Faiza al-Arji is a compassionate, very smart and percipient Iraqi engineer (and the mother of three talented, hard-working young adults.)
Faiza has been in Amman for around a year now, working hard to get desperately needed water-treatment systems back to the distressed communities in her homeland.
Every well-off westerner who buys silly little plastic bottles of water for no reason should stop immediately and donate all the money saved to Faiza’s project.
Anyway, today we finally have the English translation of the long post that faiza put onto her blog in Arabic last week.
She writes about the many contacts she has with doctors and others coming out of Iraq:
- All stories are entangled, sometimes contradicting, but they tell about the conditions in the sad Iraq today, the conditions of the sad Iraqi people, as if they are tossing in fire, escaping one fire to another… from the fire of daily killings, kidnapping and panic, to the fire of expatriation in neighboring countries; indescribable suffering and humiliation, without a legal residency permit, without the right of acquiring a job, without the right to educate their children, while free medical treatment is provided to an extent by some organizations, but very limited…
The reality conditions of the Iraqis say that the entire world abandoned them, and even those who want to help them are helpless, tied handed, and scared…
That is what I have seen from the reality of the organizations working to help Iraq; it is not a matter of administrational corruption or bad programs, but the organizations, even the big ones, are helpless and tied handed, afraid of Bush and his administration, because then he would accuse them of supporting terrorism, if they helped the miserable, sad Iraqi people…
The world is living a dangerous phase of its history, as evil people control the decision-making in the major countries, frightening all who try to do good, accusing them of serious charges to destroy their reputations and future…
But there are still some brave men and women who do not care or fear… they extend the humanitarian-aid hand to Iraq and the Iraqis, individually or through non-governmental organizations. We pray to God to bless them, support them, stabilize them, and give them the strength to do good, amen.
She writes about the terrible daily living conditions for the million or so Iraqi refugees in Jordan.
She writes:
- Where is the responsibility of the Iraqi government?
Where is the responsibility of the American government?
Where is the responsibility of the United Nations?
These three should bear the responsibility of what happened to Iraq, excluding others…
These three laid down the legitimacy of this war, and are still evading the responsibility of what human catastrophes befell Iraq… they are still hiding what is truly happening in Iraq, their declarations always lying, saying that all things in Iraq are moving in the healthy direction, that issues are moving towards the better…
I think that the first step to solve the problems of the sad, wounded Iraq is to admit, by those three that the situation is catastrophic, and to present humanitarian aid to the Iraqis inside who were displaced from their homes and still are, to those who were wounded or crippled because of the violence and bombings, to those who lost the head of their family and their daily bread source. Those three should take responsibility for all that is happening to the Iraqis, to compensate the devastated families with medical and nutriment aid, to solve the problems of the displaced by getting them back to their homes, by providing protection to their residential areas by a national, clean Iraqi Army, one distinguished with high professionalism, not infiltrated by sectarian gangs and militias who would kill their citizens….
But the painful reality is that the Iraqi government lives isolated from the sufferings of its people, its men broadcast speeches that do not belong to reality, but whoever hears them believes that Iraq is sinking into happiness and welfare; there are just a few terrorists from Al-Qai’ida, whom we will eliminate, then live happily ever after…
It is a catastrophe when a lying, thieving administrator becomes the head responsible in a small-scale company… then what is the size of the catastrophe in a country like Iraq, which became under the mercy of officials most of whom are liars and thieves?
Oh, poor Iraq…
She writes:
- Now , Iraqis are divided into supporters of the occupation, and rejecters of it…
According to my assessments and observations since the beginning of the war until now, the supporters are a minority of beneficiaries who work with the present government or with the occupation; companies and contractors, and those are completely isolated, fearing to mingle with the Iraqis in fear for their lives inside Iraq, but those of them who are here in Amman declare their opinions openly without fear, and of course they drive the latest models of cars, they and their sons and daughters, they own the most luxurious palaces in Amman, and frequent the fanciest restaurants and nightclubs…
Those do not suffer; no problems of residency, children education, medical treatment, or any financial crisis. Those say that Iraq is well and going in the right direction, they love Bush and Blair, seeing them as their model in life…
I met a number of those people, finding them like parrots who repeat the same talk, and there isn’t an atom of pity or mercy in their hearts towards the poor Iraqis, because for them, life is just a chance, and their chance is now, while the rest are weak fools who do not know how to manage their lives, and so deserve what befalls them…
It seems that the multitude of money blinds the hearts and the eyes…
I don’t know, but I feel disgust and aversion towards them, I feel they are like insects that suck the blood of humans, living for themselves without thinking of others…
Those people think of nothing but money; how to earn it, how to enlarge their bank balance, not caring whether it was in the right way or the wrong, legitimately or illegitimately, for them; these are chances not be missed, and the people who live by the principals, according to them, are just naïve people, living in a non-realistic world…
The other faction of the Iraqis are the poor majority, those who suffered all the disasters of Iraq; they suffered the past wars, they suffered from the blockade, and from this last war. They lost the taste of settlement and comfort, and are still waiting for conditions to improve in Iraq. These people love Iraq, and find no meaning to life without it, or away from it…
These people’s lives are threatened every day in a random way since the beginning of the war till now, they either lost a family member, or were exposed to kidnapping, threats, displacement, or were forced to travel and leave their houses…
These are the victims whose voices no one hears, and whose complains no one heeds…
And they are the majority of the Iraqi people…
These people reject the idea of Sunnie-Shia’at, because they are a mixture of this and that…
But those who approved of the war, who walked in the procession of Bush and his administration, agree to the marketing of the Sunnie-Shia’at story, for political purposes and financial gains, and these can be achieved if the sectarian federalism was applied, a federalism that will fulfill their interests, they work in the government, they have their parties, and their parties have sectarian militias that ravage corruption in Iraq, whose victims are the poor Sunnie – Shia’at Iraqi people; they kill, kidnap, and bomb, to force the Iraqi people to accept the idea of dividing Iraq, and thus they drive Bush’s project in the new Iraq…
She has some horrendous narratives that arriving Iraqi doctors have told her, about violence in the heart of the hospitals…
She writes,
- Violence feeds more violence…
Iraq needs diplomacy in dealing with events, the national reconciliation needs diplomacy, hearing the other party’s opinion, while stubbornness and stupidity are reasons to destroy Iraq and rip it apart…
And the leader of this stubbornness and stupidity is the American administration and its stupid policy in Iraq, since 2003 until now…
The Iraqis need someone to unify them and collect their hearts, to bring them near each other to discuss common points… the Iraqis need someone to spread the culture of forgiveness among them, to forget the past…
But this evil American administration divided the Iraqis and provoked them against each other, utilizing the mistakes of the past in the worst possible way…
And what did it reap but ruin and destruction upon it, and upon these poor Iraqi people…
This is the reality of the situation, but Bush eludes, denies, and tricks himself and his people…
Iraq now is moving in the wrong direction, And this daily violence is the biggest evidence….
She writes:
- Then I met the wife of one of our relatives, whom Saddam deported from Iraq, because he was a Shia’at of Iranian origins, during the war between Iraq and Iran…
She said- the Intelligence took over the house, my children and I were subjected to hardships, my husbands suffered expatriation as he went to Syria. He was a rich merchant in Iraq, then lived poorly in poverty and died in Syria… she said the Iraqi Intelligence kept chasing her and demanding that she cooperates with them, she lived through tough and frightful days…
Of course her story made me sad, and I asked her: but are you satisfied with what is happening in Iraq now?
She said: of course not; when the American tanks entered into southern Iraq where I used to live, I told the people- do not be happy, for Iraq will be destroyed…
I felt how big is her suffering and sorrow; her husband died away from her, while she was a beautiful young lady, her children deprived of their father, because of Saddam’s regime’s injustice…
But what can the solution be?
Shall we amend Saddam’s injustice by shedding the blood of more Iraqis?
Is throwing off the regime by the intervention of a foreign country the solution?
Of course the regime in Iraq should have been changed, but not by this dumb foolish way…
The Iraqis should have been left alone until the appropriate time comes along, to change the leadership they didn’t want; changing from the inside, by the people’s will would have been a mature, balanced and intelligent step, without outside intervention, bloodshed, or ignorant dumb policies that do not comprehend the nature of the Iraqi society and its history, and do not know how to solve its problems in a just way without instigation, spite, and revenge….
The mistakes of the American policy in Iraq are deadly and cannot be justified… hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died for four years, there is an on-going violence, and not much hope on the horizon…
Hope is diminishing day after day…
If Bush does not change his policy in Iraq, withdraw his armies, and leave the occasion to the sincere Iraqi nationalists to take over the decision-making in Iraq, then the daily series of catastrophes and bleeding will keep on… And these sins will continue to be committed everyday in Iraq against a poor nation. Bush is responsible for these crimes in the first place, then every villain, thieve or criminal who encourages him to remain there….
And at the end, as the Iraqis always say: Nothing goes right but what is right…
Meaning- Iraq will be liberated, and build its future…
But when?
Who can guess for how many years we shall wait?
Five? Ten? Twenty?
May God help Iraq, and the Iraqis.
Amen. May God help the Iraqis– but may She/He also help us antiwar Americans to bring our country to its senses, to bring our troops home in an orderly way that is also compassionate to the Iraqis– and to bring a new era of truthfulness, accountability, and compassion into our own nation’s political life.
Thank you, Faiza, for the vivid directness and thoughtfulness of your writing.
I did a blog post on how to help Iraqi refugees:
http://dancewater.blogspot.com/2007/05/iraqi-refugee-crisis_13.html
It lists several organizations who are trying to help…. down here in my corner of the world, I am trying to raise $ for the refugees by selling some of my stuff (total raised: $173) while the local vets for peace are raising funds for a new bathroom and kitchen in an Afghan orphanage and the local Peace Fellowship are raising money for rebuilding demolished Palestinian homes – and next month, I am going to DC to lobby for a week and that costs plenty.
Hard to know what to give money too – so many needs.
I heard bush say today that 250,000 have been killed in Sudan and he wants more sanctions. I wonder if he realized that 3 or 4 times that many have been killed in Iraq and it is his fault. I wonder if he realized that 10 times more Iraqis are refugees now – compared to Darfur (sp?).
I wonder if he cares.
bush is proposing sanctions, which I was in favor of – but now I am reconsidering. Sanctions worked on South Africa (which the US officials were against) and only hurt Iraqis (which the US officials were responsible for) – so I wonder if it will help in the Darfur crisis. I am inclined to think anything bush proposed has to be stupid or evil or both.
The suffering of the Iraqi people breaks my heart. When I look at the photos that I took in Iraq, I ask myself: how many of those children who appeared in those photos of the 1980s, enjoying themselves on a Friday outing, are still alive? Little girls standing formally in front of the camera, running around, boys making faces to the camera dressed in football shirts. They didn’t know what was to come, and it is not their fault.
Who can guess for how many years we shall wait?
Five? Ten? Twenty?
Forever!! Don’t wait Iraqis will be killed all, this called a Nation Building designed to free Iraq from Iraqis, only those who sold themselves to the occupations…
The example very clear their in Dubai, Saudi and other very Rich Oil Countries in the region which done for a long time ago, was done by those regimes, who nerve worked for the Arabs and Muslims and all the financial support and land support given to foreign troops to attacking Iraq and other Arabs states from those Salve States they obey their master’s orders.
Susan,
There are call by those Iraqi Refugees asking UN to cut their share from Iraqi oil exported and pay to them you need to do your work toward this goal and help them to me its the best option at least with UN corruption saga we knew but better than nothing.
A very moving account of the terrible suffering inflicted on Iraq by the Zionist neo-cons while the world world stood idly by or actually connived at the destruction of this cradle of civilization.
But the extent of the crime is even worse than she indicates.
It was the US who helped Saddam come to power in the 1970s and supported him when he attacked Iran in 1980. A million Iraqis and Iranians died during this eight year war. Hundreds of thousands more Iraqis died during the first Gulf War and the genocidal UN-supported sanctions that followed.
A historic crime that will live in the annals of infamy as long as the human race survives IMHO.
Looks we forgot BACKWATER and MOSSAD dirty work inside Iraq, with Iran of course targeting those Iraqi military commanders who played well in the 8 years war, add also Kuwaitis and Saudis ….
Read this may have some truth:
ونعود لعدد الخميس من جريدة الوفد حيث كتب أحمد عز العرب تحت عنوان) أمريكا عدو الإنسانية الأول):
(عرضنا في المقال السابق نموذجاً لإحدى شركات المرتزقة وأكبرها وهي شركة »بلاكووتر« الأمريكية التي تستخدم حالياً في العراق عشرين ألف مرتزق أغلبيتهم الساحقة من الأمريكيين، وذكرنا تفاصيل الترسانة العسكرية الهائلة التي تملكها خارج نطاق السيطرة الحكومية الأمريكية تماماً، وكيف تجند الشركة كبار موظفى المخابرات الأمريكية السابقين وغيرهم من كبار المسئولين بمرتبات خيالية لتسهيل تعاملها مع عصابة الحكم في واشنطن. فقد عينت الشركة المفتش العام السابق في البنتاجون جوزيف شميتز في وظيفة مدير عملياتها ومستشارها العام. وعينت المدعى العام الأمريكي السابق في قضية الرئيس السابق كلينتون مع مونيكا لوينسكى، عينته مستشارها القانوني وعينت روبرت ريختر مساعد مدير عمليات المخابرات الأمريكية السابق في وظيفة نائب رئيس مخابراتها. وروبرت ريختر هذا استقال من منصبه بالمخابرات خصيصاً ليلتحق بشركة تجنيد المرتزقة، وقد كان خلال خدمته الحكومية بالمخابرات الأمريكية مديراً لقسم الشرق الأوسط بها وخدم سنوات طويلة في عمان كمدير لمكتب المخابرات الأمريكية بها، وكان خلال هذه السنوات صديقاً قريباً من الملك عبدالله الثاني ملك الأردن!! وقد شرح تفاصيل هذه العلاقة ونشاطات هذا الجاسوس المحترف الكاتب الأمريكى كين سلفرشتاين في مقال مطول بمجلة »هاربر« بتاريخ 12 سبتمبر 2006.
وإلي جانب العمليات الإجرامية الهائلة التي تقوم بها هذه الشركة وغيرها من شركات المرتزقة في العراق التي سنورد بعضها في هذا المقال، حاولت الشركة بصلاتها الوثيقة بالعصابة الحاكمة في واشنطن وعن طريق زمرة الجواسيس الذين ذكرنا أسماء بعضهم أعلاه، حاولت الحصول علي عقود من الأمم المتحدة للقيام بما أسمته عمليات »حفظ السلام« في دارفور بالسودان، وصرح مارك لانجفيت – الناطق باسمها – في 26 مايو ،2006 أن مجموعة تسمي »داو بروكس« تضم اتحاداً لشركات عسكرية خاصة ضمتها شركة »بلاكووتر« علي استعداد للمساعدة في حفظ السلام الذي فشلت الحكومات في حفظه! ولكن الأمم المتحدة التي كانت تحاول إرسال قوات دولية لحفظ الأمن في دارفور رفضت عرض الجنود المرتزقة. وكما قال بيتر سنجر الخبير بمعهد بروكنجز بالحرف الواحد إن سبب الرفض هو: »عدم خضوع هذه الشركات للمساءلة، فإذا أساء أفرادها التصرف كما فعلوا في سجن أبوغريب بالعراق فإنهم لا يخضعون للعقاب، وسبب رغبتهم في العمل مع الأمم المتحدة هو محاولة لتحسين صورتهم«.ونعرض فيما يلي بعض الجرائم الهائلة التي ارتكبتها هذه العصابات الإجرامية في العراق تنفيذاً لعقودها مع جيش الاحتلال وتحت سمعه وبصره. وكما ذكرنا فالعدد التقريبي لهذه العصابات في العراق وحده هو مائة وعشرون ألف جندي مرتزق لجميع الشركات التي تقف علي رأسها شركة »بلاكووتر« بعدد مجرميها وترسانتها الحربية الهائلة من طائرات وطائرات عمودية ومدرعات ومدافع وكل أنواع الأسلحة الحديثة. وأغلبية كل الجنود المرتزقة في العراق هم من الأمريكيين والكثير منهم ضباط وجنود سابقون بالجيش الأمريكى. وإلي جانب هذه الأغلبية الأمريكية توجد مجموعات عديدة من محترفي الإجرام والعاملين السابقين في الأجهزة السرية في بلادهم مثل حرس الطغاة الساقطين في شيلى وكولومبيا والفلبين وأوكرانيا وزبانية النظام العنصري السابق في جنوب أفريقيا وغيرهم. وكانت أوائل العمليات التي عهد بها جيش الاحتلال في العراق لهؤلاء المرتزقة فور سقوط بغداد في ربيع 2003 وقبل اندلاع المقاومة العراقية هي حراسة قادة الاحتلال وحاكمه العام بول بريمر ومجموعة العملاء العراقيين الذين حضروا مع قوات الاحتلال ونصبتهم أمريكا حكاماً للعراق تحت رايتها داخل المنطقة المحصنة وسط بغداد التي عرفت بالمنطقة الخضراء. وفضلاً عن ذلك عهدت سلطات الاحتلال لهذه الحسالات البشرية من المرتزقة باستجواب آلاف المعتقلين الذين اعتقلتهم من العراقيين في السجون المختلفة وعلي رأسها سجن أبوغريب الشهير. وقد رأى العالم الصور البشعة من التعذيب بالكلاب المتوحشة والصعق بالكهرباء وإجبار السجناء عرايا علي ممارسة اللواط الجماعى ووضع الأطواق في أعناقهم وجرهم عرايا مقيدين علي الأرض كالكلاب وهي الصور التي هربها من داخل السجون بعض الجنود في الجيش الأمريكي الذين لم تحتمل أعصابهم رؤية ذلك الكم الهائل من البربرية التي يرتكبها المرتزقة.وعندما اندلعت المقاومة العراقية علي نطاق واسع خصوصاً في المناطق السنية وكان مخطط تقسيم العراق الذى وضعه الاستعمار الأمريكي يستدعى تفجير الصراع بين طوائف الشعب العراقي وإشعال الحرب الأهلية تمهيداً لتقسيم العراق إلي كيانات شيعية وسنية وكردية متعادية عهد جيش الاحتلال لعصابات المرتزقة بواجبين أساسيين: أولهما سحق حركات المقاومة الوطنية بكل الطرق المتاحة من قتل وإبادة وتدمير منازل ومرافق ودك مدن كاملة علي رؤوس من فيها، سواء كانوا من رجال المقاومة أو من الشيوخ والنساء والأطفال الذين لا حيلة لهم، وقد رأينا علي سبيل المثال البربرية الهائلة التي قام بها المرتزقة في مدينة الفالوجة عندما هبت في وجه جيش الاحتلال 2004 في مارس وبررت البيانات العسكرية الأمريكية هذه البربرية بأن مقاومي الفلوجة قتلوا أربعة من »رجال الأمن« ومثلوا بجثثهم. أما الواجب الثاني الذى قام به المرتزقة فكان تفجير العنف الطائفي وإشعال الحرب الأهلية بين العراقيين، عن طريق عمليات النسف البشعة للأماكن الشيعية المقدسة ونسبتها إلي رجال من السنة ونسف مساجد السنة ونسبتها إلي الشيعة وعمليات القتل الهائلة لكل من الطائفتين وظهور جثث القتلي الذين جري تعذيبهم قبل قتلهم ونسبة كل جريمة إلي أفراد من الطائفة الأخري للقتلى، ولما زادت الاتهامات ضد شركات المرتزقة وبالذات ضد أكبرها شركة »بلاكووتر« وبدأت أخبار جرائمها البشعة تتسرب إلى الصحف العالمية مثل ما نشرته صحف »لوس أنجلوس تايمز« و»جلف نيويز وش ستار« حاولت شركة »بلاكووتر« التنصل من جرائمها باتهام المرتزقة الإسرائيليين وعملاء الموساد بارتكاب هذه الجرائم ونشرت قائمة اتهام صريحة لهما بهذه الجرائم علي موقعها في شبكة الإنترنتز
http://www.almesryoon.com/ShowDetails.asp?NewID=34408&Page=11
Reading Faiza’s heartfelt plea for her people and the actions taken by those commenting to aid give me hope that compassion is not yet gone from the world.
But it even more important to understand the type of people that create such situations. They are psychopaths, not in the sense we have been led to believe (“crazed serial killers”), but creatures who are truly without the ability to empathize with another human being. Only they such could let a Darfur, New Orleans, or an Iraq, or a Gaza or West Bank happen, not to mention the thousand other tragedies the media is not currently focused on.
The best defense is to know your opponent, to know the nature inside and out of those who hate life unless is serves them and their needs. Here is a good resource with many links to begin to educate yourself:
http://ponerology.blogspot.com/
Start with the Overview section and go from there.
Courage! There are more of us than them. We just don’t know it.
Sariade
I didn’t find your link helpful at all Sariade – I already knew they were evil, what we need to know is what to do about it.
Exactly Susan,what we need to know is what to do about it. I was wondering about what to do too. Lets face it none of us have done our Cindy’s worth yet!
You can’t vote for change, as the pro-war Republocrat party fields all the candidates, soviet democracy style.
Peaceful, polite protests are ignored, (but isn’t it nice they tolerate us better now the lies are past their use-by date).
We don’t want to damage other property or hurt people while trying to protest criminal, organized, murder and occupation.
So, what to do?
Why not walk into a Mall, get into some place with good acoustics and a public audience like a K-Mart or Wal-mart or just the aisle, dressed in your best Mall outfit and call out, nice and loud, something like “Stop the occupation in Iraq” “after a 4 year illegal invasion and occupation, if I was an Iraqi mother shopping for her family’s groceries, I could be shot before I got down the street.” Then maybe pour a little stage blood on your head. Try not to stain the carpet. When security marches in, just keep saying to them, calmly but nice and loud, “stop the war”, “stop the war” as the whole Mall watches you being escorted away. No “Hippie rent a crowd.” No placard. No-one hurt nor property damages, although I caution you it would probably still be illegal, “disturbing the peace” “public nuisance” or suchlike. You’d be a criminal like Cindy or MLK! But just one calm person, with good lungs and especially a mother, in her Mall clothes. Saying enough is enough. Let’s see just a thousand people do that, just a thousand. Just a hundred. Even just 20 for Pete’s sake, in 20 Malls, in your huge country. It will spread. You people have cellphones don’t you? Get organized!
But then I guess some nutter would commit some crime in some Mall, (seems to happen far too often in the US) and the MSM would blame it on this new “terrorist” style of protesting. New laws would be passed. Still, worth a try eh? Bad things always happen, good things not often enough.
Reported in news (Iraqi news), Khatun Meghan O’Sullivan’s a new Khatun in Baghdad, She is back to Iraq
Ms. O’Sullivan, who spent more than a year in Baghdad as an aide to L. Paul Bremer III, then the top American civilian administrator in Iraq, also helps to prepare the agenda for the president’s weekly National Security Council meetings on Iraq.
She coordinates the political, security and reconstruction efforts for Iraq throughout the agencies of the government. Not least, she briefs the president before all of his phone calls and meetings with Iraqi leaders.
Although Ms. O’Sullivan does not make major decisions — the administration’s policy is run by Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to Iraq, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — she is important because of her closeness to the president and her role in helping to form his thinking.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
June 12, 2006 Monday
Adviser Has President’s Ear As She Keeps Eyes on Iraq
BYLINE: By ELISABETH BUMILLER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 11
New”>http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,912456,00.html”>New Khatun in Baghdad,
, O’Sullivan is the hot-for-Washington former top aide to the President. Here’s a fun game: read through this brief biography and try to find a single sentence that doesn’t point to her direct culpability in a textbook example of a massive, deadly failure at all levels of government:
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3020/Bush_to_Send_Meghan_OSullivan_to_Iraq
“Baghdad is a SMASHED city… no roads to drive on… most of them are closed off by concrete obstacles with concertina wire. In addition, the presence of the Iraqi military, who cover their faces with black masks and hold their guns in such a way that when you see them you will definitely be afraid that they will shoot you.
The shops in most of the area I went to see are closed. I asked one of the shop owners I know, 55-year-old Abu Fadhil, since I heard that his shop was robbed. I found his door closed and locked and he was nowhere to be found.”
http://postmanpatel.blogspot.com/2007/05/baghdad-is-smashed-city.html
Here’s a good slogan to paint on the side of Democratic Party offices. “War funding stops tomorrow.” Like the “Free beer tomorrow” sign one sees painted on Australian pubs.
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