Haider Hamza is an Iraqi who goes around the US, with a small wooden booth titled “Talk to an Iraqi”, and he just sits there and lets people come and talk to him.
Talk to an Iraqi
Bush
Washington DC’s Katrina
Last weekend I saw a new print Ad displayed on the bus stop at the corner of my street. It shows George W. Bush looking out a window of Air Force One at the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with a close up photo of a person’s pair of hands holding tightly onto a piece of a cardboard with the phrase, “AIDS is DC’s Katrina” scribbled in red across the cardboard.The above picture is a similar print Ad that was also put on a bus stop on 17th and H Streets, just one block from the White House, where I get off the bus to go to work.
It is amazing how Bush has become a symbol of failure in his own country, to the extent that this failure is printed on an Ad that got distributed across his very own country’s capital where he once served as a president. So yes, what goes around comes around!
Obama in Cairo: Extending the Olive Branch
Nothing better illustrates the change Obama is trying to do with the U.S. policy towards the Muslim world than his speech today in Cairo.
By addressing the Muslims in Egypt, Obama opened a door that was closed for eight years due to the Bush administration’s horrible approach with the Arab and Muslim countries. Walking through that door, Obama was greeted respectably and lovingly by those who once hated his country to the bone.
The fact that Obama is approaching the Muslim world through such a speech is very similar to someone carrying the olive branch, in my opinion. He is seeking peace for the world, unlike Bush who sent bombs instead, not to mention his administration’s black-or-white attitude that led to ongoing wars.
In this speech, Obama didn’t show signs of weakness or humility like how some conservative republicans view it. In my opinion he was the most powerful person. He initiated approaching the Muslim world by extending his hands to combat the stereotypes and the mistakes committed by his predecessors. In it, I viewed the other good face of America. In fact, I saw that the American administration can actually be nice to the others!
Fair could also describe the speech as well. For instance, when he mentioned how Muslims and the Americans should not perceive each other depending on stereotypes. Another example is when he criticized both Palestinians and Israelis for being responsible for the horror happening in their region. I agree the Israeli settlements should stop and also agree that threatening to destroy Israel will not bring the Palestinians any good and that it should stop.
The other thing that attracted my attention was when Obama indirectly criticized what the Bush administration did. The fact that the American president acknowledges that the Iraq war was “a war of choice” is enough to say that Bush did not have to invade Iraq, yet he did. However, he stated that Iraqis are “better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein,” which I agree and disagree with at the same time. It was good to get rid of Saddam, but the life of the Iraqi people was wrecked by the ignorant policies that were made by the Bush administration. We can’t really say that our lives are better off now than under Saddam, because it’s still a complete wreck compared to that before the invasion. I’m hoping that it won’t last like this and by then Obama’s statement would fit.
Bush and his henchmen believed in imposing the Jeffersonian democracy upon the countries they invaded. It’s amazing how for the first time I hear Obama admitting that “no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by another.” When I heard that, I said, “THANK YOU!” Was it hard to acknowledge such a simple, yet powerful fact? That’s what Bush did not understand or did not want to understand. You can’t impose democracy; you teach it; you increase people’s awareness of it, but not force it the way you like, ignoring the background of that country.
Overall, I saw that the speech came in a time when tension between the Muslims and the West has reached its peak. It’s very nice to see that Obama took the initiative of extending hands. I know this speech may not leave a big impact on many Muslims and Arabs but I think it’s like baby steps. By course of time, things will change to the better hopefully if Obama continues his positive and peaceful attitudes. It’s a long road but the thousand-mile road starts with one step.
Cheney: Oops! Saddam had no link to 9/11. Oh well, I profited from this war!
What is it with all those Bush administration officials? As if it’s a game! Every time their terms end they show up and speak out loud about how they were mistaken regarding certain things. Wait, those things are not just things; they are decisions that created mayhem and horror.After Bush’s first lying mate Collin Powell admitted on Meet the Press that Iraq did not have WMD, the ruthless former VP Dick Cheney confessed today that even Saddam had no link with al-Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Hold on a sec here: let’s see, the two the main excuses for launching the Iraq war were the WMD and the link to 9/11! So basically the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and the more than 4,000 Americans who were killed in the war were because of two lies?
And yet, there are still some people who believed that Bush was fighting terror and his henchmen fit the job. I mean Cheney is basically saying, “Screw the Americans. I needed to profit from this war financially and I did”! What else does this thug have to say so that you believe he is a criminal?
My Heart is full of Obama Hope
Today is a great day in the history of the world. The dark ages of Bush are gone and ‘hope’ is making its way towards our hearts, filling it with the joy of having Obama leading us -Iraqis and Americans- to the path of change.
Here is what I wrote for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.
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Perfect Endings!
From The Huffington Post:
President Bush was given an Iraqi-journalist-style sendoff on his last full day in office Monday, as tourists and demonstrators lobbed shoes, pumps, boots, sandals and Crocs from Pennsylvania Avenue onto the White House lawn.
Before launching the operation live, the shoe-chuckers took target practice in Dupont Circle on a 20-foot-tall blow up doll of the outgoing president, decked out in the flight suit he wore aboard the “Mission Accomplished” aircraft carrier.
As for Cheney:
Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back while moving boxes and will be in a wheelchair for Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Cheney was helping to move into his new home outside Washington in McLean, Va., when he injured his back.
His doctor recommended that he needed a wheelchair for the next couple of days.
blog.bassamsebti@gmail.com
"A Chastened Cowboy"
CNN’s Campell Brown takes on Bush over Bin Laden. In a recent interview with CNN’s Larry King, the soon-to-leave president said he didn’t know whether the U.S. had ever come close to capturing bin Laden. Watch here:
Embedded video from CNN Video
Shoe and Awe
Foreign correspondent and editor Magda Abu-Fadil wrote a very interesting blog post that was published in today’s edition of the Huffington Post.
In her post, Abu Fadil detailed how the Bush shoe incident left an impact on the worldwide fury against the recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
It was bound to continue. The shoe has been transformed into a weapon of protest and fury at Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, and by extension George W. Bush’s unconditional support for the Jewish state.
The post also includes an interesting anthology of cartoons published in Arab newspapers and Web sites regarding the Israeli attacks and Bush’s end of presidency.
Read the entire blog post here.
Blog.bassamsebti@gmail.com
Instead of Roses, Iraqi throws shoes at Bush
I’m sure you all have seen what happened yesterday when the Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at the soon-to-leave American president. I have to say I was surprised. I had mixed feelings and didn’t know if I should laugh or not.
Professionally as a journalist myself, I found what the reporter did was extremely wrong. Journalists have their voices and pens (and now the internet) to express whatever they want to protest against. However, I was kind of relieved. As an Iraqi citizen, I believe Bush deserved this ending that the entire world will remember and cherish. I mean what the wrong the man had done was huge. His failure to prepare for an invasion aftermath caused Iraqis and Americans hundreds of thousands of souls, not to mention the destruction of an entire country, the millions who have migrated and the creation of terrorism in Iraq. Well, you know the rest. There is no need to go into details here.
When I saw the video, all I could think of was what Bush will do for the rest of his life after he leaves the White House. Will he ever be respected? Remembered for at least a good thing he did? Now, the republicans will say, “But he removed Saddam!” and then I’ll reply, “and brought hundreds of Saddams instead and destroyed an entire functioning country.”
One of my colleagues at work who is not a supporter of Bush said despite his opposition to Bush, he started feeling sorry for him. I told him he shouldn’t. This man- whether he intended it or because he’s stupid- has been nothing but a bad thing in this world. I don’t even think he really understands how gravely disastrous what he has done in harming Iraqis and Americans. Thanks to Obama the world started believing in America again.
The reaction in the Arab world was expected. Extreme happiness and appreciation to what the reporter did. Iraqis have even created a facebook group right after the incident, praising the reporter and calling him “hero.” This morning, the number of the group members was around 900. Now it’s far more and is increasing. Also, a crazy Saudi wealthy man offered to buy the shoes for $10 Million. In addition to that, Arab people started exchanging jokes via email and cell phones. One of the jokes reads, “A new presidential order says no journalist attends a press conference wearing shoes.”
Anyways, now Bush has one last thing to have the world remember him with. If I were him… Nah, I’ll keep this to myself. lol
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