A Postcard from Iraq.


Have you ever felt numb? Like a paralytic numbness?

I put the receiver down, stared at the wall, beyond the wall and saw yet another wall, and more walls...
Unable to move, unable to take a step forward, a step back. I was stuck in that spot for what seemed to be forever.
I felt the warmth of the cigarette, its heat, getting closer to my fingertips, almost burning me.
I guess the thought of being burnt took me out of this trance like state...that state of being walled in.

Some of you may recall that I already have 2 relatives who had been kidnapped and are now imprisoned in "Detention centers".

Kamel, 60 plus, is still in American "custody". He is sick and we have no news except that he is still alive...at least we hope so.

Omar, 19 years old, also detained by the Americans. Seems he has been transferred from American hands in Baghdad and moved to Southern Iraq.
When we enquired about him, they said that he is in a military hospital getting treatment in Southern Iraq.

That is very strange indeed. Bear in mind that Southern Iraq prisons are run by the sectarian militias from Iran and neither them nor the Americans actually provide any medical treatments in "hospitals".
How long will he be there? What is he suffering from? Is it possible to visit him?
None provides us with any answers.

I personally believe that Omar is dead. I believe that Omar has been killed. Possibly under torture...most probably under torture.

A few weeks back, Salam, another relative was kidnapped and badly battered, bashed up. I have already relayed her story in my previous post "Scream Quietly".

A few days ago, it was Raouf's turn. Now Raouf is very close family.

I chose to call him Raouf because Raouf in Arabic means "kind spirited, gentle..."
And Raouf is both. Raouf is a very gentle soul. A soft spoken man, who cared about poetry, philosophy, arts, animals, the land...which he cultivated with great care and love.

Yes Raouf is a very loving person. Early 50's, handsome, eloquent and very kind.

When a great aunt passed away, Raouf inherited a little plot of land. He was not a materialistic person. He contended himself with the little money that this piece of soil gave him. He reared on it birds, chicken and a few fruit crops and lived off its revenue.

Raouf lived outside of Baghdad, about one hour's drive from the capital.
When things got very rough there, we suggested he moved to Baghdad. Another relative lent him a temporary roof where he could stay with his wife. He has two grown up kids who have just finised medical school.

Raouf comes from a very well known family. Well known in the sense that his lineage is made of learned men. In fact his forefathers all the way down, were the first to institutionalize the first Islamic Jurisprudence and Theology school in 13th century Baghdad.

Raouf was getting restless in Baghdad. He missed and worried about his birds, chicken, trees and flowers.
"Who will feed them, who will water them?" he would exclaim. "I cannot abandon them. I am going just for the day"... And he left.

He arrived home and to his plot of land. A few hours later, a knock on the door.
He opened. Familiar faces from the district. Three armed men.
"Salam aleikom" he said. "Wa aleikom" they replied.

Then, they blindfolded him, handcuffed him and shoved him in a car.
His ordeal had started. His torture odyssey was about to unfold ...

He was held for three full days and three full nights. He was tortured NON-STOP for three full days and three full nights.

They used iron rods, chains, rubber hoose, sticks...
Sometimes the three pounded him in unison. Sometimes they would take turns.
The only respite he had is when they stopped for "prayers"!!!!

Again, the interrogation, the senseless interrogation.

"What have I done" he would scream.
"We found an empty can of beer next to your house door - why are you not growing a beard - why are you not wearing a long "thob" ... and they would pound him some more.

But fortunately they did stop for prayers and did not have drills!

- Ok how much ? he said
- 100'000 Dollars.
- Impossible. None of us have this amount.
- Who is us?
- Well, me, my family in Baghdad.
- Who is your family in Baghdad ?
- There is x. y, z and Layla A. Some lent me their house.
- So you are rich all of you.
- No, they just lent me an empty house. We are all unemployed.
- Sell the house and the plot of land.

They dialled a real estate agent. Raouf talked to him and begged him to find a buyer for the house and the land.
"Impossible" replied the agent, "none is buying."

The "pious" armed men lost patience.

So Raouf, tell us how would you like to die? Beheading? Have you throat slit? or a few bullets in your head? You choose ...

Raouf's wife showed remarkable courage. She was in constant contact with the "pious" armed men. She would talk to them, patiently with the voice of reason. Sometimes begging, pleading. Sometimes reminding them of their common neighborhood, people they both knew , maybe a neighbor, a distant relative, a school, a teacher, a grocer... Anyone, any name, any face that could be used as a bridge back to life.

His wife reminded me the way Shehrazade recounted endless tales to Shahrayar the king from the Tales of the 1001 nights. Thus delaying and preventing her beheading.
Except Raouf's wife tales was to prevent her husband's beheading...

She must have struck a chord somewhere in their collective memory.
They dropped him on the 4th day, in the middle of the night, on some dark street...

Raouf carried his wounds and his broken body and walked for miles before he could get any help at all.


And us, for three days and nights we would roam the rooms like animals in a cage, pacing back and forth...Praying, crying, bargaining, pleading, supplicating, begging, God, the Universe, the Darkness, the Silence, the Walls....

When Raouf finally arrived to Baghdad, the whole family went to visit him. A sight that could not be described in words.

Raouf was so badly tortured, he was unrecognizable. You cannot see his eyes anymore. His face, his nose are so swollen , as if about to explode with pain and hurt.

His body, his body, the marks of a thousand rods, chains, sticks on it. His legs, his back, his chest, his arms, his stomach... His white shirt was dark brown with blood.

Someone took pictures. For the memory, for the record, for the family album. An Iraqi family album.
Even though, I am certain that Raouf will never need pictures to remember. I know his character and his predisposition. I am sure these marks will stay with him forever...


It is a miracle he did not die from the torture. He has hypertension and a kidney condition. He could have easily died from a brain hemorrhage due to the beatings, or from kidney failure or from a cardiac arrest.
It is a miracle they let him go in exchange for nothing because there is nothing to give.
It is a miracle they did not kill him.
It is a miracle they did not drill him...

Look at us. See what a grateful, humble people we have become. We are grateful that our loved ones are tortured but not killed or drilled or have their eyes pulled out.
See what an obedient, grateful people we have become...You must be so happy at our docility now.

But Raouf died on the inside...I know it.

His voice was barely audible...He would speak and then his voice would gently fade away and his lips would stop moving.

"It hurts to breathe" he says. "It really hurts to breathe."

Then he manages another sentence, that he keeps repeating like some sacred mantra.

" I will crawl on all four to the border. Am willing to beg or become a street sweeper in Damascus. But I will not stay here anymore. This is no longer my country."
And his voice disappears again.

"Take the pictures" shouted another one. "Show it to the UN. Show it to the World...Take the pictures with you."

Take the pictures like you take a postcard and show it to others. Share it with others. A postcard from Iraq.

After the visit, some took turns to vomit, physically vomit, the sadistic, vicious, cruelty that Raouf had to endure.

Raouf is beyond recognition, a reflection of what has become of Iraq - Beyond recognition.

I reflected later on the "purpose" of it all. Why did they do what they did?

And now I am absolutely convinced that these armed men, so called "Al Qaeda", them along with the cars bombs, with the sectarian militias and their torture centers and their drills...are paid, trained and ordered by an American - Mossad - Iranian consortium to apply Bremer's policy: " Let us bring them down to 5 million."

A deliberate policy to empty the country by terrorizing all of us . I am certain of that.

And I say to these hyenas.
Have it all. Take it all. Swallow it. Gulp it down. Gob it up. And choke and die on it.
Take Iraq. Take it all.
This is no longer our country.

Mother said " May God guide them ".
Auntie Sameera said : " Umm Layla, are you crazy ? Why do you pray for their guidance"
To which Mother replied : " So maybe they will turn their attention elsewhere, away from us and forget about us..."

Yes take it all and forget about us.

So when some bastard writes to me calling me a "negative, whining, drama queen" because I am not using my "talents" to "uplift" the arrogant western minds into "Forgiveness and Beauty" - Notice how the occupier asks the occupied to uplift him/her!

I offer this postcard from Iraq instead of my usual "whining".
It does have a "positive" side to it. Raouf is still alive but a very broken man who is willing to become a street sweeper or a beggar in Damascus rather than stay one more minute in "Free" Iraq.

Yes take it all and forget about us. Just forget us...and let us breathe a little.
For it hurts to breathe, really hurts to breathe in Iraq.


Painting: Iraqi artist, AbulMaali, Hosni.

Comments

Anonymous said…
very moving post layla
Anonymous said…
As I sit surrounded by indifference...
I am helpless...
I am so sorry...

I wish with all my heart I could say or do something to uplift you and yours. I stopped for a minute to think while smoking my own cigarette and still the only words I can think of is I am so sorry...
Anonymous said…
layla,

feel sorry for this...

please go on, it's meaning itself,

ts
Anonymous said…
No words, Layla....just intense pain and helplessness.
Anonymous said…
Speechless. I hope ICH publishes this article.
You are pricelessness Layla.
Anonymous said…
Layla, my darling of a "galvanizing pessimist" (no, not an oxymoron), if you chance to see your kind-spirited relative again, I would ask you to forget for a moment about "etiquette" and give a long warm gentle caress on his dear face from me with all my sisterly love and good wishes for a safe journey and a "more breathable", if not better, future in Syrian land.

Ancestral, primary, concrete, earthly, homey, motherly tenderness to nourish and re-materialize the vanishing shadows of our "dead inside" and a desert storm of resistance bullets into the purulent Pharisaic hearts of their spiritual murderers: this is the one and only realistic formula for Iraq's survival and future re-vival.

Everything else, including snowing the United Vassal Nations under with a million "postcards" like this one, is delusion, all delusion, nothing but delusion, delusion uber alles, delusion till the end of time.
Anonymous said…
Add a gentle hug to Hala's from me, too, Layla...

Yes, Hala, you are absolutely right about the UN of A and I....it seriously needs to be disbanded because it does not represent all nations. Just provides a form of 'legitimacy' to the barbarians.
Anonymous said…
You write like the way Iraq is bleeding and the sad thing is the whole world is watching.

I hope the day will come when Iraq is free from the murderer’s occupiers and their fifth column of Iraqi traitors who helped them to destroy your country.
Anonymous said…
Layla,

My dear sister, I am so sad for your people. Raouf has seized my very heart with a cold clutch, and made my next breath of air a fight.

To me this is like observing what my own ancestors had to go through.
The Great Spirit cries with sorrow of what the so called great nation has done again. And they called us "SAVAGES".

Raouf's heart beats in my chest, his air fills my lungs, and his thoughts pervade my soul. We are blood of the same inequity.

My heart and love goes out to you my dear sister, never give up for what does not beat you makes you stronger and a better warrior.

My sister you are a great warrior!!!

Savage
Anonymous said…
"And now I am absolutely convinced that these armed men, so called "Al Qaeda", them along with the cars bombs, with the sectarian militias and their torture centers and their drills...are paid, trained and ordered by an American - Mossad - Iranian consortium to apply Bremer's policy: " Let us bring them down to 5 million."

This is hardly an efficient way of achieving that.

Why would pious muslims of your neighborhood who take a break from torture sessions to pray, take orders from Americans? How could they be manipulated so easily when Americans don't have the intelligence to stop IEDs by the road?

Stop blaming others for your evil.
Anonymous said…
No words....again...

Only tears and pain in my soul.

Thank you for your strength Layla.

Ike
Anonymous said…
Canadian Atheist,

Why don't you get up off Laylas neck and go forage your own country.
Canada, for gods sake that is the most pussy country I have ever known. What has Canada ever achieved or contributed? Not a god damned thing!
Except selling out for the installation of the NAU.
God damn french pussies.

Matter of fact, why don't you just go fuck yourself then jump straight to hell!

HOW DARE you speak to Layla the way you do.

Your a god damn Canadian pussy and have NO knowledge of Middle East affairs or culture.

It is people like YOU who need to be dragged out and given the true experience of torture.

Then (and only then for people of your ilk) you would KNOW and understand and keep you GOD DAMN MOUTH SHUT.

FUCK YOU!
AND FUCK CANADA!
Anonymous said…
Canadian atheist,
as usual it's you, zionazi barbarian, who are blaming the innocent for the barbarities you and your ilk are inflicting on them - the so-called "self-infliction" theory - the hallmark of the barbarian zionazi culture.
Anonymous said…
when pain and death become mere pieces of news, we humans loose the ability to feel the intensity of depression. empathy starts sympathizing on our poverty of imagination and sensibility.

its when someone puts a face on one of the numbers, that the sadness and pain personifies and stands before us, looking straight in our eyes. thats when we realize how dead we are and how blackened the hearts have become. we understand why human does not have an i, and its i 'n human, standing on opposite shores of the expanse and flow of blood and misery.

very well expressed.. one is left with a bleeding heart on this side as well..

ps: its great not to moderate the comments; ignoring is probably what the attention seeking behaviour fears and hates the most..
Anonymous said…
Twinsoul…
I’m not letting go. I’ve found you and there is very little that’ll keep me away. I don’t care if it’s right or wrong. I’ll hold my head high and be proud, keeping you in my heart.

I don't want to see that bullshit quote “if you love something set it free,….” I’m not setting you free, because life is too damn short to deny the happiness you bring me. You can hate, deny or ignore me, but always know you are a very special person.
Anonymous said…
To Canadian Atheist:

I am a lady, but I am FORCED to say this to you:

FUCK OFF FROM THIS SITE, YOU LUMP OF SO-CALLED HUMANITY. What exactly is bringing you here? As someone said earlier, you are so damn thick, you have NO CLUE about the Middle East, so you are just contributing your ignorance and stupidity on this site. But I thank you, too, for exposing yourself for what you truly are.

GO TO HELL, YOU SCUMBAG. The 'pious Muslims of the neighbourhood' never did such things until the Americans came along. AND those who are doing such things are NOT the 'Muslims from the neighbourhood' but those from OUTSIDE IRAQ. Go and get on with some serious studying before you add your stupid comments anywhere. You need an EDUCATION before you contribute your views to share with others. They can be different but not stupid.
Canadian atheist

Atheist as in JEW? I bet you are a Jew really.

Because you suck like a Mohel at a circumcision.
Anonymous said…
"I am a lady"

You're a dumb cunt

"NOT the 'Muslims from the neighbourhood' but those from OUTSIDE IRAQ."

Read for comprehension

"Familiar faces from the district"

"Sometimes reminding them of their common neighborhood, people they both knew , maybe a neighbor, a distant relative, a school, a teacher, a grocer... Anyone, any name, any face that could be used as a bridge back to life."

"She must have struck a chord somewhere in their collective memory"
Angel said…
Hello Layla,

A special piece from you, yet again.

When I'm dancing the Lute can make my body bend and flow, snake arms, slow 8's. The music is magic to my ears.

As I read A Postcard from Iraq, I am listening to the Lute, on CD. I am filled with anger, but at the same time, I'm unhappy, so I turn off something I love.

Raouf's wife is surely a lioness in disguise, as it seems most Iraqi women have to be. Strong and dedicated.

How much longer? We are all after the same thing, we all have voices, we are all being heard around the world, in our many different countries. United we stand, divided, we fall.

Take care.
Anonymous said…
Layla I was very moved by the story about Raouf. But I think you lose credibility by lumping Mossad and Alqaida in one 'conspiracy theory'. From your story one can only conclude that the people who did this to Raouf were Shia from the old neighborhood.
Anonymous said…
Canadian Boor,

"Dumb cunt" is where a knitting needle should have been thrust in some years ago ..

As for the "familiar faces", they are no more than an exiguous minority of local "desperados" turned PAWNS of ugly, filthy FOREIGN (Yank, Zionist and Iranian) mugs.

I coined a new term to define their spurious, "divide et impera"-serving ideology: "Isranic dissectarianism".

The overwhelming majority of Iraqis reject them as the alien body they are and hold on to their multimillenary spirit of national unity, social equality and cultural enlightenment as steadfast as ever.

Now be a good "ego-theist" boy or girl and go back to minding your own little private business.
Anonymous said…
Anonymous5,

"I think you lose credibility by lumping Mossad and Alqaida in one conspiracy theory"

WHO would Layla "lose credibility" with ?

The "Internet Haganah" people ?

Or

The "Global Islamic (Isranic) Media Front" people ?

Some loss !!

"Al-Qa'ida" and the Khomeinist death squads Badr and Mahdi are TWO cheeks of the SAME ass.

An ass that stinks of ZIONIST shit.

Why, oh why, should Layla kick it only in the "She-Eyet" half and spare the as much sectarian "Al-Qa'ida" ?

Just because they are "Sooonee" ?

But then, dear, you have no sense of democracy !!
Anonymous said…
He who is skilled in attack flashs forth from the topmost heights of heaven and falls on his adversary like a thunderbolt, against which there is no time to prepare.american you will run to the rocks but rocks will be melting you can run to the sea but the sea will be boiling! so you will eat lead soup of mort! sapperinwire.
Anonymous said…
It is obvious the foul mouthed person from Angry Arab is now spouting profanity here. Is it too much to act like a lady? Is it really that hard? You're language is repulsive (Both or all of you).

This is exactly what happens when you let in a little trash, the rest crawl out of the woodwork.
Anonymous said…
Anonymous above:

You ask: Is it too much to act like a lady?

If you look around you, I believe you see what I see: the world is being shred to bits all around us, and everyone seems to sitting on their hands and waiting....for God knows what... We have been inundated with lies, lies, lies from those who are supposed to be 'leaders', and through those lies, innocent people like Mr. Raouf have paid the final price....and he is one out of thousands and thousands who are now either dead, broken or homeless.....does that not repulse you????????

And, to top it all, you get scum coming to this site, not to contribute positively (and that can include constructive disagreement) but to throw irrelevant comments and abuse the hostess of this site.

In view of all this, 'acting ladylike' has been put on hold...

Do feel repulsed about things that really matter...
Anonymous said…
Anon,

War, is repulsive.
And when individuals CHOOSE to rub salt in the wounds of those who suffer yet are innocent it brings out much more than just foul language.
The human being is THE MOST VICIOUS animal on this earth.

Trash has nothing to do with it.

So as you sit comfortably in your home watching television as others a world away are tortured, killed and raped, know, that like your television, you can simply not come here and read.

Laylas blog deals with a harsh and brutal reality.
People become vocal in their opinions.
Researching past writings on this blog will show that kindness and courtesy are given when required, as is a good cursing when uneducated soft weak people spout off slanderous uninformed ideologies.

I will defend Layla with whatever words necessary.
And would do more....
if I could.
Anonymous said…
I agree with you, White Trash...., particularly your last paragraph.
Anonymous said…
Little deer and white trash,
I would agree with you 100% if I didn't (as mentioned) know that you 'may' be the same person(s) from Angry Arab. I've seen many of your comments, including your insults to Layla for being what you consider a 'sellout'. You are doing one thing and one thing only, trying to disrupt another blog because your own blog doesn't attract any attention.
Be honest: How close to the truth am I? If I'm wrong, I'm ok with it, but I find it interesting that the same type of responses that drove me away from AA are now taking up residence here.
Layla Anwar said…
I lump al Qaeda with the sectarian militias because I believe that al Qadea is an American invention...
Stay tuned for a bad hollywood movie. Everytime a fart goes sideways in Britain or the US, Al Qaeda re-appears....The bad wolf that makes you piss in your pants...Stop inventing bad wolves and you would not need to piss in your pants so often.

Regards to all of you - the good, the bad and the ugly.
Anonymous said…
You could be right, Anonymous above... it's only after Layla stopped moderation that we've got to see posts such as this. But then, again, she's probably reading all the junk before she discards it, which must add more stress into her life.

To avoid this, I do suggest that you continue to leave it as it is, Layla - the stress is then shared!!!

Perhaps we, those of us who are regular, ought to just ignore (difficult sometimes!) this trash. I think most of us can tell by now those who are here for the right reason, and also those who have been here for a while...
Anonymous said…
You are absolutely right, Layla... I, too, believe that Al-Qaeda is an American invention, which rears 'its' head every time the Iraqi Resistance deals another big blow on America's dreams and plans in Iraq!

Long live Iraqi Resistance!
Anonymous said…
al-qaeda invented by the CIA & ISI. siw
Anonymous said…
Anonymous above Layla,

"you may be the same person(s) from Angry Arab"

As far as I am concerned, you can rest assured that I have never dignified the fish market of that intellectual masturbator with a comment in my life.

Unlike rats, cockroaches, locusts, Yanks, etc. I do respect the "territory" of others: when I don't like someone, I keep within my "boundaries" and leave him/her within his/her own - in PEACE.

Little DEAR friend :-)

Yes, my darling of a pure soul, long live the Iraqi Resistance, glory and eternity to the epic deeds of the defenders of human dignity and national pride against the Empire of Fear .. and all our tenderness and admiration to their poet and voiceless chanter Layla Anwar, the Homer of the Internet Age !

JR,

You are missed :-(
Anonymous said…
Jr..
That post was specifically meant for the 2 people it was addressed too. Did you not get enough attention at day care today?
Anonymous said…
Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose. By persistently hanging on the enemy's flank we shall succeed in the long run...siw
Anonymous said…
From beautiful British Columbia, Canada, to you:
Whoever labels you a whiner or a drama queen is spiritually dead. They envy your courage and the fact that you have not succumbed to the spiritual death they are projecting onto you.
Alan the Red said…
Listen Layla, I know you think I am being hard on you, but what is the point of taking anything to the UN? They own the UN too.

And anybody who ran away to America, or Canada, or even the UK, is sorely deluded. Hey, just about the only Land of the Free is Ireland. They've been sticking it to Her Satanic Majesty's government for over 700 years. Of course, on the other hand, they went and joined Europe, so where do you run to?

This all comes back to what Patrick Henry said, which those Yanks forgot to remember.

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty Goddess! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Until the whole world heeds those words, and stands up and fights, these parasites will continue to feed upon our blood. Of course, Her Satanic Majesty has played the divide and conquer game, so long, and so well, that everybody is divided. Plus, of course, the world is full of sub-humans whose greatest ambition is to die in their beds, who still delude themselves that voting changes things, and that they live in a democracy.

And let's face it, Her Satanic Majesty has always used Muslims to run the empire, via the East-India company, and of course, sooner or later, everybody becomes expendible to Her Majesty's government, as they are now finding out. Of course, who else but immigrants would have been stupid enough to vote Labour; Labour always fall over backwards to toff their working class caps to the upper classes.

Oh yes, but you call me racist for saying things like that. Yea right! Since when is criticising a religion racist? We are all children of our Earth Mother, and people who insist on worshipping skygods are betraying Her, and She is now intent on getting rid of them all. Hey, like Bush said, you are either with Her or you are against Her. I'm merely trying to set you free. As Timujin said, only a fool fights a battle they cannot win.
Anonymous said…
You are a coward trying to hide behind pity and eloquence. Blaming everyone else for your own inadequacies and impotence. Afraid to do what must be done. Band with you neighbors and friends and hunt these people, whether Sunni or Shia and all of their Immans and slaughter them either awake or asleep.
Anonymous said…
to anonymous above:


Dumb Ass!
Layla Anwar said…
Maitreya,

Poor thing. Your likes have been harder...I am now immune. Try elsewhere with your Wicca Goddess nonsense...
Gods and Godesses are all flip sides of the Same thing. Think...
If you can or if you ever manage.
Anonymous said…
Layla,
Your words should be published in every publication in America, hell, in the world.

I am ashamed to be an American. I am ashamed to finally realize I have been brainwashed my entire life to believe we (the United States) are the good guys.

I protest this unjust war. I protest this criminal administration. Yet it seems to mean nothing because so many still do not see the truth. So many do not want to see the truth because the truth is like virginity; once you know the truth, you cannot go back, you have no excuses.

Peace,

Mike Ramsay
Long Island, New York
Anonymous said…
Anonymous said...
Layla,

My dear sister, I am so sad for your people. Raouf has seized my very heart with a cold clutch, and made my next breath of air a fight.

To me this is like observing what my own ancestors had to go through.
The Great Spirit cries with sorrow of what the so called great nation has done again. And they called us "SAVAGES".

And I say:

My dear sister, I am so sad for your people. To me this is like observing what my own ancestors had to go through.

Who are MY ancestors? They are known as German Jews. They lived through the hell of the concentration camps and are still despised by the Arabs of the Middle East today. They are denied compassion for their own persecution at the hands of the most vile of humans, the haters of those who are deemed to be inferior by the rantings of the most wicked and vile element of human's everyhere, the belief in superiority over others. The ego which runs over all reason and compassion, with madness and false sense of righteousness, or a grand purpose that is nothing but a lie.

The horror of the way my ancestors died can not be compared to in any modern history, not even in Iraq today. The pictures of their bodies, broken, tortured, starved to death, haunt my dreams from their souls now removed from this hell hole called earth where humans are most savage when they believe in superiority over one another!

Your suffering is mere human suffering, but that it is nothing new does not make it something less than horrible.

I cry for your people. Do you cry for mine? Do not, for they have endured their suffering and are now home at last in the arms of love, which will welcome your people in the end also.

Peace.
Layla Anwar said…
american woman,

I much prefer not to hear your words of sympathy. Your subtle venom is disgusting to my ears....
Keep your good wishes and your peace to yourself or maybe teach your ancestors and their descendants in Israel to stop applying and executing the supposed crimes they suffered on Arabs that you seem to hold in contempt and despise with your genetic racism and arrogance.
Anonymous said…
Layla, my poor long-suffering of a sister .. it seems that the "chronic lamenting left-wing American Jewish woman" from that "Recovery Dream" you had some time ago managed to track you down in the reality !!

Let's all leg it at once or she'll try to "hug" (Zionglish for "strangle") us again with her onion tears and psychological blackmailing tactics !!
Layla, your blog makes me cry. I can't imagine what you and your people have to go through.

I'm sorry. I know the apology of one US citizen doesn't mean much. But I'm so sorry for what is being done to your country and I so wish I could change it.
Anonymous said…
atheist and little deer...must you show your lack of selfrespect and class to the world..? why cant people conversate without the use of such language..you are both offensive..what is it with western people and foul language...and by the way..i am from the west myself..
Anonymous said…
the thing is that WE here do not stand up to the creature in the white house...the world know Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11...yet we still there...for what you may ask..let,see..oil..or maybe the euro had something to do with the whole thing..as it seem that Saddam was going to get rid of the american dollar for the euro...now...why cant PEOPLE HERE SEE THAT ALL WE DO IN IRAQ, IS KILLING EVERYONE..MAN WOMAN AND CHILD.. dont we watch tv..no..not cnn..but al-jazeera or Press tv...they are both free..Subahan Allah....america STAND UP TO BUSH AND demand IMPEACHMENT....dont still give him what he wants..20.00 more troops to iraq....????what is it that makes america blind.....and why is america have 125.000 "special security forces" there..to which 1/3 to 1/5 are armed..mercenary is another name for "special security forces"..i wonder why american people are NOT TOLD THAT LITTLE BIT OF INFO....may God/Allah destroy the the evil responsible for the butchery in iraq...ameen... and yes, i agree about WHO is behind Al-Qaeda..lets wake up and smell the coffe..
Anonymous said…
a little bit of news here america...it seem that the creature residing in the white house parked few carriers near the waters of Iran...gee...i wonder, could that mean something..?if it does, we soon go up in smedereens <, (how you spell that?hehehe) lets get a grip on reality people..because if we dont this creature at the white house will get us ALL KILLED...just like he did to Iraq....he,s not fighting terrorist for the "safety of america" but he,s working toward the progress of "one world order" do your home work before he gets carried away before him and dicky cheney bring this country to ruins..
Anonymous said…
a comment about Mohammad Atta.9/11 the melting steel..and the paper passport found at dround zero..intact..now..i know sometimes it takes me a sec to grasp at reality..but PLEASEEEEEEEEEE... do not insult my intelligence that much...ARBUSTO = BUSH...ALIBURTON= CHENEY..>>>>>canadian atheist...DO NOT SPEAK THIS WAY ABOUT ANY OF THE PROPHETS PLEASE..if you do not agree with God.s choice of prophets..please remain silent..may you be given the full measure of what your words have hearned you...goind back to the original comment..type in search>> marvin bush....<< and see what the kitty brings home...also type the word>.termite<< and see what that kitty gets you..
Anonymous said…
to Anonymous..about Aisha..(ra) she was not 15 or 16..she was 9 when the marriage was consumated, which at the time considering the place, it happen to be the age of puberty..hence..old enough to marry..and, we do not question or dispute what Allah swa or our prophet pbuh did nor why..in some Hadith the Prophet pbuh speak of Aisha playing with her dolls..
Anonymous said…
diana....i checked the link you post..AND YOU ALMOST SCARED ME HALF WAY INTO NEXT WEEK...i came face to face with the creature in da white house...give a warning next time..(hehehe...)
Anonymous said…
diana...herman Goering, Hitler,s Reich- marshall said at the Nuremberg trials...>naturally, the common people dont want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along wheather it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a comunist dictatorship.Voice or no voice the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.this is easy. all you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifist for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger...it work the same in every country...<<...ANY of this sound familiar to ANYONE OUT THERE...?
Anonymous said…
Saying that I was moved by what you wrote, Laila, sounds so trite after what I have been reading here afterwards...

I cried in my bed that March 2003 listening on the radio about the first bombings on Bagdad. Knowing it was just the starting point of a long horrifying hell for a country (well, let´s change that "label" and substitute it just for MILLIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS). I cried after what I read about Raouf, Laila, and many many others with no face or name. Same tears of compassion and impotence. Remembrance of those far-off tears, useless and unheard by anyone, not even by God. Present tears rescued from time and made alive again. Sadly present and new, for ever alive again and joining the unending stream of everlasting tears of suffering and impotence that will never stop...

The only meaning of my tears is joining YOUR tears. I don´t mean just yours, Laila, but those from everyone who is still, was and will be increasing that flow. Its OUR stream of tears. Let´s forget our names in it. Your distant hearts and mine were melted and dissolved in the same waters. I don´t need my identity if I AM just one with the sufferers.

Apart from this reflection about deeply felt compassion, I would like to add a few comments:

Many speak here, and complain, and accuse. Or tell nonsense, or tell truths. But there is something which reveals the true nature of what they say: have they lived what they speak about? Your voice, Laila, is so real, and pure, and authentic because your eyes have seen, your ears heard, what you are speaking about.

Others, however (and I will say who: that "American JEWISH woman certainly), speak about what they have been told or seen on TV or films. If their ancestor´s suffering had not been sold and exploited by "her present people" so systematically and they were not inflicting the same horror on other victims NOW, many could sympathize with them. But it´s THEIR fault that their discourse does not arise any sympathy.

Maybe many Anglo-saxon people (most of them, I am convinced) would need to live the horror in their flesh to truly sympathy whith ANY people who has suffered or is still suffering. Their lack of conscience may very well come from their lack of experience in what is HELL.

A big hug from Spain (it could be the same from any place on earth)

ps: forgive my English, I just hope you understood what I intended to put across, the rest is unimportant.
Anonymous said…
ONE RECTIFICATION

It is not my real wish that anyone has to go through hell and live it in their own flesh in order to take conscience of reality or the others´s suffering. I forgot the innocents, as few as they could be (but I still think there are a minority of innocents in those countries). I don´t want a collective ordeal for anyone like the one they are going trough in Iraq.

People get conscience by other means than just suffering the most terrifying violence.

So I was wrong there. Forgive me that absurd thought of retaliation-justice. I eaquated both terms and I forgot they are far from being the same. Forgive me that... instead of my English.

From Spain (or elsewhere)
Anonymous said…
"And now I am absolutely convinced that these armed men, so called "Al Qaeda", them along with the cars bombs, with the sectarian militias and their torture centers and their drills...are paid, trained and ordered by an American - Mossad - Iranian consortium to apply Bremer's policy: " Let us bring them down to 5 million."

Seriously do you people all have like some sort of play book with rule number one being: "the ummah can not be blamed for anything and when all else fails blame the Jews," sorry but the heretical followers of the apostate Qutb and the death cult of Wahhab are of your own creation, but like all tyrannical ideologies led by despots who thought they could go heads up against the republic they will find themselves in the dustbin of history along with their predecessors soon enough. I really am sorry (well not really) that you and the Tikriti Sunni elitist scum can no longer live in the lap of luxury while the masses starve under the jack boot of Baathist thugs, but the vast majority of Iraqi's do not want to go back to that tyranny as was proven by the fact that as a % of the population more Iraqi's voted for Democracy than did Americans in the 2000 presidential elections, and we weren't facing the loss of life and limb at the hands of Islamic Fascists and Baathist holdovers.

Nex ut tyrannus y sic semper tyrannus, licentia vel nex!
Death to tyrants and thus always for tyrant, liberty or death!

"It is in vain, sir, to extentuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" -- Patrick Henry to the Virginia House of Burgesses 3/23/1775

TO ARMS TO ARMS!!!

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