I used to lay back and have a mischievous smile whenever Iran was mentioned in front of me and say, "Oh, we are not like them" but "a slap on the face can turn your head around", as figuratively says an Iraqi verb. It has been inspiring and surprising and to see the Iranian people face the bullets and their government and protest the elections results. We haven't even done that in Iraq, a recently established democracy.
What the Iranians have done has not been done in the Middle East often. An oppressed society controlled through poverty and force raises against the "Supreme Leader" of the land, the "Guard Council," and Ahmedinajad, the head of one of the most oppressive governments in our days. It is impressive even though it wasn't successful as it was seen that the "Supreme Leader," Ayatolla Khamene'i, the highest ranked Islamic Clerk in Iran responded to the angry crowds by telling them that it was fair elections and the results are final.
The Iranians have broken out of the religion shell by opposing the Ayatolla, not an event that I can imagine happening in Iraq soon, Shiites protesting the streets against Ayatolla Sistani. It is neither soon to happen nor to hope for it.
As I was watching, I was very inspired by how determined and driven the Iranians were, but I was wondering if it was focused towards the right cause. Musawi or Musavi, as spelled on media sources, would have not really made much of a difference in the country, especially after the deterioration caused by Ahmedinajad's administration. It would have been the same horse but with a different rider.
The corrupt failing Iranians government is partially caused and started by Musawi. He put the country through a draining war with Iraq; however, he is given the credit for stewardship of the Iranian economy, an area where Ahmedinajad had failed but from a religious and extremism evaluation pint of view, Musawi would have not been better than Ahmedinajad which is a key feature needed in the country, which the Iranian society desperately needs.
As I look at Iraq, I wish that we are at this point, to be courageous enough to actually protest like Iranians did. I think once we break the bondage that the religious leaders have kept us in for a long time, we will be able to make a difference in our nations.
I believe the outcome of this mini-revolution is that it has sparked in our minds, the minds of the youth of the Middle East that we all need to voice out our opinions and to not bow down for oppression. This, I believe has lit the torch to light the way for the Middle Eastern youth to wake up and make a difference in the society.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Violence Rises, again!
"Just when we thought it was over!", a sentence uttered by all Iraqis nowadays, questioning the comeback of violence into the streets. After the situation was the worst in 2006, the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 indicated the opposite.
The streets started getting more and more secure; people started getting back to their homes that they had to desert at some point; and everyone thought that it was the beginning of stability in Iraq.
Nevertheless, it is not. By the end of March this year, bombs filled the streets again, killing random people and targeting innocent lives in large numbers. We all stood waiting for the next step while wondering whether it is going to get worse or better.
"Worse" was the Answer to our inquiries! Since the relapse of bombings in Iraq in March, the situation just kept getting worse. Now, many people are dying , again , while shopping, going to school or work. The less-than- a-year period of revival has gone. And it has certainly become official as the Iraqi Prime Minister stated a week ago that we should expect the acts of violence to rise in the following months.
Yes, it sounds a bit ironic to hear the prime minister saying this, but it was not a surprise to hear that. It's not like we, Iraqis, were awaiting his statement to realize what's happening.
However, some people need some answers. They definitely need to know why on earth this started happening again!
Reviewing the changes in the government body over the past few months, nothing really huge happened. The "big guys" are still in power. So, there shouldn't be anything changing that much.
Oh, hold on! Didn't the Coalition Forces decide to leave the country by June 2011? Doesn't that mean less number of solders on the streets securing the cities? Doesn't that mean the Terrorists would resume their actions? Yes, Yes, and Yes! It's like handing your enemy your attack plan.
That's why it will never end unless the these really sensitive decisions become less obvious to the public, especially in a country not so strong. We're still healing our wounds from the non-ending war. We need to be following a specific secure discipline to re-establish our lives in there and then get to reveal the fate-determining plans to the world, not caring about the terror.
But for now, please be more discreet! We know you are working hard " not for sure, though", but your work won't pay off with this much transparency.
Fadi Al-Asadi
The streets started getting more and more secure; people started getting back to their homes that they had to desert at some point; and everyone thought that it was the beginning of stability in Iraq.
Nevertheless, it is not. By the end of March this year, bombs filled the streets again, killing random people and targeting innocent lives in large numbers. We all stood waiting for the next step while wondering whether it is going to get worse or better.
"Worse" was the Answer to our inquiries! Since the relapse of bombings in Iraq in March, the situation just kept getting worse. Now, many people are dying , again , while shopping, going to school or work. The less-than- a-year period of revival has gone. And it has certainly become official as the Iraqi Prime Minister stated a week ago that we should expect the acts of violence to rise in the following months.
Yes, it sounds a bit ironic to hear the prime minister saying this, but it was not a surprise to hear that. It's not like we, Iraqis, were awaiting his statement to realize what's happening.
However, some people need some answers. They definitely need to know why on earth this started happening again!
Reviewing the changes in the government body over the past few months, nothing really huge happened. The "big guys" are still in power. So, there shouldn't be anything changing that much.
Oh, hold on! Didn't the Coalition Forces decide to leave the country by June 2011? Doesn't that mean less number of solders on the streets securing the cities? Doesn't that mean the Terrorists would resume their actions? Yes, Yes, and Yes! It's like handing your enemy your attack plan.
That's why it will never end unless the these really sensitive decisions become less obvious to the public, especially in a country not so strong. We're still healing our wounds from the non-ending war. We need to be following a specific secure discipline to re-establish our lives in there and then get to reveal the fate-determining plans to the world, not caring about the terror.
But for now, please be more discreet! We know you are working hard " not for sure, though", but your work won't pay off with this much transparency.
Fadi Al-Asadi
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Al-Arabiyah: An ocean of woven lies
Al-Arabiyah is one of the most heard and referred-to sources of media in the Middle East, if not in the world. It has proved to acquire such a position not because of its uniqueness, but because it has always acted as " The Tabloid" of politics in that field, bringing upon stories never heard of in the Middle East and acquiring data not available to other channels. that might show how excellent this channel is, but as I have followed its news since it was aired in Baghdad after the 2003 war, it has done more than just "telling stories".
My journey of investigating this channels credibility has started since 2004, when it played a very dirty role in agitating the so-called "civil war" in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites. It used to bring uneducated, naive extremists of both sides and have them argue vigorously live on air. It used to tell stories of after-the-war Iraq not on an impartial basis, but by making up reasons behind such events and attributing the incident to its unreliable causes.
One supporting example is that as explosions were happening all over Iraq, especially in Baghdad, Al-Arabiyah used to report them as being done by certain terrorist groups that no other channel has ever heard of, Not even the BBC or Al-Iraqia, which is the official local Iraqi Media Network. How did this channel come to know that this group of people were behind this act? How did they get to make sure that it was "Shittes" who have blown a "Sunni" neighborhood, or vice versa?
Moreover, it was only Al-Arabiyah that received recorded tapes of Saddam during the period of time between the entry of the Coalition Forces to Baghdad and his arrest. No other channel received such tapes. They also showed tapes of certain militias announcing their plans of destruction in Iraq or even people showing their disgust of the new Iraqi government. All that they said was " an unknown source has dropped off this tape or picture ..etc . at the Al-Arabiyah headquarters in Doha, Qatar." Why is it always Al-Arabiyah that gets these sorts of tapes and recordings?
After closing its offices in Iraq so many times due to its involvement in stimulating conflicts in Iraq, this channel persists to broadcast stories of a negative impact about Iraqis that has never ever been told in the Iraqi streets whatsoever. Al-Arabiyah didn't just start the fuss of homosexuals abuse in Iraq, but it stated that Homosexuality is a fast-growing phenomenon of the New Iraq and that it is the American-brought democracy that was behind it.
A few days later, they showed another report about Dog-eaters in Iraq. I have lived in Iraq for 19 years and I have never heard of such an issue in our society. All the religions and traditions of Iraqi society don't approve or recommend the consumption of such meat. In fact, many poor families in Iraq suffer from anemia and other diseases due to nonavailability of eaten-meat. Had they been used to eating dogs, you wouldn't find so many dogs on the loose! or they wouldn't have even suffered from such diseases!
The Obama speech to the Arab World has been welcome by almost all leaders and middle-easterns. Today, Al-Arabiyah features an article about how Obama's speech increases the tension between America and the Muslim World, which is quite the opposite of what was deducted from his speech.
In conclusion, this media network is definitely not trustworthy based on all the evidence that I mentioned earlier in this article. It has to have ties to specific people that fund its hatred-filled news. I know for sure that Al-Arabiyah can never be a trustworthy reference, and this is just one truth that has to be revealed.
By: Fadi Al-Asadi
My journey of investigating this channels credibility has started since 2004, when it played a very dirty role in agitating the so-called "civil war" in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites. It used to bring uneducated, naive extremists of both sides and have them argue vigorously live on air. It used to tell stories of after-the-war Iraq not on an impartial basis, but by making up reasons behind such events and attributing the incident to its unreliable causes.
One supporting example is that as explosions were happening all over Iraq, especially in Baghdad, Al-Arabiyah used to report them as being done by certain terrorist groups that no other channel has ever heard of, Not even the BBC or Al-Iraqia, which is the official local Iraqi Media Network. How did this channel come to know that this group of people were behind this act? How did they get to make sure that it was "Shittes" who have blown a "Sunni" neighborhood, or vice versa?
Moreover, it was only Al-Arabiyah that received recorded tapes of Saddam during the period of time between the entry of the Coalition Forces to Baghdad and his arrest. No other channel received such tapes. They also showed tapes of certain militias announcing their plans of destruction in Iraq or even people showing their disgust of the new Iraqi government. All that they said was " an unknown source has dropped off this tape or picture ..etc . at the Al-Arabiyah headquarters in Doha, Qatar." Why is it always Al-Arabiyah that gets these sorts of tapes and recordings?
After closing its offices in Iraq so many times due to its involvement in stimulating conflicts in Iraq, this channel persists to broadcast stories of a negative impact about Iraqis that has never ever been told in the Iraqi streets whatsoever. Al-Arabiyah didn't just start the fuss of homosexuals abuse in Iraq, but it stated that Homosexuality is a fast-growing phenomenon of the New Iraq and that it is the American-brought democracy that was behind it.
A few days later, they showed another report about Dog-eaters in Iraq. I have lived in Iraq for 19 years and I have never heard of such an issue in our society. All the religions and traditions of Iraqi society don't approve or recommend the consumption of such meat. In fact, many poor families in Iraq suffer from anemia and other diseases due to nonavailability of eaten-meat. Had they been used to eating dogs, you wouldn't find so many dogs on the loose! or they wouldn't have even suffered from such diseases!
The Obama speech to the Arab World has been welcome by almost all leaders and middle-easterns. Today, Al-Arabiyah features an article about how Obama's speech increases the tension between America and the Muslim World, which is quite the opposite of what was deducted from his speech.
In conclusion, this media network is definitely not trustworthy based on all the evidence that I mentioned earlier in this article. It has to have ties to specific people that fund its hatred-filled news. I know for sure that Al-Arabiyah can never be a trustworthy reference, and this is just one truth that has to be revealed.
By: Fadi Al-Asadi
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A New Pen
For those of you who have been following the blog, Fadi Al-Asadi will be blogging on The Iraqi Future starting June 12. Fadi is a college student at the University of Texas at Austin. I would like to welcome Fadi to the blog and I look forward to reading his posting. To read more about Fadi, please click on the "about me" button.
Ali Rawaf
Ali Rawaf
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