neurotic Iraqi wife
August 17, 2007
The War of Empathy...
Im not really in the mood to blog. But I do have good news to share, so decided to share it with you. Almost all of my coworkers who had their interviews for the US visa, were told they will be getting it in 5 days instead of the 2 or 3 months wait!!! Yaaaaaaaaay. That was the best news Ive heard in a long time. Im so happy, yet so sad at the same time, because I really am missing them. Im missing them alot. I also received an email from my very good friend S, who travelled to the US on that special immigrant visa, here is what she had to say:
"First of all I’m sooooooo sorry for not contacting you for the last two months…please forgive me…and please know that I haven’t and will never forget you…I want you to be my friend for life …because I really like you a lot and like your unique and honest personality. How are you and how is hubby…are you still in Baghdad?What is going on at work? Who left and who is still there?What about the other people who applied for the Visa…did any of them have his/her Visa yet?Keep me informed with the latest….I really miss you and miss our gossiping…I can’t say that I have friends here …I met a few people here but I can’t say they are friends…not too many Iraqis…I really miss speaking in Arabic and make jokes of nothing and everything. Life here is not as easy as I thought…too many challenges every where…but I won’t give up and I will keep trying to find my way and establish a new life….but it is another struggle. So far I have received my Green Card, Social Security Card, and Training Driving License…finally I’m learning how to drive!!! Please keep me in your prayers and know that you are in mine…and please keep in touch."
Words like these made my eyes well with tears. Yeah it seems everything makes me cry lately!!! God. Im probably PMsing I guess...Im trying to give my coworkers a snapshot of how things will be. Because their desire to leave this place exceeds any logical thinking, they cannot begin to imagine the challenges theyre gonna face. The hurdles. And worst of all, the yearning. Yes they will yearn for everything they complained about when they were here. They will yearn for the sleepless nights they spent on their roofs trying to catch a breeze in the dead summer air. Oh yes, they will yearn for the lack of water and the times they had to come into work and wash up here. Aha, yes they will yearn for all the bad times, cuz for them, the good and the bad times took place in their country, their country Iraq. The country that no matter what, they will never stop loving. They will never stop living in memory of....
Before I end this post, I have a few words for the govt of Britian. Shame on you Britian for abandoing the only people that believed in helping you. Shame on you for refusing them entry to your country. Shame on you. I shake my head with disgust. When Bush announced the war on Iraq, and his infamous words "You are either with us or without us", you were the first to jump on the boat. Where are you now, where are you when the US govt has atleast started paying back some of those that worked with them in one way or another??? How come you are not following suit??? How come, the country that boasts about human rights, abandons the Iraqi translators that gave them their all. SHAME ON YOU....
Those young men and women who risked their lives, are now being left behind, left behind in the merciless hands of the criminal militias. Their only sin??? Their only sin is they believed in the so called freedom your war promised. Their only sin, their only sin is they believed in the so called democracy your war promised. Yup, youre either with us or without us. I wander why, I wander why you didnt follow US's steps this time. How come you didnt put a program together, to help all the Iraqis that worked with you. Its the least thing you can do to pay back the only people that believed in you. The only people that cheered for you. Right now youre a loser in the war for hearts and minds, atleast try and win the war of compassion. Atleast try and win the war, The War of Empathy...
Please read the articles on the struggles of the Iraqi translators in Basra on Times online
"First of all I’m sooooooo sorry for not contacting you for the last two months…please forgive me…and please know that I haven’t and will never forget you…I want you to be my friend for life …because I really like you a lot and like your unique and honest personality. How are you and how is hubby…are you still in Baghdad?What is going on at work? Who left and who is still there?What about the other people who applied for the Visa…did any of them have his/her Visa yet?Keep me informed with the latest….I really miss you and miss our gossiping…I can’t say that I have friends here …I met a few people here but I can’t say they are friends…not too many Iraqis…I really miss speaking in Arabic and make jokes of nothing and everything. Life here is not as easy as I thought…too many challenges every where…but I won’t give up and I will keep trying to find my way and establish a new life….but it is another struggle. So far I have received my Green Card, Social Security Card, and Training Driving License…finally I’m learning how to drive!!! Please keep me in your prayers and know that you are in mine…and please keep in touch."
Words like these made my eyes well with tears. Yeah it seems everything makes me cry lately!!! God. Im probably PMsing I guess...Im trying to give my coworkers a snapshot of how things will be. Because their desire to leave this place exceeds any logical thinking, they cannot begin to imagine the challenges theyre gonna face. The hurdles. And worst of all, the yearning. Yes they will yearn for everything they complained about when they were here. They will yearn for the sleepless nights they spent on their roofs trying to catch a breeze in the dead summer air. Oh yes, they will yearn for the lack of water and the times they had to come into work and wash up here. Aha, yes they will yearn for all the bad times, cuz for them, the good and the bad times took place in their country, their country Iraq. The country that no matter what, they will never stop loving. They will never stop living in memory of....
Before I end this post, I have a few words for the govt of Britian. Shame on you Britian for abandoing the only people that believed in helping you. Shame on you for refusing them entry to your country. Shame on you. I shake my head with disgust. When Bush announced the war on Iraq, and his infamous words "You are either with us or without us", you were the first to jump on the boat. Where are you now, where are you when the US govt has atleast started paying back some of those that worked with them in one way or another??? How come you are not following suit??? How come, the country that boasts about human rights, abandons the Iraqi translators that gave them their all. SHAME ON YOU....
Those young men and women who risked their lives, are now being left behind, left behind in the merciless hands of the criminal militias. Their only sin??? Their only sin is they believed in the so called freedom your war promised. Their only sin, their only sin is they believed in the so called democracy your war promised. Yup, youre either with us or without us. I wander why, I wander why you didnt follow US's steps this time. How come you didnt put a program together, to help all the Iraqis that worked with you. Its the least thing you can do to pay back the only people that believed in you. The only people that cheered for you. Right now youre a loser in the war for hearts and minds, atleast try and win the war of compassion. Atleast try and win the war, The War of Empathy...
Please read the articles on the struggles of the Iraqi translators in Basra on Times online
24 Comments:
They simply can't empathize with the plight of these Iraqi translators. It's just not there. Their suffering doesn't seem real to them.
We're still trying to win it. That's the program.
Yes I have been following the terrible treatment of the Iraqi translators from the same source...which does prove the freedom of the press in the UK if it says nothing for the govt. Whenever we leave our countries whether through war or choice..we always have that yearning for what was.....you are right. But the grit and determination that has got them out of Baghdad will serve them well in the future. Thanks again for your blog.....please don't desert us....we need your insight to counter all the negative things we read elsewhere.
That's some great news NIW ! S will find plenty of friends here, it's just going to take time. Is life here easy? No. Every life has it's struggles. Iraqis coming here may even face some prejudice and anger from some, but like Beams said, their grit and determination will win out in the end. For me it would be a thrill to meet some of the folks you worked with. You've created a common bond between us, given us common ground. Nostalgia is not a bad thing, I often indulge in it myself, but life only has one direction, forward. We use our memories of the past, to try and build a better future.
Don't know if you remember the Vietnam war, Neurotica. I do.
The Americans left, their last helicopter swinging precariously off the roof of the American Embassy in Hanoii. We all saw the millions of Vietcong pouring into the embassy grounds, held by just a few "loyal" pro American Vietnamese, who were mowed down.
The pro American Vietnamese were left. Many were killed, others took to boats and became the "boat people" welcomed initially by the West, then spurned and treated with contempt as the boats became more numerous.
Hi Neurotica, I agree with you about the yearning and the challenges. I've been here for a year now and it's still very difficult.
Let me know if any of your friends make it to New York. I'd love to help set them up. We have a very tiny, dispersed community of Iraqis here in the city, most of us newcomers. At least your friends will have someone to hang out with and get a feeling of home.
Hello Neurotica , It is absolutely right that all who helped us are taken out & rescued from the hands of those axis of evil criminal iranien agents & they should not be left at the mercy of those dipicable thugs Loads of the best to you luv www.bfbs.com
Hello Neurotica again luv It is the beurocracy that hinders the ease with which our lads & lassies could bring all these helpful kind people who stood alongside us we simply must lobby our MPs loads of the best of regards darling www.bfbfs.com yours Olaff
Another point me O`l mates is the fact that at the end of the vietnam episode all these poor people had been left to thier fate doesn´t mean for us to repeat the same thing much less to leave the whole predicament of the people in the region unresolved it simply must be to take out the axis of evil out of the picture & our Allied Forces Are there to accomplish the job Loads of the best mateys www,bfbs.com Olaff
Hello Neurotica,JUst read your blog message on Dr. Hala Fattah`s History of Iraq & it quite amused me about sporty activity bloke you mentioned YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY alright but honesstly Dr. Hala Fattah in Amman has all the info great all the best loads of greetings m´e luv www.bfbs.com walter@swedenmail.com yours as always OLaff
Neuro;
It's "Britain", not "Britian".
tom, Animalass and Olaf;
Brit troops, (5,000 left of the original 40,000) are holed up in a sandbagged airport compound waiting to be evacuated. The "softly, softly" trick didn't work in Iraq. Partly because it wasn't arrived at after 30 years of hard fighting.
And the US didn't flee from Vietnam in helocopters. Those were a few Marine embassy guards and staff. The US had WON the war and pulled out 2 years earlier. Then the Democratic Congress overrode TWO presidential vetoes in order to pull all military and economic aid from the South, even in the face of massive Soviet support for the North.
Hopefully the circumstances aren't similar enough that the Demo-litionists can pull the same trick this time.
"helicopters", not "helocopters". <:-/
Hello Neurotica, Spelling aside,The broader picture means that if Iraq & the whole region leans to jioning instns. such as our BRITISH COMMON WEALTH going back to the innitial fundemental development of the region as a whole as seen by Sir T. E. Lawrence "The 7 Pillars Of Wisdom " that may enhance the chances for development along liberal free democratic social structures giving people a better chance to realise thier liufestyles & dreams All The Best M´e O´l Mates www.bfbs.com walter@swedenmail.com Yours as always OLaff
Brainfh, is that you, the same brianh??? If it is,its been a long long time, I missed you correcting my spelling, and Im not being sarcastic. I was reading some of my earlier posts, and brianh used to correct me all the time, it actually made me chuckle abit, and added a smile in this morbid city...Thanx ooops I mean thanks, for your correction.
Zeyad, unfortunately none of the people I know are heading to NY. Almost all of them are divided between California and Michigan. Reason being, many of them know people in these two states.
Jason, if the translators are getting killed and kidnapped, what more can prove that their suffering is real??? It just boggles my mind how people can easily brush off the sufferings of humans...Its a sad world...
Yes beams, I like deborah haynes who writes for teh times online, all her articles are genuine, and she is trying to bringg the voise of the Iraqis for the whole world to hear...Lets hope the govt faces some pressure and gives in...
Solo, I totally agree with you, I cant say it better...youve put it perfectly
Olaff,So smon buddy, do something abt it. Broadcast it on your radio, on your website, let teh whole world know, cmon join and help us to bring the voices of teh Iraqi people to the whole world!!!
Tom, and how will you win it, if you cant help the real people who need you the most????
Neurotica Luv you��ve already been on our 5 live BBC connecting stn to BFBS,& we would LOVE to have you broadcasting on our station I�m with you luv & don`t need convincing it is the beurocratic nonsence that hinders us I promise you if I had anything to do with it It shall be an absolute delight to have the whole region & IRAQ in particular rescued from it�s demise & as envisaged by our own Sir T.E: LAWRENCE to come along the path of progress & int. acceptance as part of The BRITISH COMMONWEALTH if I had anything to do with it promise you darling ,www.bfbs.com walter@swedenmail.com yours as always Olaff
Everyone must convert from false Islam to true Christianity. To see the difference simply put the Bible side by side with the Koran on a table in front of you and read the New Pentateuch (Mt. Mk, Lk, Jn, Rv which books contain most of the words of Jesus Christ) comparing it to the Koran. You'll find there is no comparison.
The Christian God is absolute spiritual perfection, and Jesus His only begotten Son is absolute perfection in human form.
Allah, the one who cannot beget, is without life, an inferior idea forced on you by a history of war which continues.
Change your hearts and minds to pursue Jesus and become absolutely perfect like He is. Pursuing Him is the reason the USA is a superior nation. Be smart, join the winning side now. Eventually the entire world will convert.
Is there a way to read without having the image in the background? It is a nice picture, so nice in fact that I can't concentrate on reading!! Or perhaps darken it a bit? I can always resort to copy and paste, but I really like the font as well.
:)
du scheinst wirklich schön zu sein
Has any one figured it out by now that what's happening in Iraq is not new?
Just open your eyes and see for yourself the same pain suffered by the Iraqi has already been experienced by many other countries with resources and/or strategic advantages the Brits and the Americans find 'valuable'.
The oil in Iraq is the reason for the Iraqi people's suffering. Saddam Hussein, terrorism, etc. are all excuses used by the exploiting American corporations to enrich their wealth and power. The UK's involvement is coerced by the few on 'top', whose wealth and power were threatened by the Americans in power.
The world has been hijacked by the real terrorists: George W. Bush and his bosses in corporate America like Halliburton, ExxonMobil, etc.
To these evil creatures, the welfare of ordinary people means nothing to them. They have no respect for human lives or the life of any thing other than their owns.
So, if you understand this, the answer is rather obvious.
Hey I came across this blog and found it really fascinating. It's so good to hear a voice of the people and not the censored version that we see on television. Keep on posting. Regards Chip
The AMERICAN GOVERNMENT abandoned the Vietnamese people just like they abandoned and STILL DO ABANDON the veterans of that war.
You dumbshit hillbillies of the right who swallow the Cheney/Limpturd koolaid and keep blaming Democrats forget that President Ford (R) had no desire to continue the conflict in light of the fact that Hanoi would have fought on until doomsday.
its a very nice place i like it ...
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Another great article. I like that you are very honest and direct to the point.
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