What have been changed?
In this post I’m going to answer John from NZ about his questions that I had received in one of his comments. his questions were:
For you and your husband and child, presumably a typical young Iraqi family, in the 18 months since the invasion:
What has become better in your lives, what benefits have you gained?
What has not been affected much?
And what has become worse, or what have you lost?
This would be a useful summary for those of us who can only get the "big" news.
Well, If you compare the good things we have with the bad things we had before, we don’t have that much. We have freedom of course, but I think we are not ready for the freedom we have, and the only people who are benefiting form it are the terrorists and radicals. Many of the Iraqis I know who hated Saddam before, are now wishing that he is back, and they said he is the only man who can handle the situation. For me, I still don’t and I can’t imagine myself under his control again. I don’t know what the use of freedom if I can’t use it?
the salaries are increased for the people working in the governmental offices, they are still very little if you compare them with the countries around us. But at least they can live with no need to beg! the normal salary before the invasion was about 15000 ID which is about 7$ !!!!! now the same person is having about 150000 which his is about know 100$! It is still nothing if you compare it with the expenses. the expenses of a 3 person family is about 300$ without rental cost, which is about min. 200$ per month. Most Iraqis can’t make savings for the future or for emergencies. In the seventies and before, their salaries were much better they used to have salaries between 700-1000 $ a month and that’s why I said it before and repeated now, our parents have the chance to make for their future while we are not. the expenses in the same period were very cheap and their salaries were so high.
I think most of you will ask how we used to live with salaries like that? most of the people don’t depend on what they are paid from the government, some of them work in trading others might work as taxi drivers using their private cars, and some took bribes in their work which are so many in governmental offices. you can’t get any legal paper from any office without being asked to pay money otherwise you can’t get it. The situation is still the same now. For example, I’m trying now to get my graduation certificate from my college, at first they wanted a copy of my passport (don’t ask me what is the relation because I don’t know?) so I made a new passport and I gave them a copy, later they asked me to return back after 9 months!!!!!! I don’t know if they want money or not, I’m trying to have information a bout them before I start to do anything, I’m going to ask the help of a professor in order to help to take my BSc degree certificate.
For other people who are working with private companies, they are paid much better , but still as I said nobody could save much for the future.
What has not been affected much?
In general, public services like hospitals and police services are still as bad as they were. The carelessness of the people who are working in the governmental offices is still the same.
And what has become worse, or what have you lost?
SECURITY, SECURITY and SECURITY, because without it we don’t have freedom at all. now I’m not able to walk alone in the street even with my daughter because I might be kidnapped or else. I used to do the shopping before now I can’t without my husband. I am even afraid to take the garbage outdoors alone. My husband is afraid of driving our car alone because he is afraid from armed robbery and he might be killed, so he is using a taxi instead of it. Before we had no problem with that and we get outside late as much as we wanted without fearing of getting killed or kidnapped now we have to be careful about every step we make.
For me I lost freedom before the invasion and after it. before I was not able to leave Iraq because the government refused to give me a passport and even if I can, no country will give me visa because I’m Iraqi. today not much have changed, I have a passport but no one agrees to give a visa to Iraqis because we might be terrorists.
we become more tension and depressed, I even don’t know how much I will stand that pressure that I have now, I wish I can leave Iraq now and this idea makes me nervous because I did not have this idea during Saddam’s regime.
PS: I know that G.W. Bush had succeeded in the elections. many people asked me about whom I prefer. forgive me for not answering your questions because I don’t know who will be best for us. I know Bush had made enough to us and done a lot of unforgivable mistakes but I don’t know Kerry that much, and I was afraid if he won he might take the Us troops out and leave us in this chaos, he will do the best for his country not ours and he is against this war from the beginning.
Another subject:
Thank you all for sharing your feelings and stories with your children, some of them made my eyes full of tears, they mean a lot to me, thank you again.
about Johnny’s story I’m really happy that your daughter is fine. This reminded me when my daughter became very sick last year, she had sever bladder infection and her kidneys were filled with sand and she needed to enter the children hospital for treatment, there were swelling all over her body (she was allergic to one of the medicines). her doctor said it is impossible to make her enter the hospital because she would have another diseases, we have only two hospitals for children in Baghdad, we don’t have private children hospital and they put every two kids in one bed, so you can imagine how it looks like. So her doctor suggested to watch her carefully at house, he taught us to give her the medicine through her veins (I don’t know the name in English) and we had to watch her for 24 hrs. for three days. I was very afraid because I have to be responsible for her while she should be in the care of hospital. during her illness she had a diarrhea, her doctor said because of the large amount of antibiotic she had taken, so I had to clean her in bed because she could not move because of the needle that were put in her hand with the tubes in it. at that period there were curfew and we couldn’t call her doctor if anything bad happened. I almost reach to a point were I was going to faint from tiredness and tension. My husband learned to give her the injections because I couldn’t do anything that may hurt her, he became very tension but we had to.
since that day till now we have to watch her carefully and make her a urinal test every month to make sure that her she had no infection and she had to drink as much water as she can, and this is a big problem for us that we should convinced her to drink when she doesn’t want to.
I talked too much in this post, in my next post I’m going to talk about our traditions in Eid (the three celebration days after Ramadan).
For you and your husband and child, presumably a typical young Iraqi family, in the 18 months since the invasion:
What has become better in your lives, what benefits have you gained?
What has not been affected much?
And what has become worse, or what have you lost?
This would be a useful summary for those of us who can only get the "big" news.
Well, If you compare the good things we have with the bad things we had before, we don’t have that much. We have freedom of course, but I think we are not ready for the freedom we have, and the only people who are benefiting form it are the terrorists and radicals. Many of the Iraqis I know who hated Saddam before, are now wishing that he is back, and they said he is the only man who can handle the situation. For me, I still don’t and I can’t imagine myself under his control again. I don’t know what the use of freedom if I can’t use it?
the salaries are increased for the people working in the governmental offices, they are still very little if you compare them with the countries around us. But at least they can live with no need to beg! the normal salary before the invasion was about 15000 ID which is about 7$ !!!!! now the same person is having about 150000 which his is about know 100$! It is still nothing if you compare it with the expenses. the expenses of a 3 person family is about 300$ without rental cost, which is about min. 200$ per month. Most Iraqis can’t make savings for the future or for emergencies. In the seventies and before, their salaries were much better they used to have salaries between 700-1000 $ a month and that’s why I said it before and repeated now, our parents have the chance to make for their future while we are not. the expenses in the same period were very cheap and their salaries were so high.
I think most of you will ask how we used to live with salaries like that? most of the people don’t depend on what they are paid from the government, some of them work in trading others might work as taxi drivers using their private cars, and some took bribes in their work which are so many in governmental offices. you can’t get any legal paper from any office without being asked to pay money otherwise you can’t get it. The situation is still the same now. For example, I’m trying now to get my graduation certificate from my college, at first they wanted a copy of my passport (don’t ask me what is the relation because I don’t know?) so I made a new passport and I gave them a copy, later they asked me to return back after 9 months!!!!!! I don’t know if they want money or not, I’m trying to have information a bout them before I start to do anything, I’m going to ask the help of a professor in order to help to take my BSc degree certificate.
For other people who are working with private companies, they are paid much better , but still as I said nobody could save much for the future.
What has not been affected much?
In general, public services like hospitals and police services are still as bad as they were. The carelessness of the people who are working in the governmental offices is still the same.
And what has become worse, or what have you lost?
SECURITY, SECURITY and SECURITY, because without it we don’t have freedom at all. now I’m not able to walk alone in the street even with my daughter because I might be kidnapped or else. I used to do the shopping before now I can’t without my husband. I am even afraid to take the garbage outdoors alone. My husband is afraid of driving our car alone because he is afraid from armed robbery and he might be killed, so he is using a taxi instead of it. Before we had no problem with that and we get outside late as much as we wanted without fearing of getting killed or kidnapped now we have to be careful about every step we make.
For me I lost freedom before the invasion and after it. before I was not able to leave Iraq because the government refused to give me a passport and even if I can, no country will give me visa because I’m Iraqi. today not much have changed, I have a passport but no one agrees to give a visa to Iraqis because we might be terrorists.
we become more tension and depressed, I even don’t know how much I will stand that pressure that I have now, I wish I can leave Iraq now and this idea makes me nervous because I did not have this idea during Saddam’s regime.
PS: I know that G.W. Bush had succeeded in the elections. many people asked me about whom I prefer. forgive me for not answering your questions because I don’t know who will be best for us. I know Bush had made enough to us and done a lot of unforgivable mistakes but I don’t know Kerry that much, and I was afraid if he won he might take the Us troops out and leave us in this chaos, he will do the best for his country not ours and he is against this war from the beginning.
Another subject:
Thank you all for sharing your feelings and stories with your children, some of them made my eyes full of tears, they mean a lot to me, thank you again.
about Johnny’s story I’m really happy that your daughter is fine. This reminded me when my daughter became very sick last year, she had sever bladder infection and her kidneys were filled with sand and she needed to enter the children hospital for treatment, there were swelling all over her body (she was allergic to one of the medicines). her doctor said it is impossible to make her enter the hospital because she would have another diseases, we have only two hospitals for children in Baghdad, we don’t have private children hospital and they put every two kids in one bed, so you can imagine how it looks like. So her doctor suggested to watch her carefully at house, he taught us to give her the medicine through her veins (I don’t know the name in English) and we had to watch her for 24 hrs. for three days. I was very afraid because I have to be responsible for her while she should be in the care of hospital. during her illness she had a diarrhea, her doctor said because of the large amount of antibiotic she had taken, so I had to clean her in bed because she could not move because of the needle that were put in her hand with the tubes in it. at that period there were curfew and we couldn’t call her doctor if anything bad happened. I almost reach to a point were I was going to faint from tiredness and tension. My husband learned to give her the injections because I couldn’t do anything that may hurt her, he became very tension but we had to.
since that day till now we have to watch her carefully and make her a urinal test every month to make sure that her she had no infection and she had to drink as much water as she can, and this is a big problem for us that we should convinced her to drink when she doesn’t want to.
I talked too much in this post, in my next post I’m going to talk about our traditions in Eid (the three celebration days after Ramadan).
posted by rose at 1:28 PM
15 Comments:
you're having a hard time, rose, and i sympathise. one can only hope that the marines can clean out falujah, mosul, etc and let your countrymen have an election and then sort yourselves out.
to be truthful, i would be happy to leave you alone and let you all kill yourselves. behead each other, which you seem to have a penchant for. as long as you don't continue with your terrorism in the west. in which case we reserve the right to kill you first. which might not be a bad idea anyway.
but in the meantime, hang on in there.
kind regards,
jack
Jack, what a terrible thing to say. How sad it is to hate a whole nation due to the actions of a few. In that respect, you're no better than one of the terrorists.
Rose, I wish you all the best. I badly want our troops to come home, and I must admit a certain selfishness-- I would rather have our troops pull out and come home safely, than have them stay there, protecting your people, risking their own lives. But then, some of those troops are people very dear and close to my heart, and I am sure that if the situation were reversed, you would feel the same.
However, I wish no ill to you or your loved ones. I wish you only the best, and I wish that things had never had to go this far.
Be safe. You're in my prayers.
~~A. Thompson
thisismyglock@yahoo.com
I talked too much in this post, in my next post I’m going to talk about our traditions in Eid (the three celebration days after Ramadan).Rose, you can never talk too much for me! Please keep on posting. Especially about the important things. I don't mean politics or war. I mean family, traditions, and your life.
jack said, "to be truthful, i would be happy to leave you alone and let you all kill yourselves. behead each other, which you seem to have a penchant for. as long as you don't continue with your terrorism in the west. in which case we reserve the right to kill you first. which might not be a bad idea anyway."
jack, you're an ass. and since we're being honest, i wish our u.s. government would take the same action against pond scum like you that we are against terrorists.
rose- thanks for your honest posts despite the backlash you recieve from a few hate filled people. whether we agree with this war or not, we are in it... and i pray the outcome benefits those of you caught in the crossfire.
~micah
From John
Rose, thank you very much for answering my questions in the way that you have - as I said, such answers tell us much more than most news items. I think it is impressive that you have endured so much and yet have no hatred in your heart. (It would be understandable for you to resent the people who decided to conquer your country, but couldn’t be bothered to use enough of their resources to control it properly. In my view, you are a victim of what will come to be seen as one of the greatest acts of international irresponsibility in history.)
I am sorry that my enquiry elicited that repugnant post from Jack. In this country anyone openly expressing such criminal thoughts would be liable for prosecution under the Race Relations Act, for inciting racial hatred. Please believe that the rest of us in the West do not think in such sick, twisted ways. Looking forward to your next post.
micah, the only hate filled person i see posting is you.
you disgree with a person's viewpoint and want "the us govt to take action against them". call me pondscum, etc. i thought the coalition was in iraq to bring western ideals, including freedom of speech. your philosophical soulmates are on the wrong side of the cordon in falujah. telling the iraqis to think as they think or they too will have action taken against them.
i have no inherent hostility to the people of iraq. they are, like most middle east societies, dysfunctional and deranged. it was ever thus.
i beieve in leaving people to sort out their own problems. it would not occur to me to give advice to americans on how to improve what i might see as defects in their society.
but in the case of the middle east, we cannot afford the luxury of allowing them to sort out their own problems because they have lately demonstrated a homicidal tendency to export murder and mayhem to the west.
so, let's give it our best shot. let's try our hardest to bring freedom and democracy to iraq. personally i think it's likely to fail - but let's try anyway. but should the iraqi people not grab this offer with both hands - and they don't seem to be doing so - then let's leave them alone to get on with it - with the caveat that if they still pay bounties to suicide bombers to murder children in israel, etc, then we will destroy them. then leave them alone again, etc in a continuum, until eventually they get the message.
once again, rose, i wish you the best.
kind regards,
jack
jack-
read you own drivel brother. your two "wishes" for rose were for she and the iraqi people to kill each other themselves, or we do it for them. don't claim the moral high road here.
"i wish you death, but take care until it comes" isn't very comforting or lacking in hate. if that isn't what you intended to come across, then i suggest you rephrase.
if you act disgusting, then you will illicit disgusted responses.
i'd be willing to bet whatever your race is, or place of birth, or religion doesn't bind you to death because of some foolish men of the same race, or birthplace, or religion who commit crimes. rose's shouldn't either, and for the rational people, it doesn't.
best regards jack
~micah
rose- my apologies for this kind of discussion being done in your blog. i won't add to it any further.
Freedom is not only a physical state, but a state of mind as well. I'm sure our forefathers were also confused and full of self-doubt when we claimed our own independence. Fear is your biggest obstacle. Fear of the unknown is sometimes worse than the known hurt. But please do not give up. You have our prayers, and the prayers of those around the world.
You will make it through. If you think about giving up, think about the kind of life you would like your child to have, and then ask yourself if that kind of life for your child is worth fighting for.
I voted for George Bush because I believe he will help keep my children safe. I believe, one day, he will help keep your child safe as well.
God Bless.
I’m sorry to read jack’s comment. I’m sure that there are many Americans feeling the same way, I don’t blame them, and maybe I will feel the same way too, if I rely only on the news on TV. Not all you hear is true Jack, I wonder if you have asked yourself who brought this violent to our country, wasn’t it you? and who is paying hard now? WE ARE.
About the beheading, I don’t think they are done by Iraqis. If you read our entire history, you won’t see a resistance like that, and second. most of the beheadings were done by Al-Zarkawi group. and if you listen to the news carefully you will know that he is Jordanian. I also mentioned in a previous post, that the accent of those who appeared on TV to show their criminals act, is not Iraqi.
Yesterday I was watching our government’s TV channel, they showed some terrorist that had been caught lately, they showed 19 terrorist, all of them were from surrounding countries. Most of them entered Iraq last year, few months after Baghdad’s fall, So for me I think It was your responsible to prevent that, we were under your control and without a government.
In 9/11’s attack the terrorist applied your theory, they thought that all the Americans were bad just as you think that all Iraqis are bad.
Rose - I am sorry that life is so difficult now. Hang in there and keep your family safe. I have to admit that I felt very angry after 9/11 and thankfully I was not the President because I would have acted rashly and probably wiped out the entire continent of Asia. The news that we get here in the US really is not complete - and it is not easy to dig and dig and get a fuller picture. We see lots of bombed out US vehicles and then pictures of Iraqis dancing and laughing around the fire. I am so thankful that I found the Iraq blogs because they have opened my eyes. It is through you guys that I learned that the terrorists are coming in from different countries - I don't think I've heard that even on FoxNews. It is through you guys that I have learned that Muslims are not all beheading fools. It is through you guys and the soldiers blogs that I have seen the pictures of those beautiful Iraqi children. It is through the Iraqi blogs that I learned of the courage of Iraqi citizens being brave to continue living every day in very frightening circumstances. I thank you for that and I share as much as people will hear about you all. Most Americans it seems listen to the news once in the evening - 1/2 hour. 10 minutes of that is weather. That's it. Then they read the NYT or some other newspaper. I am constantly telling people there is more to the story than they are hearing or reading - and then I give them the Iraq blog URLs if they are so willing. I support the freedom in your country and I am sorry it is hard now - it will be hard for awhile and then you will understand what it is that you have been waiting for and what we are fighting so hard for. A part of me wishes that I could be over there fighting, too - but I am too old now and my little girlies need their mom. The only thing I can do to help is to let as many people as I can know about you, pray for you every night, and vote for the guy who I know is committed to staying until all is right. Thanks so much - and hang in there. Millions of people in the world are rooting for you.
I hope your daughter is feeling better. I am an American woman and a mother also. I know mistakes have been made and that things should be better in Iraq than they are, but I also know that most Americans really want Iraq to be a free, prosperous and democratic country. Please do not give up and allow the violent elements to take control. The American taxpayers are willing to sink billions into Iraqi reconstruction because it is important to us to feel that we have done some good. We cannot do this if violent thugs keep up their fight. Americans do not want to rule Iraq, but they do not want Iraq to threaten the world. May Iraq become rich, independent, free and happy!
I just discovered your blog, and I want to express my appreciation for opening the window into your life and your thoughts. Upset and angry is too mild a description for my reaction to Jack's comments, and your measured response to his comments shows the character of your soul. I am looking forward to reading your prior posts which I have missed as well as the ones that hopefully you will continue to publish in the future.
Rose, it is good to read posts like yours; although, it saddens me that you expect freedom to come so easily and are ready to give up on it and go back to your old ways with Saddam. We hear that Saddam's son would rape whatever girl he chose, with a different one every week. Doesn't that concern you since you have a daughter? Thousands of our ancestors fought and died for our freedom; most all free countries of today had to have help from someone to get their freedom, including America, & many had to fight and die for their freedom. But I suppose you can't miss something you've never had. Iraqis seem to want everything at once and this may just be what makes you lose your battle for freedom. I think America voted for Bush mainly because we were afraid Kerry would pull our troops out of Iraq before Iraq was ready to stand on their own feet. Most of us are pulling for you Iraqis, but Iraqis have to want their freedom & fight against those who are trying to take it from you now before you can ever have your freedom. The US cannot do it all. We have to have your help. But it sounds like Iraqis have turned against the US, which means they are for the terrorists and fanatics who are trying to take Iraq. This will, for sure, make you lose your freedom and will only make way for a new dictator to take your country...or even worse, the fanatics to take your country over. It may come to us having to make that choice if Iraqis give up on this fight - let another dictator rise up and take Iraq or hand it over to the fanatics. Given the choice, I am certain we will choose the dictator.
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Eid ul-Fitr is a joyous occasion with important religious significance, celebrating the achievement of enhanced piety. It is a day of forgiveness, moral victory, peace of congregation, fellowship, sportsbook, brotherhood and unity. Muslims celebrate not only the end of all that fasting but also thank God for the help and strength that all of us believe he gave them through the previous month to help everyone practice self-control. It is a time of giving and sharing, and many Muslims dress in holiday attire. http://www.enterbet.com
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