sped along (50km/hr) feeling the freedom, suddenly an American convoy emerged from a side street at full speed. Terrified of getting too close, the first car braked so hard it swirved; the second slammed into it; I was the third ... and there were two more.

There we stood, each driver with a look of frustration on his face - who to blame?? Who to shout at to relieve the tention?? Who to haggle with for repair money?

We looked at each other, and at our smashed cars - and started laughing uncontrollably until the tears started to flow, "Alhamdu lillah assalama (thank God for your safety)" was all we could manage to say.

By that time the convoy was long gone.

No difference

We have a proverb in Iraq saying "that who gets married of your mother, you should call him uncle".

The Prime Minister Mr. Nouri Al-Maliki arrived in Iraq today after a week of being in London for medical treatment. The news is still good to have our prime in Iraq with his people to do his responsibility, but the strange thing is to have blocked streets having some people raising the prime minister's pictures in hands and shouting for his long live welcoming his coming back home to show off the people's love of their beloved prime minister while the real Iraqi people were in some other blocked streets which are blocked for security reasons as they heard or to have celebrated people of the coming of their prime minister.

The people in the blocked streets were upset to make them stuck without reaching their destination for no reasonable purpose, but for showing off a celebration or having the prime minister in Iraq. This thing reminds us of the former regime during Saddam's reign when that regime used to have demonstrations and celebrations of such kinds forcing people to be in streets to make the world see them trying to convince them that the government is from the people and for them. I think the Iraqi people are smart enough to know who made this small demonstration and for what reason. Also the Iraqi people fed up with celebrations and speeches having one thing to be achieved which is Iraq for Iraqis no more.

I am not against such kinds of celebrations of ceremonies if they just like the one done in the Baghdad airport by the ministers and officials to receive the prime minister, but the price is too much as all the roads near the BIAP (Baghdad International Air Port) are closed making people in trouble having one excuse in mind that they want to secure the officials convoys from terrorists attacks. Thus, there is no difference of our past than the present time.

To whom it may concern

On the occasion of starting the first stage of American Election (Iowa caucus), and in the name of Iraqi people I would like to adjure the American people to think of Iraqi people and remember all the mistakes that happened in Iraq before directing toward the election boxes. Please choose who has the ability to correct these mistakes.

We hope you will think of our future as much as you will think of yours, that we became part of your future.

Please, be careful remember all Iraqis’ tragedies that happens here because the harmful policy. Also I’d like to inform you that we are waiting your election as if it is our election and may be more because your choice will determine the main lines for our life ... Yes your choice will change our life for good or for bad.

We hope you will choose who will work to stop the Iraqi-American bloodshed for the mothers’ sake, choose who will stop the sadness and the cry of Iraqi and American mothers.

Please, make the right choice for Iraqi children’s sake that their future is in your hands.

Finally we hope that 2008 will bring relief to Iraqi people and American people and that will happen with God blessing and your right choice. Please take the right choice.

Thanks with our best regards

Questions

During a short work trip, I faced with my colleague two difficult questions and we worked hard to find the answers. One question was answered by a picture but the other question is still buzzing my mind.

In our way back to the office, we were forced to go through Sheikh Maroof neighborhood which is one of the hot spots in Baghdad. Most of the drivers avoid going through the area because of the sudden changes that might happen in it any moment.

For me and my colleague, we had no choice by to go through the area. We don’t know how controls it. My colleague kept driving as fast as he could through the small dirty bystreets trying to find an end. A young man was looking to us in a strange way while we were laughing. My colleague was telling me “hey laith, I swear this guy is Mahdi army member” and I answered him “its possible but you know, he could be Qaeda”.

I cant deny that we were trying to control our fears by keep laughing because we expected an attack at any moment. After about ten minutes of driving in the small bystreets, I saw a pig picture of one of the Shiite clerics who was killed by Saddam’s regime. I felt of because I knew this is a Shiite area but how about my colleague, I cant feel safe enough if he is not safe. I found out a very quick funny and strange solution.

Shiite people are very well known that we wear rings with gems. So, I put my right hand on the door of the car after lowering the window and I prepared myself to use my original accent. Thanks Allah I didn’t need to say a word because we reached the main street and we came back safely to the office. Now we know for sure that Sheikh Maroof is a Shiite dominated area and that was the answer of the question that terrified us.

Again and after passing through the main street leading to the office, we saw some daily workers who were doing their job. They were not cleaning the street, they were not maintaining the sewage network, they were not fixing the electricity towers. No, they were doing something completely different.

They were PAITING THE CONCRETE SIDES OF THE BRIDGES WITH A PALE GREEN COLOR. One of the workers was painting one of the decoration in the concrete side (8 angles star with a dark green color. When I saw this useless work, I started making fun as my friends know. I told my colleague “see this hard work. Don’t ever blame or even say a bad word about our brave patriotic government and don’t ever say that there are no strategic projects. Did any country ever think about painting the sides of the bridges? Im sure no country did”.

I felt bitterness killing me. Why does the government give money for such useless work? What is the benefit of painting the concrete sides of the bridges? How does the painting participate in rebuilding Iraq. I couldn’t find any answer for my questions accept for one common answer.

The whole thing is not more than a clear picture for the administrational corruption.

The money spent for these useless PROJECTS is my money, the poors money and its even Americans taxes payers’ money. I hope that the Iraqi and the American officials do something about this money wasting and should punish all the corrupted people severely with the hardest legal sentences because the hard sentences would be a good lesson for all the corrupted people and a real good start for the real reconstruction. The big question is (when will the Iraqi and US officials start the war against the administrational corruption?)

Where are they

Iraqi parliament restarted its sessions on the last Sunday of December 2007 after a sixteen day holiday for different reasons, but the main one was having seventy members within the pilgrims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

I was waiting, as most Iraqis, the parliament to do something good to Iraq and its people after having this long holiday, but it was all in vain. Parliament has 33 sessions since April 2006 till December 31. As Iraqis we don't trust Iraqi parliament members or Iraqi council representatives as they did nothing ever since as comparing to the sacrifice being given of the Iraqi people with the benefits they get in return.

We have 275 members who suppose to represent the Iraqi people in their demands and suffering. On the contrary, they have the highest salaries in Iraq or in the world with the incredible privilege they have from houses and mansions, cars, body guards, real states, free tickets to go abroad and above all their space of freedom to go wherever they want to go without taking any kind of permission or telling the government that they go to this place or that one.

They are really careless of the Iraqi people's demands and needs. If we came back to 2006 and 2007 to find out what achievements did the parliament do , we would find nothing. I tried to call some prominent members to have a bit of information of their achievements during the last 20 months of their work in the parliament within Al-Maliki government. I got none of them …really none of them. They suppose to represent Iraqis, but they are not even trouble themselves to answer the phones as they are either switched off or out of the coverage area.

Yes, they are because most of them are not in Iraq spending their time with their families who settle in London, Amman, Dubai, Cairo and Doha or they want to enjoy their time away of their families in Beirut, Paris , Damascus or Rome.I am going to give you just four names that I tried to get before and during writing this blog who are from different blocs .

Ayad Allawi, the former Iraqi prime minister and the head of the Iraqia bloc, was the first ,but he lives in London and I tried to get his number there with negative results even from members of his bloc.

Adnan Al-Duleimi, the head of Twafiq bloc in the parliament, was the second one with the same result having two numbers for him without any answer. I have friends in Jordan who said that he is in Amman now having some accusations against of displacing people and giving haunts for terrorists!!

The third one was Ibrahim Al-Jafari , the former prime minister who ruled Iraq after Ayad Allawi , I tried to get numbers of someone to be in touch with in his hometown London ,but it was worthless. I heard that he made a visit to our new prime minister Noori Al-Maliki in London as the latter is having some medical tests in London hospitals at the present time.The forth one was Rose Shawis , a Kurd member of Kurdstan Democratic Party who is abroad too having this confirmation from his secretary telling me that he might come to Iraq next week!!!

After all that , what do we expect from our parliament to do this year as they only achieved the pension law after 33 sessions within 21 months while they got their pension law   ( for four years of working in the parliament ) which is separated from the original one having it done one session having 80% of their current wages !!!

We are waiting for them to approve the budget of 2008 which faces lots of obstacles as it seems it doesn't include any kind of rising salaries for the governmental employees especially for the teachers! We also wait the parliament to approve about 15 laws including the oil and gas law, provincial law and depathification one.

New Year

Last night was the New Year's Eve night, I used to have special night every year, at lest it is special night according to my taste as a Moslem woman. In the last years I used to spend this night with my family at home watch TV, eat cookies and fruit and talk about our wishes for the New Year. This year I tried to start it with extraordinary activity to approve to myself that we will receive a new and different year if God Will so I decided to take my sister and her two children (Haidar 5 years old and Dody 3 years old) on a tour in the city.

I drove the car toward the crowded street to share the celebrated people in Baghdad's streets their celebration. It was wonderful hours fill with fun and laugh and that rare in Iraq these days. The people were dancing and singing with joyful togather. There weren't any differences among them. It is impossible if you want to recognize the Sunni, Shiite, Christian or any other sects. Everybody were waving with Iraqi Flags and glorifying their lovely country Iraq.

But I can't say the fears of terrorist's attacks have totally disappeared from our minds because what we saw through the last two years wasn't easy to forget. Really it was a big tragedy "I wish this tragedy will end soon" that my wishes for the New Year. The shadows of what we saw will still live inside our minds for a long time. One of these shadows visited me at this a special night when a man try to open my car's door to give balloons to my nephews. These balloons terrified me especially when my sister asked me jokingly "is that poisoned gas inside the balloons?" she was laughing.

Then I suddenly turned to Dody to ask him give his balloons.

"No it is mine" Dody replied.

"I know it is yours darling, please. I will buy a new one for you immediately"

At last I convinced Dody and took the balloons to threw it thruogh the window with wondering and disapproval looks from Dody's small eyes that he couldn't understand why I threw his lovely balloons from the window. I couldn't explain to him what we are passing through during the democracy regime that the terrorisrs invented creative way to kill. Really I felt sorry because my mistrusting of those people who tried to delight my nephew and I was suspicious with them. But this is our reality as civilians we should protect ourselves with the only weapons that we have the suspicions.