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Report from Kirkuk 02/16/2005

Lawyer Tariq Zaynel – Turkmen Council member in Kirkuk

Turkmen dreams in freedom and democracy vanished and the genuine Turkmen citizen and the possessive Iraqi turned as a stranger, and the stranger as a citizen, after all the trespasses, breaches, forgeries and personality arrogation that occurred during the elections in Iraq on 30/1/2005, in which thousands and thousands of Turkmen citizens have been deprivated from voting at Neinawa (Mosul) especially at Talaafar district and the surrounding areas and villages of Mosul like Rashidiya, Kara Kwineloo, Salamiya and others, this is from one side, from the other side huge numbers of Kurd emigrated before one day from the election to Kirkuk province who they are in fact accommodates of Erbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhuk provinces in spite of closing the roads between provinces which was popularized with an official decision by Kirkuk Governor, only Erbil and Sulaimaniya road stayed open as an exception case, and Al-Mustakila TV station showed the audience a copy of the mentioned decision before three days.

Large numbers of voters at Rahim Awa district in Kirkuk have gave their voices in the elections despite they haven’t reached legal age, and some have voted instead of died people and on behalf of others, also about 2000 National Guard members from the Kurdish cult voted at the electoral centers twice during standing at their duty points.

The Elections and the importance of Change.

After the success of the first election process in the reign after Saddam, some pessimists – with intention or not – try to decrease the importance of the elections in changing Iraq’s future, using justifications that sometimes are right.

One of the important justifications is that the winners in the elections won’t be much better from those before meaning the ones who are now in the present government, this is the most justification that I agree with, till now we can’t find among all the participants in the political operation who really deserves this wide masses acceptance, and there is no one who can achieve Iraqi’s ambitions, if we take an exception decent and efficiency then the present situations surrounding Iraq will be a block in front of any government in the mean time trying to achieve any performance. We don’t have characters or entities who owns Alaa Deen magic lamp which solves any problem facing Iraq at this critical stage, therefore; I agree with the pessimists in this point that the elected government won’t be better performance than the recent one.

One Election does not Achieve Democracy

From Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (The Middle East) newspaper.

Observers think what happened in Iraq last Sunday is some kind of insistence and determination by the Iraqi electors in marching forward to achieve what will guarantee a stable situation in this country. The Electoral process in fact was a proof that ensured power and resolve of people in one of the unique processes in the Arab Countries that had freedom and decent within it.

The recent Iraqi elections are more than a symbolic proof of Iraqi people’s will in playing the main role writing their constitution. The elections were as a chance to demonstrate rich political varieties that confused the ones who bet that Iraq is on the edge of a cultic civil war. The elections proved the policy, not religion nor race, is an essential factor in understanding the balance of the new established authority in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam’s Hussein regime.

The Kirkuk Castle 02/13/2005

The castle is one of the most important historical symbols of Kirkuk which refers to the identity of Kirkuk, the fortress or the castle was built over a high land near by Kasa Su river and long time ago the castle was the only place that exists in Kirkuk which means it is the real start of Kirkuk city, the castle was constructed in the time of the Assyrians and the king Nasir Paal The Second who built it between (858-888 A.D) to be as a shield in front of the enemies that may attack them, also it was reconstructed by the king Slokas between 319 and 311 AD.

At the same time it lies in the middle (center) of the city (Kirkuk) and the Total Area of the Castle is estimated (20 to 25) hectares , it was a very suitable place for living and the total area of the land that houses were build over it is 4 to 5 thousand meter square and it had 801 house and 1150 family and 17 shop till the end of 1989 in which a gang of Saddam's followers started to evacuate the castle from the people living in it at that time (and they were from the Turkmens and Christians who talked Turkmanish language) and the reason of the evacuation as they claimed is that the castle is a very important historical place and it needs reconstruction and instead of that they started destroying at in the year 1998 not only houses but even the mosques and all the historical places that was in the castle, by that the number of Saddam’s victim list increased by one , the castle, people who lived in and all the historical evidence of the Assyrians was destroyed and looted to unknown direction. The castle contains lots of mosques, such as:

Drying the Marshes

First Operation: River Trussing

Operation site: Missan province – Amara

Operation consistency: building earthy dams between 6-18 Km long for each dam on the main river sides which supports Amara marshes, which is:

1-Al-Wadiya River: which take its water from Big Majer River?

2-Al-Adel two rivers

3-Al-Kifah river

4-Al-Sharmakhiyah river: takes it water from Al-Bitera river

5-Masbah river

6-Hadam river

7-Umm Jadi river

Mosul 02/11/2005

Iraq-Ninawa Province

By A Friend of Democracy

Mosul city for the last two days is quiet comparing it with the past period. Security forces backed by Multi National Forces have spread in the city resulting decrease of armed acts, especially after the sudden attack campaign lead by these forces to the villages after a received info confirming their focalizing over there.

Security Forces represented by National Guard Forces along with Ministry of Interior Forces captured yesterday 45 suspects, 16 of these suspects from Mosul and Hatra and the rest 29 some of them are Arab, yesterday's campaign comes as a part of a series done by mentioned forces started since the fifth of Jan. capturing in this period about 400 suspects. Al-Yarmouk district witnessed a big inspection campaign, and New Mosul District also witnessed the same after security petrol attacked by light weapons from a flat which a little boy was killed in this operation, the Multi National Forces captured three people in the flat with two grenades, shells and tools, they confessed that they attacked the Multi National Forces several times, and they also gave names for people in the same group.

An Najaf 02/11/2005

Iraq-An Najaf Province

By A Friend of Democracy

Najaf city for hundred of years ago was a religious and cultural center in which a no. of intellectual movements started from there, where tens of scientists, literati and poets born who enriched the intellectual movement in Iraq and the Arab and Islamic world. Therefore the most important gatherings in the city is the Writers and Literati Union which contains an elite of cultural Najaf people who didn't stop producing in spite of what they undergone during Saddam's regime, where true tongues were stopped and honest pencils were broken, for all this the Union didn't make any progress at that time.

Now after the idol fell down and freedom reign began, the writers and literati started their new rebirth to establish the new Union based on democracy. Today morning was the first conference held under slogan (Unity of literati and poets supports the cultural, intellectual and democratic motion in Najaf Province); this conference was named after the past poet Majed Al-Shukri honoring him. The goal for this conference is to re-establish the Writers and Literati Union at Najaf, the conference was started with a poem that was addressed by the young poet Muhanad Abdul Hussein Hamad, after that his famous father Abdul Hussein Hamad addressed the audients with one of his known poems. The conference then selected 3 members for the Conference Leading Council, they are Abdul Razaq Al-Hakim, Basima Al-Baghdadi and Kadhim Al-Beyati, then selected the Dependent Committee with four members Mehdi Smesim, Najih Smesim, Taufiq Al-Waeli and Abdul Zahra Al-Sharqi. Mr. Kadhim Al-Beyati talked about press and literati in Najaf and how Najaf city have an efficient role in protecting the cultural and intellectual movement in Iraq.

Let the pens correct what Saddam has ruined.

Human beings were always interested with himself and tried hard to find answers for questions like Why? How? And When, he always was eager to understand his motives and feelings, all this wasn't a result of wanting to know only but in fact for a no. of practical reasons, these reasons forced him to form opinions, believes and explanations for motives which push him to love, hate and want? This what pushed me to write, what I noticed was the slogans written on school walls and kindergartens and the hanged slogans on walls … it starts with … we want …. We will afford … we ask … our quests, all this but it didn't really catch our hearts or expressed what we really are asking for, I think from my site of view that the answers of what we are looking for is easy … what do we want?

Everyone knows what have our society undergo for ages of Baath ruling was a real destruction of principals and beheading of identity and basic build of the society, and its credulity to wish obsolescence of its negative marks through some writings here and there, and its dullness to wish vanishing of (Saddam's education) through a no. of decisions or through political and economical reformation programs neglecting meanwhile the social reformation to enucleate the devil's seeds who were planted by the ex-regime into weak people which themselves planted afterwards evil instincts blocking the free word and spreading in our society the Aspartic Theory which deleted any educated intellect and replaced it with strange principals and values which is very strange and not familiar to our society, pity some have followed it seduced and effected by its instantaneous gains, yes the Baath have abolished the role of intellect and the generations lived in complete darkness, so what is the way to repair what have ruined and rebuild it again? And what will correct what Saddam have ruined? And what do we want?

Amara 02/09/2005

Iraq-Missan Province

By A Friend of Democracy

Sponsored by "Friends of Democracy", the "Iraqi novel association" with cooperation with the "orphans cultural club" and the "children's health committee" held a seminar and an open discussion about democracy as part of the "children parliament" project that was adopted since august 2004.

At the beginning of the seminar, novelist Mohammed Rasheed who's the manager of the Iraqi novel association and the father of the "parliament" idea made a short speech in which he described the idea of the "parliament" and welcomed the audience among which there were-in addition to the girls and boys from pre high schools-several journalists and intellectuals from the city.

An Najaf 02/07/2005

Iraq-An Najaf Province

By Hussein

Preparations are under way in An Najaf for the start of the month of Mouharram, in which the late Imam Hussein Ibn Ali became a martyr. Black veils are covering the streets and flags are set on houses and buildings as in the accompanying photo. It is the occasion for the Shiite Muslims to set grieving tents and say prayers expressing their sorrow for the martyrdom of the Imam Hussein, who died in Karbala with a group of his followers for the sake of justice and the principles he was defending.

Under the former regime, the Shiites were not allowed to perform these celebrations, since the Saddam regime considered them a challenge to his despotism and oppression. Shiites who represent a majority of the Iraqi people were celebrating in secrecy away from the eyes of the governments and its security services. Whoever was caught celebrating was put in jail with political accusations or accusations of action against the state. Numerous citizens were victims of these practices over 30 years, for religious practices not related to politics. After the fall of the regime in April 2003, the Shiites started celebrating again, and in spite of the explosions in last year's “Ashouraa" in Karbala and Kazimiyeh, the two holy cities, and the fall of a number of martyrs, they still insisted on braving these risks and practicing their religious ceremonies, with the conviction that they will be rewarded by the Almighty.