Waiting for the final results

Things are running very fast in Iraq and everyday brings more and more surprises. Let me talk first about the elections results. Well, what we were afraid of came true and the Iraqi people elected their representatives on "sectarian bases" and in my opinion this is the biggest problem so far. Our people still don't believe in the democracy to protect them and they find it a good way to show their affiliation only.

Most of the political bodies rejected the results and accused the "United Iraqi Alliance" of forgery, in fact the results were not logical enough, but in all cases even if we suppose that all the claims are true the results wont change that much and still the two major winning slates will be the same as now the (555) for the Shia and the (618) for the Sunni. The problem is not with forgery but with the winning slates themselves since they are both sectarian and the only "secular and liberal" slate (731) didn’t get enough votes.

The Iraqi equation turned to be so hard and if I want to make an assessment for why we got such results I would say that the security situation in Iraq in general is the main reason behind it, the attacks made by Zarqawi and his supporters on the Shia and since Zarqawi claim he is Sunni and his supporters are in Sunni areas of Iraq led the Shia not to trust the "others" and they voted to the slate (555) they though it would protect them. On the other hand the Sunni didn’t believe that they are a minority and couldn’t accept the idea of the Shia taking over things in Iraq so they gathered to vote for (618) to show there strength. What's left were the seculars and the liberals who have voted for (731) but they didn’t gain enough votes to be able to form the government and it seems after the dark decades of Saddam's regime there are not enough seculars and liberals in Iraq!
It will take time and efforts to make the Iraqis trust each other again and to start thinking out of the sect they belong to and this only can be achieved with a better security to help the ordinary people to start thinking of tomorrow and when they start to think of a better future the results of the votes will change.

Allawi (731) and the Accordance Front (618) announced that they won't accept to form the General Assembly if things remain the same and the UIA (555) announced that they will defend every seat they won. It seems that the coming days will be really tough for Iraq.
I don’t have a clue about the coming government but even the best scenario doesn't seem to be that good. The Sistani called for a "National Unity" government to calm things down, but even if it happened it would mostly be from the "religious" slates (555) and (618). Four years under this kind of government would be more than enough to destroy the liberalism and secularism in Iraq.

After the liberation we though that we will stop "fighting" for our rights and we will start to participate in building democracy in Iraq but it seems that another four years of "fierce war" is coming and this time its just to stay who we are and not to melt in the "Sunni-Shia" environment
I think we need a second miracle now, the Americans granted us the first one and broke our chains to set us free, now we need the second miracle not to put them back.

Another step forward

It was really amazing how calm and peaceful yesterday was (the elections day) with almost no major attacks or incidents. The turnout was over expected even in the "hot spots of Iraq" and it's really making me wonder have the insurgents lost their ability to carry out attacks? Or it was the "perfect security plan" the government put? Well in both cases it’s a good progress we made.
That don’t mean in anyway the attacks will stop or that was the end of violence in Iraq, but it is a good message to all that after three years of liberation Iraq is finally a democratic country and yesterday was the first "real" step for the four years government that is elected by "everyone" because simply there was no boycotting.
I have many pictures to share but I will only publish four of them for our brave security forces that that made a real nice job preserving our people lives and you can see them celebrating that.

Yes it was the right decision

Today I watched and listened to President Bush speech about the "war on Iraq and terrorism" to an audience at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington and I can't say but that his speech made me admire him more and more.

He was simple with the main facts and the reasons that led to the war "I prefer to call it liberation" and he draw the future plan that gives more hope to the people craving for democracy.

I watched and listened carefully with a big smile on my face while the President continued his speech and the more decisive and determined he was the more confident I got.

I was really happy because he knew the simple truth we needed him to know "We know and appreciate what the Americans have done and still doing in Iraq and if you hear some of the Iraqis saying (Leave) let me tell you that there are millions of the Iraqis saying (Stay) and you will see them tomorrow when they will march to defend the democracy you brought to this country"

I saw you defending your decision saying "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq" well Mr. President let me tell you that your decision will change the world as we know it. You gave Iraqis freedom that they wouldn’t have gotten in a thousand years, and the "Iraqi effect" started to affect the region and this is why everyone around us is trying to "kill" this young born democracy.

I know that when the people around the world who see the violence in Iraq would think that the Iraqis don’t want the Americans and they want them out, they don’t know the truth about the "hidden war" all the Arabic and Islamic countries are waging against the Americans and Iraq its battlefield. They don't do that by sending armies but they provide all the money needed and the logistic support and of course the trained men to do the attacks. All the Arab and Islamic countries in the region are ruled by dictators and they will do anything to stay in their "chairs" forever.

Mr. President you started something and yes you are responsible to go on and never stop until democracy is a worldwide spoken language and a way of life. And that will be the Total Victory.

Four years of what?

Two day from now and the elections will start and in one week after that we probably will know who will form the next Iraqi government and this time it's for four long years. We passed the test period and now we have to think twice before we put the "paper in the box" because every mistake we make will take four years now to be corrected. The nice thing about this election is its unpredictable and no one can say that I know the outcome of it. This time most of the Iraqis are willing to participate and this time every province will have their seats depending on its population and this will mean a more fair seats allocation in the parliament. All this make us a little more optimistic about the coming parliament.
The past year was really tough for the liberals in Iraq because we had a "religious type government" and we suffered much from them and now we hope that the liberals will form the government this round.
The "United Iraqi Alliance" which is mostly a group of religious parties is the strongest till now. In the previous parliament they were able to take about 140 seats and that means more than half of the parliament seats but this round we hope that the liberals "National Iraqi List" will be able to get enough seats to form the government.
As we all know that Iraq is consist of many religious and ethnic groups and every "religious government" will have its "natural enemies" thus any religious government whether Sunni or Shia will not succeed in one way or another, and I don’t need to tell u that an "Islamic government" wont be much better than the "Afgani" model or the "Iranian" model and the whole world saw how both think and deal with problems!
It was like a dream to be freed by the US Army and the chance is very big right now for us to be a real free and democratic country and this is the only way for Iraq to evolve.
It’s a matter of time and we will see if we are going to have a "four years of delay" or a "four years of development"

Why Ramsey Clark?

Today we watched a very long trial for Saddam Hussein and his gang on the TV and I'm not trying to tell you what happened in the trial. There is something else that I want to write about and that is the presence of the former American justice minister Ramsey Clark in the court to defend Saddam Hussein.
I know that every defendant should have an attorney but it's really confusing why a respectable man like Ramsey would defend a criminal like Saddam?
Saddam is not a regular prisoner because if we ignored the details of what he have done the fact remain that through his acts and during his reign we and our neighbors lost about 2 millions of our people!
I'm sure that Ramsey is fully aware of what I'm talking about and he knows well that the man hands are full of blood and from every type so why would Ramsey defend him?
I cant imagine that he is looking for publicity or want to get more famous or he believe in any way that Saddam is innocent and he needs to prove that, then why? I really don’t have any kind of answer to this question.
And the bigger surprise that he inside the court accused the court of being illegitimate! We have an elected government (that most of the Arab countries and the third world don’t have) and this elected and legitimate government had appointed the court so why it's not legitimate in your opinion Mr. Ramsey Clark?!

Why you are there? I still don’t know but let me tell you that you won't gain the respect of the world by defending a tyrant but you will be hated by millions of the Iraqis and the Kuwaitis and the Iranians and the Americans who lost their beloved in the wars the dictator made.
And this trial will be like a stain you won't be able to erase from your history. One day we will remember and we will tell our children about the Americans who librated Iraq and your name wont be among them.