8/8/2005
The high light of this week was the wrath of nature .The orange dust that engulfed the surroundings , well there weren’t much to see in the surroundings at the first place anyway. Outside it looked like a negative picture being developed or like a scene from the Bible. One good thing although: no car bombs in Baghdad that day .In other words everything natural is good and everything good is natural ! One episode really brought tears to my inflamed eyes . We were sitting in a car waiting for the traffic to move , police men wore surgical masks , only God knows where they came from all at once, these masks were meant to be filters, some people were wetting pieces of clothe and putting them on their noses for a better effect ,and from the car window I saw a very weak and apparently suffering stray dog, it was zigzagging as if it were drunk or playing a role of a dog that has been shot, then he fond a filthy puddle of water and he started to rinse his snout in the puddle and then elevated his head and inhaled , and again till he got his breath back . do I hear the audience say aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!.

The palms of Samawa say…..
“ an Iraqi old song ”

Demonstrations in Samawa had an impact on the whole society because of opening fire on demonstrators who came with very reasonable and totally comprehensible demands . It was a disappointment. It shows how far we still are from democracy. But in my case and in the case of my friends there is an appendix to it . Samawa was believed to be the thing that the rest of the country should look up too ( according to rumors of course).
Since there were no riots and it has been relatively quite there -till now- people were circling rumors according to which, everything is perfect there in comparison with the rest . No one could penetrate that ideal town everything is impeccable. And all that is because … why do you think ?? well yes elementary dear Watson, because the Japs are in control. They are so cute and polite, they are even cleaning the town for the natives , providing them with electricity, water, services, even work!!! They are going to turn the place in to a second Tokyo in no time because they know what war is, they suffered from the Americans too, they are oriental, they respect other nation's culture, not like these hapless Americans and Brits. Well every one knows that we are a nation with a very fertile imagination. Any how, when the demonstration and the regrettable incidents erupted dreams were shattered and hopes were assassinated…. what no Tokyo ? no shieks going to Japan? no Japanese cars distributed by ration cards? no Sushi served at every street bend ? …. Who was spreading these rumors any way ? don’t they know that to break a heart is a cruel thing to do .

10/8/2005
A disastrous car bombing took place this afternoon at about 1:40 in Al Ghazaliya area near a market leaving 8 people dead and many others injured . A whole sector of houses were damaged in different ways . A young man who used to sell newspapers and cokes was killed.His face was familiar in the area.His name was Raed . He was not standing in the scolding sun selling newspapers out of a good life. He was obviously struggling to earn a crust of bread honestly and he was struggling to the last moment thats for sure . A newspaper boy … no day of national morn, no book to commemorate him , no Obituaries in the newspapers he used to sell , no mosques praying for his soul in loud speakers , no church bells tolling, just his poor family mourning him…..