Bush Mentions Amiriya! Dude, We're Famous!!!

Bush: Iraqis Are `taking Back' Iraq
By JENNIFER LOVEN – 3 hours ago

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) — A reopened historic market. A butcher selling more sheep. A parade in Anbar province. Electricity production above the level under Saddam Hussein. President Bush cited such indicators of normal life in Iraq along with evidence of decreased violence to argue Friday that the war is paying dividends.

"They're taking their country back," Bush said of Iraqis. "Slowly but surely the people of Iraq are reclaiming a normal society."

The president addressed a ceremony for 1,300 soldiers graduating from basic training here, many of whom will end up in Iraq. It was his first major speech on the topic since he announced in September that progress from this year's military buildup justifies keeping a large U.S. troop presence in Iraq at least until next summer.

He argued then that continued American sacrifice would create the space Iraqi leaders need to make gains on tamping down the sectarian fighting that leaves Iraq persistently fractured.
On Friday, he argued for continued patience, because even though national leaders have made little more progress since, he said Iraq offers scattered signs of hope.

On the military side, Bush said U.S. deaths in Iraq have fallen to their lowest level since the beginning of 2006 and attacks from deadly improvised explosive devices have fallen by half.
He spent more time detailing progress in other areas. Bush said the Iraqi economy is growing, inflation has been cut in half and electricity production reached its highest level of the war in September. Shiite and Sunni Muslims are cooperating in some local areas, even while their leaders can't agree at the national level, Bush said.

"Our new strategy recognizes that once Iraqis feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods, they can begin to create jobs and opportunities, and that is starting to happen," the president said. "And these changes were made possible by the bravery and determination of our Iraqi partners and the incredible bravery of the men and women of the United States military."

Administration officials acknowledge it is hard to tell whether the progress represents a temporary aberration or the beginning of a sustainable trend. Bush's current plan for the U.S. presence in Iraq calls for troop levels to drop gradually to around 130,000 next summer, with 5,700 U.S. forces coming home by Christmas.

In his remarks, Bush cited instances of normalcy in a country wracked by violence.
"In Baqubah, the historic market has been reopened in a city that had been in a virtual lockdown a few months ago," he said. "In Fallujah, workers have turned an artillery factory into a civilian machine shop employing 600 people.

"In the Baghdad neighborhood of Amiriya, an al-Qaida stronghold until a few months ago, locals have returned and they're reopening their shops," the president said.

Despite differences that have impeded progress in Baghdad, Bush said reconciliation is taking place at the local level. "Many Iraqis are seeing growing cooperation between Shia and Sunnis," he said. "These folks are tired of Al Qaida and they're tired of Iranian-backed extremists, they are weary of fighting and they are determined to give their families a better life."

Still, Bush said parts of Iraq remain plagued by violence and corruption and economic improvements are not shared uniformly across the country.

"Reconciliation at the national level hadn't been what we had hoped it had been by now," the president said.

"While the central government has passed a budget and it's reached out to its neighbors and have begun to share oil revenues with the provinces, the Iraqi parliament still lags in passing key legislation," he said. "Political factions are still failing to make necessary compromises. And that's disappointing and I, of course, made my disappointments clear to the Iraqi leadership."

Before he spoke, he took a tour of the school's "fit-to-win course," which requires recruits to negotiate up to 20 obstacles. He addressed about 180 soldiers at the site deep in the piney woods, telling them he was proud of their efforts and that they would help secure a peaceful future for America. The fort trains 50 percent of all soldiers and 70 percent of the women entering the Army each year.

Also while at the Army facility, he met with the families of 12 soldiers killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BBC News Article: Iraqi dam 'at risk of collapse'

The largest dam in Iraq is at risk of an imminent collapse that could unleash a 20m (65ft) wave of water on Mosul, a city of 1.7m people, the US has warned.

In May, the US told Iraqi authorities to make Mosul Dam a national priority, as a catastrophic failure would result in a "significant loss of life".

However, a $27m (£13m) US-funded reconstruction project to help shore up the dam has made little or no progress.

Iraq says it is reducing the risk and insists there is no cause for alarm.

However, a US watchdog said reconstruction of the dam had been plagued by mismanagement and potential fraud.

In a report published on Tuesday, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said US-funded "short-term solutions" had yet to significantly solve the dam's problems.

SIGIR found multiple failures in several of the 21 contracts awarded to repair the dam.

Among the faults were faulty construction and delivery of improper parts, as well as projects which were not completed despite full payments having been made.



'Fundamentally flawed'

The dam has been a problem for Iraqi engineers since it was constructed in 1984.

It was built on water-soluble gypsum, which caused seepage within months of its completion and led investigators to describe the site as "fundamentally flawed".

In September 2006, the US Army Corps of Engineers determined that the dam, 45 miles upstream of Mosul on the River Tigris, presented an unacceptable risk.

"In terms of internal erosion potential of the foundation, Mosul Dam is the most dangerous dam in the world," the corps warned, according to the SIGIR report. "If a small problem [at] Mosul Dam occurs, failure is likely."

The corps later told US commanders to move their equipment away from the Tigris flood plain near Mosul because of the dam's instability.

The top US military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, and US ambassador Ryan Crocker then wrote to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki urging him to make fixing the dam a "national priority".

"A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam would result in flooding along the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad" the letter on 3 May warned.

"Assuming a worst-case scenario, an instantaneous failure of Mosul Dam filled to its maximum operating level could result in a flood wave 20m deep at the city of Mosul, which would result in a significant loss of life and property."

If that were to happen some have predicted that as many as 500,000 people could be killed.



Alarm bells

Iraqi authorities, however, say they are taking steps to reduce the risk and they do not believe there is cause for alarm.

The Iraqi Minister for Water Resources, Latif Rashid, told the BBC that a number of steps were being taken to tackle the problem, including a reduction in water levels in the reservoir and a round-the-clock operation to pump grouting into the dam's foundations.

Work would also begin next year on a longer-term plan to make the foundations safe by encasing them in a concrete curtain, he added.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the debate over the dam has gone on largely behind the scenes so as not to cause public panic or attract the interest of insurgents.

The Most Beautiful Ad Ever!

Iraqi singer Shatha Hassoun sings the Iraqi National Anthem in a cell phone company ad. Very beautiful music!

About The Northmost Tip of Iraq

I don't know much about politics, yet it think i know more that the Iraqi politicians, or maybe the vast majority of them.

Why would i say that?

Here's why...

Turkey says that the PKK is using the rugged mountains of northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan) as a launch pad for attacks against its troops in the southeastern part of Turkey (populated by Kurds as well).

Now, right till this moment, the Turkish Parliament approved military intervention authorization, valid for one year. The Kurdish Regional Government of Northern Iraq said that it will respond to any military intervention. The US Secretary of Defense said that the US (and Iraq) would react to this case if an attack occured, or in a way that would eliminate the PKK rebels.

Now if you read the previous sentance again, you would find that the Iraqi Government based in Baghdad has not said anything in this regard, other than saying that they consider the PKK as "persona non grata", and its hopes that things would be solved diplomatically; not mentioning the Turkish bombardment of the borderline, or the presence of 200 thousand Turkish soldiers! That is an impressing number if we recall that the US Army present in Iraq has a total of only 160 thousand nationwide!

The Government is "logically" responsible for protecting every inch of the National soil. May it be in the north, south, east or west of the country. At least the theory says so. But the Iraqi Gov't practice concentrates on how the Gov't members (and also Parliament members) think about themselves, and how they steal the Iraqi people's wealth, perhaps with each politician hiding behind the banner of his ethnicity or sect, while not paying the slightest attention to the Iraqi people, whether the people were of that politician's ethnicity or sect, or not!

If the Iraqi Gov't didn't take a national stand against any possible invasion, then we must not expect that the USA would! But if it did, then perhaps it would be better if we were annexed by the US. It is better than being annexed by Iran, and that's what some of the "Iraqi" politicians wish!

Iraq is Iraq, and every inch of Iraq counts. Anyone who respects Iraq is worth respect, and anyone who doesn't is simply not worth being respected. This includes, but it's not limited to, the Arab neighbors, as well as Iran and Turkey.

As for the way i see it, i certainly hope that things will be fine through peaceful ways, because i respect both cultures and peoples; The Turks and the Kurds. But if Turkey makes the aggression, then i hope that it would be minimal and only against the PKK. And at that time i will fully be with the Iraqi Kurds, for they will defend all of Iraq, not only Iraqi Kurdistan, at a time when the Baghdad Government is very busy doing nothing!

Something to laugh at on a bad week...

Great speech :)

30...

As this week ends, i become 30 years old!

30 years! O, the places i've been and the things i've seen!

However, my birthday this year did not have any signs of a birthday. There was no cake, no candles, no "Happy Birthday to You", and all of that because my mother is not here anymore.

I just couldn't...

This past year has been a very difficult one, and it is still open for everything...

How Did They Do It?!

It's been a long long time since i last wrote here.

As a matter of fact, i haven't written anything during September, being busy with many issues.

I have been staying at home (most of the time), with a few exceptions of staying at my cousin's.

There have been many topics but i couldn't find the chance to put them here, however, they would show up here, inshallah, soon.

Today's topic, however, is the Visibility of Shawwal Crescent(1428 AH), and seeing that crescent would mark the end of the Muslim fasting holy month of Ramadan.

Seeing the new moon has been an ongoing long story.

This country fasts today, and marks the end differently from the neighboring, and sometimes surrounding countries, as if the crescent is not the same crescent, and as if astronomy had nothing to say about the matter!

It gets even more complicated when we realize that the Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq seems as if they see different crescents!!!

To mark my words on the above issue, Saudi Arabia, UAE & Qatar, as well as the Iraqi Sunnis, declared that Fri. 12 Oct. 2007 will be the 1st day of Eid al-Fitr (Lesser Feast); while the neighboring Oman, Egypt & Iran, as well as the Iraqi Shiites said that Saturday 13 Oct. 2007 would be the 1st day of Eid al-Fitr.

I don't have any country or sect preference, but astronomy says that the 2nd group is the right one this time, and the figure here explains why:

My question is: How did they do it?!

Chronicles of A Returnee

I arrived in Baghdad about 10 days ago. I landed at my cousin's house in the Shiite district of Kazimiyah.

Before my arrival, i actually had a bad day leaving Sulaimaniya. You see, the Costums dept. have "suddenly" decided not to allow wires on handbags, even if they were cell phone chargers or short data cables. Nothing was written, however, in this regard anywhere in the Sulaimaniya Airport.

The Iraqi Airways booth at that airport had a couple of Arab Iraqi staff as well as the Kurdish majority of staff. One of the Arab staff members asked me about my "original" area in Baghdad. i was too stupid to answer "Amiriya". One of the Arab Iraqi staff members was standing by minding her own business until she heard me say this. She must have been Shiite and was pissed off when she heard that i came from a Sunni area like Amiriya, and assumed that i was a Sunni. She gave me the worst time, and made sure i get the worst time! She started yelling amidst surprise from myself and people who were around, then she called the security. I maintained extreme calm, and was smiling, cooperative and even obedient!

I was taken by a member of the Kurdish security to a desk along with my bags, and the Kurdish security personnel was very helpful and understanding, and even instructed me how to pack the wires properly, and the problem was solved in no time. I thanked him a lot and was soon on my way to the plane, but still on the look out from that nasty mean Shiite Iraqi Airways staff member. I wonder whether she would have done the same if she knew that i was (supposedly) a Shiite as well?!

I arrived at Baghdad late morning. I arrived to my hometown, which has changed in my eyes forever.
For the first time, i return to my hometown, but not to my home (directly as i used to).
For the first time, my mother was not there to welcome me back, or even throw some candies at me, as a traditional sign of happiness for my safe (and successful) return.

I was picked up by my cousin at a "neutral" area of western Baghdad, and then we went to Kazimiyah, where i finally met my father.

And there, a new page of our history began.

Going to Baghdad...

This is just a short note that i will go to Baghdad later today.
I may not be able to update the blog while i am there, but i wish i could be able to do so.
Wish me luck!

Unconditional Love...

Have you ever thought one day, who in the world would love you unconditionally?

No, it is not your wife and children, for they would expect things from you. Same thing applies for your friends and siblings.

Did you get any close to the answer?

They are your parents!

And to be exact, and as the Prophet Mohammed once said, answering the question of who should one respect in this life the most: “Your mother, your mother, your mother, and your father.”

Since my mother passed away on 29 July, the world has changed in my eyes. As I look back to the 29 years when our two lives have met, I realize how she loved me unconditionally, and how she gave and gave with a happy, satisfied heart, not demanding a payback; and how she cared for me, even when I am away from home, asking about my life details, and whether if I ate well, or felt well; and advising me to do this or that, which would make things better; and wishing that I was at her side to do those things in person for me.

Right now, nobody will. Nobody in this world would give you an unconditional love like your mother ever did or does.

Gibran was one of the greatest writers that were ever born in this part of the world. He once said that you would never realize how great the love you had until you are deprived of it, and he also said that we remain as boys and girls inside if our mothers are alive; once they pass away, we become men and women in one day: the sad day we lose them.

Some people would never understand one’s grief, for many of them have not lived through the daily life and details I lived through with the dear dear person I have lost; my mother.

Mother,
O, dearest…
How I miss saying and hearing “good morning” to and from you.
How I miss your smile, as pure and as innocent as that of an angel, or a child.
How I miss kissing your cheeks and forehead, and how I wish I could have kissed your hand one last time.
How I miss your voice, how I miss your voice, how I miss your voice…
How I miss your sitting there, reading the Quran, or watching nature and wildlife programs you used to like.
How I miss your midnight snack of “Marie biscuits”, and how I miss how you used to mix them with tea to make “biscuits and tea” for me, when I was a child.
How I miss the most delicious Pyrex pot chicken from your hands every Friday.
How I miss even the way you organized the laundry.
How I miss how you described my first kicks as a fetus, my first smile, my first words and my first steps.
How sadness kills me when I see that I was not there for your last words, your last breath, and your last moments.
How sadness kills me when I haven’t been there for you, that one last time, to bid you farewell.

Mother,
How I miss your smile and big hug whenever I used to return from my ever-getting-longer travels.
How I miss the happiness in your eyes, whenever you met me as I came home.
How I miss your words of prayer to God, that He would give me happiness, good health and success.
How I miss, in every moment, your kindness.
How I miss when you used to walk me, being a 2nd grader to and from school.
How I miss your care and concern about me whenever I fell sick.
How I miss the happiness you felt when you gave to the poor.
How I miss the way you even cared for the birds and cats, not forgetting to feed them everyday.
How I miss how you enjoyed watching the colored fish on TV.
How I miss the way you used to arrange flowers. O, how you loved flowers, and how you saw the garden as your paradise. May God give you a more beautiful garden, and a larger paradise.

What am I going to tell the daffodils when they come back next spring, and see that you are not there? How would I answer their shy looks and wordless questions?

Mother,
I miss you, and I love you. I will forever miss you and love you, for you are irreplaceable.
I would have given years and years of my life for just one chance to bid you farewell properly.

Mother,
You will live in my heart, forever...