McClatchy blog: Inside Iraq

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September 30, 2009

Officials take bribes, the Government Makes Reports

The Iraqi Integrity Commission recently issued the results of a June 2009 poll in which it surveyed 3,500 Iraqi citizens who conducted formal business at 40 different governmental departments in Baghdad.

First of all, I will not make any comment on why the commission that is supposed to fight corruption in the country is making polls. But the results showed that 79 percent of those surveyed were forced to pay bribes and another 20 percent offered payments to officials.

So, to get this right, thousands of Iraqi citizens told the commission that they paid money to governmental employees mostly to get their papers done quickly and a few because their paper work was fraudulent.

So instead of saying 99 percent of citizens paid bribes to get their paper work done and, instead of fixing it, we keep publishing reports.

Fighting corruption needs more than polls and more than sending employees to training courses in France (a recent offer by France).

To fix this situation, we need a government that has the will to fight corruption.

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September 23, 2009

Eid al Fitr has come to an end

And I believe it has been one of the quietest Eids we have had for quite a while. I am so happy.

People in Nineveh, where ethnic and religious tensions run high, were out on the streets, visiting relatives or flocking to public parks. Whole families at the amusement park and groups of young men at cafes until all hours of the evening!

In volatile Diyala, where al Qaida still holds sway, people are out of their houses, into the streets and off visiting friends and loved ones, putting their fears behind them. Families filling parks and commons that they were afraid to reach last year.

In Fallujah, the same story. Several new cafes were opened during Ramadan, and they were full to overflowing with youngsters eager to celebrate on these holy days.

In Tikrit, in Basra and Najaf. In Hilla, Karbala and Diwaniyah. In all the cities and towns - and not least in Baghdad, you could see the parents proudly moving about their city with their young ones in colourful Eid clothes. Reds and blues and greens. Oranges and yellows and all shades of the rainbow. Ribbons and squeaky sports shoes and beaming children.

Iraqis are a strong, resilient people who have been through so much and have seen much hardship and sorrow. But When they got the chance - they bounced, and celebrated as they have not done for a long time.

In our happiness we must not forget those who are less fortunate, those who could not give their little girls colourful ribbons. Those who lost their jobs - those who are displaced - those who lost their fathers and brothers and have no one to provide for them but poor illiterate women who have no idea where to start.

Our government should not forget them and look the other way. I say to our politicians - look around you and reach out to the people who elected you. It is your moral duty. The country needs so much work, it is a mystery why we have anyone out of a job. The best present to any family in Eid would be work for the bread-winner. I look forward to the Eid when all our little girls wear ribbons and all our little boys walk around proud of their squeaky sports shoes.

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September 22, 2009

A surprise visit

For almost two decades and exactly since the gulf second war, Iraqis suffer the bad infrastructure services. They used to suffer the lack of electricity, water and phones services which are all basic ones. The former regime cared only about impose more domination over Iraq and Iraqis.

Everyone expected Things to get better after the US invasion in 2003. In spite of hundreds of promises about new projects but nothing really happened.

Corruption made things even worse. It became very usual to give bribes to the governmental employees to do theirr work which the government pay them salariesfor. People expect very few and do not have real trust in the governmental departments.

But there is always hope.

Few days ago, we had a problem with the power supply. We did not have electricity according the schedule. After a while, we found out it was partial failure. We lost hope and we turned on our private generator. My last attempt was a phone call to the maintenance department. I told them about the problem and gave them the full address after five calls because of the bad cell phones network.

I just forgot the call and started watching football match, While I was watching, After about half an hour, my brother came and told me that four men came in a pick up vehicle and asking my father about me. I run to meet them and I knew they came according to my call. They asked me to guide them to the main transformer. and I did. After checking all the fuses, the engineer found the broken one. It was the last one and thanks God, we had electricity again. I thanked them all for their coming although it was Ramadan and everyone feels very lazy after breaking fast.

After that night, I realized that we still have honest people and they only need a chance and I hope they can have it always. They can build the new Iraq because they love it.

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September 20, 2009

Eid

Today was the first day of Eid al Fitr. The holy month of Ramadan is over.

This is for Sunnis, of course. And a dilemma for me, it turned out.

Going out of the office, I saw the security guards – I walked over eagerly to say, "A blessed Eid to you!" But I stopped in my tracks… Are they Sunni? Or Shiite? If they were Shiite, would they resent it? Their Eid begins tomorrow. So I just said "as salamu alaikum" and walked by. I felt so bad. And I'm sure they were wondering the same thing about me, and kept their peace, too.

My daughter, my son and I drove off to attend the wonderful traditional family reunion at my parents' – and this is when all of our extended family gathers to celebrate Eid – all four generations of them, and going strong. Before 2003 the spoons I washed after Eid dinners numbered 130 and more. But now so many have left the country, to Syria, to Jordan, to Canada or Europe that only around thirty were there. And we do lunch instead of dinner because everyone needs to be safe at home at a "reasonable" time.

It was great! Small, but great!

For lunch we had prepared many traditional dishes including a huge dish of chicken biryani: spicy rice with roasted almonds and vermicelli, covered with spicy chicken halves. Dolma: vegetables stuffed with ground meat and spices – delicious! We had five or six more beautiful, beautiful dishes that everyone did justice to

After everyone left, we stayed for a while to chat, and then it was time to return. We stopped at a supermarket in Karrada to do a little shopping. We bought, amongst other things, onions and dates at the vegetable section. The assistant was very helpful, but as he was weighing the dates he looked straight into my eyes and said, "This is for Eid? – For tomorrow?" There was absolutely no reason why he should ask me this, and I got scared. If I say "no", I would be telling him I was Sunni. It was Sunnis who were celebrating Eid today. And if I say "yes", I would be lying. We were in a section of Baghdad that was controlled by the Supreme Council – the largest Shiite political party in the country, one known for its highly sectarian agenda. So I unashamedly lied. "Yes – of course." He gave me a knowing look and beamed.

We drove away, but my mind kept going back to his smile. There is nothing wrong with feeling proud of your sect, but this went way beyond that. For a moment there, I felt trapped. There has developed a layer that is underlying all interactions of our life on a daily basis: sectarianism. It has become an ugly fact of our daily lives.

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September 19, 2009

This time a shoe thrower was shot - 2

The man from Fallujah who was driven to madness by the war, picked up his sandle and threw it at an American military convoy, Wednesday - and they "returnrd fire in self defence", injuring him seriously.

He died, Thursday, in hospital.

His brother looked on, "Maybe now he is at peace."

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September 18, 2009

This time a shoe thrower was shot

A resident of Fallujah.

A man who lived through the "cleansing" of Fallujah by occupation forces. Two battles - not one.

He saw his city burn, his friends killed, his neighbours maimed.

His mind broke, and he became imbalanced.

He roamed the streets with long unkempt hair, disheveled clothes and a wild look in his eyes.

Whenever he saw an American military convoy pass, he would shake his fists in the air and raise his voice and swear at them. He would sometimes pick up a pebble and hurl it at them.

On Wednesday he took of his sandal and threw it at a passing American military convoy.

The answer was bullet shots in his lung, very close to his heart.

Iraqi police took him to the general hospital in the city. The doctors all but gave up on him saying the injury was too close to his heart and that his lungs were in bad condition. One doctor took the chance and decided to perform the surgery, and succeeded.

Now the man from Fallujah is lying between life and death. His brother looks on, "He was a very gentle man, the best auto electrician in the city – but the war affected him in this way. He lost his mind because of the horror of what he saw. What we went through left no man or woman unchanged."

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September 16, 2009

The Shoe Thrower Left Iraq and Received by A Cabinet Minister

    Muntathar Al Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, left Iraq on a private jet to Syria on Tuesday.
    Al Zaidi was released from prison on Tuesday September 16th and left the country on the same day. The private jet was provided by the owner of Al Baghdadiya TV station that Al Zaidi works for.
    Last night in Damascus the Syrian minister of information Muhsin Bilal received al Zaidi and according to Al Baghdadiya TV; Al Zaidi is to leave Syria to Europe for treatment.
Below are the pictures of Al Zaidi’s arrival in Syria accompanied by the owner of the TV station:

Pictures are taken from kitabat.com

Posted at 06:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The best job in the world!

The Iraqi parliament started its final legislative season one week ago and after four useless sessions they decided to have new vacation for two weeks. What an exhausting job that our representatives have in the Iraqi parliament after the occupation! It's the best job in the world.

The members of the Iraqi parliament receive more than 20 thousands dollars per month each, in addition to the bonuses and rewards - and I am not including the armed cars, secured houses and diplomatic passports. But in spite of all these privileges the representative of the Iraqi people haven't legislated, for those who elected them, any of the necessary laws that Iraqi people need to improve their lives. They're not trying very hard to do their job. All the important laws are still inside the drawers of parliament, the law of gas and oil, the law of political parties, the law of elections, in addition to other laws that are waiting to see the light, but they don't seem to care. They are busy getting more and more privileges without thinking of those who put them in their positions

The days are proving to me and to many Iraqis that we committed the biggest mistake in our life when we went to participate in parliamentary elections in 2005. Iraqi parliament members have one concern and that is their own interest. It seems none of them care for Iraqis. The representatives spend their time in long vacations and when their vacation ends they go absent from the sessions for various reasons.

Iraqi analysts said, in a report lately, that Iraqi parliament members work 24 hours a month.

Announcement: If you want a cushy job apply for the Iraqi parliament - It's the best job in the world!

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September 13, 2009

$1.3 billion is pardoned in Iraq and more

    A look into the Integrity commission report of 2008
    The 2008 report of the Iraqi integrity commission, the governmental anti-corruption watchdog body, said that corruption cases totaling $1.3 billion were pardoned, and most of it came from the Iraqi ministry of defense.
    The $1.3 billion is the value of only 11% of the corruption cases that were pardoned in 2008 – the others didn’t have a dollar value given – and the number of defendants involved in corruption cases who were pardoned in 2008 is 2,772 defendants.
    The pardon law was passed by the parliament in 2008 as part of the reconciliation effort and was described as an important step towards reconciliation. Thousands of detainees were released from prisons as a result for the general pardon law.
    The report also showed that the number of convicted in corruption cases from 2004 to 2008 was only 397, including five former Cabinet ministers. The highest numbers of convicts were from Ministries of Interior, Finance and Defense, respectively.
    The most interesting part was the number of corruption cases that were not allowed to be investigated by not giving the consent the highest authority in the relative ministry where the corruption case occurred.
    According to article 136/B of the Iraqi penal code, the highest authority in the relative ministry can stop sending a defendant to the court by not giving consent to the procedure.
    Number of defendants whom their ministers or other highest authorities refused to send them to courts throughout the past years was 210, and the highest number came from the Ministry of Oil.
    Among the 210 defendants were two Cabinet ministers and several cases’ value was more than $1 million. In one case, the corruption was more the $6 million.
    The integrity commission has complained for years that this article of the Iraqi penal code is crippling the efforts to counter corruption.
    The report showed part of the effort to counter corruption among governmental employees and, despite that effort, corruption rates are still high, according to international reports and what we see on a daily basis in different governmental departments.
    Transparency International's report of 2008 describes Iraq as the third most corrupt country out of 180 nations, outranked only by Somalia and Burma.
    Corruption was described many times by Iraqi officials as no less dangerous than terrorism.
    The Iraqi integrity commission report also showed the status of the financial disclosure for Iraqi officials. Iraqi officials are required by law to submit their financial disclosures.

Financial Disclosure Index (2005 till 2008):
Iraqi President: None
The two Iraqi Vice Presidents: None
Iraqi Prime Minister: None
The two deputies of the Prime Ministers: None!
The Speaker of the Parliament: None
The First deputy of the Speaker: Only once in 2006
The Second deputy of the Speaker: None
The Iraqi Minister of Interior: None
(His ministry was number one in the number of convicted in corruption cases)
The Iraqi Minister of Defense: None
(His Ministry was number one in the amount of pardoned money; more than $900 million)
The Iraqi Minister of Finance: None
(No Comment)
The Iraqi Minister of Oil: Twice (2008 and 2007)
(His ministry was number one in blocking procedures in corruption cases)
The Iraqi Minister of Planning: None
The Governor of the Iraqi Central Bank: None
(Also No Comment)
And to end with:
None of the members of the parliament presented their financial disclosure in 2008 and only 14 out of 275 did in 2007.

Posted at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

September 03, 2009

The Destruction is So Deep

One of the old story that I heard was about the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was when one of his advisers told him that corruption had invaded most of the ministries. The story says that Churchill asked him "how about the ministries of education and justice?'. The adviserr said "they are fine until now". Churchill answered him "then England is fine"

I do not know for sure whether the story is real or no but what I care about is its idea or main point. It gives an idea about the importance of the two ministries.

During my work, I heard different stories about corruption including these two ministries. I heard about judges who released insurgents and criminals and I heard about teachers who gives high marks for money but all I heard were stories without evidences but the story of the Monday was somethings different.

I saw one of the my friends who teaches English language in of the high schools. After few minutes of talking about the main issue that all Iraqis talk about , I mean security situation and life troubles, I asked him about his work and thought to hear some complains because of the lazy students but the story he told me was something completely new for me and killed any hope to have a new good life in this country.

He told me that one of his student is the son of his educational inspector. My friend told me that this student could not pass the exams because he knows nothing about English language. The educational inspector duty is to check whether the teacher is doing his duty correctly and to help him in passing over any problems to improve the level of the students but this one is completely different.

In addition to neglecting his own son, he threatened to send my friend to jail because he did not give the success mark for his son. The educational inspector said "I will send this teacher to jail and if he believes that anyone can help him then he is wrong"

It looks that our problem is so deep because people who are supposed to apply law consider themselves as exceptions.

I know that any building starts from the base and the base of building a new country starts from schools where the youngs get either the rights principles or the wrong ones. For sure, having people like this inspector would never install the right bases

Posted at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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"Inside Iraq" is a blog updated by Iraqi journalists working for McClatchy Newspapers. They are based in Baghdad and outlying provinces. These are firsthand accounts of their experiences. Their complete names are withheld for security purposes.

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