A voice from Iraq

The Mesopotamian on the recent elections in Afghanistan:

So the Afghan people came to vote, traveling from far away villages on donkeys, on foot, by whatever means of transport available, braving intimidation, defying the terrorists. They came in their thousands, and waited outside polling stations for hours and hours patiently. Women came; old men came; young men came. The women suspended their household work, taking turns to look after the children. I am not inventing all this, all the reporters mentioned this. We saw it on T.V. screens. The poor people came, clad in their simple attires, their poverty itself a great medal of honor and decency. I tell you, I have seldom witnessed such an awesome sight; I have seldom been touched more profoundly by an event. This was the vote of the people, the truth of the people, and the judgment and Word of the people.

Read the rest, it's pretty powerful.

From Iraq the Model:

"I have been a sailor for 22 years, but no one ever bothered to teach me how to navigate properly or tie knots," said Haqi Ismail, 39, a toothless sailor, who described how in the former navy he had been sunk on three separate occasions.

This is why we keep saying that disbanding the former Iraqi forces was NOT a mistake, even if everyone else says the opposite. It was a corrupt opportunistic useless mass that would've costed huge money with virtually no benefit. Even in the new ING and IP you can find agents for the old regime and the terrorists and we often hear reports about arresting some of those here and there for spying.Now the Iraqi navy among other parts of the Iraqi forces is getting the proper training. It's still small and not really effective but it's making the right start.

While doing this great service, the ING, IP and all other civil defense forces are taking heavily casualties everyday, as today an IP officer was killed in Hindyea and several members were injured in an ambush in Hindyea while 3 IP members were killed together with 4 civilians when a car loaded with explosives targeted a convoy of police cars in Karrada.

Despite these great dangers, the ING and IP are still doing their job with great dedication, and what's more impressive is their gentleness and politeness when dealing with people, as everyone I know have noticed and which was also shown on a report by AL Sharquia TV station were all the people interviewed in the streets expressed their gratitude and respect for the IP and showed optimism. There are many stories like these everyday. This is what we need, not a group of corrupted Ba'athist senior officers and hundreds of thousands of starving illitrate soldiers. These guys really deserve a memorial statue.

It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how many attacks there are on the Iraqi police and national guard people still show up to do these dangerous jobs.

From Hammorabi:

Escaping Falluja!
Some who escaped Falluja recently talked about the hell in there! This hell is not because of the fighting alone but because of the behaviours of the extremists. One escaped Fallujan told that Abdullah Al-Janabi (one of the Clergies) issued a fatwa asking all the families who have daughters older than 9 years to give them to the Mujahdeen to marry them. This man got many daughters and he refused to give them.

A letter from an Irish Citizen
"If you do not release her and harm her, I for one along with this country will be asking the Irish Govermnent to send troops to Iraq to support the UK and the USA to hunt you down and bring you to justice. You have nothing to gain by holding her. So release our Irish Citizen if you do not there will be hell to pay and you will pay it."