Sandmonkey, TV Critic!

Over the past couple days there has been so much good writing done by Arabs taking a look around them and reporting in the blogosphere that I don't know where to begin.

Nonetheless, let me start with the absolute best blog entry from today. It comes from Sandmonkey. Sam puts on his Night-Vision Goggles and watches the Arab Parallel Universe as if in broad daylight.

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GM over at Big Pharaoh has just posted a righteous blog entry on "radioactive anti-Americanism."

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Nadz also takes on the Arab Parallel Universe.

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Mohammed over at Iraq the Model conducts a little experiment as he goes through his day.

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Fouad Ajami has returned from a trip around the Middle East.

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Traveling Kaaba Show

Hey, I was surfing the net this morning and this caught my eye.

Surprise Decision on Kaaba Initiative

By Haider Kuttab

RIYADH (Reuters) - In a surprise development Saudi authorities have agreed to allow the Kaaba to be moved annually to a different Muslim country to show solidarity with the other Muslim nations and to aid the poorer countries by allowing them to receive the influx of money coming from the pilgrimages of devout Muslims from around the world.

Starting in 2008 the Kaaba will be moved by an as-yet unnamed Saudi construction company and then relocated to the host country, where it will remain for up to two months covering the holy month of Ramadan.

Already speculation has begun about which country will be the first to receive the Kaaba. Egyptian officials have been in talks with Saudi Arabia on the possibility of being the first Muslim country to accept this offer.

"We would like to set the Kaaba down next to our pyramids," said a spokesman for Hosni Mubarak. "With both the Kaaba and the pyramids, we could perhaps triple our revenue from foreign tourists and Islamic pilgrims."

I wonder why we haven't heard more about this.

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Butcher of Sagdad.

Heh heh.

Sorry, but that photo of an Iraqi mother and her son laughing at Saddam (scroll down a bit) is PRICELESS.

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Oh, what a WONDERFUL day!

Schroeder just got his HEAD handed to him in North Rhine-Westphalia!

Check out Davids Medienkritik for the best commentary.

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Take a ride with Steven Vincent as he tags along with British military on a dusty trip to Qasr Zaid in Iraq.

Check out the photos. That border fort looks EXACTLY like a WHITE CASTLE burger joint down the street from where I live!

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The Long Goodbye to the Left.

Read the whole article.

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SOULS FOR SALE: GALLOWAY & JARRAR

COMING SOON TO A

THEATER NEAR YOU

SOULS FOR SALE

STARRING JACKAL GEORGE GALLOWAY
& RAED THE GORILLA JARRAR

SPECIAL GUEST STAR SADDAM HUSSEIN

Illustration by D. Carriere


A SORDID TALE OF GRAFT, GREED,
DESPOTISM, AND THREE MERCEDES...

RATED R FOR ROTTEN

PARENTAL GUIDANCE A MUST

NO ONE SHOULD SEE THIS MOVIE!

Arab Parallel Universe in Full Effect

Over at Akbar's a lively discussion has begun around the subject of Islam and its role in terrorist activities around the world. As usual, I have shot my mouth off a little intemperately. Fortunately the discussion also included such a longstanding Iraqi Blogopshere commenter as Louise.

Louise was able push me down into a chair, slap me a few times, and then articulate what my feverish mind was thinking.

akbar, if I may, my friend Jeffrey is very passionate about this, and who can blame him. He is a New Yorker and 9/11 happened on his doorstep. But he and RC have asked some good questions and pointed out several stark hypocrisies that very few Arabs have dared to discuss.

You and a few of the bloggers and some Arabs living in the West (and I should say Muslims, as well, because I know they are not one and the same), are among the notable exceptions who are beginning to speak up.

When I suggested that "who started the Arab/Israeli conflict" is the wrong question, I believe one of the many, many right questions that need to be asked is why can't the Arabs and Muslim people address their inability to examine these questions. It's not as if they have examined them and found the exercise to be useless.

There is no denying that great masses of Arab and Muslim people have heretofore refused to acknowledge that any part of the responsibility for all of these travesties to which RC and Jeffrey allude, could lie within their own house.

This is what the dictatorships of the past 50+ years and centuries of the radical and rigid sects of Islam have accomplished: a complete inability to reflect on ones own behavior, and to take responsibility for it, masked (ie, kept in a state of denial) by an autocratic fixation with a hopeless cause - Israel.

And while I'm at it, I might suggest one of the other questions that should be asked, if the exercise in self-reflection takes its full course, and that is:

What has caused the Arabs to remain so weak, while so much of the rest of the world became modernized and technologically powerful? (It's not just the United States that is far ahead in the game, or even the white skinned, Europeans and their offshoots like Canada or Australia. Think of Japan, South Korea and other places in the Far East.

The Arab world has such great potential. Why have they become frozen in a time that the rest of us left so very long ago? Many of those other terrorist groups you mention were met with loud, persistent opposition from moderate, intelligent people in their respective countries. Yet the governments and many of the people in the Arab world seem to think denial is the proper response when dealing with their own terrorists, or worse, financing and training terrorists. What is that has led to this state of affairs?

And the really big question: Why did so many Iraqi expatriates petition governments in the Western world to intervene on their behalf to topple the tyrant? Where were their own brethren??? And if these brothers had wanted to help, could they have???

The answers to these these questions alone are essential ingredients to a solution to the problems the Muslim world has.

I would love to hear your views on these points. I suspect you may agree that these kinds of questions need to be asked by Arabs of themselves. Frankly, I think the Jeffrey's of the West would become much calmer if these issues were addressed openly, and if, after several years down the road, that has been accomplished, there could well be a substantial shift in the Arab Israeli conflict.

Right now, the way I see it, the Palestinians and the Arabs right now would have no idea what to do tomorrow morning, if Israel just disappeared. They would still have the same problems and would have neither the technology nor the institutions that would enable them to rise up and be part of the family of modern nations. If their governments had spent even half as much effort in the past 50 years developing modern institutions and useful technologies than they did fostering a feeding frenzie of hatred and beating a dead horse (the Israeli-Palestinian thing), 9/11 wouldn't have happened and Jeffrey would not be making such threatening sounds.

Thanks, Louise.

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Bobby from Virginia is one of the original Iraqi Blogosphere commenters. Like me, his mind has recently been TWISTED BUT GOOD by the Arab Parallel Universe. He weighs in on the matter over at Big Pharaoh.

Everybody is a hypocrite to one extent or another. We face up to many of our examples every day. But it's too long overdue that people in the middle east do the same.

1. Protesting over a book but not over human lives.

2. Doing the same thing you are upset about by painting our flag on the ground to walk on.

3. Ignoring the fact that religious minorities in the region are under constant assault in many forms.

4. The centers of Islam, Arabia and Egypt, discriminate against Christians in blatant and obscene ways. And they would obliterate Jews if they could, it is even written in the so-called holy Koran.

5. Worrying about a tyrant who degraded and debased the entire world.

6. And now, here we have the great wonderful and illustrious Sunni clerics closing mosques in protest because a couple of their fellow frothing-at-the-mouth inciters of violence have been killed.
THEY.ARE.FULL.OF.SHIT!

People, if you want to excitement, join the discussions now in progress on the comments pages of the Iraqi Blogosphere!

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SERENITY NOW!

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Good Luck Neurotic Iraqi Wife

Artwork By Mister Ghost

Good Luck and Kind Regards to Neurotic Iraqi Wife who's off to the Green Zone of Baghdad to be with her Husband and Work at her dream job in Finance and make Lots of Money.

And who can blame this Young Iraqi Pioneer with a Big Heart for heading back to the Motherland, as she and her Hubby help rebuild the country they love and its economy.

Whatever dangers may await her, we're confident she'll past through them with Flying Colors and make Iraq a better place than it was, when she departed from the country.

We at Iraqi Bloggers Central Wish Her a
Big Time Well!

Alright, Let's Have A Farewell Party! Heh.

Spirit of America -- Scam or Legit?

Followers of the Iraqi blogosphere were pleased yesterday to find that Ali, our Free Iraqi, decided to discuss the reasons for his separation from the Spirit of America organization. Today, Ali posts a follow-up blog entry on the subject.

I wasn't there on the 1st meeting with Jim Hake and Kerry Dupont but my brothers, some of our friends and a couple of journalists were there, in addition to the people from Ramadi. My friends and my brothers told me that they were shocked with these guys from Ramadi. They attended one meeting where everyone was discussing how to run a public awareness campaign about the Iraqi elections. Their comment (the guys from Ramadi) was, "What are you talking about?? Let the occupation forces leave Iraq first and then we'll talk about elections." After that they did not attend any meeting and spent their time having fun and shopping. They even looked at my brothers with suspicious eyes saying, " why are you staying here in the hotel?! Are you serious about this?!" which scared my brothers and friends, as it seems these people thought that everyone was here to steal American's money and laugh at them after that, but here are some Iraqis who were actually "collaborating with the occupiers".

And this TV station was supposed to bring Iraqis in Anbar something different from what Al Jazeera was offering them! They just created another, even a worse smaller version of Al Jazeera. That's where American money was and still is going mostly.

Read the whole entry.

Ali paints a fairly damning portrait of all your donated money being stuffed into the pockets of a line of shady characters.

I think we need to discuss this. If the money donated to Spirit of America is now funding mini Al-Jazeera radio stations, that's not good, right?

We need answers. NOW.

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The In T View: Nadz: Proud and Free

Never Preachy, Frequently Optimistic, a Strong Advocate for Woman's Rights, Arab American
Blogger Nadz, reporting from a Secret Location
in the Big 50, provides a Frank and Honest Look
at the Mideast and World Events via her Blog: Nadz Online.

And in The In T View: Nadz: Proud and Free,
she discusses everything from Moderate Muslims
to Islam to Hugging Trees to Palestine to
the Kingdom of Saud to Irshad Manji to Riverdance...and much more.

It's The In T View: Nadz: Proud and Free

Interview: Mister Ghost. Artwork: Diane Carriere & Mister Ghost


MG: Hello Nadz, How are you?

Nadz: Hi there, Mr Ghost. I'm doing great.


MG: What does Love mean to you?

Nadz: Hmm, good question. Love means respect and faith in a person. Sticking together through thick and thin, when things get rough and the early idealism is gone. Having confidence in a person's goodness. Lots of cliches.


MG: What do you think of the Views of Irshad Manji?

Nadz: Part of me thinks that she might be a bit naive, but another part of me thinks that Islam needs people like her to reform it. I don't know if Islam can be reformed to accept gay feminists like her, and I don't know why she hasn't just given up on faith. However, she clearly thinks that there's something there worth saving, so kudos to her for being brave enough to call for change.


MG: Moderate and Secular Muslims are out there, but seem silent
or silenced compared to the Radical and Fundamentalist Islamicists.
How do you get the Moderate and Secular members of Islam to Speak
Out and make their Views and Presence Known, to avoid disasters
like the Muslims Against Terror Rally that drew a disgraceful
36 - 200 participants?

Nadz: 36-200? Wow, that is bad. What a shame. Well, I think blogs and the internet are a good start. It allows us to talk to each other and others with more anonymity. I think there are quite a few of us out there, but we're too intimidated to speak out en masse. I wish I had a solution.


MG: Have you ever hugged a tree?

Nadz: Hahaha! I've climbed many, but as you can probably guess from my anti-hippy comments, I'm not big on bonding with plants.


MG: You've probably already been told this, but your Nickname/Blogname is slang for a certain part of a man's anatomy. Are you good to go with this and see
it as a Badge of Honor, saying in essence, I've Got Balls! LOL?

Nadz: Lol! I guess I tend to kick men in the balls with my angry ranting, so I've kinda earned my name.

MG: What is your Favorite Part of a Man's -- or to cover all the bases -- Woman's Body?

Nadz: I like men's arms. A nice back is also a plus. I'm not into women in that way, but everything about Angelina Jolie is smokin' hot - except for the homewrecking part, of course.


MG: Do Camels smell?

Nadz: They reek! Especially when they leave camel droppings outside of your house.


MG: You have an American Mom and a Palestinian Father and have spent considerable time in Middle East, even in the Tragic Kindom of Saud. How has this affected your worldview? Do you think of yourself as being more worldly than your peers?

Nadz: Being from a multicultural background has helped me see both sides to many debates, and made me see the pluses and minuses of different cultures. I guess I try to be open-minded, see both sides, and watch out for extremists!


MG: What do you consider yourself to be? Are you an American, a Palestinian,
a Moslem, or just a human being?

Nadz: Arab-American. I'm both an American and a Palestinian, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a huge fan of labels, though.


MG: Ever been involved in a Snowball Fight?

Nadz: Yes! When I was younger. There wasn't much snow on the ground, so the fight didn't last very long.


MG: Do you have any Pets?

Nadz: I have a dog and a hamster. I'm a slave to them both.


MG: What do you think your Totem Animal is?

Nadz: Totem animal? I guess a porquepine (did I spell that right?) - small and short-tempered. But also cute and relatively harmless.


MG: Is there Life on other Planets?

Nadz: I hope so. I think with the vastness of the universe, it would be pretty arrogant to think that we're the only life form. We may never run into them, but that would be something if we did. You never know - Michael Jackson may call the mothership if he gets convicted.


MG: You're an Atheist and don't believe in God or Allah.
You know this could get you killed in 4 out of every 5 Islamic Nations?

Nadz: Yes! I'm familiar with the apostacy laws, and don't think much of them. I don't consider myself an apostate, though, because I've always been an atheist. When I was six years old and was told about God, I thought it didn't make sense - why should I believe in invisible men unless I have evidence for them?


MG: Nadz, recently there were riots and deaths in the Moslem World,
because of what seems to be a false rumor that a U.S. Soldier flushed
a Qumran down the toilet in Guatanamo -- Never mind, how the hell
do you actually flush a thick book down a toilet -- But should anyone die
because of a book?

Nadz: No, absolutely not. People are way too touchy about their Holy books - if you have such faith in your infallible religion, surely it can handle a little desecration? I understand how people were offended by it, but it's no reason to kill people. I think the riots in Afghanistan are about more than the Koran incident - it's a chance for the clergy and the radicals to show that they're still a force to be reckoned with.


MG: Nadz, how different would Islam be, if the Prophet was a Woman?

Nadz: Wouldn't that have been something? There were some female prophets around at the time, apparently. If the Prophet was a woman, I'd suspect she'd preach a more egalitarian system, emphasize the "sacred feminine" concept, place more value on children, sex as a positive force, and economic justice.

However, Islam probably would have not taken off the way it has with a woman as its founder - I don't think men would have listened, sadly. Some might have followed her, but sexism has been around long before monotheism made it worse.


MG: Is Islam a Misogynistic Religion or is it the Interpretation of Islam
by those shepherding and preaching the faith that leads to Honor
Killings, Subjugation, Veilings, Restrictions of Freedom,
and Genital Mutilation among women?

Nadz: Like all religions, Islam is a patriarchal system that preaches male superiority over women. There are some verses in the Quran that are blatantly sexist. However, the problems in the mideast are not all due to Islam, but the way it mixes with cultural traditions and mysogynistic thinking. For example, FGM and honor killings aren't sanctioned in the Quran, but the ideas in the culture and religion about female "honor" allow it to happen.

There is an agrument, however, that interpretation has a lot to do with it. There is mysogyny in the Bible and the Torah as well, but most people choose not to listen to the sexist verses. Muslims need to learn to do the same - to take the good and leave the bad. And it's only through the efforts of women, I think, that will bring this about. But the fact that all religions are rooted in patriarchy is a problem. The more fundamentalist the religion, the worse it is for women. Oh, and the clergy are jerks.


MG: What is your favorite place in the Mideast and why?

Nadz: Petra, in Jordan. It's a beautiful, ancient place. A Nabatean city carved out of rock into the mountains - I'd recommend that everyone see it, and I may even post some pictures of the place on my blog now.

The entrance of the city also features two carvings of Amazon women - it reminds me that women in this part of the world were not always oppressed, and that we don't always have to be.

The coasts of Lebanon are also beautiful - Beirut is an amazing city. The Dead Sea, the hills of the West Bank, the mountains...I love 'em all. But I have a special place in my heart for ancient places.


MG: Lebanon: According to DEBKA, Michael Aoun, the former president
of Lebanon, is returning to Lebanon from 14 years exile in France
(the "Lucky" Guy) to run in the upcoming Lebanese Presidential
elections. Do you think Lebanon and the Lebanese will finally be at peace?

Nadz: I hope so - the Lebanese deserve peace, especially after the horrible civil war they went through. It's not going to be all smooth sailing in the near future - there are still sectarian tensions and Hezbollah are still very powerful. But I think the anti-Syria, pro-democracy protesters have shown that Lebanon is moving forward, and there's no going back for the reactionaries. There are too many people who have had enough.


MG: Palestine: Nadz, you say The Intifadah "was a disaster."
And hopefully, anyone with more than half a brain won't disagree
with you. So, what do the Palestinians do now to extricate themselves
from the morass they've buried themselves under?

Nadz: Stop the pattern of justifying the militants' actions, and make it clear to the Israelis that Hamas and Islamic Jihad no longer speak for us. Then, create a massive non-violence movement - the "violence movement" never works, but Ghandi's tactics have never failed. If we find peaceful ways to resist the occupation, we'll give the Israelis reason to think that we're not out to drive them into the sea.

Reform the PA. Create an efficient governmental system. Stop blaming Israel for everything, and learn to fix things ourselves. Instead of complaining when the Israelis take a step backwards, take the initiative and move in the right direction. Continue non-violence tactics, get international attention and demand to get back to the negociating table. Make sure that Arafat doesn't come back to life (shivers).

Above all though, stop shouting for revenge and instead call for reconciliation. We will never turn the clock back to pre-1945, so we have to accept that we can't have everything. We need to accept some hard truths and learn to forgive. There is so much bad feeling now, both sides have to forgive a little for the sake of peace.


MG: You've spent time in Saudi Arabia. What was it like to live
there? How restrictive was it?

Nadz: I didn't think much of the dress code. Well, it's not as bad as its sometimes made out to be - it depends on what area you're in. But generally, when I'm in the Kingdom, i feel restricted, uncomfortable, unable to breathe freely. It's a little suffocating, especially with all of the security now because of the terrorist attacks.
There are some good things about it - nice beaches, a relatively comfortable standard of living, cheap gasoline. But it's not a good place to be a woman - you feel hostility and begin to want to be invisible, just to avoid the scutiny. You don't feel free to speak your mind, express yourself, act as you see fit - it's a theocracy.


MG: And what about the Saudi Educational System? How did it feel to attend
Saudi Schools? Was there a lot of Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism
inundating the students?

Nadz: It's not a daily occurance, but it's there. Islam class was the worst in terms of the hostility towards Americans and Jews. I didn't spend all of my time in Saudi schools, though - I was in an American cirriculum for a while, and went to school in other middle eastern countries as well. But the education system is pretty bad - no room for independant thinking at all.

MG: When will the poor Saudi Women be allowed to vote and will they even be able to see the Ballots from under their Burkhas? And how will they know if it's a
woman voting - it could be a man in disguise you know? And will the Saudi Men
even be allowed to touch and count the ballots, after women have handled them -
Won't the ballots have to be disinfected?

Nadz: Hahaha! Don't forget the high rates of rape and prostitution the voting will also cause! One quick note: in Saudi Arabia, women wear Abayas, not Burkas - they're black instead of blue and don't have that mesh thingy over the face.

Seriously, women will get the vote when they demand it - take to the streets and insist on their rights. Suffragettes in the States and Europe had to go on hunger strikes and chain themselves to railway tracks before they were given the right to vote. I hope it won't come to that, but it will take some action to get the vote. Time for a feminist revolution!


MG: What's the Best Movie you've seen in the last six months and why?

Nadz: I see lots of movies - I'm a big movie buff. Hmm...off the top of my head, I'd say Hotel Rwanda was a very powerful, touching movie. I loved the "lord of the rings" movies. I saw "Dr Stangelove" only recently and loved it.


MG: How did you become interested in Blogging, and how did your Blog:
Nadz Online come about?

Nadz: I had starting following mainstream blogs and learning about them through friends. Then, I started to follow a lot of the Iraqi and Middle Eastern blogs, and was encouraged by all of the pro-democracy, moderate bloggers saying things that we couldn't say on the streets. But I noticed that there were very few Arab female bloggers. I guess I wanted to add to the conversation about the mideast in the blogosphere, and make sure that women weren't left out of the dialogue.


MG: Besides your own Blog, what other Blogs do you read and can recommend?

Nadz: I like Instapundit, Buzzmachine, Publius Pundit and sometimes Little Green Footballs. As for the Middle Eastern blogs, I like Healing Iraq, Iraq The Model, Hammorabi, Mental Mayhem, Sandmonkey, Big Pharoah, The Bedouin Cowboy, Amarji The Heretic, Neurotic Iraqi Wife. Mahmoud's Den and Iraqi Blogger's Central, of course. I don't agree with her politics, but Riverbend is a great writer, so I read her blog. I've just discovered Baghdad's Mistress (through your blog, actually), which I find really interesting.


MG: What is your Favorite Food?

Nadz: Anything with cheese on it.


MG: Do you have a Sweet Tooth? Any dessert or junk food you absolutely
go Ga-Ga over?

Nadz: Chocolate chip cookies and tiramasu.


MG: Are you a South Park Republican?

Nadz: I think so. I've read some that book, and it sounds like me - socially, I'm probably liberal, but economically, I'm a little more conservative. I like laughing at both sides, however, and try to stay in the middle.


MG: So, you don't like Riverdance? How is this possible? Are you not wowed by the dancing mastery of one Mr. Michael Flatley?

Nadz: It's scary! It doesn't seem like dancing to me if no hip-shaking is involved - it's just kicking the air with freakishly accurate coordination. And Flately, I suspect, is pure evil.


MG: You talk about the "Hijab Squad" in your blog. Could you tell us who this
mysterious group of individuals are?

Nadz: They are a group of conservative Muslim women who are basically, intentionally or unintentially, cheerleaders for partiarchy. They like to claim that their hijabs are about "empowerment", that shariah is egalitarian, and that women have separate but equal roles. In reality, they end up apologizing for the oppression of their sisters and sanctioning male mistreatment of women. They're so vocal that they tend to drown out other Arab and Muslim women who are not so keen on being mouthpieces for sexism.

They were a bit mysterious until I revealed their leader, the Grand High Cheerleader of Patriarchy, in my blog. I still haven't found their secret volcano lair, however.

MG: Nadz, you don't wear the hijab yourself. Don't you know that the uncovered
hair of a woman produces sex rays that causes men to be filled with
Uncontrollable Lust and to lose all their control around women - even worse
than alcohol?

Nadz: Yep, I'm aware of the magical rays in my hair - it's all part of my sinister plan to control men and take over the world! Seriously, though, isn't that ridiculous? They think that all men are perverts because they're perverts themselves. And I wouldn't plan on using the magical hair ray defense in a rape trial - there's that other disgusting defense of "she asked for it".


MG: What's the Strangest Thing you've seen in your life?

Nadz: A man jogging with a cigarette in his mouth.


MG: Have you ever fallen under the sway of Moammar Ghadaffi?
That's one Stylin' Dictator - He could sweep you off your
feet, Nadz, if you're not careful.

Nadz: Hehe. Have you seen his all-female bodyguard squad? If I wasn't so anti-dictator, I might have to sign up. He's more stylin' than Kim Jong-Il, that's for sure. I'd probably prefer to be a crazy dctator than serve one, but that's just me.


MG: Thanks Very Much for a Nice Interview, Nadz, and Final Question:
Have you ever seen a Ghost?

Nadz: Thanks. No, I haven't seen a ghost. When I was 5, I thought I
saw one of Santa's elves - then I learned there was no santa, and my childhood ended.

Close to Home for the Jarrars

Faiza Jarrar and her two sons, Khalid and Raed, have been under intense scrutiny the last month or so as the death-count rises over a thousand at the hands of Raed's "glorious resistance."

Are the resistance killing Occupation forces?

No.

Who are they killing then?

Iraqi men, women, and children because it's EASY to kill them with suicide bombers.

And now people close to the Jarrars have started to die at the hands of their "resistance."

Since April 1, 2005, the insurgents/terrorists/resistance have killed:

689 Iraqi Civilians

370 Iraqi Military / Police

1059 Iraqi Citizens killed since April 1, 2005, by the people that Raed and Khalid support.

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As one might expect, Faiza Jarrar is the most level-headed. She has seen enough of the carnage brought about by the "resistance":

A short while ago, a trapped car exploded in front of a shop selling dairy products, near our house in Baghdad. The shop is in a main, commercial street, in front of an intermediate school for boys. There is no police station, or such other state offices, civilian or military. The victims were, as usual, Iraqi civilians who were passing by, pedestrian, or in their cars�

The question is: who stands behind these silly, stupid operations, that disfigures the reputation of whoever wants to resist the occupation, killing more innocent Iraqi civilians�?

...

Is the resistance really a bunch of people who hate life, wanting destruction and ruin to all things around them, without a clear, fixed target in vision, and action style? Just explosions, in a blind way, without rules, without mercy to the Iraqi civilians, who are the only victims in this irrational hell?

These mean, irresponsible acts will push the Iraqis away from supporting the resistance, towards hating it�and shunning it�and their hearts and minds shall be with that who will bring them salvation from these inhuman, destructive acts�

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Two days ago the "glorious resistance" fired mortars that landed on Khalid's university and killed people that he knows.

But Saad, the head of security of the University, who is a husband and a father, who was injured this morning just died, i just heard from the hospital. :*(((
He was a very Kind person, he allowed me to Enter the camera inside the campus when i made the films for CBC, no one would let me get them in because of the security situation, but he allowed me on his own responsibility knowing that it might get him in trouble.

Khalid, do you still support the terrorists?

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The most pathetic Jarrar remains Raed, whose head is firmly planted in the sand while friends and family are targeted daily by the very people that he supports.

Zarqawi is laughing his ass off at the PERFECT USEFUL IDIOT, Raed Jarrar.

When the terrorists murdered Raed's friend Marla Ruzicka, Raed blamed the Occupation forces for her death!

ZARQAWI to Raed Jarrar: GOOD DOGGIE! GOOD DOGGIE! Here's a little treat! Good boy!

RAED:

All of the Iraqi-Iraqi conflicts are caused by the US-led illegal occupation. Every drop of Iraqi blood that has been shed after this invasion is the responsibility of the occupation forces, and all the US and Hakim's attempts of starting a large scale Iraqi-Iraqi conflict so that they can strengthen their own position won't succeed.

ZARQAWI: GOOD DOGGIE, RAED! We'll keep murdering Iraqis and YOU keep blaming the Americans! Here's a nice treat! GOOD BOY!

GOOD DOGGIE, RAED, GOOD DOGGIE!

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And, of course, Raed has returned to his ADORATION of MUQTY and his FIVE MILLION FOLLOWERS!

Raed: And that's my CONSERVATIVE estimate!

Good doggie, Raed, good doggie!

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The In T View: Sam From Hammorabi

Sam from the Hammorabi Blog is the most Elusive, Passionate, and Mysterious of the Iraqi Bloggers to share his thoughts
on his country of Iraq, the Middle East, Terrorism, and Geo-Politics. We really don't know who he truly is, but appreciate his contributions to the Blogosphere, and are
presented with the opportunity to learn more about his views on Blogging,
Iraq, Sistani, Childhood, Islam, Food, Terrorism, Muqti al Sadr, and more in:

The In T View: Sam From Hammorabi

MG: Hello Sam, How are you?

Sam: Hi MG.


MG: How did you become interested in Blogging, and how did your Blog: Hammorabi come about?

Sam: Blogging is another way of communication, finding local news not covered by the media, and it gives (me the opportunity to converse with) lots of friends from all over the globe. I discovered it by seeing the other blogs through the Internet. Hammorabi is the Babylonian King who produced a full written law and I found this as a good name for something about Iraq.


MG: You have been writing your interesting blog for more than a year now.
What are the challenges associated with writing it and what is the best thing to you about blogging?

Sam: Writing to different readers who don't know the exact magnitude of the adversities and problems in Iraq since 36 years is by itself a challenge. It is about how I can tell you about the size of our suffering for many years? I only can say drop of the ocean. The best thing is learning from other people like you and having friends that you never seen. Communication and changing ideas is a big advantage and a challenge.


MG: Are there other Blogs you like to read and can recommend?

Sam: I read many blogs but can't recommend specific blogs.


MG: In your blog, you often refer to history. What is the most
interesting historical era -- in the Middle East or the World -- to you?

Sam: I like the ancient history of the mankind and how the man starts to make civilizations. Also interested in the history of the Arabs region and Iraq. I am not historian but some time read about the English and the American recent history.


MG: So, how do you view the commentators to your Blog?

Sam: Difficult to say a view about all the commentators because they are different, however I got lot of them like friends or say friends. I respect any views and ideas but without insult to the others or their religion as far as the others are not terrorists.


MG: What are your favorite places in Iraq and the World?

Sam: Historic places especially the very ancient, nature places and my favorite place in Iraq is where there are palm trees and water. The desert represents some thing mysterious that I would like to explore. I love the Iraqi marshes which could represent a beautiful tourist place and natural sanctuary for birds, fish, and it is the place of birth of the first human civilization where the first letter and syllable written.


MG: Let's chat a little about food, Sam. Months back, you talked about a Camel barbecued with honey and figs, that you would like to make for your friends and posters. Do you have a recipe for this?

Sam: The Camel BQ needs no recipe! It needs no salt either because the camel meat a bit salty. Well the recipe is a surprise.


MG: What was the best meal you ever had and why?

Sam: Iraqi Dates fresh from tree, yogurt and cream when all are fresh! Kiln grilled Iraqi marsh fish with freshly made Iraqi bread plus onion.


MG: What were your favorite subjects at school while growing up?

Sam: Math, science, biology.


MG: Could you tell us about a fond memory from your childhood?

Sam: When you are a child and being irresponsible, free like a bird not to worry about any thing is all nice. My school was certainly the nicest thing for me however the best thing in the school was when I receive my results and on the top of that when the summer holiday starts.


MG: Sam, what makes you laugh? What do you find funny?

Sam: Is there anything funny now a days?! Laugh when things go wrong unexpectedly some time to strong comedy shows and the secret cameras good show.


MG: Sam, I understand you're far from being a materialistic man,
but if you inherited about 50 Million Dollars, what would you to do with the money?

Sam: I will give some to my family and some to charity for sick children in Iraq and start a good business. If you like I will donate some for you!
(MG says: Yay, my credit card companies will be very grateful for Sam's donation.)


MG: Sam, what is essential to you in life?

Sam: Without God I won't survive. Peace and respect with values are important. To be good towards my God, myself, my family, the others, the environment and the world as a whole.


MG: What is your favorite book of all time?

Sam: The Holy Quran and the Holy Bible.


MG: What is the link between God and religion?

Sam: Strong without human manipulation


MG: What is the importance of ritual in religion?

Sam: Sort of exercise for the soul and programming the self to be on that religion.


MG: Al Sistani has been a force in Iraq. What do you see in the man and as a spiritual leader?

Sam: Wise, respecting the others and their views irrespective of their religions so can work as a symbol to unify. He is against the use of force and terrorism and the good thing he is calling for, (is) separation of the state from religion in a way not allowing the Mullas to impose themselves as politicians. This is the main difference between Najaf Hawza and Iran Hawza.


MG: Now Sam, should al-Sistani, unelected and not chosen by the Iraqi people to govern them or even represent them, be a force in a modern democratic state?

Sam: No he is not a political force but a spiritual leader and he was so during Saddam regime as spiritual leader so nothing changed now a part from taking his advices and views become public and important for the time being. Once the democratic process established and mechanism for election and constitution set out then Sistani or whoever comes after him will not impose themselves on the politics of the state unless asked to give advice. Indeed he is now not giving his views unless asked to give and he only suggest whether the others will take his suggestion or not. However a man like him is so important in this time like a father in the family.


MG: Some of the rules in Qumran are often interpreted in rigid ways, especially those related to women. What do you think of these interpretations?

Sam: This is a long subject and you need to be specific which role you mean? However not all the interpretations are correct.


MG: Do you think Islamic practices that are in contradiction to modern society and life can be reformed and modernized?

Sam: Absolutely not Islamic practice is so easy and it is the reverse in a materialistic life and stress when need to turn our faces at the end of the day to the highest power in this universe to pray and to sooth our hardship and suffering.


MG: What place should Sharia law have in a modern democratic state?

Sam: I don't think this can be implemented in Iraq.


MG: What are two of your favorites passages in the Qumran?

Sam: In the name of God (Allah) most Gracious most Merciful.

All the praises and thanks be to All�h, the Lord of the '�lam�n (mankind, jinn and all that exists).

The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)

You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
Guide us to the Straight Way

The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger nor of those who went astray


MG: Would you like to tell us about your family experiences under Saddam?

Sam: This is so long story but we lost a lot and many of my family have been executed.


MG: Saddam's regime was unforgiving. What marks did it leave on your beautiful country and you?

Sam: All what you may see now are the outcome of his mischiefs. The scars he inflicted will not go so easily.


MG: Sam, how must Iraqis cope with past decades of terror and death imposed by Saddam's Baathist Regime?

Sam: They pay thousands to try to topple him but he was supported by big states and Arabs in the region.


MG: What would you like your government to do to improve the security situation?

Sam: Well equipped army and police and punishment for terrorists with the
help of your country and other states.


MG: What special skills does it take to be a good Iraqi Prime Minister?

Sam: Educated, wise, just and not sectarian.


MG: Sam, there's a great deal of mistrust between the Bush Administration and
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, with Adminsitration officials questioning
the Shia Leadership and Parties -- SCIRI and Dawa -- ties to Iran. Can
al-Jaafari and the Shia leadership be trusted or are they just stooges for the
terrorist supporting Iranian government?

Sam: He is just (part of) an interim government and there is going to be another election in Dec 2005, but he is Iraqi and not Iranian. Iran and the USA will be friends so soon and I assure you about this and Iraq could play a major role in this in future.


MG: How badly has Iranian Intelligence penetrated the Shia leadership?

Sam: I don't agree with this.


MG: What does it mean for Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, if Iran
becomes a Nuclear State?

Sam: I think all the nuclear weapons should be destroyed from the world to be safer and better.


MG: Sam, let's talk about Muqti al-Sadr. Why hasn't he been arrested yet?
How much murder and mayhem is one allowed to commit, before one faces
criminal proceeding in the new Iraq? Is he being coddled/protected by
Sistani and the Shia Theocracy?

Sam: This is multiple questions clustered in one - need to be asked to Alawi government. The last part is no he is not.


MG: Women in Iraq have been more prominent in society than in other ME
nations. What should their role be in the future of the country?

Sam: As the role of the women in your country.


MG: In Saudi Arabia, women have few rights. What are your thoughts about
this?

Sam: Should change.


MG: Do you think Iraq could be a model for other Nations in the ME?

Sam: Not in its blood bath now but in future yes and we started to see
the effects in many Arab countries.


MG: If you were to spend a week as a substitute teacher in
a classroom of Iraqi children, ages 8 to 13, what would you tell them?

Sam: To be good to their parents, their selves and their country.
Build peaceful Iraq.


MG: How would you describe Iraqi society to a group of
students in America?

Sam: Friendly, generous, respectful, peaceful, hard workers and they love life.


MG: Do you have any hopes for the ME in terms of social, economic,
and political progress?

Sam: May be.

MG: Do you think Iraq should lead by example and develop friendly
relations with Israel (economic, political)?

Sam: Why not?


MG: Sam, would you ever consider entering politics, if you were
asked to do so?

Sam: Not impossible perhaps not


MG: Terror is the plague of our time. What do you think are its
roots? And secondly, how can the people of the Middle Eastern address it?

Sam: The Saudi Wahabism ; definitely.


MG: Sam, Why didn't Western Leftists denounce Saddam and his regime?

Sam: They are like him


MG: What do you think of Westerners, especially those on the left,
could learn from what is happening in Iraq?

Sam: A lot!


MG: Why doesn't Mainstream Islam denounce terrorism?

Sam: Who said so?!


MG: Thanks Very Much, Sam, for a Nice Interview, and final question:
Have you ever seen a Ghost?

Sam: No but only you after reading your long questions which make me at the end to see it like a ghost which is not going to finish but thank you for your interest indeed and good luck.

The In T View by Diane Carriere & Mister Ghost ~ Artwork by Mister Ghost

Let Raed Jarrar Rot in Hell for Eternity!

Raed Jarrar has defended the insurgents/terrorists/resistance since the fall of Baghdad over two years ago. I thought that he would change his mind when he saw how many innocent Iraqi men, women, and children have been ripped apart by waves of suicide bombers. I was wrong.

Raed Jarrar hasn't said ONE WORD about the terrorists. Not ONE WORD of condemnation. Today, while over sixty Iraqis lost their lives to HIS INSURGENT BUDDIES, he talks about a protest in Afghanistan!

Raed's silence about the carnage in Iraq speaks VOLUMES!

I'm telling you, my Iraqi friends, remember where Read Jarrar stood while his buddies slaughtered your citizens.

*

Let's look at the numbers.

In April, 2005, RAED'S BUDDIES killed:

303 Civilians

200 Police / Military

503 Total Iraqi men, women, and children MURDERED by Raed's Dear Old Gang in April.

*

In the last 11 days:

284 Civilians

112 Military / Police

396 Total Iraqi men, women, and children MURDERED by Raed's Dear Old Gang in the last 11 days.

*

Let's add those numbers for Raed, okay?

In the last 41 days:

587 Civilians

312 Military / Police

899 Total Iraqi men, women, and children MURDERED by Raed's Dear Old Gang in the last 41 days.


Have Raed Jarrar or Khalid Jarrar shown any sympathy for those 899 dead Iraqi men, women, and children?

No.

Not once.

What do you think about Raed and Khalid?

*


UPDATE: Raed Jarrar posts again today and guess who he blames for the murder of over sixty Iraqi men, women, and children today?

Yes, that's right. He blames the Coalition forces and the Iraqi military and police for the deaths of those people.

Arab Parallel Universe Rules!

I'm so angry I can't type anymore.

Zarqawi blows up Iraqi children and Raed Jarrar blames the Iraqi policemen who are trying to protect them.

Hey, Iraqi Bloggers out there, what do YOU think?

*

If you want to visit just ONE BLOG today, please go to Ambassador Fayrouz's blog.

Read her words.

Look at the photograph.

I'm an atheist, but even I must send a prayer for Haider Abdul Hussein's soul today, and for all the other Iraqis murdered today.

*

Steven Vincent Reports from Umm Qasr

Steven Vincent takes a ride to check out the port of Umm Qasr.

The plan is to contact a friend of Layla's named Mahmoud, a lifelong resident of Umm Qasr and someone with connections with the port. Everything goes smoothly. We hit UQ--like most Iraqi burgs, I arrive before realizing I'm at my destination, the beige brick hovels are so sparse and the dusty streets so empty they hardly qualify as city limits. We're a little early, so I ask Mahmoud to take me downtown and he shrugs and spreads his hands, palms up. This is it, amigo. Main Street, Umm Qasr.

Jesus. I mean, Jee-zus. Crumbling houses, muddy streets, broken down cars rotting in pools of motor oil, plastic bags--the scourge of the Iraqi environment--ensnared on coils of concertina wire...this is a booming port town? As the wind kicks up a mini-sand storm from a vacant lot, we park beside some nebk trees, before a weatherbeaten stucco building that seems to serve as some sort of city council hall.

Read the whole entry. Steven also includes a photo of downtown Umm Qasr. You have to see it to believe it.

*

What are you still doing here?

C'mon, get on over to Sandmonkey's Pad where Sam has a review of a recent article by John Tierney.

*

As a Democrat in academia, I had thought that my support for the Iraq War and its removal of a mass-murdering dictator would be a reasonable position to take. The vicious attacks on me from my colleagues sobered me up quickly. The fringe-left is deeply entrenched in academia and shows its ugly face to me every day on campus.

David Aaronovitch writes about his similar experiences as a journalist in Britain who supported the Iraq War.

Since I decided, in January 2003, that if Iraq was invaded I would not oppose it, I have had the almost astral experience of finding myself excommunicated from the movement, sometimes by fellow journalists who I know do not possess a political bone in their entire bodies.

All of a sudden I began to experience the left from the outside. And the first thing that struck me was its capacity for smug certainty and uniformity of response. Look at the cartoonists, whose work trumps debate. You may have Blair the poodle, Blair with blood-stained hands, Blair the liar, Bush the absurd chimp, but never, ever, Galloway the consort of tyrants or Kennedy the comforter of "insurgents". Look at the millionaire publisher Felix Dennis, who read out a poem on the Today programme in the middle of the election (a poem, incidentally, written more than a year earlier). "Why do they do it? Why do they do it? Why do they stand on their hind legs, Lying and lying and lying and lying?" This was, he explained, aimed mostly at Blair for having lied. He wasn't challenged.

It was beyond argument. Dennis, I'd guess, had never been challenged. Not by the researcher, the producer, the editor, his pals, not by anyone. Like a lot of middle-class anti-Blairites, I don't think he had ever heard the contrary case put. During the election people wrote to this newspaper saying that they hadn't met a single person who was voting Labour.

*

Medya Survives the First Elimination at the Ultimate Blogger Contest

Medya (the Kurd from just over the Iraqi border in Iran, interviewed by the inimicable Mister Ghost) has held his own in the Ultimate Blogger Cage Match.

The kitty for the winner is $500 in assorted prizes.

The first challenge was to write a blog entry about Food. Frankly, Medya seemed be having trouble warming up to the idea of blogging on command. Maybe if the subject were Turkish food....

The next challenge is to write about Technology, and he seems to have finally got his sea-legs. LOL! Get a load of Medya's description of the Iranians' first take on "using a straw".

Anyway, stop by Medya's Technology post and tell him what you think.
:)

The In T View: Sandmonkey - No Monkeying Around For This Rising Star Of The Blogosphere

He's Snarky, Delightful, a Strong Advocate
Of Democratic Reform in the Kingdom of the
Nile, and not afraid to ask and answer the
tough questions about Egypt, the Middle East,
and the World in his Fine Blog:
Rantings of a Sandmonkey.

And in the In T View: Sandmonkey - No Monkeying Around For This Rising Star Of The Blogosphere,
Sam Adams aka The Sandmonkey snarkily pontificates on Egypt, Democracy, Women, Kicking-Back the Sandmonkey Way, Mubarak, Corruption,
Blogging, the Red Sox, and much, much more.

It's The In T View: Sandmonkey - No Monkeying Around For This Rising Star Of The Blogosphere

MG: Yo Yo Yo Sandmonkey in da Pyramid
- How are you?

Sandmonkey: I am doing fine Ghostie. Yourself?


MG: What does Mubarak rhyme with?

Sandmonkey: You know, I can't seem to
find a good English rhyme to Mubarak. I even
used a rhyming dictionary. I can give you
an Arabic rhyme to it though : Homarak.
Your Arabic readers can explain to you
what it means.


MG: What must Mubarak do to engender a
more representatative government in Egypt and
how do you bring about Democratic Elections
in Egypt without allowing repressive
Islamicists like the Muslim Brotherhood
from taking over the country?

Sandmonkey: Declare Egypt to be a secular country and create a solid constitution that
follows a lot of the American one and make it
the army's job to protect the constitution from
any attempts of messing with it. That and
improving the educational system in Egypt,
cause u know, the MB, they strive on the
ignorance of most Egyptians. That's probably
the sane and long-term solution. In the short
term he can just employ Nasser tactics and
throw them all in jails. It worked in the
60's, should work now!


MG: Do Sandmonkeys like to eat Bananas or have their Bananas eaten?

Sandmonkey: Have their Bananas eaten. At least the Egyptian ones. Can't speak for all the sandmonkeys you know, especially that I hear
that the Saudi sandmonkeys just love to eat
bananas. You probably thought they just wanted
to separate women and men for religious reasons. That's a big lie man,: they just want to get
rid of the competition. ;)


MG: Do you ever think about taking all
the sand in the Sahara Desert, melting it down,
and building giant 1000-foot Tall Glass
Dinosaurs all over North Africa?

Sandmonkey: If all the sand is gone,
on what are we supposed to put those glass dinosaurs?


MG: You went to school in the Athens of America, the Hub, Beantown, good ol' "Love that Dirty Water, Boston you're my Home" Massachusetts. What are your favorite memories of Boston?

Sandmonkey: Hell yeah Beantown. Oh god,
so many good memories. But I guess I will never forget the superbowl riots, u know, when the Patriots won? Holy shit man. There was girls flashing their boobs, kids climbing trees and flipping cars, people starting fires in the middle of the street, cops everywhere. Chaos and drunken pandemonium. God I loved it! I am a big fan of riots.


MG: Did the Red Sox win the World
Series, because you got your Snarky Ass
out of Massachusetts just in the nick of time?

Sandmonkey: Man, don't remind me. I
feel like I took their curse with me. I
spend 5 years there hoping that the Sox
win, and 3 weeks after I leave, just 3
weeks, they finally win the World Series
and reverse the curse. I saw them do it
alone at home wearing my Red Sox t-shirt
and drinking a beer all by my lonesome.
IT SUCKED! And I even missed the RIOT.
I had plans for the Best Buy across the
street man, u know?


MG: Will a Moslem ever become Pope?

Sandmonkey: Hey, we live in a world
where a poor black kid can grow up to be a
child molesting rich white man, so I am
guessing anything is possible. Right?


MG: How did you become interested in Blogging, and how did your Blog:
Rantings of a Sandmonkey come about?

Sandmonkey: Well, I was bored, I was
waiting for my visa and I was fed up by the
ignorant idiotic shit people were parroting
all around me without thinking about it first.
The people drove me nuts with their excuses and their conspiracy theories, and I realized that
many Egyptian bloggers exist where they spewed
that shit out on the open making us look like morons. So I decided to provide an alternative opinion, if you will, to the world and inform
them that there are pro-American people out
there. You know?

MG: Have you received criticism for
using what some would consider an offensive
term in the naming of your Blog?

Sandmonkey: Well, when I first heard the
term sandmonkey I thought it was hilarious. I
really did. And when I came back to Egypt and
the US embassy was giving me shit about getting
my entry visa renewed, I used to bitch to my friends � who couldn't understand why they
just won't give it to me since I am the most
pro US person they knew- that it was
because I was a sandmonkey to them. So I
decided to change the use of the word and
decided to turn it into something positive,
u know, the way black people use the N word
in reference to one another? The only
person who criticized my use of it is
Magdee, but he probably just did it
to get some traffic going to his blog.
He does the same thing at Big Pharaoh's
website , so I really can't hold it
against him. You know?


MG: Besides your own Blog, what other
Blogs do you like to peruse?

Sandmonkey: Hmm, on the political side
I love to read Stefania, Iraq the model, Big Pharaoh, HEALING iRAQ IBC of course, Kungfu
Kat, My vast right wing conspiracy, Nadz,
Andrew Sullivan and Hellme. I also sometimes
read Raed's blog just so I can laugh my ass
off at his lunacy. On the personal side I
love Highlander, Egyptiansally and Josie's
blogs. Basically run down my favorites list
and that's the blogs I love to read.


MG: What does the Sandmonkey do, after
a long day of Sandmonkeyness, to wind down?
Does the Sandmonkey have a Heffneresque Playboy
Love Pad with Mirrored Ceilings, Revolving
Heart-Shaped Vibrating Velvet Bed, a
well-stocked Champagne Bar, Disco Balls,
Laser Lights, a Velvet Elvis, and a Karoeke
Machine playing the Greatest Hits of Duran
Duran?

Sandmonkey:Duran Duran? Did you just
say Duran Duran? Man, if I am gonna chose an
80's band I would go with Queen. As for the
pad, I wish. Having something like that in
Egypt is hella expensive. What I usually do
is go to my place, call the boys and girls,
go out, or I just go home and either hook
up my Ipod, sit on my lazyboy and read a
book, or I sit down and play Halo2 on my
XBOX and kill goddamn aliens.


MG: Is there a particular Pharoah that inspires you?

Sandmonkey: Hehehe! You can definitely
say so. Good Ole GM. God bless him. He
definitely encouraged me when I got started,
you know? He is the first one to send traffic
my way. But you can say we inspire each other
and we keep each other honest. Unlike popular opinion amongst some Egyptian bloggers, me
and him don't always see eye to eye and we definitely have our disagreements. He is more
of a centrist when it comes to his political positions, while I am definitely more on the
right. But we have that whole "I will respect
your opinion even if I don't agree with it"
thing going, so it's all good.


MG: What's your favorite Body Part on
a Woman?

Sandmonkey: Her stomach. Nothing sexier
than a flat defined stomach. Then her Ass. I
am definitely an Ass man. I don't understand
men who prefer boobs before Ass. Boobs are
way down on my list man.


MG: Will a Woman ever become President
of Egypt?

Sandmonkey: A woman already is.
Suzanne Mubarak gets to do everything she
wants. That women is really the one in
charge man. But if u mean elected
democratically I would say that it
would take a long time for that to happen.


MG: Your Favorite Band and Why?

Sandmonkey: Well, it used to be Aerosmith, but then they Massivly SOLD OUT (Superbowl show
with NSYNC and Britney Spears anyone?). So now
I am big on Maroon 5. I never tire of their
cd man. It's cool, it's chill, the ladies love
it and "Through with you" is probably one of
the best break-up songs to come up in the past
5 years.


MG: On the 1 - 10 Scale of Mid East Corruption, where Israel is about a 2 and Saudi Arabia and Iran about a 10, where does Egypt rank?

Sandmonkey: 11! We are definitely more corrupt then Saudi and Iran.


MG: And speaking of corruption in Egypt,
how bad is the interaction between drug dealers
and the police in Egypt? Are a lot of the police taking a cut of the illegal drug trade?

Sandmonkey: The interaction is great man.
I would say that a big percentage do take a cut
of the illegal drug trade one way or another.
If not, they get bribed by them all the time.
Oh well!


MG: If you could meet anyone in the
World, who would it be?

Sandmonkey: Alive or dead? If Alive, it
would be Jim Carrey. I would love to take acid
and take the white house tour with Jim Carrey.
I think that would be fun. Dead, I would have
to say Ayn Rand. I know it's a clich� that a libertarian wants to meet her, but that women
wrote in her books things in the 1930's that
I see applying in Egyptian society today.
I would love to sit down and pick her brain,
you know?


MG: Egypt and Israel seem to be more cooperative as of late, do you think there will
be a broadening of realtions between the two countries?

Sandmonkey: Nope. It's the kiss of death
for any politician to do that. The only reason why the 2 are cooperating was because Mubarak wanted to please the US so that it wouldn't end up opposing a 5th term of his rule. As you can see, his plan failed miserably.


MG: What if Animals suddenly discovered
they were all Naked?

Sandmonkey: Dude, they already know.
All animals are nudists swingers. You didn't
know that?


MG: What's the Numero Uno, Top of the
Heap, Number One Way to Combat Terrorism?

Sandmonkey: For muslim males to have lots and lots of sex and a good time. You give someone sex in this life, and they won't blow themselves up in order to have sex in the afterlife. That's just my own personal theory and I could be wrong!


MG: I've come to the conclusion, that
there's a smoldering Love Affair between the
Middle East and Jennifer Aniston's hair. How
did this seismic upheval in the
social-geo-politics of an entire region
come about?

Sandmonkey: I don't know man. It's a
mystery to me too!


MG: Can you explain what the Arab
Parallel Universe or APU is? Isn't that the
guy from The Simpsons?

Sandmonkey: Hey, I love APU. And no,
the A.P.U. and him are not the same thing.
It's basically the alternative reality that
most arabs love to live in, instead of you
know, the actual reality. Go read my post
on it. It should explain it better.


MG: Favorite Flavor of Ice Cream?

Sandmonkey: Chocolate Chip cookie dough


MG: Twenty years from today, will the
Mid East look radically different than it is
now?

Sandmonkey: Yes it will. It will be
divided between those countries that are
joining the modern world, and those whose
rulers refuse to do what's best for their
people. I just hope Egypt isn't in that
last category.


MG: Thanks Very Much Sandmonkey for
a Nice Interview and final question: Have
you ever seen a Ghost?

Sandmonkey: You are welcome man. And no, can't say I did. Now genies, that's a different story. But never a ghost.

The in T View: Sandmonkey - No Monkeying Around For This Rising Star Of The Blogosphere

He's Snarky, Delightful, a Strong Advocate
Of Democratic Reform in the Kingdom of the
Nile, and not afraid to ask and answer the
tough questions about Egypt, the Middle East,
and the World in his Fine Blog:
Rantings of a Sandmonkey.

And in the In T View: Sandmonkey - No Monkeying Around For This Rising Star Of The Blogosphere,
Sam Adams aka The Sandmonkey snarkily pontificates on Egypt, Democracy, Women, Kicking-Back the Sandmonkey Way, Mubarak, Corruption,
Blogging, the Red Sox, and much, much more.

It's The In T View: Sandmonkey - No Monkeying Around For This Rising Star Of The Blogosphere

MG: Yo Yo Yo Sandmonkey in da Pyramid
- How are you?

Sandmonkey: I am doing fine Ghostie. Yourself?


MG: What does Mubarak rhyme with?

Sandmonkey: You know, I can't seem to
find a good English rhyme to Mubarak. I even
used a rhyming dictionary. I can give you
an Arabic rhyme to it though : Homarak.
Your Arabic readers can explain to you
what it means.


MG: What must Mubarak do to engender a
more representatative government in Egypt and
how do you bring about Democratic Elections
in Egypt without allowing repressive
Islamicists like the Muslim Brotherhood
from taking over the country?

Sandmonkey: Declare Egypt to be a secular country and create a solid constitution that
follows a lot of the American one and make it
the army's job to protect the constitution from
any attempts of messing with it. That and
improving the educational system in Egypt,
cause u know, the MB, they strive on the
ignorance of most Egyptians. That's probably
the sane and long-term solution. In the short
term he can just employ Nasser tactics and
throw them all in jails. It worked in the
60's, should work now!


MG: Do Sandmonkeys like to eat Bananas or have their Bananas eaten?

Sandmonkey: Have their Bananas eaten. At least the Egyptian ones. Can't speak for all the sandmonkeys you know, especially that I hear
that the Saudi sandmonkeys just love to eat
bananas. You probably thought they just wanted
to separate women and men for religious reasons. That's a big lie man,: they just want to get
rid of the competition. ;)


MG: Do you ever think about taking all
the sand in the Sahara Desert, melting it down,
and building giant 1000-foot Tall Glass
Dinosaurs all over North Africa?

Sandmonkey: If all the sand is gone,
on what are we supposed to put those glass dinosaurs?


MG: You went to school in the Athens of America, the Hub, Beantown, good ol' "Love that Dirty Water, Boston you're my Home" Massachusetts. What are your favorite memories of Boston?

Sandmonkey: Hell yeah Beantown. Oh god,
so many good memories. But I guess I will never forget the superbowl riots, u know, when the Patriots won? Holy shit man. There was girls flashing their boobs, kids climbing trees and flipping cars, people starting fires in the middle of the street, cops everywhere. Chaos and drunken pandemonium. God I loved it! I am a big fan of riots.


MG: Did the Red Sox win the World
Series, because you got your Snarky Ass
out of Massachusetts just in the nick of time?

Sandmonkey: Man, don't remind me. I
feel like I took their curse with me. I
spend 5 years there hoping that the Sox
win, and 3 weeks after I leave, just 3
weeks, they finally win the World Series
and reverse the curse. I saw them do it
alone at home wearing my Red Sox t-shirt
and drinking a beer all by my lonesome.
IT SUCKED! And I even missed the RIOT.
I had plans for the Best Buy across the
street man, u know?


MG: Will a Moslem ever become Pope?

Sandmonkey: Hey, we live in a world
where a poor black kid can grow up to be a
child molesting rich white man, so I am
guessing anything is possible. Right?


MG: How did you become interested in Blogging, and how did your Blog:
Rantings of a Sandmonkey come about?

Sandmonkey: Well, I was bored, I was
waiting for my visa and I was fed up by the
ignorant idiotic shit people were parroting
all around me without thinking about it first.
The people drove me nuts with their excuses and their conspiracy theories, and I realized that
many Egyptian bloggers exist where they spewed
that shit out on the open making us look like morons. So I decided to provide an alternative opinion, if you will, to the world and inform
them that there are pro-American people out
there. You know?

MG: Have you received criticism for
using what some would consider an offensive
term in the naming of your Blog?

Sandmonkey: Well, when I first heard the
term andmonkey I thought it was hilarious. I
really did. And when I came back to Egypt and
the US embassy was giving me shit about getting
my entry visa renewed, I used to bitch to my friends � who couldn't understand why they
just won't give it to me since I am the most
pro US person they knew- that it was
because I was a sandmonkey to them. So I
decided to change the use of the word and
decided to turn it into something positive,
u know, the way black people use the N word
in reference to one another? The only
person who criticized my use of it is
Magdee, but he probably just did it
to get some traffic going to his blog.
He does the same thing at Big Pharaoh's
website , so I really can't hold it
against him. You know?


MG: Besides your own Blog, what other
Blogs do you like to peruse?

Sandmonkey: Hmm, on the political side
I love to read Stefania, Iraq the model, Big Pharaoh, HEALING iRAQ IBC of course, Kungfu
Kat, My vast right wing conspiracy, Nadz,
Andrew Sullivan and Hellme. I also sometimes
read Raed's blog just so I can laugh my ass
off at his lunacy. On the personal side I
love Highlander, Egyptiansally and Josie's
blogs. Basically run down my favorites list
and that's the blogs I love to read.


MG: What does the Sandmonkey do, after
a long day of Sandmonkeyness, to wind down?
Does the Sandmonkey have a Heffneresque Playboy
Love Pad with Mirrored Ceilings, Revolving
Heart-Shaped Vibrating Velvet Bed, a
well-stocked Champagne Bar, Disco Balls,
Laser Lights, a Velvet Elvis, and a Karoeke
Machine playing the Greatest Hits of Duran
Duran?

Sandmonkey:Duran Duran? Did you just
say Duran Duran? Man, if I am gonna chose an
80's band I would go with Queen. As for the
pad, I wish. Having something like that in
Egypt is hella expensive. What I usually do
is go to my place, call the boys and girls,
go out, or I just go home and either hook
up my Ipod, sit on my lazyboy and read a
book, or I sit down and play Halo2 on my
XBOX and kill goddamn aliens.


MG: Is there a particular Pharoah that inspires you?

Sandmonkey: Hehehe! You can definitely
say so. Good Ole GM. God bless him. He
definitely encouraged me when I got started,
you know? He is the first one to send traffic
my way. But you can say we inspire each other
and we keep each other honest. Unlike popular opinion amongst some Egyptian bloggers, me
and him don't always see eye to eye and we definitely have our disagreements. He is more
of a centrist when it comes to his political positions, while I am definitely more on the
right. But we have that whole "I will respect
your opinion even if I don't agree with it"
thing going, so it's all good.


MG: What's your favorite Body Part on
a Woman?

Sandmonkey: Her stomach. Nothing sexier
than a flat defined stomach. Then her Ass. I
am definitely an Ass man. I don't understand
men who prefer boobs before Ass. Boobs are
way down on my list man.


MG: Will a Woman ever become President
of Egypt?

Sandmonkey: A woman already is.
Suzanne Mubarak gets to do everything she
wants. That women is really the one in
charge man. But if u mean elected
democratically I would say that it
would take a long time for that to happen.


MG: Your Favorite Band and Why?

Sandmonkey: Well, it used to be Aerosmith, but then they Massivly SOLD OUT (Superbowl show
with NSYNC and Britney Spears anyone?). So now
I am big on Maroon 5. I never tire of their
cd man. It's cool, it's chill, the ladies love
it and "Through with you" is probably one of
the best break-up songs to come up in the past
5 years.


MG: On the 1 - 10 Scale of Mid East Corruption, where Israel is about a 2 and Saudi Arabia and Iran about a 10, where does Egypt rank?

Sandmonkey: 11! We are definitely more corrupt then Saudi and Iran.


MG: And speaking of corruption in Egypt,
how bad is the interaction between drug dealers
and the police in Egypt? Are a lot of the police taking a cut of the illegal drug trade?

Sandmonkey: The interaction is great man.
I would say that a big percentage do take a cut
of the illegal drug trade one way or another.
If not, they get bribed by them all the time.
Oh well!


MG: If you could meet anyone in the
World, who would it be?

Sandmonkey: Alive or dead? If Alive, it
would be Jim Carrey. I would love to take acid
and take the white house tour with Jim Carrey.
I think that would be fun. Dead, I would have
to say Ayn Rand. I know it's a clich� that a libertarian wants to meet her, but that women
wrote in her books things in the 1930's that
I see applying in Egyptian society today.
I would love to sit down and pick her brain,
you know?


MG: Egypt and Israel seem to be more cooperative as of late, do you think there will
be a broadening of realtions between the two countries?

Sandmonkey: Nope. It's the kiss of death
for any politician to do that. The only reason why the 2 are cooperating was because Mubarak wanted to please the US so that it wouldn't end up opposing a 5th term of his rule. As you can see, his plan failed miserably.


MG: What if Animals suddenly discovered
they were all Naked?

Sandmonkey: Dude, they already know.
All animals are nudists swingers. You didn't
know that?


MG: What's the Numero Uno, Top of the
Heap, Number One Way to Combat Terrorism?

Sandmonkey: For muslim males to have lots and lots of sex and a good time. You give someone sex in this life, and they won't blow themselves up in order to have sex in the afterlife. That's just my own personal theory and I could be wrong!


MG: I've come to the conclusion, that
there's a smoldering Love Affair between the
Middle East and Jennifer Aniston's hair. How
did this seismic upheval in the
social-geo-politics of an entire region
come about?

Sandmonkey: I don't know man. It's a
mystery to me too!


MG: Can you explain what the Arab
Parallel Universe or APU is? Isn't that the
guy from The Simpsons?

Sandmonkey: Hey, I love APU. And no,
the A.P.U. and him are not the same thing.
It's basically the alternative reality that
most arabs love to live in, instead of you
know, the actual reality. Go read my post
on it. It should explain it better.


MG: Favorite Flavor of Ice Cream?

Sandmonkey: Chocolate Chip cookie dough


MG: Twenty years from today, will the
Mid East look radically different than it is
now?

Sandmonkey: Yes it will. It will be
divided between those countries that are
joining the modern world, and those whose
rulers refuse to do what's best for their
people. I just hope Egypt isn't in that
last category.


MG: Thanks Very Much Sandmonkey for
a Nice Interview and final question: Have
you ever seen a Ghost?

Sandmonkey: You are welcome man. And no, can't say I did. Now genies, that's a different story. But never a ghost.

Steven Vincent Reports from Basra

Steven Vincent, author of In the Red Zone, has returned to Iraq, traveling in from Kuwait.

At 8:15 a.m. today, Mr. Farrid--the driver from the Al Baghli Transportation Company--picks me up at the Oasis Hotel. A portly, genial guy, he makes short work of the Kuwait City traffic and soon we're roaring across the desert floor in an SUV, Egyptian music blasting from the cassette player, the day hot, dry and cloudless, whooshing past signs reading "DISCOVER ISLAM, THE WORLD'S FASTEST GROWING RELIGION WWW.SULTAN.COM" and "MUTA'ALA RANCH GOD BLESS U.S. TROOPS" and animal flocks grazing in the scrubby fields bordering the highway--sheep, goats, and camels--while in the distance towers of brilliant orange oil fires swirl and leap like mystic apparitions on the desert floor, even as they spew torrents of thick black smoke. At Abdaly, we turn left toward Basra, the intersection supervised by US troops, one giant soldier standing in front of a humvee like a khaki-colored terminator. Within moments, we're in the town of Safwan, basically a border area where the streams of traffic heading into and out of Iraq converge, forming long lines of cars and lorries waiting for baggage and cargo checks, passport and visa control points, the constant bang-bang of stamps smacking documents. The paperwork goes without a hitch--however, I'm told, to my surprise, that I must have an HIV test within four days of arriving in Iraq, a pro forma requirement for all visitors. But still, with all that, the document nightmare is over.

Mr. Farrid lacks the proper paperwork to enter Iraq, so he hands me off to Ali, acting evidently as my unarmed "bodyguard," since he came accompanied by Hussan, the actual sayyiq (driver). Whereas Farrid was a round and slightly epicene Egyptian, Ali and Hussan are pure Iraqi in their way--dark, edgy, dressed in soiled disdashas, Ali with startling icy-gray eyes, jittery, talkative. After the polite lethargy of Kuwait and Bahrain, this comes as kind of a shock, its like Iraqis exist on nerves and adrenaline and can we not understand why?

*

Sandmonkey inspects his sperm and to his surprise finds that each one of the little fellers is screaming, "Yes to Mubarak!"

Last time I masturbated my sperm came out screaming �Yes to Mubarak�. It did, all 300 million of them. Seriously.

Now THAT is an Arab Leader-for-Life with real power.

*

The In T View: Iraq The Model's Omar - Blogging's Modest Superstar

He's the Beckham of Bloggers.

Amidst the vast realms and recesses of the
Millions Strong Blogosphere crisscrossing the
Great Planet, very few Bloggers are Identified
- Widely Known by One Name. Omar from
Iraq The Model is the exception.

Omar! Omar! Omar!

Omar Fadhil is an Iraqi Blogging Superstar,
Dentist, Ardent Supporter of Freedom and
Democracy in Iraq, and co-developer of a tool
that allows millions of voices that were
previously excluded from the Internet to
finally be heard.

And in: The In T View: Iraq The Model's Omar
- Blogging's Modest Superstar, we explore Omar's thoughts on Iraq, Islam, Dentistry, Blogging, Commentators, Picking Up Chicks, Freedom, Book Deals, and a whole lot more.

It's The In T View: Iraq The Model's
Omar - Blogging's Modest Superstar


MG: Omar, How the Hell are you these
days?

Omar: I'm fine as hell!


MG: Okay, let's talk about the
Biggest Rumors that are associated with you:

Rumor 1: The Brothers Fadhil and you have a
Book Deal or are writing a book. Can you
clarify this issue?

Omar: As you just described it my
friend, these are rumors; there's no such
deal and we're not working on a book but
if a deal is offered we will think about
it for sure.


MG: Rumor 2: You have lots of
American Girlfriends. Any comments?

Omar: I have lots of American friends,
both men and women but no *girlfriends*.


MG: Rumor 3: You and the Brothers work
for a certain American Spy Agency. LOL. Hmmm?

Omar: Actually we work for an extra-terrestrial spy agency from Jupiter.


MG:Speaking of which, if you're really
on the CIA's payroll, shouldn't you be making
more than a Iraqi Dentist's salary?

Omar: I don't know exactly how much
money the CIA offers but those purple guys
from Jupiter pay really good money! You want
me to talk to them? Maybe I can find you a
job with us.


MG: Do you give discounts to pretty
Female Patients or at least give them a free
shot of Novocaine on the house?

Omar: A patient is a patient (in the
same way that a customer is a customer),
that's how I do any kind of business and
by the way I don't have my own clinic.


MG: Do Male Iraqi Dentists treat female patients or is their Sexual Segregation,
with Women Dentists treating female patients?

Omar: There's no such segregation; I
worked in a place where the majority of the population is very committed She'at in the
marshes area for one year and the female/male patient ratio was close to 3/2.


MG: When you were growing up, did you
say to yourself, "Omar, you are going to be
one Bad Ass Iraqi Dentist someday." Just
kidding. Why did you choose to become a
dentist?

Omar: I didn't choose dentistry out of
love for dentistry at that time. My marks
qualified me to get any college I wanted
but I saw Ali studying medicine and I saw
Mohammed studying dentistry and I made a
comparison between the two colleges (not professions) and dentistry won, one year
less at college, less books to read, more
practical and more fun.

When I was a kid I wanted to become a pilot
(typical kid dreams I guess) but later at high school I realized that I was fond of physics
but the poor future for graduates of that
college made me discard the idea. I still love physics till this moment. Anyway, I don't
regret being a dentist; it's a nice profession.


MG: Did you ever think of leaving
Iraq and moving to America to become the
Dentist To The Stars? You know Brad Pitt
there, has a seperate dentist for each
one of his teeth, and right now, I think
there's a vacancy with his upper left
bicuspid.

Omar: If that's true about Brad Pitt,
then I announce him a tooth-freak! No, really,
I like the place where I live and I wish it
becomes as modern and civilized as the States
are.


MG: Is dentistry a lucrative profession
in Iraq? When you're introduced as a Dentist
to friends and strangers, do women,
particularly Moms with unmarried daughters,
see Dinar Signs in their eyes, when they
learn of your profession and want you to
meet their 35-year-old unmarried daughter
Fatima? Unfortunately, Fatima usually has a
unibrow and a bushier mustache than you do.

Omar: LOL, not exactly because being a dentist has more social value than material (economic) value; it's a classy profession
but it isn't an indication of being rich.


MG: And speaking of your mustache,
Omar, I don't want to hurt your feelings,
but it's kind of wimpy looking. Do you ever
wish you had one of those full-figured,
Charles Bronson, "Back Away From Me Punk"
macho type stashes?

Omar: I don't feel hurt at all! It's actually funny; the truth is that I don't pay
much attention to the way I look. I usually
have a very short moustache (although I had a
thick one two years ago) I graded the hair
clipper so that it keeps my moustache at 2mm
high and I trim it every other day but when
I'm busy I forget or ignore doing this for
a week or more and that's when the wimpy
looking moustache appears.


MG: How difficult is it to critique
and criticize Islam in a nation with a
Majority Muslim population?

Omar: Criticizing any religion as a
whole is not a good idea regardless of the
place but I can show criticism to certain
ideas I consider wrong but I usually tend
to avoid having such discussions with
extremists of either sect.


MG: Omar, I believe there are two
forces in Iraq that have the unique ability
to unite all the Iraqis from the Shias to
Kurds, Sunnis to Islamicists, Baathists to Christians. And those are Soccer, and
Jennifer Aniston's Hair.

MG: Can you explain to me the
smoldering Mid East Love Affair with
Jennifer Aniston's hair?

Omar: I'm not really fond of Aniston
but I think she has a nice hair. I actually
find Angelina Jolie more attractive.


MG: Let's try a little Word Association, Omar:

Riverbend

Omar: Fake

Muqti al Sadr

Omar: One digit IQ

Salam Pax

Omar: A spark

Al Jazeera

Omar: You mean Al-Bin Ladeera?

Sam from Hammorabi

Omar: Can do better

Ladybird from Baghdad Dweller

Omar: Promising blogger


MG: Will you be attending the Raed Jarrar
and Nikki the Irani's Wedding?

Omar: I hate weddings


MG: Omar, how did you become interested
in Blogging and how did your Blog:
Iraq The Model come about?

Omar: We-the three of us-were searching
for a way to enter the world of the internet
and we were trying to find a way to start our
own website as we had a LOT to say but technical difficulties stood in our way until Zeyad one
day told me and AYS that he started a "blog".

Okay, what the hell is that? Was my question.
He explained the outlines of the idea to me
and within less than a week Iraq the Model
and Iraq at a Glance were up. By the way,
Mohammed chose the name of the blog.


MG: How well known is Iraq The Model
in Iraq?

Omar: Not well known as far as I know,
only friends and family know that we run this
blog and I receive a few e mails every now and
then from readers in Iraq.


MG: How does the Media in Iraq treat
Iraqi Blogs? Do they even know they exist
or just become aware of them, when they need
to swipe a photo?

Omar: The 2nd choice; they become aware
of them only when they need to swipe a photo.


MG: Omar, as ITM has become more well
known, do you feel your safety and security
have been compromised?

Omar: I think I was more concerned about personal safety and security when I started
the blog than I am right now.


MG: Besides your Blog, are there
any other Blogs you like to read?

Omar: I check about 60 or 70 blogs
twice everyday but I especially enjoy reading
a number of blogs like Instapundit, Buzz
Machine, Chrenkoff, Roger Simon and Harry's
Place as well as a number of military blogs
and Iraqi blogs written in English and in
Arabic.


MG: Omar, let's talk a little bit about
the commentators to your Blog, those people who share their opinions, links, and questions,
after each and every one of ITM's Postings.
So, how do you feel towards ITM's Commentators?

Omar: I say that blogging can't be
complete without comments and I really consider
many most of the commentators as friends but I
wish the commentators would stick more to the
topic of the post.


MG: Will you be adopting a
Registration System for your Comments
Section soon?

Omar: I'm not working on that right now, maybe in the future.


MG: And you deleted about 120 comments
from a recent thread, provoking cries of
anguish from many of the posters. Did you
have a reason to delete those comments?

Omar: I deleted exactly 83 comments,
not 120 and of course I had a reason; I
deleted only the comments that were off topic
and that were related to the stupid and racist conversation that took place that day. I am not
sure I took the right move but I am sure that engaging someone in an "impotent or sterile" conversation is not smart at all. So I wanted
to put an end to these conversations. I expect
that anyone would be pissed of when he finds
that only 6 out of 90 comments posted on his
blog were related to his post.


MG: What's the Iraqi's people's
favorite brand of toothpaste?

Omar: The most common brand is a
Turkish one called Sanino, but a lot of
people prefer Signal-2, I like Close Up more.


MG: Do you have any Pets?

Omar: I don't have any pets at the
moment but I had different pets at earlier
times. Frankly speaking, our home used to
look like a Zoo at certain times.


MG: What's the best way to mitigate
against Terrorism, other than shooting the
Terrorists in the Head, which is my preferred method?

Omar: I think shooting them in the head
is just a symptomatic treatment, i.e. it
relieves the situation for a while but
doesn't eradicate the origin of the
disease.

We need to prove that their ideology is wrong
by showing the people that democracy, respect
for human rights and tolerance can bring
prosperity and protect everyone's rights.
Terrorism grows and flourishes under
tyrannies (although in a latent form
sometimes) so I believe that fighting
terrorism militarily should go side
by side with building a state of law,
human rights and democracy.


MG: Tell us about the Spirit of America
and how you got involved with the organization?

Omar: I had a link on my blog to Spirit
of America long before we started to cooperate
on a number of projects that aim at promoting democracy and freedom of speech. The practical involvement began when one of our dearest friends, Kerry Dupont who was the project manager of that organization for some time introduced us to Jim Hake, the founder of Spirit of America. The most important project we worked together on was developing the Arabic blogging tool and I'm
really proud of being part of this project
which is proving sizable success.


MG: Omar, you helped develop the Arabic Blogging Tool. What exactly is it and what does
it do for those of an Arabic persuasion?

Omar: The idea is pretty simple, we took
an almost ready tool and translated the buttons
and key words to make it easier for non-English speaking users and the tool was modified to
better accept Arabic texts (you know the right
to left vs. left to right thing).

The tool also provides the user with the
ability to publish pictures, audio and even
video files for free, i.e. no upgrade fees
required.


MG: So Omar, what is the typical Omar
move when you're trying to impress an Iraqi
Hottie Woman? Do you tell her, "Hey Baby,
I'm very good at filling all your cavities,
if you know what I mean?"

Omar: LOL, no really, I'm not good at flirting and when I try to impress a hottie
I just ignore her! A technique that had been successful in keeping me as single as a
plagued dog!


MG: Omar, what does Freedom mean to you
and how can the Iraqi people safeguard this
newfound Freedom?

Omar: Freedom is life to me. Iraqis can safeguard their freedom by respecting each
other's freedoms.


MG: Omar, when you're knock-knock-
knocking on Heaven's Door and about to draw
your Final Breath, will you be able to say to yourself, "Omar Fadhil, you have lived your
life to the fullest and you have made the
world a better place?"

Omar: If this is to happen soon, then
I think I won't be qualified to say that.


MG: What Does God or Allah mean to you?

Omar: The living conscience.


MG: The great majority of Muslims around
the world, even those living in the West, seem
to have a hard time questioning Islam and
especially the Prophet. Why? Do you think
this is ok? It must take courage to go
against that trend.

Omar: This is not okay for sure. Lots
of myths and wrong ideas and practices were introduced into Islam over the past 14
centuries and if Muslims want to keep
their belief alive they must overcome
this fear and start questioning things.

What many people unfortunately fail to understand/remember is that Islam didn't
come up with rigid molds; instead Islam
provided EXAMPLES and asked the people
to work their minds to find solutions
for future similar problems that would
definitely be different from the troubles
existed at the time when Quran came.

God, through the Quran itself asked Muslims
to THINK and ASK in order to reach the truth
and I believe that intimidating people and preventing them from practicing their right of thinking is a harsh violation to human rights.


MG: Is Islam really compatible with
Women's Rights?

Omar: Islam in the form it came in 14 centuries ago is not compatible with TODAY'S
women rights but at that time it granted women
many rights they were deprived of. The nature
and needs of societies change with time, that's
why civic laws and constitutions are written. No society can exclusively depend on a legislation written hundreds or thousands years ago and at
the same time seeks progress.


MG: What is the most beautiful place in
Iraq to you?

Omar: Any place the Tigris or the
Euphrates passes through. I also like the
mountains and waterfalls in Kurdistan as
well as the marshes. It's really hard to
decide which place is more beautiful.


MG: Omar, What is your biggest fear?

Omar: Snakes!


MG: Saddam's regime stole 50 years of progress in Iraq - In the 50's Iraq was more progressive than any Arab nations, it was
secular, it had a real economy, and women
were active in the society. Do you think
Iraq can reach that level again or even
go beyond it?

Omar: I believe Iraq can go beyond that
and we can already see signs pointing in this direction especially on the political aspect
but to have an overall major progress that
put Iraq in the front again, it will take
maybe 10 years.


MG: If some one asked you to describe the differences between Iraqis and Americans, what
would you say?

Omar: I don't think I can give a full
essay on this subject but I've noticed that Americans are more hardworking than Iraqis in general and they also have a greater respect for time (not respecting time is a 3rd world trait
by the way!).

Another weird difference I noticed is that most Americans hate American cars while most Iraqis
love American cars.

However, I have noticed (and this may sound
bizarre) that Americans and Iraqis have more
things in common than either of them have
with most Europeans, especially when it
comes to keeping a sense of humor at the
hardest times. Maybe I'm wrong but believe
me; this is how I see it.


MG: What do you wish for your children
and future generations in Iraq?

Omar: I wish they get to live in a
violence-free, oppression-free Iraq where
they can get all what they deserve.


MG: That's very much for a Nice
Interview, Omar, and Final Question: Have
you ever seen a Ghost?

Omar: Would they still be considered
ghosts if one got to see them?

(And Special Thanks to Diane Carriere for additional questions.)