God save my father... God save us all...

First of all, i hope that you will never be put in a situation when your life relies on centimeters (or inches); and that you are not put under the mercy of people that you would think that they would presumably be a protective force, yet they turn their arms against those that they should be protecting.

I am writing those lines, and actually living the same way i lived yesterday, (i.e. not in a very much worse condition, yet still in a worse condition), only because of centimeters' difference.

It was after 5:30pm in a hot afternoon in Amiriya, Baghdad; when my father, who is a couple of years away from his seventies, decided to go out to the state-run clinic in our area, to get the monthly portion of heart medications he receives from that clinic. Since last month, the situation have changed in the area; new posts have been occupied by the army, some areas were declared (or actually self-proclaimed by the army) as no-drive zones, and things like that. My father did not know all of those details.

Now, let's move to a couple of hours later. At about 8:00 pm, i received a phone call from my father. This was a bit unusual, because we usually talk at a much later time, and i usually call him, not the other way round.

I picked up the phone, and this was what he said (after editing out my words):

- "Hi, how are you? Listen, i am going to give you some details, but i don't want you to panic, or be shocked or anything, because it's me who is talking to you... As i was going out to get the medications, i drove somewhere which i found as strangely empty... I've put the car on rear gears, so that i take the way i came from, and then, came a bullet that hit the car window, and hit my right arm between the shoulder and the elbow, entering from the left side and going out from the right side of the arm, thus causing a bone fracture... I am ok, i'm in hospital now, and your cousins are with me, so don't worry... The bullet-riddled car was also retrieved by our neighbors and driven to our house."

Although i was terribly shocked to hear this, but i rememberred that he was actually the one who is talking to me. He asked me to stay strong, and not to change my schedule or exclusively travel because of these developments until things are more clear.

Another hour passed, before i managed to call my mother, who was now alone at our house. I got more details on my father's condition from her, and understood that she went with him to Yarmuk Hospital and returned.

After that, i called my cousin, who was with my father, and took a few details about the condition; then i spoke again with my father, who gave me further details about the attack.

"I can move and feel my fingers and arm under the would area. The blood flows normally back and forth to that area. Tomorrow, we are going to make sure whether the fracture would need a platinum bar or not. The bone is fractured in two, and there is also a small piece by itself. things were returned to position and temporarily orthopedicized as we await seeing a specialist tomorrow."

Asked whether he could tell who shot him, he said:

"It was definitely the military. The Iraqi army. They were in one of the buildings facing that alley. A sniper shot my upper right arm, but i strongly believe that they were after my life. They kept shooting at me as i turned off the car, left it, and started running next to the walls down the alley for about 50 meters (yards), knocking doors that won't answer. They shot about 10-15 bullets at me, and God's miracle was they only reason they couldn't hit me. I turned a corner, and a woman saw me bleeding. She called on some young men, who drove me to a nearby doctor."

This is what happened to my dear father, on this day that could have been his last.

From now on, i will have absolutely no respect to the Iraqi Army! I could find a better name for them alright: Maliki Mules! If there are other proper names for those who aim to kill a 70 years old man, clearly unarmed, running for his life, let me know!

With every single breath i take, i thank God the Most Merciful, for His saving my father's life. The hands of God were undoubtedly there to blur the evil sniper's eyes.

I hereby lower the Iraqi flag from this website. Of course, i love Iraq, and will forever do so, but i refuse to stand under the same flag flown by those who tried to take my father's life.

And for those who would think about blaming me for the next sentence, i only say: "Come stand in my shoes!"

"May God destroy those who kill, harm or terrorize innocent Iraqis".

God save my father. God save us all.