Suspicion

It was the 1980s, during the Iraqi-Iranian war; a father killed his own son claiming that he was a draft dodger. The crime shocked the Iraqi society. On the other hand Saddam praised the father's conduct and awarded him a medal. Saddam's regime encouraged people, through many wicked methods, to report secretly their family members, relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances…etc to the secret police, baathists, intelligence services and so forth. As a 'secret organization' government, Saddam's regime worked hard to change the Iraqis into informants. It resulted in lot of suspicion between members of the community. People did not find it easy to trust each other. Such policy created a climate of mistrust and fear. Only Saddam & his henchmen were authentic (sarcastic).

Few months ago I was in a minibus (public transportation). The traffic was totally stopped because a group of soldiers were dismantling a roadside bomb. The commuters started to chat, through which I discovered that one of the passengers was an Arab student from Yemen. Frankly, I was frightened, since the suicide bombers are mainly Arabs and I couldn't stop thinking that he was probably wearing a coat filled with explosives. Moreover, I started to imagine him blowing the bomb. So I jumped out of the minibus and completed my way on foot. Here in Baghdad, walking in the street means to keep on looking at every car as a bomb which is going to blow up and kill you. I believe that illusions of the kind above were the main reason for shooting Jean Charles de Menezes. Once again it is mistrust & fear.

Mistrust & Fear is the preferable method, for the terrorists, to debilitate the community civilized relations. I believe what the terrorists trying to do is to make the Muslim communities feel alienated in their own western countries, in which they were born and bred. A special report in the Guardian spotlights some of the issues that may participate in alienating Muslims:

'There are bigots out there who are reading some media reports and deciding to take the law into their own hands,' he said (Tahir Butt of the MSF). 'The message from everyone is zero tolerance, but we need action. We need to hear about people being arrested for these attacks on Muslims who are threefold victims. They are targets of terrorists, targets of the Islamophobic backlash and they will be targets of anti-terror legislation.'

As for being targets of terrorists, some of the 7/7 blasts victims are Muslims (Behnaz Mokakka, Slimane Ihab, and Shahara Islam). And what kind of targets of Islamphobic backlash they would be:

Amar Singh, editor of the Eastern Eye newspaper, said Muslim communities were on tenterhooks. 'There is genuine fear. At worst it is assault and abuse, at best it is strange looks or people moving away from you on the train. After 11 September we looked at Americans and thought they were so ignorant ... They didn't know the difference between a Muslim and a Sikh. I can't believe parts of Britain are just as bad. Just as
xenophobic.'

Shahid Malik is MP for Dewsbury wrote in the Observer:

"There is a feeling of alienation, often isolation; a feeling that somehow you don't belong;"

His point of view is:

"Those of us in leadership roles must make it clear to our young people that in a democracy the way we express such feelings is by debate and through democratic institutions, not through violence. We must drag them into the political mainstream."

And:

"We must confront head-on those few who preach violence and hatred in the name of Islam and, in doing so, poison the minds of vulnerable young men."

This is a critical issue. But they are not 'few' since they are spawning in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and even in Iraq which became the newest nest for teaching & training terrorists. The difference between British Muslims and those of the Islamic countries is that the British have much more acts of bravery to stand against extremists as Mr. Malik says:

"We will no longer pretend not to see or hear the fanatical few who stand outside our mosques, polluting young minds. The events of 7 July have changed that. The choices are stark yet clear - we either confront the enemy within, or are seen to condone."

Still, there is some fear for the future:

A Leeds city council member, Mohammed Iqbal, told worshipers at the Kashmir Muslim Welfare Association, also known as the Hardy street mosque, in Leeds. "It should be clear to us all that these kinds of events are a threat to our freedom."

This young man expresses what he and people who look like him may undergo:

But Nakib Islam, 19, a Muslim high school student who was speaking after a bomb alert at an East London mosque turned out to have been a hoax, said, "I am afraid of a stronger backlash" against Muslims."

"We all have to use the Tube and people who look like me all became suspicious," he said. "I even don't wear my rucksack anymore when I use the Tube because of that."

I believe that British people should stand by the British Muslim community to protect them from the extremists to prevail as one can sense from the words of this man:

"We can only stop all this when we are able to find the people who brainwashed the kids," said Abu Mumin, a worshiper at the mosque, who would not disclose his last name for fear of reprisal. He said the community was working diligently to cooperate with the police, and the latest incidents were likely to increase that cooperation. But ultimately, the road ahead may be difficult."

Finally, someone put it as follows:

"It's clear, everybody's worried and stunned," he said."This is a continuing attempt at endangering democracy and our freedom. We are part of this society, and what damages it, damages us."

It is one of the terrorists' goals to damage the society, or as I said above to debilitate the ties between the members of community. Weak ties help the terrorists in recruiting more persons to work with them. Here in Iraq, terrorists (consisting mainly of the saddamists) work hard toward this goal, so they try to alienate the Sunnis community.

Paying Tribute

The Iraqi national assembly is calling for three minutes of silent halt at midday (8:00 GMT) today to pay tribute to the Iraqi victims who lost their lives in the bloody blasts on last Wednesday 13th July in Baghdad & on Saturday 16th July in Musayyib.

Many international condemnations came from the non-Arab world, but no Arab government or the Arab league said a word about it. The Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a press release condemning the killing of large number of children in Baghdad. A statement (on the 15th July) made by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson condemned in the strongest terms the attack which claimed the lives of 32 children and teenagers in Baghdad on July 13. Even a spokesman for the Iranian government condemned the attacks.

It hurts a lot to hear nothing from the Arab peoples who claim there are many ties of brotherhood relate them to the Iraqis.

The suicide bomb attacks remind the Iraqis, especially the Baghdadis, of the s/s missile blitzes exchanged with Iran during the war between the two countries (1980-1988) & the allies' air raids (1991-2003). The Iraqis have represented the fuel for the struggles in the region, still gained nothing but more & more deterioration. Many Iraqis believe that it is a curse by a prophet or a saint to suffer all this time.

Bad timing

The Mail on Sunday newspaper published what it called a (Secret plan to quit Iraq) written by Defense Secretary John Reid for Tony Blair. Leaking it out two days after the explosions happened in London may give an impression, to the terrorists, that they achieved something through their criminal deed.

It is normal to have debates on different issues in democratic societies, like the British. But narrow minded terrorists will view it as a victory. The question is "Wasn't it better to prevent or delay publishing this paper?" Since Mr. Reid said:

"This is but one of a number of papers produced over recent months covering various scenarios. We have made it plain we will stay in Iraq for as long as is needed. No decisions on the future of UK forces have been taken."

So there were several other papers which nobody heard about. Again, why leaking out this one now?

No clue should be given to the terrorists about the future plans. They are looking for any kind of information to use in their propaganda. Good information in the same article drew my attention which says:

"According to a BPIX survey for The Mail on Sunday, 52 per cent of Britons think UK troops should return home only when Iraq is a peaceful democracy, which could take years. Eighteen per cent said our soldiers should return immediately and 23 per cent said they should withdraw in six months."

But the terrorists are not ready to deal with these results & simply ignore them.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said in his first Commons statement after the bomb attacks in London:

"We are united in our determination that our country will not be defeated by such terror but will defeat it and emerge from this horror with our values, our way of life, our tolerance and respect for others, undiminished."

This loses its authenticity when put together with the paper above.

Publishing this paper could be viewed as an indication, to the planners & implementers of the bomb attacks, that the British government complies with their devilish will.

President Bush is more decisive when he said:

"We will continue to take the fight to the enemy, and we will fight until this enemy is defeated."

And

"…together with our allies, we're on the offense, and we will stay on the offense."

Additional consideration should be paid to the ideological foundations which nurture this destructive conduct. It is not enough to deal with the suicidal bombers, but dealing with the nest which spawns their ideology is more important. This takes me back to what I called "Educational Rehabilitation" which the people in the Mid East needs a lot. For example, the US administration is still hesitant in dealing toughly with the Saudis.

It seems that it is Iraq's bad luck to be a theatre of struggles for the last quarter century. The most recent is choosing it to be the central front in the war on terror, as President Bush said:

"In the war on terror, Iraq is now a central front. The terrorists fight in Iraq because they know that the survival of their hateful -- hateful ideology is at stake. They know that as freedom takes root in Iraq, it will inspire millions across the Middle East to claim their liberty, as well."

So Iraqis should pay for the liberty of Mid East people. Other nations in the region would not face radical changes like the one taking place now in Iraq. They will go through peaceful changes by learning the Iraqi lesson (It is disgusting!!!)

Mr. Bush said:

"To help Iraqis build a free nation, we have a clear plan with both a military track and a political track."

But what about the economic track Mr. President!

Criminal Deeds

It is horrible to harm other people. What took place in London this morning is a cowardly action. No one could ever give any reason or justification for what a bunch of ruthless terrorists did. There is no morality in terrifying & killing peaceful people. I can imagine the disturbance, chaos & fear caused by the incident since we live this situation here in Iraq daily.

The Prime Minister Tony Blair said

"…We know that these people act in the name of Islam, but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do."

, which is true. These people are nothing more than criminals who use Islam as a cover. I can understand the general impression among westerners who can not discriminate easily between Islam & terrorism. Still, it should be emphasized that

"… We continue to resist all attempts to associate our communities with the hateful acts of any minority who claim falsely to represent us."

, as it is said in the statement issued by The Muslim Council of Britain today.

This minority is practicing lot of atrocities here in Iraq. The latest is killing the ambassador of Egypt to Iraq by Al-Zarqawee gang. These gangs, especially the Baathists, will take over if the American troops pull out.

Mr. Bush said

"… The war on terror goes on. I was most impressed by the resolve of all the leaders in the room. Their resolve is as strong as my resolve."

, but what is more important is to take tougher measures by the European leaders, especially the French & the German, against terrorists. France & Germany try to show courtesy in dealing with the insurgents in Iraq, believing that such conduct may keep terrorists away from their soil. By inference, terrorism, if prevails, will spare no land to invade.

Terrorism must be traced to its sources & not to be dealt with superficially. I believe one of the main ideology sources for terrorism is Saudi Arabia. Finally, I'd like to express my condolences to the victims' families & the British people.

4th of July

It is the Independence Day. A day represents the birth of a great nation. I esteem America forefathers who founded this nation. I keep on asking myself, why we don't have leaders like Washington or Jefferson. Leaders who did not cling on power and they believed deep in their hearts that democracy should be the only way to rule.

Now, after more than 200 years we are, the Iraqis, still lacking such kind of leaders. I wonder what the real reason is for this (phenomenon). Maybe, it is the Bedouin legacy which has so much influence on our way of thinking. I believe it needs lot of work and more than a generation to bring our nation into modern age.

Greetings to the American nation on this occasion.