Iraq
I subscribe to a 19 year old Iraqi man's journal. His last post really...well, you'll see. Love and Love.
After living in war for a few years, I've heard and saw quite a number
of people dead, maybe some of those people deserved to die, and surely
some of them didn't deserve to die. Actually I think the number of
civilians killed since the beginning of the war until now is much more
than the number of US soldiers and terrorists killed together, and some
of those civilians died for such stupid reasons that I would have found
it impossible to believe it hadn't I heard of them. The reason of this
post is to show how much work is going to be needed to be done to make
our Iraq return to the way it was before, I know that things would never
be perfect, but I will be satisfied when some or all of those 3 reasons
of death are gone. Ok I have talked to much already so lets begin:
3: At number three, I have this: It is known in Iraq that one should keep
his distance when driving behind a US patrol or any military vehicles,
but sometimes driving in front of them could be just as dangerous.
Because sometimes the US soldiers are impatient and won't wait for the
road to be cleared, so they ram their way through any car in front of
them, and sometimes they would shoot any car that comes in front of their
way. I remember one accident a when I was having my final exams about two
months ago, we were on our way to the university early in the morning, we
reached an intersection were we had to turn left but there was this
pickup truck stopped right in the middle of the intersection, at first
glance I though it was just another dump driver, but then I realized that
his face was covered with some newspapers. The guy was dead, turned out
he was coming at exactly the way we
were, but a US patrol was coming the other way, so they saw him turning
toward them and shot him, he died from single shot, but his companion
survived to tell the story.
2: Second place is taken by this: Opening a salon in Iraq could be fatal,
especially in poor neighborhoods, I have heard of many bomb cars
exploding in front of such places, and not just salons are targeted.
Sometimes mobile shops, or any place displaying advanced technology,
would be targeted for bombing. This is because of the thinking that any
thing advanced is brought by the US soldiers, and carrying something like
that means that you are working for them and it is a reason to death for
many people. I know one of my relatives was once asked by rebels about
his portable.
1: The number one is the almost unbelievable: It is perfectly acceptable
to open a barber shop in Iraq, but recently many barbers have been shot,
their shops targeted and attacked, some of them were even killed by use
of silenced weapons in Gazaliya, the reason of the death is that they use
a technique in shaving their customers beards, the technique involves
using a string to shave some hairs so that they don't grow again. That
technique has been used before the war, and I don't know why it is being
forbidden now by the rebels, but right now many barbers refuse to use
this technique in fear of their lives, and I don't blame them, some of
them have signs on their windows saying that they don't use this
technique anymore.
There are other stupid reasons to die for now, but these are the most
ridiculous ways to die in Iraq. It is painful enough to lose someone, but
it is a lot more painful when he dies for something that isn't even
considered a reason for death.
Hassan Kharrufa
An Average Iraqi
After living in war for a few years, I've heard and saw quite a number
of people dead, maybe some of those people deserved to die, and surely
some of them didn't deserve to die. Actually I think the number of
civilians killed since the beginning of the war until now is much more
than the number of US soldiers and terrorists killed together, and some
of those civilians died for such stupid reasons that I would have found
it impossible to believe it hadn't I heard of them. The reason of this
post is to show how much work is going to be needed to be done to make
our Iraq return to the way it was before, I know that things would never
be perfect, but I will be satisfied when some or all of those 3 reasons
of death are gone. Ok I have talked to much already so lets begin:
3: At number three, I have this: It is known in Iraq that one should keep
his distance when driving behind a US patrol or any military vehicles,
but sometimes driving in front of them could be just as dangerous.
Because sometimes the US soldiers are impatient and won't wait for the
road to be cleared, so they ram their way through any car in front of
them, and sometimes they would shoot any car that comes in front of their
way. I remember one accident a when I was having my final exams about two
months ago, we were on our way to the university early in the morning, we
reached an intersection were we had to turn left but there was this
pickup truck stopped right in the middle of the intersection, at first
glance I though it was just another dump driver, but then I realized that
his face was covered with some newspapers. The guy was dead, turned out
he was coming at exactly the way we
were, but a US patrol was coming the other way, so they saw him turning
toward them and shot him, he died from single shot, but his companion
survived to tell the story.
2: Second place is taken by this: Opening a salon in Iraq could be fatal,
especially in poor neighborhoods, I have heard of many bomb cars
exploding in front of such places, and not just salons are targeted.
Sometimes mobile shops, or any place displaying advanced technology,
would be targeted for bombing. This is because of the thinking that any
thing advanced is brought by the US soldiers, and carrying something like
that means that you are working for them and it is a reason to death for
many people. I know one of my relatives was once asked by rebels about
his portable.
1: The number one is the almost unbelievable: It is perfectly acceptable
to open a barber shop in Iraq, but recently many barbers have been shot,
their shops targeted and attacked, some of them were even killed by use
of silenced weapons in Gazaliya, the reason of the death is that they use
a technique in shaving their customers beards, the technique involves
using a string to shave some hairs so that they don't grow again. That
technique has been used before the war, and I don't know why it is being
forbidden now by the rebels, but right now many barbers refuse to use
this technique in fear of their lives, and I don't blame them, some of
them have signs on their windows saying that they don't use this
technique anymore.
There are other stupid reasons to die for now, but these are the most
ridiculous ways to die in Iraq. It is painful enough to lose someone, but
it is a lot more painful when he dies for something that isn't even
considered a reason for death.
Hassan Kharrufa
An Average Iraqi