Global Voices Online

A proposal by the Iraqi Parliament to change the flag has started a heated debate among Iraqi bloggers this week. And there is more.. hear news from the front line of the Iraqi resistance, remembering the 1991 war, what happened when the army tried to demolish a bridge in Mosul and the low down on Iraqi satellite TV.

If you read no other post this week read this one:

Last of Iraqis has a chance meeting with members of the Iraqi resistance and reports an original view of recent events in Iraq that you will never read anywhere else. He says: “It's strange how a man can know so many things in few hours that he couldn't know through searching and asking for years.” Find out how Al-Qaeda rules the prisons, who are in the Awakening movement and what is really going on. Before parting Last of Iraqi asks the question on everybody's mind:

“let's imagine that the occupation is gone and you have given the chance to select a president or the members of the government? Do you have someone in mind? Do you have someone that you really trust to take control?”

My two friends laughed and said” that's the sad truth….there is no one” but O answered “there are, they are the leaders of the clean and true resistance” ….. I laughed and said” don't imagine that they will keep their words, look at the history….no politician keeps his words after he wins… majority of them cares about their profit and benefits, so the true solution is in real democracy….which is something so close to impossible in Iraq”

Or this one:

A&E Iraq remembers 17th of January 1991:

oh God, that date, it took me back, to my third year in the primary school, when my mother rushed into our room, and took us in hers.
It was the first time I hear those sounds; those explosions which were enough to rack our small house, I still remember how scared my mother was and how my father tried to calm her down.

Those weeks never left my mind, the horror, the bad news, the color of the sky, the rockets and the darkness.

It was the start of the first Gulf War and A&E Iraq reflects on all the times and events that has gone on since then. He writes:

I can’t forgive the arrogant stupid leader who never thought of the consequences, I can’t forgive all the brothers who never tried to tap on our shoulders, or probably who were pleased that our country was destroyed.

And of course I will never forgive the savages cowboys who never showed mercy, never hesitate killing civilians and tried to respect humanity.

After 17 years, the world has been changed; the ones who were planning to wipe Baghdad from the map are talking about humanity, democracy and rebuilding Iraq!

All the Arabs who paid the bill to destroy the Iraq and kill as much as possible of its people are now against the invasion, and crying for the “assassination” of Saddam.

Breaking Bridges in Mosul:

Winter in Iraq's northern city of Mosul is hard at the best of times but with no fuel, no electricity and temperatures dropping to minus 9 Celsius, it can be unbearable. But to make matters worse the army had decided to explode the remains of a damaged bridge one night. Mama and her family had to spend the evening huddled together in one room with all the windows open so that they are not smashed by the shockwaves of the explosion. She writes:

we waited from 8:20 pm till 10 pm and nothing happened… I decided to take a risk and put my boy in his bed( it’s besides mine), “we can’t bear the cold for ever “I said… at 11pm a very loud explosion opened the bedroom’s windows ,we also heard the windows breaking down ,the very cold bluster carried dusts into inside.
Miriam who was just falling asleep started screaming. …we decided to go back to bed … But a louder explosion at 12 in the midnight terrified us and caused more damages to the windows and doors leaving the house so cold, dirty and leaving us astonished.

…Next day my daughters had to go to attend their exams after a horrible night ,my husband had to go to work too, but I took the day off and stayed home to try to clean in spite of the frostiness and the tiredness. When my husband returned home he told me that those soldiers were not experts and nothing happened to the bridge residue, only the neighborhood houses were damaged!!!!!!!!!!.

Changing Flags:

The proposed Iraqi flag by the Iraqi Parliament.

A new debate among Iraqi parliamentarians about modifying the Iraqi flag has sprung a heated exchange among bloggers.

Mix Max reports the details:

Today the parliament discussed … the recommendations (from the Kurds) to change the font to Kufi (Arabic font) and the color of the word “Allah Akbar” from green to yellow. The parliament also discussed a new legislation to make each star of the three centered in the Iraqi flag to represents Peace, Tolerance and Justice, instead of what has been perceived for decades as the three principles of Ba’ath party: Unity, Freedom and Socialism.

Konfused Kid considers the reasons for changing the flag:

I read the history of the Iraqi flag, it is apparently the most unstable flag of the Arab world, changing for four times, and each time, the change coincided with the installation of a new, radically different political system. I… With the realization that the Iraqi flag is not a sacred symbol as I expected it to be, I rationally concluded that, in order to entirely proclaim the beginning of a new chapter, then a new flag reflecting that change in Iraq must also be set in order.

and his own reasons against:

MOST IMPORTANTLY, Any flag, regardless of how beautiful or reflective it is, born under those miserable circumstances Iraq is passing through, will be first and foremost a representation of those conditions before anything else, and thus will be reviled, detached and despised by the very people it is supposed to rally.

And then goes on to propose his own alternatives:

since our envisioning for a new, better chapter of Iraq would be a better representation of its more overlooked constituents, we might tolerate a reflection of [the Kurds] 17% presence on the flag, but not, of course, in the center, what do you think this is? I think a better idea is to put you as footnotes, or margins

One of the interesting symbols I've seen in that site is the ‘Babylonian Sun', this might be a good thing to put instead of the three stars… Look a bit too much like Egypt, but then again they all look alike, when I was in Syria I kept thinking why the hell are they hoisting our flag everywhere?!

Over on the Iraqi Blogodrome forum several bloggers had a heated discussion. Following are some chose quotes..

Marshmallow26:

It gets on my nerve every time I remember that the phrase “God is
great” will be yellow!!!

Chikitita:

I'm not so attached to the Iraqi flag actually, I've always thought the colours are way too tasteless, and I could not help smelling a rat when Allah Akbar was forcibly worked into it, but I agree yellow makes it even
tackier.

Laith:

Having the words “Allah Akbar” in the flag make it worthless to me.
the flag is a symbol that should represent the country, not represent
the beleives of the country. Most Iraqis Like “Grendizer“, dont you think we should have his picture in the flag too.

Khalid Jarrar:

a statement of [Allah Akbar] that doesnt belong to any religion in particular but to all religions, and its a beautiful sign that this country actually cares enough about God to at least, at least have his name in their flag, as a symbol, and the statement itself is very humbling

Konfused Kid:

I have no problem with Allahu Akbar, [but] it's not 7aram to
remove it from the flag, … all those things that I mentioned are
practical matters (Linda already said something about soccer fans not
stepping on it) which should be kept in consideration that's what I
meant. A good flag must be practical too

And Finally:

Mix Max gives us the the essential guide to Iraqi satellite TV. At the last count there were 28 channels out there. He writes:

One might ask the question: does such channels feed the separation of Iraqis taking into the consideration the ethnic and political crisis we have in Iraq? Some argue that this is the consequences of decades of dictatorship, which resulted now in a chaotic atmosphere, even in the media. Others argue that this democracy and every Iraqi have the right to express his opinion and point of view the way he or she sees suitable. But would that enlarge the gap between anarchy and freedom?