IRAQ 2007 Asian Champion

We are proud of you, you represent the real Iraq and Iraqis, you successed in what the politations has failed. We love you and we are proud of you.

An inspirational story of an Iraqi war orphan

He is one victim of thousand that they are still need help

Iraqi Orphanage Nightmare

To see the whole story just follow the link below

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2947253n

Civil War In Iraq

Iraq is my mother

Dedicated to all Iraqis and especially Iraqi mothers

Greeting full of Sadness to all Iraqis

Thats what Terrorism is doing in Iraq ...
they are embedding my beautiful city Baghdad starting from the blowing up of Abu-Jaffar Al-Mansur's monument ...................ending up with
Al-Sarrafia bridge is one of the greatest and oldest bridges in Baghdad, a British comopany built it in 1926, the length of it is 450M- width is 6M,provided with a side for pedestrians.
Al-Sarrafia bridge considers one of highest bridges in Baghdad. It connects 2 of the most ancient neighborhoods (Al-Waziria and Al-Sarrfia).
This bridge was built to be used as a trians track between the east and west train stations of Baghdad.
since that age the bridge were rehabilitate many times to be kept as one of the landmarks of Baghdad city, it was called with many names as Al-Sarrafia bridge refering to the name of the erea that it was lockated in, also callaed the Iron bridge because it was made of iron.
this bridge held on it several memories of the contemporary history of Baghdad each part of it can tell a different story about revoultions, wars, celebrations, seasons, and the Tigris.
also it was a witness on millions of people's stories of the hard wrokers, employees, students and love stories.

me and all of you who lived in Iraq had a great memories there, I still remember driving there twice everyday going and back from my university with a company of my friends singing some of the great nineties music, and listing to Um-Kaltom in the way back afternoon.

they are killing my and millions of Iraqis memories and history, will alot of pain and sadness I will leave you with some pictures of the disaster, I don't mean to break your hearts as mine broken, but just to let you know how dirty the last war was and how nasty the conspiracy is.

ما انسى بغداد بيتي و صلاتي ووطني
الحلوة بغداد مولدي و عرسي و كفني
"will never forget baghdad my prayer and homecity
beautiful Baghdad my birth, happeness and cerements"

My name is Baghdad, Je m'appelle Bagdad

The great Baghdad

Congratulation to all Iraqis

I really wanna congratulate everybody including my self and all Iraqis. For winning the first place in Star Academy Middle East, it is a great achievement what Shada Hassoun got tonight, we should proud of Shada (Bent Al-Iraq), winning star academy is a great happiness that all Iraqis missed for long time, away from all what racistism and sectarian did to Iraq, but Sunnis, Shiite, and all other religions voted to one thing, voted to IRAQ, Shada by her self nobody knew her before she didn't even lived there. But what made me and all Iraqis happy is the name of Iraq winning something for along time being losing.

Star Academy didn't fixed what been messed up with, it's just united Iraqis to vote or one thing to agree one point which it's the name of Iraq.

guys and ladies cross your fingers and pray that one day soon all Iraqis will vote together one more time not for the academy winner but for winning peace in our biggest beloved home.

GREETINGS TO ALL IRAQIS, APPRECIATED YOUR VOTING TO IRAQ

WE DESERVE TO SHARE MORE HAPPINESS IN THE FUTURE WHEN WE ALL CAN LIVE AT HOME SAFE.

wheelchairs

An Iraqi child sits outside a store selling wheelchairs in central Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 26, 2007. Demand on wheelchairs in the Iraqi capital has dramatically increased since the Iraq conflict began four years ago, with dozens of residents injured everyday as a result of sectarian and other violence. The two greatest cause of injuries that require victims to use wheelchairs are roadside and car bombs.

Askariya shrine

The Askariya shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, is seen in these two pictures dated Feb. 2, 2004, left, and Feb. 22, 2006. Iraq's Cabinet announced plans Thursday Nov. 9, 2006 to repair a major Shiite shrine whose bombing by suspected extremists in February set off waves of sectarian revenge attacks that have killed thousands of Iraqis.

SADDAM HUSSAIN VERDICT (Arabic)

At last you get what do you deserve

Saddam's Excution

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein yells in court as he receives the verdict during his trial held under tight security in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone November 5, 2006. A visibly shaken Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to hang on Sunday at a lightning session of the U.S.-backed court trying him in Baghdad.

Saddam Has Taken Out Babylon From World Heritage

Baladna

We miss you Iraq

iraq

How can we love you USA

BLOOD POOL

People stand by a pool of blood on the spot where at least 17 people died in a car bombing the previous night, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday Oct. 17, 2006. An explosives-packed car driven by a suicide bomber rammed into a Shiite funeral tent in eastern Baghdad's Ur neighborhood. Soon afterward, a car parked nearby exploded, ripping through a crowd of rescuers and onlookers leaving 20 people dead and 27 wounded in the blasts.

Displacement 2

Iraqi children stand outside their tent in a refugee camp for displaced Sunnis in Baghdad in this July 22, 2006 file photo. Over 1,000 Iraqis are fleeing their homes each day because of rampant violence, and revenge killings are 'totally out of control', the U.N.'s top humanitarian official said on Wednesday

DISPLACEMENT

An Iraqi mother, displaced by sectarian violence fans her children as they sleep in their makeshift tent, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Sept. 25, 2006. Iraq's feuding ethnic and sectarian groups moved ahead Monday with forming a committee to consider amending the constitution after their leaders agreed to delay any division of the country into autonomous states until 2008.

"Writing and Wheel invented by The Sumerians"

The Sumerians at 4000 BC. And at the first time in history, they made an urban area, developed sophisticated irrigation systems and created what was probably the first cereal agriculture as well as the earliest writing, The first democratic assemblies start there and it gives way to kingships.

The Sumerians king may have had an edge on getting a "better deal", but it wasn't the law as it was in Egypt where the Pharaoh was the "living god" and as such, owned all things. Sumerians invented the wheel in 3700 BC. Sumerians developed a math system based on the numeral 60, which is the basis of time in the modern world. Sumerian society was "Matriarchal" and women had a highly respected place in society

Saddam's Trial

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, centre, and co-defendants listen to a defence testimony during their trial in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq Monday, Sept. 11, 2006. The second trial of Saddam Hussein, on charges of genocide in connection with a crackdown on Kurds, resumed Monday after a 19-day hiatus with the former Iraqi leader in the courtroom. Saddam and six co-defendants face a possible death penalty for the killings of tens of thousands of Kurds during the Anfal campaign, a massive military assault in northern Iraq in the 1980s. Saddam's co-defendants are, front left, Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai, middle row from left, Sabir al-Douri, Hussein Rashid Mohammed, Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, back row from left, Ali Hassan al Majid and Taher Tawfiq al-Ani

Water fountain

Iraqis sit in a water fountain to get respite from the heat, in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday Aug.24, 2006.Residents in Baghdad suffered through another day of sweltering temperatures Thursday, made worse by power outages and fuel shortages as temperatures hovered around 49 Celsius (120.20 Fahrenheit) in the capital city.Baghdad and many other parts of Iraq have been plagued by periodic fuel shortages and power outages since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion

Friday Mosque

The giant Friday Mosque is the largest landmark in Sāmarrā’, an ancient city in Iraq. Located on the Tigris River, Sāmarrā’ was the capital and religious center for the Abbassid rulers. Founded on the site of a 5,000-year-old settlement, the city became the Abbassid residence in the 9th century and eventually stretched for 32 kilometers (20 miles) along the east bank of the Tigris. In the late 9th century the Abbassid rulers moved to Baghdād, and Sāmarrā’ fell into decline. The Great Friday Mosque and the Spiral Minaret, built in the 9th century, continue to draw visitors and are an important religious center for Shia Muslims.

MORE PAIN

An Iraqi father mourns the death of his son in a suicide bomber attack, in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday Aug.10, 2006. A suicide bomber detonated a belt of explosives on his body near a highly revered Shiite shrine in southern Iraq Thursday, killing at least 30 people and injuring 60, an official said.

The problem's root

Hi
By this way the Israilai people are teaching there children
They send messages to the Labanins children through their bombs
Thank you

Why do I love the Irish people?

 
I have been in Ireland for 10 months now. I am from Iraq and I am a dentist. I think you logically understand why I am here- I am looking for a safe place to live with my wife and my two children. I was forced to leave my country. I was doing very well there. I hate to say that I am Sunni and that my wife is Shiate, because I do not believe in these new divisions, but the new (elected government!!!!!!!!!) in Iraq do.
  
Well I do not know what is supposed to be the popular Irish view towards the people that are looking for asylum seeker in their country. Some people may consider us parasitical; others may think that we are economical immigrants; some of them may say that we are unwelcome here. But I have not seen any of these things. For what I am seeing is respect, compassion and support in anything that we do and that we need.
  
I do not know more than 10 Irish people. I do not want to mention their names here, but they are really great and hospitable. I have nothing but total respect and admiration for them.
  
1. A teacher asks my children not to forget their own language, traditions and religion.
    
2. A principal asks always about you and invites you to his house.
  
3. English language teachers do their best to teach you and give you the confidence that you need.
  
4. A government minister and a city mayor that you can stand face to face with and chat to as friends.
    
5. Accommodation staff that are always trying to do their best to be helpful.
  
6. Voluntary people who try to entertain you and your children.
  
7. Nurses who help to maintain you health and well-being.
  
8. A computer teacher who spends a full day with you every week, who telephones you every day to see if you need anything and who always calls you ‘my friend’.
  
It is less than one year that I have been here but you -the Irish people- have given me full respect and treat me as a human being that has rights.
  

The real Iraqi people

Holding banners that read 'Sunni and Shiite Muslims unite!,' hundreds of protesters gather to denounce the continued Israeli bombing of Lebanon, Thursday, July 20, 2006, in Samarra, 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq.

The killing is going on, why?

Doctors treat young victims injured by automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades at Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital Monday, July 17, 2006, in Iraq. Dozens of heavily armed attackers raided an open air market Monday in a tense town south of Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding 42, police and hospital officials said. Most of the victims were believed to be Shiites.

Motherhood

An Iraqi women trying to guard her children .

MORE NEW VICTIMS

Neighbor and eyewitness Hussein Mohammed, 33, points to the charred ground where clothing of the young Iraqi girl who was allegedly raped then killed along with family members was burned outside of their home, Thursday, July 6, 2006, in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, Iraq. Former US Army Pfc. Steve D. Green was charged Monday in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, with rape and four counts of murder. At least four other U.S. soldiers still in Iraq are under investigation in the attack

The victim of occupation

Children victim of occupation. Iraqi boy Ayad Alim Brissam Karim shows one of his pictures taken before attack by US holicopters on vegetable field , in Hilla, 100 kms south of Baghdad, 28 January 2004.

Heat

An Iraqi woman fans her grandson in her home without electricity, Tuesday, July 4, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq. Most homes in Baghdad have less than four hours of electricity a day and with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, (40 degrees Celsius), staying in doors is rarely an option.

Haditha's scandal

Iraqis carry a body, which was reportedly loaded onto a truck with bodies of a family shot dead in their home in Haditha, Iraq, this March.
Web Exclusive| World

Look at his eyes, what did he do?

Cared for by his mother, Amir Ahmed, 10, suffers serious burns following a roadside bomb attack on a popular produce market, Monday, July 3, 2006, at the Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. A road side bomb exploded in a popular market in Mahmoudiya, just south of Baghdad, killing three civilians and injuring 21 others after a previous bomb on the same market Sunday.

Who Is Stealing Basra's Oil Production ?

During the U.N. sanctions on Iraq, it was a well-known fact that Saddam's regime managed to smuggle oil outside Iraq to pay for his luxurious lifestyle. This corrupt practice continues after the collapse of his regime. The new political players in Basra are following in his footsteps. Reuters AlertNet reports:


According to Mohamed al-Ebadi, the prime minister's personal adviser on oil affairs, nearly 1.5 million litres of crude oil, fuel and other petroleum products are smuggled from Basra everyday. "This has delayed dozens of projects and badly impacted the economic situation," said al-Ebadi. "The wasting of this money means more delays of reconstruction projects and infrastructure upgrades."
[...]
Brigadier Hakim Naim of the Basra Customs Directorate partly blamed Iran for the problem, saying that Tehran was not doing enough to curb smuggling. "Instead, the Iranian coastguard affords the smugglers protection in Iranian territorial waters," he said. "This is the main obstacle to our work." Naim went on to point out that about 500 oil tankers cross Iraqi waters en route to Iran and Kuwait every week and that "corrupt policemen are paid the equivalent of US $500 for every tanker allowed to pass".

Read more...


So someone is paying the corrupt policemen and probably the port workers to smuggle oil. Who are these people? Are they Hakim followers? Are they Sadr followers? Are they corrupt oil managers who want to get rich at the expense of the Iraqi people, THEIR PEOPLE?

Before we blame Kuwait or Iran for not doing enough to stop this practice, we need to wonder why those corrupt Iraqis aren't stepping up to think of their fellow Iraqis. This money could buy medicine, improve sewage and water systems among other things. The list is very long for what Iraq needs these days.

Iraq needs too many years until it can rid itself of those corrupt politicians and workers. Until then, Iraq continues to struggle and Iraqi people continue to lose hope in the future.

THE IRAQI FLAQ

The Iraqi flaq in the world cup (Germany)
What the colours of Iraqi flaq mean:
Green strongly associated with the colour of Islam.
Black stronlgy associated with the Kerbala and the mourning of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain
The inscription of 'Allah o Akbar' God is the greatest, despite the fact that it may have been added by Saddam for his own propoganda it encaptured the great resiliance of the Iraqi people and their dependence and trust in God in the fact of American tyranny.
Red that represented the blood sacrficed by the people in pursuit of freedom from tynranny and colonialism.
Gone are the colours of Pan-Arabism that united with many of its neighbours, in the same way many Western countries are united upon their choice of red, white and blue.

Iraqi innocent

Will you please help these innocent Iraqi children

EYRE SQUARE

The Irish children are celebrating by there own way at the official opening of Eyre square in Galway city

Iraqi intellectuals flee 'death squads'

Iraqi intellectuals flee 'death squads'
Baghdad University was a neat place before the occupation
Occupied Iraq is suffering a new brain drain as intellectuals flood out of the country to avoid unemployment and an organised killing campaign.
In recent months assassinations have targeted engineers, pharmacologists, officers, and lawyers.
More than 1000 leading Iraqi professionals and intellectuals have been assassinated since last April, among them such prominent figures as Dr Muhammad al-Rawi, the president of Baghdad University.
The identity of the assailants remains a mystery and none have been caught.
But families and colleagues of victims believe that Iraqi parties with foreign affiliations have an interest in wiping out Iraq's intellectual elite.
Media reports suggest that more than 3000 Iraqi academics and high-profile professionals have left Iraq recently, not to mention the thousands of Iraqis who are travelling out of the country every day in search of work and safety.
"Iraqis used to leave Iraq during the 13-year UN sanctions for better work opportunities, but they are leaving now to avoid being assassinated by unknown, well-organised death squads," said political analyst and politics professor Dhafir Salman.
Usama al-Ani, director of the research and development department in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research said top Iraqi scientists have been targeted by foreign parties.
"I believe Iraqi scientists are being targeted by foreign powers, most probably Israel."

Terror campaign

Monday's issue of the pro-US Iraqi internet newspaper Iraq of Tomorrow reported that the decapitated body of mathematics professor Dr Abd al-Samai Abd al-Razaq had been found in a Baghdad street.
Aljazeera.net contacted Dr Abd al-Samai's family in Baghdad and was surprised to find him very much alive.
The al-Mustansiriya University in
Baghdad is 1000 years old
"They published such a story to terrify me and my family," he told Aljazeera.net, accusing political and religious parties of turning Iraqi universities into political battlefields.
"Since occupation, universities have become fertile recruitment ground for political and religious parties. Students should be devoted to their studies, not to serving the interests of those who seek power.
"These groups are targeting me and all my colleagues who want to preserve respected Iraqi institutions from destruction."

De-Baathification

Aside from the terror campaign, measures taken by the post occupation authorities have contributed to Iraq's brain drain.
"I would like to ask the de-Baathification committee why they are so happy that many thousands of Baathists have been sacked from Iraq's governmental departments and educational institutions?" Salman says. "Do they think they have done well? Of course, not.
"They have sacked Iraq's elite professionals; who will replace them? Where will the replacements come from? After all, these people are Iraqis, is this in line with the national reconciliation they are talking about?"
Al-Ani: University equipment
destroyed by war and looting
Before the war on Iraq, US and UK officials repeatedly accused the Iraqi government of triggering the exodus of four million educated Iraqis.
But under the occupation the rate of emigration has increased.
"Iraqi universities have lost 1315 scientists who hold MA and PhD degrees," al-Ani said. "This number constitutes eight per cent of the 15,500 Iraqi academics
"Up until now, 30% of those who were sacked as result of the campaign have left Iraq."

Education system

Iraq is rich in intellectuals, largely as a result of Saddam Hussein's policy of sending tens of thousands of Iraqi students abroad to gain post-graduate degrees in a wide range of disciplines.
The practice fell into abeyance when UN sanctions were imposed in 1990 following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
In the country itself, where education has been free since the abolition of the monarchy in 1958, most of the 20 universities in Iraq also awarded post-graduate degrees.

List of killed Iraqi academics

Hi everybody
Here you can find a List of killed Iraqi academics:
Link to this list: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/academicsList.htm

URGENT APPEAL TO SAVE IRAQ'S ACADEMICS.

A little known aspect of the tragedy engulfing Iraq is the systematic liquidation of the country's academics. Even according to conservative estimates, over 250 educators have been assassinated, and many hundreds more have disappeared. With thousands fleeing the country in fear for their lives, not only is Iraq undergoing a major brain drain, the secular middle class - which has refused to be co-opted by the US occupation - is being decimated, with far-reaching consequences for the future of Iraq.

Already on July 14, 2004, veteran correspondent Robert Fisk reported from Iraq that: "University staff suspect that there is a campaign to strip Iraq of its academics, to complete the destruction of Iraq's cultural identity which began when the American army entered Baghdad."

The wave of assassinations appears non-partisan and non-sectarian, targeting women as well as men, and is countrywide. It is indiscriminate of expertise: professors of geography, history and Arabic literature as well as science are among the dead. Not one individual has been apprehended in connection with these assassinations.

According to the United Nations University, some 84 per cent of Iraq's institutions of higher education have already been burnt, looted or destroyed. Iraq's educational system used to be among the best in the region; one of the country's most important assets was its well-educated people.

This situation is a mirror of the occupation as a whole: a catastrophe of staggering proportions unfolding in a climate of criminal disregard. As an occupying power, and under international humanitarian law, final responsibility for protecting Iraqi citizens, including academics, lies with the United States.

With this petition we want to break the silence.

1. We appeal to organisations which work to enforce or defend international humanitarian law to put these crimes on the agenda.

2. We request that an independent international investigation be launched immediately to probe these extrajudicial killings. This investigation should also examine the issue of responsibility to clearly identify who is accountable for this state of affairs. We appeal to the special rapporteur on summary executions at UNHCHR in Geneva

IRAQI DOCTORS SUFFERING

We're helpless says Iraqi surgeon
By REBECCA TORRPublished: 13 April 2006
IRAQI doctors are being stretched to their limit having to treat war casualties with little medical supplies, staff and time, says a top plastic surgeon.
Iraqi consultant plastic surgeon Dr Zakaria Arajy, from Baghdad, said there were huge numbers of war casualties needing reconstructive surgery but due to the lack of medical resources and too few doctors, waiting lists were becoming longer and people of all ages were suffering.
"The number of casualties is high and this means you can't give patients what they need, so you give them primary treatment and have to do the reconstructive surgery later," said Dr Arajy's, whose patient waiting list now stands at 14 to 15 months.
"There are also severe shortages in pharmaceuticals, suturing materials and anaesthetics.
"We don't have a steady flow of medical supplies.
"Another problem is the experienced surgeons, scientists and medical brains have been killed, kidnapped and threatened and lots of people have left the country."
Scientific Council of Plastic Surgery Studies head and Iraqi Society of Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons vice-president Dr Arajy said doctors in Iraq were doing their best with the resources available but it was below acceptable international standards.
Dr Arajy was speaking on the sidelines of the Ninth Congress of the Pan Arab Association of Burns and Plastic Surgery (ArabiaPlast 2006) and the Sixth Congress of the GCC Association of Plastic Surgeons (GulfPlast 2006), which concludes today.
More than 350 doctors and surgeons are attending the event, which is held at the Crowne Plaza, under the patronage of Health Minister Dr Nada Haffadh.
Dr Arajy, who has been a plastic surgeon through the Iraqi-Iran war of the 1980s, the Iraqi-Kuwait war in 1991 and now the 2003 US Invasion of Iraq, said the latest war was the most damaging because the frontline was literally at people's doorsteps and everyone, of all ages was affected.
Another problem with the current war, he said, was the weapons were causing more severe injuries than ever before. "I worked in three wars and the weapons now are more devastating and cause severe injuries that we aren't use to," said Dr Arajy, who is visiting Bahrain for the first time.
"They use cluster bombs and these cause severe casualties and damages. "The need for reconstructive surgery before and since the war is very high.
"People have lost muscles, tissues, bones and we need to construct as much of the defects as possible." Dr Arajy said the country had severe electricity shortages and because people were using other means of energy, such as patrol lamps, this was increasing the amount of burn casualties and time he had to spend in surgery.
In addition to the difficulties and trauma faced at work, he said, doctors were also facing terror on a personal basis.
"The problems of the new government has implications on the street level and our mind is not at rest because of security threats with doctors being kidnapped for a ransom. "We have lost a good number of colleagues and plastic surgeons who were killed.
"When I leave my house I'm not sure I will return home.
"When I see my children are back home I thank God.
Although Dr Arajy and others are in fear for their lives, the plastic surgeon feels that he is duty bound to stay in the country for his medical students and patients.
Dr Arajy said if other countries or organisations wanted to help alleviate the medical situation in Iraq, they could sponsor doctors and medical staff for training abroad because the majority had been solely trained in the country.

FREE IRAQ

A U.S. soldier facing angry Iraqi citizens condemning the occupation in Hilla, Iraq, March 19, 2006. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters)

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

MY CHILDREN TOOK PART IN THIS GREAT DAY..

Thank you Irish people

"Black Shamrock"
A timely reminder that in the civilized parts of the world people still understand the Golden Rule:
The Black Shamrock symbolises our mourning for all those who died as a result of Irish collaboration in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, for which the airports at Shannon, Aldergrove and Baldonnel have become pit-stops. It also symbolises our mourning for the loss of Irish Neutrality....
The Black Shamrock is also, of course, a symbol of resistance. In wearing it, all of those who do declare their opposition to any Irish involvement, be it economic, strategic or logistical, in the unjust and illegal wars.

Iraqi traditional food

Iraqi cuisine is enormously varied. There are first of the popular places which traditionally specialize in certain dishes, such as Kebab grills, grilled liver and hearts. Guss, Mosul kubba, etc. Then there are the first-class restaurants where, besides Western food, delicious Iraqi dishes are served, e.g., stuffed quiz (grilled whole lamb stuffed with rice, almonds, raisins and spices.). If the weather is favorable and you go to one of the innumerable “casinos” along the river-drive called Abu Nuwas street, you will enjoy mazguf fish, grilled on an open circular fire of tamarisk wood before you, with thousands of coloured lights shimmering in the Tigris waters.

Babylon Lion in Babel

Babylon Lion in Babel

baghdad city centre

Nasb Al Tahreer - Downtown - Baghdad by Iraqi artist Jawad Salim

Samara's Malwiya

About 74 years after the foundation of Baghdad, the Abbassid Caliph Al-Mu'tasim moved his capital north, to the newly built city of Samara, in A.D.836. Its heyday however was under Caliph Al-Mutawakkil, (A.D. 847 - 861). In 892 Caliph Al-Mu'tadhid shifted his capital back to Baghdad.Despite the short sojourn of the Abbassid Caliphate in Samara, the city's artistic, literary and scientific splendours have remained a legend in Arab history. The remains of ancient Samara are visible along the eastern bank of the Tigris, stretching south of the modern city for nearly 35 kms: the Great Mosque, the spiral Minaret, Balkwara Palace, Ma'shouq Palace, etc.To the north of the spiral Minaret are the Caliph's Residence, Tell al-Ullaiq, Abu Dalaf Mosque, Mutawakiliya.The Great Mosque, a dominating, magnificent structure which was once the largest mosque in the Islamic world. It was built by Al-Mutawakkil in A.D. 852 from bricks and clay. It has a rectangular plan measuring 240 x 160 meters, with walls 10 meters high, 2.65 m thick, supported by 44 towers. The courtyard was surrounded on all sides by an arcade, the greatest part of which was the one facing Mecca. The Mosque's minaret is the ´Malwiya` which rises, 27 meters away from the northern side of the Mosque, to a height of 52 meters.

Tragedy

Why all that is going on in my country? What did the Iraqis do to deserve this? When it will end? Who can explain this?

Hanging gardens

This photo is for the hanging gardens in Babylon/ Iraq
It's one of the seven wonders in the world .

The greatest iraqi singer

Ambassador of Arab pop Iraqi-born superstar Kazem al-Sahir sings of love, not politics
In Cairo, Beirut and other Arab capitals, his face is plastered on entertainment magazines, his music videos are memorized scene by scene and his lyrics are recited by young and old alike.
Kazem al-Sahir has sold more than 30 million records, but don't call him just a pop star. That would oversimplify the breadth of a performer who blends classical Arabic music and modern poetry, usually plays with a 30-piece orchestra and sings romantic ballads that can be interpreted in different ways,
such as his hit "Beauty and His Love," about a man who professes adoration for Baghdad.
Al-Sahir grew up in Iraq's capital and became a popular icon there before emerging as the Arab world's biggest name in music. At a time when his country may become embroiled in a second major conflict with the United States, al- Sahir is on a U.S. tour that is showing Americans a different side of Iraq.
"I hope I am an ambassador, and show people that there are many great artists and musicians in Iraq," al-Sahir said in a phone interview before flying to the Bay Area, where he performs Friday night at the Berkeley Community Theater. "Iraq has a very artistic community. I hope my music and concerts can show a face for the people of Iraq that is not politics."
Al-Sahir has to be diplomatic about the looming war against Saddam Hussein. Though he no longer lives in Baghdad (he divides his time among Paris, Toronto,
Cairo and Dubai), his mother, seven brothers, two sisters and other family members are still in Iraq. For that reason, like other expatriate Iraqis with personal ties to their homeland, he avoids saying anything controversial about Hussein.
Al-Sahir doesn't hesitate to bemoan the economic conditions in Iraq, worsened, he says, by decade-long U.N. sanctions imposed after the last Persian Gulf War. On a flight several years ago in Europe, al-Sahir happened to sit next to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whom he handed a CD inscribed with the words, "Don't forget about Iraqi children."
Friday night's concert, which features a 16-piece orchestra of U.S.-based musicians, is a benefit for children in Iraq.
"They're deprived -- they're desperate and have nothing," al-Sahir says. "It hurts me that they don't even have medicine."
Al-Sahir sings in Arabic, so for listeners who know only English, the subtlety of his songs can get lost. Al-Sahir distinguishes himself from other best-selling Arab stars by emphasizing traditional Arabic music scales and formal Arabic pronunciations. He commands the stage with his voice and presence, not with dancing or choreographed moves. His recent album "My Love and Rain" (Habibati Wal Matar) captures al-Sahir in a classic pose: Wearing a tuxedo, he stares at the camera with a look of contemplation and seriousness. Al-Sahir was blessed with model good looks, which has bolstered his appeal across the Arab world, but it's his melding of pop and classical forms -- and his many songs about love -- that have created his legions of fans.
"He's the gentleman of Arab pop," says UCLA ethnomusicologist A.J. Racy, author of the new book "Making Music in the Arab World." "He projects a kind of serious, composed image. Other Arabic pop stars rely on fast action. He tends to be more conservative. He's rooted in Iraqi music, which has always suggested a sense of tradition for the Arab world.
"The Iraqi maqam (music) system is very old and appeals to real connoisseurs," Racy adds. "Kazem is capable of taking liberties with the music,
to make it more ecstatic. He also uses poems by well-known poets. And he composes his own music. Many pop singers rely on their producers to produce everything. All these things make him special."
Says Umaima Baqer, an al-Sahir fan who is program director at Arab American Community TV in Sunnyvale: "For me, the reason he's popular is because he respects the Arabic language. He sings poetry that is extremely romantic, to the degree that only Arabic-language poetry can be and yet still be sung. Other popular singers take a few words out of a poem and just repeat it. With him, the music is more about the words. You can believe him when he sings."
Al-Sahir, who is 46, has composed songs since he was 12. His career received its biggest boost after Iraq's eight-year war with Iran, when he wrote a song called "The Snake Bite," about an Iraqi who is threatened and feels betrayed. Iraq's government tried to ban the tune after al-Sahir surreptitiously made a video of it and had it shown on Iraqi TV. The edict made the song even more popular and gave al-Sahir a name around the Persian Gulf, "taking me from a life of poverty to performing widely."
His popularity today isn't limited to the Arab world. In a BBC poll done last year of the world's top songs, al-Sahir's "Me and Laila" (which is a love song) was voted No. 6, two spots ahead of Cher's "Believe" and four better than Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Before starting his five-city American tour, al-Sahir went to Morocco and recorded a song and video with British singer- actress Sarah Brightman called "The War Is Over Now."
Al-Sahir, whose next album will feature some songs in English, may one day be a big name in the United States, too. This week, he has appeared on CNN and MSNBC, projecting a dignified voice for a country that has been demonized and politically isolated.
Metaphor is important in al-Sahir's songs. In "Beauty and His Love," al- Sahir tells his lover she can never match the charms of someone else -- a woman with whom he is passionately enthralled. This "someone else" turns out to be the city of Baghdad. "The War Is Over" contains the lines, "In morning dew, a glorious scene came through, like war is over now. A pure moment of thought and the meaning of love, like war is over now. I feel I am coming home again." The "war" in the song refers partly, he says, to "the war of the spirit."
"My songs are there for people in good times and bad," al-Sahir says. "They can bring a little bit of love and peace to people."

The greatest oud player in the world

Munir Bashir was born in Mosul in northern Iraq into a musical family. He began to learn the oud at the age of five, along with the cello. He studied oud in Baghdad under the great masters and then moved to Hungary, where he gained his doctorate. He is regarded as the greatest oud player of all time and a master of Iraqi maqamat. Munir Bashir died in 1997. There is also a website dedicated to his life and music.
You can also hear Munir Bashir on the "Rare Recordings" page at http://www.mikeouds.com/rare.html

The Iraqi football team

The Iraq national football team is the national team of Iraq and is controlled by the Iraqi Football Association. It made one World Cup, in 1986, but lost all three of its games.
During the reign of Saddam Hussein his son, Uday Hussein, was in charge of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and, by extension, its soccer team. Uday routinely tortured Iraqi soccer players for poor performances.
With the Husseins out of power, the Iraqi team had a re-surgrance in 2004. Its Under-23 team qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics and then represented the country in the Asian Cup, where they surprised many by making the quarterfinals. But the surprises didn't end there. At the Olympics, Iraq defeated Portugal, Costa Rica, and Australia on their way to fourth place in the tournament.
During the 2004 Olympics, team members expressed their objections to commercials by the re-election campaign of George W. Bush which made reference to Iraq's participation in the Games. [1] [2]

Is it an iraqi or an Irish musical instrument?

This is the loved Iraqi Harp of Ur, also known as the Golden Lyre of Ur last played almost 5000 years ago in the city of Ur.
This time of early Iraq is little known about, yet its craftsmanship and artistry created objects of great beauty. Early Middle Eastern civilizations, some of the earliest in the world, deserve to be better understood.
Iraq was the birth place of civilization, also known as the cradle of civilization. The very first written words ever known to man evolved and were developed in Iraq, the very first cities throughout human history were built in Iraq. Ideas like dividing time into months, weeks, days and hours, music, schools, trade, religion, law and many other ideas which govern our lives today were all started in Iraq. By the time this harp was first made almost 5000 years ago, Iraq had already enjoyed more than 2000 years of history.
Successive and continuous civilizations like the Sumerians, Akkadian, Chaldean, Babylonians and Assyrians meant that Iraq was the centre of civilization for almost 5000 years before the rise of the Greek, Persian and Roman Civilisations. Even during that time Iraq was a magnet and inspiration to these new forces in the arena of history. Alexander the Great in his pursuit to conquer the civilised world took Iraq as the capital of his empire and built himself a new city "Alexandria", just few miles away from the ancient capital Babylon. When the Sassanid Persian Empire expanded, they also made Iraq the home of their capital "Ctesiphon ", again just few miles way from the ancient Babylon.
In the seventh century, with the rise of Islam, Iraq regained it place as the centre of civilisation. During the Middle Ages, cities like Baghdad, Kufa, Basra and Mosul became the centres for learning of art, science, culture and innovation. Schools, universities, hospitals, libraries were built in Iraq to serve the ordinary person for the very first time in human history, prior to that these were only for the very privileged few. New ideas in science, mathematic, philosophy, education, music, literature and law flourished in Iraq. During the middle ages no physician, mathematician, chemist, philosopher, poet or historian would be able to acclaim fame if they did not have recognition from their contemporaries in Iraq.
We would not be far away from the truth to say that Iraq gave the world the very ingredient and the very essence of civilization. We would like this project to be a tribute to Iraq and the Iraqi People.

Famous women from my country

Highest Architecture Prize Goes to Iraqi Woman Zaha Hadid, has been chosen as the 2004 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. This is the first time a woman has been named for this 26 year old award. Here are facts, quotes, and links to extensive pdf files with photos of her most important works...
Hadid, who is 53, has completed one project in the United States, the Richard and Lois Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is currently developing another to co-exist with a Frank Lloyd Wright structure, the Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Zaha Hadid's other completed projects include:• a fire station for the Vitra Furniture Company in Weil am Rhein, Germany (see photo above) • LFone/Landesgartenschau, an exhibition building to mark the 1999 garden festival in that same city • a “park and ride” and tramway on the outskirts of Strasbourg, France • a ski jump situated on the Bergisel Mountain overlooking Innsbruck, Austria.
In addition, Zaha Hadid has numerous other projects in various stages of development. They include:• a building for BMW in Leipzig, Germany• a Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany• a National Center of Contemporary Arts in Rome• a Master Plan for Bilbao, Spain• a Guggenheim Museum for Taichung, Taiwan (see photo below)• a high speed train station outside Naples• a new public archive, library and sport center in Montpellier, France

THE WORLD'S FIRST CITY

The oldest civilisation we know is the Sumerian - located in the far south of present-day Iraq. Around 6,000 years ago the Sumerians built the world's first city - Uruk - and, for good or ill, introduced urban civilisation. The oldest book we now know, the Epic of Gilgamesh, was also written in Sumeria, around 4,500 years ago. The book describes how Gilgamesh, a king of Uruk, set out on a quest for knowledge and immortality, and how in the end he found them through architecture. Only by building could a king honour his gods and obtain immortality. To the Sumerian kings, who stamped their names in the bricks of their buildings so they would live in the memory of man forever, city building - architecture - was divine.
'Ziggurats were the focal and spiritual centre of the city...'
Persians and then Romans resurrected the city, but it was finally abandoned in the fourth century AD, and it was only rediscovered in the early 20th century, by German archaeologists. It now consists of a vast number of mounds - the remains of ancient buildings - covering acres of land, dominated by the huge bulk of a ziggurat. This is a stepped pyramid, formed with a series of terraces and ramps, a form of construction that seems to have been evolved by the Sumerians around 6,000 years ago, and was taken over and developed by succeeding Mesopotamian civilisations such as the Assyrians. Ziggurats were the focal and spiritual centre of the city, the earthly dwellings of the gods, and their ramps were the stairways to heaven up which priests would ascend to converse with their deities.
Much could be learned from Ashur, as archaeologists have not yet fully excavated the site, but it seems that its secrets are soon to die with the city. One of the more destructive policies of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq has been to dam the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which flow south into the Persian Gulf, to an extent that is both ecologically and environmentally disastrous. Construction work has now started that will dam the Tigris at Ashur, so that a large portion of the ancient city centre will soon be submerged.

Iraq for sale

A fertile, wealthy country with a population of around 25 million… plus around 150,000 foreign troops, and a handful of puppets.
Conditions of sale: should be either an American or British corporation (forget it if you’re French)… preferably affiliated with Halliburton.
Please contact one of the members of the Governing Council in Baghdad, Iraq for more information

THE HISTORY OF BAGHDAD

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq and the center of air, road, and rail transport in the country. As the leading manufacturing city of Iraq, The city has numerous oil refineries, food-processing plants, tanneries, and textile mills. The city extends along both banks of the Tigris. The east-bank settlement is known as Rusafah, the west-bank as al-Karkh. To the north, urban expansion has absorbed the medieval townships of al-A'zamiyah on the east bank and al-Kazimiyah on the west bank. Baghdad suffered damage from allied bombing during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Baghdad was founded in the 8th century following an Arab victory over a larger Persian army. Baghdad was the seat of the Abbasid caliphate from the 9th to the 13th centuries. During this era, it became the center of Islamic learning and international trade. Modern Iraqis proudly look back to this period as the golden age of Islamic civilization. Baghdad was one of the three seats of provincial Ottoman rule, and was maintained as a Sunni buffer against the Shia Safavid Empire in Iran. With more than 5 million people, Baghdad is the largest and most diverse city in Iraq. It is approximately 70% Shia. It is home to many important religious and cultural sites dating to the Abbasid period, including shrines of great Imams such as Sheik al-Ghailani, who established the Sufi order al-Qadiriya, and Imam al-A'dham, who developed Islamic jurisprudence.
The city of Baghdad was founded in AD762 by Abu Jafar al-Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, on the west bank of the Tigris River. The capital was surrounded by a circular wall, and became known as the "Round City". Baghdad was at the height of its commercial prosperity during the 8th and 9th centuries AD, and between the 8th and 12th centuries, Baghdad was a flourishing center of Arab civilization. The stories of Scheherazade as told in the Arabian Nights give an idea of life about 800 AD in the court of one of the most famous Abbasid rulers, Caliph Harun ar-Rashid. Baghdad became a famous center of learning in the Middle Ages, and by the tenth century was regarded as the intellectual center of the world. As capital of the caliphate, Baghdad was also to become the cultural capital of the Islamic world.
The Abbasid caliphs' power subsequently weakened, and in 1258, Baghdad was overrun by Mongolian conquerers under Hulagu Khan, who killed the last Caliph, massacred Baghdad's population and destroyed the city and countryside. In 1401 the Mongol leader Tamerlane (Timur the Lame) sacked Baghdad and massacred many of its inhabitants. By the beginning of the 16th century Baghdad's irrigation systen was in dis-repair and the population was reduced to 150,000. Iraq became a land of small kingdoms. The Ottomans maintained Iraq as a Sunni-controlled buffer state.
At the end of World War I, the League of Nations gave Great Britain a mandate to administer Iraq until it established its own government. The British placed a member of the Hashemite family, Faisal ibn Husayn, on the throne as King Faisal I in 1921. Oil reserves in Iraq began to be developed in 1931 under an agreement signed by the Iraqi government and a number of international oil companies. Full independence was achieved in 1932, when the British Mandate was officially terminated. Iraq was a constitutional monarchy until 1958, when a group of army officers overthrew the government. In 1963 the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party, known as the Baath party, seized power.
The oil boom of the 1970s brought wealth to Baghdad, and the city was developed on an impressive scale. The city stretches along both banks of the Tigris, with the district of Rusafah on the east and the district of Karkh on the west. Eleven bridges connect the two halves of the city, with a total population of 5 million people.
There are many significant historical and traditional sites in Baghdad. Tell Harmal, a small mound of antiquity on the outskirts of Baghdad, was ancient Shaduppum, the administrative center of the kingdom of Eshnunna where the first laws (preceding the laws of Hammurabi) were discovered. The same site has yielded tablets showing mathematical and geometrical problems that precede the same Greek developments by centuries. Aqarquf is another fascinating site for its wonderful ziggurat, a tall, terraced ancient Babylonian structure used to protect important buildings from flooding.
By late 2003 there were nine district councils in the city. District council members are selected from the 88 Neighborhood Advisory Councils. The number of neighborhood representatives on the district council is based upon the community's population. The Baghdad City Advisory Council consists of 37 members drawn from the district councils and is also based on the district's population.

THE HISTORY OF IRAQ

Once known as Mesopotamia, Iraq was the site of flourishing ancient civilizations, including the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Parthian cultures. Muslims conquered Iraq in the seventh century A.D. In the eighth century, the Abassid caliphate established its capital at Baghdad, which became a frontier outpost on the Ottoman Empire.
At the end of World War I, Iraq became a British-mandated territory. When it was declared independent in 1932, the Hashemite family, which also ruled Jordan, ruled as a constitutional monarchy. In 1945, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League. In 1956, the Baghdad Pact allied Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom, and established its headquarters in Baghdad.
Gen. Abdul Karim Qasim took power in July 1958 coup, during which King Faysal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said were killed. Qasim ended Iraq's membership in the Baghdad Pact in 1959. Qasim was assassinated in February 1963, when the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (Ba'ath Party) took power under the leadership of Gen. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr as prime minister and Col. Abdul Salam Arif as president.
Nine months later, Arif led a coup ousting the Ba'ath government. In April 1966, Arif was killed in a plane crash and was succeeded by his brother, Gen. Abdul Rahman Mohammad Arif. On July 17, 1968, a group of Ba'athists and military elements overthrew the Arif regime. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr reemerged as the President of Iraq and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).
In July 1979, Bakr resigned, and his chosen successor, Saddam Hussein, assumed both offices.
The Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) devastated the economy of Iraq. Iraq declared victory in 1988 but actually achieved a weary return to the status quo antebellum. The war left Iraq with the largest military establishment in the Gulf region but with huge debts and an ongoing rebellion by Kurdish elements in the northern mountains. The government suppressed the rebellion by using weapons of mass destruction on civilian targets, including a mass chemical weapons attack on the city of Halabja that killed several thousand civilians.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, but a U.S.-led coalition acting under United Nations (UN) resolutions expelled Iraq from Kuwait in February 1991. After the war, the UN Security Council required the regime to surrender its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and submit to UN inspections. When the Ba'ath regime refused to fully cooperate with the UN inspections, the Security Council employed sanctions to prevent further WMD development and compel Iraqi adherence to international obligations. Coalition forces enforced no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq to protect Iraqi citizens from attack by the regime and a no-drive zone in southern Iraq to prevent the regime from massing forces to threaten or again invade Kuwait.
A U.S.-led coalition removed the Ba'ath regime in March and April 2003, bringing an end to more than 12 years of Iraqi defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The coalition, international agencies, and nongovernmental organizations quickly established aid systems, preventing any general humanitarian crisis. The coalition formed the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to provide for the effective administration of Iraq during the period of transitional administration, restore conditions of security and stability, and create conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future. The UN Security Council acknowledged the authorities of the coalition and provided for a role for the UN and other parties to assist in fulfilling these objectives.
Power was returned to the Iraqi people in June 2004. Despite negative media reports, most of Iraq was peaceful during the American occupation. Most Iraqi's were grateful for the American invasion. Fewer people died daily under the American's than during the tryanny of Saddam Hussein. Continued attacks by terrorists bent on undermining democratic rule in Iraq remain a problem and coalition troops continue to work in conjunction with the Iraqi government to assure the freedom of the Iraqi people.

saddam's palace

saddam's palace
Originally uploaded by alshahabey_asj.

i want to blog this photo just to make comparism with abd alkareem's photo.
this is one of the palaces of saddam.
but where is he now?

abd alkareem kassem

20
Originally uploaded by alshahabey_asj.

hi
i choose this photo to abd alkareem kassem he is an former iraqi presedent
killed by the criminal saddam
in this photo you can see him sleeping on the floor in a room in the ministry of defence
as we know this room is all what he had
just like saddam!!!!!!!

i am in galway

i am in galway
Originally uploaded by alshahabey_asj.

my children in there school

Dsci0038
Originally uploaded by alshahabey_asj.

new year 2006

Dsci0035
Originally uploaded by alshahabey_asj.

hi
this photo in the city center of galway
you can see behind me the snow man

BAGHDAD BURNING

BAGHDAD BURNING

This is the title of last book I read it , it have been written by an Iraqi girl who lives in Baghdad and new all the facts and the problems that the Iraqi people are suffering from , the facts that the west try to hide it and try to say that Iraq now is the right way.
every person who interested in Iraq situation now have to read it.
I found this book in the public library here in Galway/ Ireland.
when you begin read it you can not leave it.
you will see the problem that are facing us from the US troops to the new government and its police to the insurgency and electricity.
so join me and read it if you are interested.
ADIL

Galway city

GALWAY CITY

Well hi every body, I'm here in this calm and beautiful city since 26/9/2005 .
I like it so much especially the people here they are smile at your face whenever they see you and try to help you whenever you need.
my 2 children lina and Mohammed are in cladagh school , it's an international school here , there are more than 30 other nationalities with them that's why they become so confident and there language improved.
The sea here is so beautiful and all the days you can see people walking beside it.
In last Christmas there are so many people who dive into the see.
There are so many nice gardens and playing area for children.
I like it and wish to see it more and more improved
ADIL

first entry

test for my new blog