This is from one of my dearest Iraqi friends, who worked as an interpreter for me. Please read carefully what he is saying. I send this to you to give you a different perspective. Please start thinking about how we can help.
From: (Name removed to protect identity)
To: paul holton <wigglesholton@yahoo.com >
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:53:59 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: hello
dear chief there is a gap between the two cultures here which led to isolate each side from the other, iraqies were isolated from the hall world for 40 years, and they are trying to comunicate now and follow up at least they are trying...but the americans never ever tried to start comunication with iraqis (i mean citizens) for 4 years nobody ever learned how to speak arabic here in order to comunicate...parties are pushing un educated and low skilled people with facked master degrees and phd. to apply in the sensetive positions in the government and even in the iz, and no body is ever willing to check wether if thier documents are true or not, so that means we have stupid people with power to run the country and give the wrong advise to what ever match the interests of the party they belong too... that is one, two last december american forces were running a raide on my neighburhood they said that they were looking for a kurd who carried out attckes against MNF as he came and hide in one of the houses, but when they did the search they didnt found him so what they did is that the sourounded the entire block and embushed each house and destroyed it, they reached to my house as i was listening to the boombing of the neighbures houses coming closer and closer to my house i opened the door and saw the american forces jumping to my garden as they pointed all of thier weapons on me, as i put my hands up and started to talk to them in english at loud : dont shoot i have a woman and a child upstears...every body was shucked at that moment it is a mericale he speakes english and that what saved my house from being destroyed but that didnt calm them down they said get every body out side woman, children, old men and women, and babies...my son was only 40 days old and he spend 3hours on the street it was very cold night and he got sick...not only that they have arab translatores which they are so mean they care nothing but to humeliate iraqies the translator knowked me down as the american soldiers didnt understand nothing from the conversation because it was in arabic as they pointed all of thier weapons to my head...because the Mf didnt want to listen and he told the soldiers that i had an attitude...i replied to the major that i didnt had an attitude as he was sureprised that i was speaking english very well...any way we stayed for like 7hours our hands were tide together as we were sitting facing the wall for seven hours...my point from all of this story is that we had to pay for somebody eles's falt ...the americans didnt find the suspect...they destroyied an entire block... they lost the trust of the people because so many people who got thier houses destroyed turned agains americans right away...this is a minor level that i am talking about here and you can imagin what is the problem with all of what is going around iraq...and the terrorist and the criminal is getting released couple of months after that because the parties start to talk about the human rights of that M.F. can you put your self in our shoes and feel the way we feel? what about our rights...criminals have rights...parleament members have right and they are next to god and they are untouchables and they are destroying the country, they are even not attending the sessions of the parleament taking vecations and they are getting paid thousands of dollars each month as the people are starving and getting killed every day...is this democracy is this freedom... no chief... and there is one thing that is very dangerouse happening these days, i know that iran and saudi has its influence in iraq but do we have to pay for that?...citizens in baghdad were living civil life till religous leders invated baghdad and americans are watching and giving them power they acused people who are living in baghdad that they are shiiates and displaced them from thier homes and it is right to kill them and that the mahdi millitias are killing the sunnis in return and also displace them...both of the two sides are killing the citizens of baghdad and the media channels are feeding this crazy hunger for blood...but the citizens of baghdad had nothing to do with that and they are paying for it why? why killing students, why killing eductaed people , doctors, engineers, national sport champions, litreatures, agrecuturals... this is not our war why are we forced to be involved in it? what about our rights?!!!...dose anybody care?! dont leave iraq till you fix what has been destryed or america is going to lose every body's trust... use your machines and industry start in the iz and spread to all of baghdad magazeenz, movies, computers, clothes (they are forcing the people to wear scarves and vales in the streets of baghdad or else people are going to get killed) , showes, music bands, singers, creat civil life and start to attract civil people back to the city you will win peace by doing that and let all the people of baghdad see you do that...radicals and extreemists cant live in such environments they are going to find themselves as nones so wether they are going to leave the city or isolate them selves and it is going to be easy to control them but if the war contiues they always are going to find the environment to feed on our blood and make fortunes in the name of god. you want public openion if you go down to each house in baghdad and ask them what do you thing of america? or what do you think of the american forces? they yare going to give the same answer:america did nothing but to destroy our country...why? because there is no civil life left...no services no security and no trust...but still the people want to see somthing good and real people are hungry for such a thing and i dont know why i guess we are that stupid after all...we still believe that things can change and what amaze me is that bruce springsteen once said in one of his songs: after each hard day people still find a reason to believe end this terror regards (Name removed to protect identity) Reply: I will see what I can do. I will do all that I can do. Thanks for your thoughts, those are good ideas. That is a starting point, to start thinking about what a solution looks like from the Iraqi side. We need to know where we made mistakes and how we can change them. We have to start somewhere, otherwise it is too big for any of us. But we can take baby steps. We have to start somewhere. The more ideas you have the better. I have contacts at the Pentagon that I can pass your ideas to. Please continue Chief Reply: dear chief i appreseate yuor last email, but what are you asking me here is so funny, and i dont know what to say... the best thing i can come up with to answer your questions is to re invade iraq again and start from scratch again and act like americans this time and dont do the same mistacke of democracy and freedom again and work only with the actual iraqi people after bringing them back to thier homes... that if you want to build a solid ground this time and eliminate the religgious leaders and close the arab media satalite chaneels...we didnt practice freedom not because we dont know how to live free ...No, but agendas of ther countries are killing us every day as every body watching and nobody cares, so if you want to succeed stop the interfeerence of saudis, iranian, syrians, jordanians,egyptians by closing the borders...do that then you can secure the land from terrorists and millitias by expanding the international zone (it is so funny you pick a small spot and isolate yourself from every body, loosing comunication with the actual citizens of baghdad, loosing trust with the people of baghdad by leaving them to the terrorists and millitias with no protection) how do you think that you can establish industry when you have no body to trust, or no body trust you anymore....i am not saying to open the international zone i am saying expanding the radious of the international zone step by step to include all of baghdad and create civil life based on international standards...but isolating the international zone and getting smaller and smaller and leave it to the government which they are the only once that have protection in this country because they are living inside the green zone and never dare to leave it...as they are the once that are killing us... i believe this can help but for me and my family we dont have much time till that happense , we are going to be dead by then and we only live once, we lost alot, i think we deserve to life in peace for every thing that we have seen, and if you want to help me chief take me to america...i can be more helpful to you there if you want to work on such a thing believe me when i say that every body here are saying that i am skilled and have improved my self in art and design it wont be trouble for me to find a job in any company and i can make living by just writing stories and books about what happened in iraq...and i cant tell you the way... yuo have the industry ...you have the companies... and you can do it if you just say i will do it(whaen i say you that means america) america has to say we will build iraq and act on it... i am stucked inside i have no power and i lost my house and i am loosing faith watching every body is leaving and dying and killed i am a stranger in my own country, i had to pay 500 dollars in order to get my passport and the blessed government is re issueing the passports every two months and abuse the citizens and make alot of money, i dont think i can help in here it is useless it seems that it is a curse to be born as an iraqi and to live all of your life chained to that title, in another word chief i am not a human being i am an iraqi and what makes it worse is that i am a good one and i was raised to love this land... i wasnt like that i was full of spirit but it seems that i am turning to bold zaid...you remember him chief i dont know what to tell you ...i am sorry...i wish i can help...i did the best i can ...advertisments...translations...corporation... design even tryied to build a healthy environment and i did but things went down so bad, and i am not responsible for it, i did my part of the job as a citizen like no other did here, but my life and my family's life is on the line here and i dont want to take any chances. but i wish for this nightmare to end one day and be able to go back to the house that i build and raise my kid and provide a better future for him, but it seems that i wont be able to do that in here. and can you be more specific in your questions chief this is bigger than me,.... thanks i dont need anything..., the only thing i want is to go to the states and that is the easiest part in the hall equasion. regards (Name removed to protect identity) Reply: (Name removed to protect identity):
Thanks for your email. It is great hearing from you. Thanks for being so honest and frank. I am still working on things to see what we can do for you. I am so sorry for what you are having to go through. I wish I could do more to help. I believe that the only way to help the Iraqi people is to somehow provide them with jobs, skills, income, opportunities, and industries. We need to provide a way for people to becomee capitalists, a way for them to earn a living and have a future. How do we set up industries? How do we give them jobs? Think of what we can send that would provide the most amount of people job opportunities. How can we help people get back to work? What else can I do to help you? Do you need anything? What do you see as the solution for this? where do we get started? We will continue to prayer for you. Lets try to be proactive and do whatever we can. Lets put our heads together to come up with a solution. There must be a way.
Love you all
Chief Reply: hi chief what is the news? anything new? i know what are you going to say but i cant help it...it is just my desire of getting my family out of this hell and i cant help it... i am waiting for something, anything, i lost another one of my relatives last thuresday... gangsters shut him dead infront of his house because he works at BIAP, and the carboombs are every were in the city, and everybody is scared and freaked out of what is happening in the city, lots of blood and killing and the sight of the cofens started to become a very normal activity it is happening all day long, people are getting killed by hundereds every, and you see the dead bodies first, next thing in the early morinig you see carabans of coffens carrying them and then carboombs strikes again and the story goes on and on and on... couple of weeks more if we made in one peace we are going to need a psychiatrist for every thing that we are going through. just tell me anything. i am loosing my mind here, giong to work every day and seeing all what is happening and i guess it is just my luck that kept me alive so far and then tell my self and trying to pretend that all of this is going to end one day but then i reach the point that tells me who are kidding this blood spilling is going to last for eternity, and polititions doesnt care they are taking vecations and getting paid thousands of dollars for killing us, what am i suppose to do i even asked everybody that i worked with here to find me a way out but every body told me that it is far away higher than us... and that we will see what can happen. i am loosing it chief i feel like my rounds are about to be over and i am just waiting for the bell to ring or who knows may be it is going to be a knwocked down. i wish you all the best regards and blessings (Name removed to protect identity) |
