Welcome IRAQ!

Raed in the Middle

[US] -- "More videos showing the daily activities of the US-backed Iraqi forces

Iraqi army parades dead fighters in basrah (more information here)

prisoners beaten up in karbala." /snap/ [link]

Baghdad's Kassakhoon

[Baghdad] -- "I always see the work of the United Nations as a controversial one: it sometimes directly endorses the wars or it does it indirectly by turning its eyes, closing its ears and mouth while on the other side it helps the victims of these wars.

In 2003, it couldn't stop the U.S.-led invasion and now it begs to help Iraqis who are affected by this war.

In its recent appeal on 9 May, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called on international donors for more US $127 million to help continuing its assistance programs for Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees throughout the end of 2008.

The appeal was the second in this year as the first one was in January which was for US$261 million but it has so far received only US$134 million and spend them all.

But Iraqis, like Basil al-Azawi who heads the Iraqi Commission for Civil Society Enterprises, a coalition of over 1,000 Iraqi non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are skeptical and demand the international body to cooperate with local NGOs and present detailed documents on their expendtures." /snap/ [link]

KERBLOG

[Beirut] -- "In july 2006 war,
we got angry and we shouted
and we got scared and we got disgusted
and we cried and we got drunk
and we stayed and we felt distress
and we insulted and we resisted
and we got nervous and... and...

and... and... and... and..." /snap/ [link]

Naeem Mohaiemen

[Dhaka/US] -- "Two projects are out, including one from 2 years ago that has finally seen print.

I wrote "Fear of a Muslim Planet" in early 2006, but due to publisher schedules, the anthology from MIT Press in which it appears came out this spring. In the meantime, various new names emerged, including Lupe Fiasco, who was absent from my 2005-2006 research.

The text remains as is, except for the inclusion of Lupe right before it went to press. As for the writing style, an earnest, culture-as-tool permeates the conclusion, legacy of the mode of thought I was in during 2002-2006 (everything was about war-on-terror framed "struggle").

------------------------------------------------
FEAR OF A MUSLIM PLANET - HIP-HOP'S HIDDEN HISTORY
------------------------------------------------
Sound Unbound
Sampling Digital Music and Culture
Edited by Paul D. Miller aka Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid
MIT Press, 2008

Contributors include Pierre Boulez, Chuck D, Cory Doctorow, Brian Eno, Jonathan Lethem, Moby, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Steve Reich, Saul Williams, and more.

Download "Fear of a Muslim Planet" chapter
http://shobak.org/text/hiphop.shtml

Interps Life

[Baghdad] -- "Hello all,

I brought a bunch of FAQ that I and other interpreters get from Americans… but I attached my answers only regarding my point of views!

1. How old r u?
2. Where r u from?
3. What’s ur real name?
4. Why did u pick up this nickname?
5. Why do you wear a mask, to cover ur face?
6. Do you have a girlfriend? R you virgin? If not, how many times u've had sex and with whom? Do Iraqis eat the front and the back of the girl?
7. Do u drink alcohol & do u smoke weed?
8. Can u get us a bitch or do u know a whore house here?
9. Why do u work as an interpreter?
10. do u like ur work?
11. do u feel that u r a disloyal like the local national people call u?
12. do u think now is better or Saddam's time was better?
13. Why do Iraqis know only specific words in English such as:-" /snap/ [link]

Iraqi Translator

[Baghdad] -- "I was in desert base (as I call it) few days ago, the base we belong to, actually we had a meeting over there, Iraqi-American meeting, to be more clear, SOI (Sons Of Iraq) - American meeting, SOI as American call them recently and CLC (Concerned Local Citizens) previously.

If you're tracking with news, the Americans began this new experiment in Ramadi (west of Iraq) when the American leadership decided to support the tribes and people over there in order to quit Al-Qa'eda at that time. I think Americans have succeeded in Ramadi, and the reason was that Al-Qa'eda didn't has deeply relationship with the people in Ramadi [..]

.. so the American understood the game's rules at that time, they provided the tribes members with all weapon's type, they provided them by the money and the power, nowadays... Al-Ramadi is one of the safest place for Americans and Interpreters (lol)," /snap/ [link]

Baghdad's Kassakhoon

[Baghdad] -- "As Arab governments and others around the world are either warning their citizens in Lebanon to be more cautious or helping them to leave the country or preventing those who want to head there, Iraqi Foreign Affairs Ministry came up today with this controversial statement:

"Iraqis in Lebanon are in good health and there is no fear on their lives," Foreign Undersecretary Labid Abawi told the US-funded Radio Sawa. "For the time being we don't have such a plan (evacuating Iraqis from Lebanon), there is no necessity for this," Abawi added." /snap/ [link]

Last-of-Iraqis

[Baghdad] -- "I thought about this post while I was in the market buying fruits and vegetables. While I was walking in the market looking at the merchandise I noticed something that got my attention: most of the vegetables and fruits are imported! Majority are Syrian! That's really weird; the markets in a country that has two rivers and extremely fertile soil is importing food from neighboring countries! My thoughts and memories started to link to each other for a reason or a conclusion.
Neither climate nor agriculture or economics are my fields of specialty but it doesn't need a specialist to notice the changes in the Iraqi climate and the deteriorations in the agricultural fields during those five years that followed the war, I noticed dramatic changes in the climate and the availability of agricultural products in the Iraqi market," /snap/ [link]

Global Voices

-- … so says Al-Ghad.

In the weeks following the high profile attack on Basra by the Iraqi army and its high profile failure something of a low-level war has been going on across Iraq much behind the scenes of the mainstream media. Yet now the situation seems to be coming to a head.

Al-Ghad issued a statement giving an urgent warning that an imminent massacre of the people of Sadr City is being planned:

The occupiers have decided to implement the Israeli style ghettos of imprisoning people in concrete walls. When this didn’t solve their problem, they came to the idea of mass slaughter of the whole of Sadr-City, using mass bombing, rockets and heavy artillery against a civil population.

Wafaa' Al-Natheema condemned the attacks against hospitals in Baghdad:

Catharsis

[Jordan] -- "A newly-discovered blog by Baghdad Kassakhoon [Storyteller], who is a journalist in Baghdad, has a post about the suffering of the Iraqi staff of the Associated Press." -- [link]

Baghdad Treasure

[US] -- "... my landlord’s copy of Time magazine drew my attention. The issue was a special edition that presented the world’s 100 most influential figures. As I was leafing through the magazine, I saw that an Iraqi woman was considered one of those influential figures. Seeing this made my day. It left me with a sense of optimism that despite all the horror Iraqis are going through under occupation and terrorism, there are people like this woman whose efforts are like bricks rebuilding what was destroyed."

Inside Iraq

[Baghdad] -- "How far will corruption – and therefore distrust take us? Has the issue of a student's campus ID card become a national security risk – because of corruption?

Several weeks ago I took my daughter's student ID, issued by her college, to follow up a documentation process in officialdom. I hate handing over original papers because they have a way of disappearing. And it did. Who to ask – who is responsible – who can I vent my anger on – no one. No one is accountable.

In despair, I let it go.

Now the final exams are coming on. We've been told that no student will be allowed to sit the exams without their ID clearly displayed on their desks. And this time for real.

A rush to issue a new one." /snap/ [link]

Thoughts from Baghdad

[US] -- "Not a scientific article, by any means, but I find it increasingly interesting how fast the Facebook phenomenon is spreading worldwide. My (egyptian) cousins in Egypt are avid Facebookers, adding every application and friend they can find. And for me, that was the best thing I've gotten out of joining Facebook, keeping in touch on a 'regular' basis with my kid cousins.
And now, I've noticed that Iraqis are increasingly joining the world of Facebook! It's not as widespread in Iraq as it is in the rest of the Arab world, but it is slowly gaining in popularity. From my husband's account, I see a good number of his colleagues and former co-workers adding him as Facebook friends. And one of my buddies from Iraq added me recently.
What I've noticed is that a number of Iraqi Facebookers are now ex-patriots or 'refugees' to a degree," /snap/ [link]

Catharsis

[Jordan] -- "The hero of this story is a poet called Miskin al-Darmi, who is an Umayyad-era Poet, who died in 90 AH.

SCENE: Medina.
al-Darmi in his house, with an Iraqi friend named Sulayman al-Baghdadi.

Darmi: Good going, dude, we managed to stay the whole night worshiping in the mosque.
Baghdadi: You know man, I wasn't worshiping in sincerity, but I had nothing else to do.
Darmi: What, you sold all your stock?
Baghdadi: Well, yes, except for the black burqaas, which constitute 4/5 of my goods.
Darmi: Why did you buy so much of these?
Baghdadi: Well because women in Iraq have taken it in fashion these days, so I thought it would be fashionable for the women of Medina.
Darmi: So what are you going to do now?
Baghdadi: Man, I'm in such a bad streak, ever since I stopped getting drunk at parties I've never seen anything good come to me. I've put all my money in these veils and now all I got to do is go back to Iraq and declare bankruptcy.
Darmi: Wait, I've got just the thing for you." /snap/ [link]

Skies [was: Colors of Mind]

[Erbil] -- "One of the oldest cities in the world. It had been mentioned in Sumerian writings as Erbilium. Now it is the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan.

I never visited Kurdistan before. Till this April when suddenly I got an unbelievable opportunity to visit it. I was so happy to see all these Kurdish people with their characteristic costumes, music and accent in speech. I even knew some Kurdish psychiatrist and one psychotherapist. Their names weren’t that easy for me to remember at the first time, but after few days I found it so easy and so beautiful. Their names got some musical tone that is really characteristic.
Erbil is called by Kurdish people as Hewler. Hewler means “the place of the sun” as I can remember somebody told me. When I knew its meaning I remembered that this city got a rich heritage full of civilizations and religions. Some old religions in the area worship the sun, or regard it as something holy. From those old believes, I think, came the name." /snap/ [link]