Monday, October 04, 2004

How is it really in Iraq?

That seems to be what's on everyone's minds these days...Well where my husband, Meran, is working as a translator for the coalition forces...Things are not good.

He tells me of people higher up quitting left and right, for example he is suppose to have a site manager that visits every now and then to address their employees, Titan corporation, concerns and to authorize vacation time etc. Since he has been in Gayara, July, nobody has come by. He has repeatedly asked around and heard nothing except "they'll be there". Besides that, he is being asked to do translating jobs that he is not able to do because of lack of personnel with the right language skills. It is assumed that because he is Iraqi, he must know Arabic, which besides hello, how are you, he really doesn't have a grasp...At least not well enough to translate where one word mistake could lead to a wrong arrest or raiding a house that is not involved in the resistance.

And violence-wise things have gotten a lot worse...He is currently about a hour and half to two hours from his uncle's in Duhok. But he is unable to go there because conditions are so bad that it is not safe to travel that roadway. This in comparison to last year where he was visiting once or twice a month on his off time. Also a car bomb exploded in Duhok a couple weeks ago, and up until that point Duhok had yet to see the violence the south had seen. You know its getting bad there and more out of control when the violence has spread into Kurdistan in the north, an area that had things pretty much under raps until now.

But it is time for us to admit that we do not know what we are doing and to go back to the drawing board...What we are doing right now is letting things get worse. Since when does admitting things are going wrong=failure.

To me the bigger failure is to let things be. Any great leader will sit down and reevaluate himself and the situations he faces from time to time, if things need change, he changes it.

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Special report Guantanamo Bay Camp X-RayIn pictures Inside Guantánamo
Guantanamo Bay represents an attempt by the Bush regime to place itself above the law in a manner unprecedented since the seventeenth century crisis, which produced the English civil war and the beheading of Charles I. - From Guantanamo Bay, Habeas Corpus and the Texan Who Would be King
We've all been hearing about Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for a long time, and in reference to post-September 11th detainment there, in particular.

There are stories being documented now that posit, when presented collectively, that the detainments at the naval station camp are, in essence, a virtual internment camp...*

Detainees include citizens of over 40 different countries from around the world, including those of our allies. International watchdogs continue to document violations of the Geneva Convention at Guantanamo by the United States, the so-called cradle of democracy. Those with power use it as they see fit, and justify it only when necessary; admitting wrong, making things right, that is never usually done voluntarily. If we see this as wrong - we the citizen of the United States, or even we the citizen of the world - then we must insist on change against wrongs such as this.

What am I going to do about it? First, I won't be voting for President Bush in November. Second, I will continue to keep myself informed. Third, I will continue to tell people about what I find out. Fourth, I will continue to find ways to make a difference. Finally, I hope and pray when I find those ways, I will have the courage to ACT on them. If each person does that, it will make a difference.

* Meanwhile, over in Iraq, Abu Ghraib isn't unique...