The Problem With Iraqis, Well some of them...

When i was younger, about 13 years ago, i remember going to a tribal meeting that my paternal relatives had one evening at an orchard North of Baghdad, and in that meeting i remember seeing an old man who was a tribal leader of sorts, and he was talking back then about another family from outside the tribe that was perplexed whether to connect itself to this tribe or to that tribe. To be honest, i find some Iraqis in a somewhat similar situation.

But first, there is one thing to be made clear... This may not be what the average people think. Those who think this way are either ignorant, or politicians, or -even worse- ignorant politicians!

So here's how the story goes:

You take a look at some of the Shiites, of the above-mentioned three categories, and you find them drowned in the love of the Islamic Republic of Iran! I have tried researching this myself, and was really angry. There is a website which is close to the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (formerly SCIRI), and the site is Buratha News . I noticed one day that an official who was quoted on a daily basis on that website, made some comments on finding Iranian-made weapons caches in several places all over Iraq. I (the innocent one) thought that the site would quote the man like they do every time, but they didn't. I waited for a whole day, and they didn't! Other officials made similar comments, yet none of them were mentioned!! However, they never fall short from cursing anybody (especially Iraqis) who would disagree with them; however you cannot, should not, and must not criticize the Humongously Holy Islamic Republic of Iran!
Well, with all due respect, Iran is not God, and will never be anything but a theocratic dictatorship that does nothing but weep, hit its chest in vain, and enjoy the quarrels of and blast from the 7th Century AD past.

You take a look at some Sunnis, and their situations differ... Some that cry on the days of Saddam, to those who label everything in Iraq nowadays as wrong... They won't spare an effort to call the Shiites names; however you cannot, should not, and must not criticize the Dear Brotherly Syrian Arab Republic, the castle of Arabism, or the Humongously Holy Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some go to the craziest extent in defending Saudi Arabia, perhaps more than the Saudis themselves. Here's what happened with me: One day, i was trying to buy Pepsi cans, and this was like last month, which was 4/2008 AD (which was also 4/1429 AH). I found Pepsi cans at a local small shop with an expiry date of (8/1428 AH) which was 8/2007!!! I said that to the shop owner, explaining that we are now in this month in AH and AD, etc... First he said, "No problem, Saudi products live longer than their Expiry Date!" then he said, "No i think you are wrong in calculating the date! We are not in 1429 AH now, but we are in 1428 AH!" It was really as if someone is insisting that this year is 2007, and you know of course without any doubt that it's 2008!
Again, although Saudi Arabia houses the Holiest places in the World, but Saudi Arabia is not God, and it is a Monarchy dictatorship where women should do nothing other then cook, do housework and give sex to their men. If you don't believe me, check out the mbc channel commercials! However, i bow in respect to some Saudi women doctors who fought for a lifetime to reach this respectable rank under the rule of big fluffy beards.

Now let's look at some of the Turkomens. They have a different approach. When the Arabs in Kirkuk demand something, they unite with the Arabs. They raised the Iraqi flag next to their light blue flag, which was commended alright. But their Turkomen Front doesn't believe in sharing the cake of Kirkuk with Arabs and Kurds. I thought the contrary until recently, when i heard a song on Turkmeneli TV , the front's TV channel, sung by Fathullah Ahmed (AKA Fathullah Altinses) which described Kirkuk as "It's heart is Turk, It speaks Turkish". It would be like saying that Southern Switzerland is Italian, not of Italian ancestry, which is totally different. Far worse, it would be like saying that New Mexico is part of Mexico. Does it make any sense?!
That said, one must not forget the cultural and ethnic links between the Iraqi Turkomens and Turkey, but to be honest, i think that their connections are stronger to Azerbaijan than to Turkey.
When Turkey wants Kirkuk's oil it calls the Turkomen "Iraq's Turks", but when it doesn't want to deal with their problems it calls them "Iraqi Turkomens". Clever!

As for some of the Kurds, the good thing is that they would love independence, which could be considered as the lesser of two evils if we compare it with what we just mentioned. To rule yourself is better than to stick yourself to somebody else, or to praise that somebody more than your own country. No. The Kurdish authorities concentrate on Kurdistan, or that is what they say, because all of my dear friends in Iraqi Kurdistan tell me that it is just about personal political ambitions the leaders have, and the chances to pocket-in more money if Kurdistan was independent from Iraq, especially if they get Kirkuk!

But after all this, the poor, honest, average Iraqi, is the one who paid, pay, and will pay the price of this big jargon, perhaps with his or her life. He or she would not get a dime from the Iranian, Syrian, Saudi, Turkish, or Kurdish money. The fat cats would!

Smile! You are in Iraq!