So how are the airports in Iraq & Kurdistan ?!
One of the volunteer aid workers, the good people who risk their lives to help our children and our people have sent me an email to describe how the journey sounds like from Sulaimani, (a town in the Northern-East part of Iraqi Kurdistan) to somewhere in Europe. It was very interestingly described. So I asked for permission to post here, and got that permission.

Here is goes :

I started off at 9.30 on Monday from Sulaimaniya and reached Ebil at 12.30, had something to eat and got to the airport at 1pm we took off around 1.40 and landed in Baghdad airport at 2.45 and stayed there for 2 hours, normally it is only 1 hour but we were waiting for people to arrive as they were going to a conference in Amman.

The airport is wonderful, they have cleaned it all up, not a photograph of Saddam in sight, they were just filling the shelves in the duty free shops, the only thing that was missing were people, I have never seen an international airport this empty.

We finally landed in Amman at 5.30 we ran into a storm, a bit scary in a very small plane, but the pilot was brilliant and got us to Marka airport in once piece. I arrived at my hotel at 7pm, by this time I was really tired so went straight to bed as I had to get up for the very early flight next morning, finally arrived home at 4pm on Tuesday.

After 9th of April 2003, two airports were built with the help of the American army in Kurdistan. One of them which is functioning now is called "Hawler International Airport" (Erbil)..Well it is nothing "International" yet as they are still working on it. The other one is "Sulaimani Airport" and it will be opened on 15th of February 2005.

There are rumours that the Kurdistan Regional Government have bought 11 jets and they have agreed with the Turkish government to use the Turkish space to link the two airports with international airlines.
There were some reports that Turkey have agreed to cooperate with "Kurdistan Airlines" on the condition that the airoplanes shouldn't have the "Kurdistan flag" and the stewards shouldn't wear "Kurdish clothes".
These are still unconfirmed.

* Amer is talking about "corruption" in Hawler, Kurdistan.


* Also I am helping a famous Kurdish caricature maker to translate his works into "English". I have already posted some of his arts on this blog " KAWA "
If time helps, I will translate more of his works and post them there.

Attacks on "Kurds" in Mosul

The bodies of three Kurds were dumped on a street after they were killed, their I.D. cards were thrown over their bodies.


*An appeal from Kurdistan Save The Children organisation this month indicated that Kurdish children and especially "Yezidis" (non-Muslim Kurds) are being kicked out from Mosul schools because of their ethnicity and religion.

*So far around 50 bodies have been found killed or beheaded in Mosul, most of the bodies are Kurds or members of the Iraqi National Guards. (Peyamner.com)

More photos :




northern iraq

Why elections should be postponed ?!

I know that President Bush and many Americans and some Iraqis would like to see the elections on 30th of January 2005, but we shouldn't rush for such a decisive event.

First of all, in 1992, the Kurdish parties rushed to elections, this lead to a bloody civil war just 2 years after the elections. The Sunnis have said that they will not participate in the elections. Excluding the Sunnis from the Iraqi elections, means that a vital group of the Iraqi people will not be represented in the elections and hence, any laws passed by this Parliament will not be representing all the Iraqi factions.

The Kurdistan parties wish to postpone the elections because of the difficulty of the weather. In the mountains, where most of the villages are, sometimes it will snow 1 or 2 meters. This year, for the first time for centuries, it snowed in November, which could mean that major roads could be closed in January due to the snow.
In the Kurdish calendar, "January" is called "Bafranbar" or "The month of snow". So, a huge number of villagers and others from the smaller mountainous cities will not be able to participate in this great democratic event due to snow.

The main people who oppose postponing the elections, might be the Shi'as. I saw a call-in programme on Al-Fayha (A pro-Shi'a satellite channel), and most of the callers were opposing postponing the elections. Some were accusing Kurds and some were accusing Sunnis. Some were saying that this is mentioned in the TAL (Transitional Administration Laws) and must not let to happen because this defies TAL.

Unfortunately these forget that TAL is not existing. No one from the Iraqi elections are referring to TAL. Actually Al-Sistani threatened that if UN approved TAL, he will use his magic stick. So now what is the deal with TAL given that they don't even recognise it ?!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some new Kurdistani blogs (Kurdistani doesn't mean Kurdish, i.e. Kurdistan-related)

Peshmerga Women by Emmanuah

Kurdistan Youngs, by 19 years old YAD from Sulaimani, Kurdistan

Hajir ~ Interesting thoughts

Doesn't USA have any companies ?!

After April 2003, USA "invaded" Iraq, and Turkish & Iranian companies invaded Kurdistan.

Both Iran & Turkey opposed the war on Iraq, but just as soon as the war was declared over, Iranian & Turkish companies rushed to sell their products and participate in investing in Kurdistan.

Where the hell is the American companies ?!

The adverts on Kurdistan's Tvs are for Turkish teas, Iranian carpets and reconstruction companies, Pakistani rice "euugh", Iranian reproduced Samsung TVs, but no products from the "liberators" ?!

The airports, the universities, the schools, the new 5 star hotels, etc etc all being built by Turkish & Iranian companies.
I think it is because the Americans see IRAQ as "Danger Zone". Good news, Kurdistan is no danger zones.
The Turkish & the Iranian companies know that, and they are making big $$$$ out of it.

More information on investment in Kurdistan :

www.kinvest.org (Sulaimani) (ignore under construction title.)
www.kurdistancorporation.com (Hawler & Duhok)

Elections & Snow

*Yesterday, it snowed in most areas of Kurdistan. Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP has asked for postponing the elections in January because most people in the villages will be stuck because of the snow therefore they can't vote. What is the rush for ?!

*a group of Kurdish individuals have decided to nominate themselves for the Kurdistan elections under the name of "Kurdistan Democratic Alliance". They say that they are not intending of creating a new political party but they insist that the future of Kurdistan should be decided by its people. They promise to hold a referendum on the future of Kurdistan in case they win. PUK & KDP want to stay in Iraq, but most people don't. Therefore they will get many votes if they have a good campaign.
This is a crucial event. Because power in Kurdistan have been divided between the PUK and the KDP . People think that these two parties are corrupted in most of their organisations, have been involved in civil war, have lost their grip on Kirkuk, and many more.

According to a poll published in the weekly of "Hawlati" a couple of weeks ago, more than %43.1 of the participants said they will not vote for PUK & KDP but vote for an independent list.

*In PUK-controlled Kurdistan, cars made before 1995 are being put off the road. A new law which makes pre-1995 cars illegal means that those who have taxis and buses can get up to $5000 for exchange of their old cars.

* Talking about elections is everywhere. People fear that if PUK or KDP wins, the loser will declare war on the other. But, both of the leaders of KDP & PUK, Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani have given the "promise of honour" in some newspapers that they will accept the results of the elections whatever they are.

* According to the Iraqi government, only %8 of the Iraqi oil revenue is given to Kurdistan in the 2005. Before the war, the Kurdistan Government was getting %13 from the United Nations Oil for Food programme.

So what will happen to Kurdistan ?!

An interesting question. With 2 months before the General Iraqi Parlimentary elections (not presidential), the people of the Kurdistan wonder, what will happen to us ?!

Some agrees that Halabja & Anfal (genocide operations) won't be repeated, well, as long as the Americans are in the region, and some agree that we will not lose our autonomy that easily...But what most don't agree on is, "What will happen to us tomorrow ?!!"..

Living today without knowing what will happen to you tomorrow, is the biggest thing that worries the people of Kurdistan.

While suicide bombings and insurgent fightings are spread out all over Iraq. The people of Kurdistan, who are politically part of Iraq, are busy with their own lives.
The dream-peaceful democratic Iraq that US and its allies were dreaming of to happen after 9th of April 2003, didn't really happen (Sorry guys). So what is next ?

What will happen after the elections ?! Is insurgency going to stop in Iraq ?! Is the situation is getting any better ?

Asking these questions reminds the people of Kurdistan that they are part of Iraq. But, wait a minute, why should we ask these questions in the first place ?!!!

We are not responsible for the insurgency. We are being dragged in what it seems to be an ethnic war with the Arabs. Why should this happen in the first place?!

To solve this matter, most agree, that an independent Kurdistan would be the greatest solution.

If you are reading this and are not very aware of the historical situation of Iraq, you may say, "This is impossible".
Well it is not, an Ausutralian MP, Senator Ross Lightfoot visited Kurdistan in July. He is now in a favour of an independent Kurdistan to get the people of "Northern Iraq" out of this mess.

Also people are not happy about the Peshmargas being killed on a daily basis in Iraq. This report, Welcome to Kurdistan (while it lasts) is a perfect description of how the people of Kurdistan are thinking (not the leaders of course). A qoute from the this article :

Iraq is in fact, if not in law, two countries. Kurds refer to their area as Kurdistan and the rest as "Iraq". If the insurgents win and the Americans leave, the Arabs may try to punish the Kurds for their "betrayal" of Iraq by having become America's Gurkhas.

One day, while I was with a Kurdish government minister, a call came from a minister in the Baghdad government. The Kurdish minister became angry and told him: "Your authority stops at Baquba." Baquba is a town just south of the Green Line between Kurdish and Arab Iraq.

And life goes on.....

Ansar Al-Sunnah uses US telecommunications ***updated****
I have subscribed to one of the Ansar Al-Sunnah websties so that they send me updates about their horrible behaviours. I know it is a bit sad, but come on ! We have to be "sad" sometimes.
O.K. I received an email telling me of their new website. I visited their new site and I forwarded the email to one of my freaky cousins. My freaky cousins says he has managed to get their I.P. address.
How can I say this, well...ermmm....Ansar Al-Sunnah uses a US sattelite mobile to access the internet. The US company is called IntelSat ! This company's detail is :

person: ******
address: 15237 Sunset Blvd #123
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
phone: +310-440-0411
e-mail: peter@zimble.com

Watching "Enemy of the State" movie, now I think that it is impossible for some big organisations like CIA not to have found Ansar's location, taking into accounts that they are using US sattelite communications. But have they ?!

I got a few emails telling me to publish the IP address of the Ansar dude. OK fine. I could end up being the star of the next Al-Zarqawi hottest and best-selling movie, but never mind.
80.255.40.169. Now tell me you can't locate that mobile phone CIA freaks?!

Oh yeah, someone is collecting all Fallujah related photos and have posted them on his/her blog. There are about half a Million visitor visiting that blog ! Don't miss it Fallujah Photos !

Two Kurds Killed by Ansar Al-Islam in Mosul
2 Kurds have been shot dead in Mosul by Ansar Al-Islam. The Kurds were members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Their photos can be seen here.
Also, a group of other attacks targeting Kurds have been reported in Mosul.
PUK Peshmargas Kill 2 terrorists and arrest 2 in Mosul

PUKMedia.com has reported that today at around 3.00 p.m local time a group of terrorists have attacked the PUK headquarter in Al-Karama district in Mosul. They have attacked the PUK building from a neighbouring building in order to succeed in their plan.
The PUK Peshmargas have killed 2 of the terrorists and wounded two. The 2 wounded have started to beg for their lives. The Peshmargas have given them first aids and have handed them to the Iraqi Police.

Zarqawi in Kirkuk ?!
PUK's television said in its News round-up that Kirkuk's police forces have been informed that a group of terrorists, and possibly, the Jordanian-born Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has arrived in Kirkuk after his stronghold place of Fallujah was cleaned up by US forces.

PUKMedia.com has also reported on the same issue qouting Col. Turhan Abdurahaman, the cheif of Kirkuk Police saying that "Terrorists have been arriving in Haweeja, and Hay Al-Aruba (Arabism District) in the recent days. A group of 35 terrorists have been arrested in Al-Aruba district. They were disguising as "workers".

Haweeja is a mainly-Arab populated small city near Kirkuk and has seen anti-Kurdish and anti-US movements since April the 9th 2003.

*In other developments, 16 Iraqi political parties have came to a conclusion to participate with a single list. But they have not agreed yet.
Of the popular political parties are "Patriotic Union of Kurdistan" , "Kurdistan Democratic Party", "Islamic Party of Kurdistan" "Socialist Arabic Movement" , "Iraqi Communist Party", "The Iraqi United Union" and a few others.

One of the hot discussions was, delaying Kirkuk's council elections. This is because the Arab settlers have not "YET" returned to their homes in south Iraq and the Kurdish refugees have not "YET" returned to their homes in Kirkuk.

What of the things which stunned me was when I saw the most popular Iraqi leader speaking in a pure Kurdish. Mosen Abdul-Aziz, who last year according to some western polls, was the favourite person to lead Iraq, is from Kirkuk and he is Kurdish. But he is leading a Sunni Islamic party. Check out the photo :

Life returns to Mosul

PUKMedia.com reporter from Mosul says that the Eastern part of Mosul is calm and stable while the Western part is also getting more stable. Few cars were seen moving in the streets of Mosul and the number 4 brdige was open until 4 p.m today.

According to a PUK official in Mosul, generally Mosul is calm and shops and markets have reopened this afternoon. Fortunately Mosul didn't turn into another Fallujah.

Mosul Latest
This page is being updated regularly.

Latest images from Mosul. from GettyImages
HINT: Search for Mosul, or Fallujah, Iraq etc.


Mosul Latest
17/11/2004
*In Mosul: Attacks on the offices of Kurdish political parties

*Kurdish leaders meet to discuss Kurdistan's security issues. The meeting is taking place as fierce fighting in Mosul goes into its third day. It was not clear if the Kurdish leaders’ summit had to do with clashes in Mosul where Kurdish peshmergas, at Baghdad’s request, have taken part against the insurgents.

*Kurdish officials have sent thousands of Peshmerga fighters into Mosul

*operations to regain the western part of Mosul, with only a handful of isolated attacks with small arms fire, were under way.

The Western part of Mosul (Right side of the Tigris) is the more important part of the city. The western part is pro-dominantly Arabic, with a noticeable Assyrians, and Chaldeans population.
The Eastern side, (left side of the Tigris) is pro-dominantly Kurdish (not entirely).

*If you look at this map(not very accurate just to give an idea), you can see that due to Saddam's Arabisation campaign, the Eastern side of Mosul is totally ignored. Most of the civlised buildings are in the Western party.


*Amer, talks about the consequences of a civil war in Mosul on the business enviornment in Kurdistan

*A report about what happened in Mosul yesterday. Though I have posted the key events here, but this is a professional way to tell people about it.

16//11/2004
*Al-Jazeera reported a few minutes ago that US forces have controlled all the Police stations in Mosul. Most of the police stations in Mosul were taken by insurgents without firing a single bullet, as some of the Iraqi Police forces were helping the insurgents to control the police stations.

*PUKMedia reporter from Mosul has just reported that terrorists have again attacked the PUK headquarter in Mosul in Al-Jazayar district. PUK Peshmargas have killed 4 terrorists and captured their Peageout car.

* All Mosul bridges are closed for another 24 hours on the order of the Mosul Mayor.

*BBC reported a major assault on Mosul

*Peyamner.com has reported that in Tahreer district a Kurdish citizen named Kareem Mohamad Omar was shot dead by terrorists and his wife and children were wounded in the attack
*Peyamner.com reported that A Turkish tanker carrying oil from Turkey to Iraq was shot in Al-Yarmook district in Mosul, this lead to exploding the tanker and the Kurdish driver of the tanker was killed.

15/11/2004
Kurdish suburbs under control

Mosul during Eve
14/11/2004
THREE KURDS BEHEADED IN MOSUL

13/11/2004
Peshmargas arrive in Mosul

Mosul update
According to PUKMedia.com reporter in Mosul, Kurdish suburbs (Eastern Mosul) are under Peshmerga control and Arab suburbs are under insurgents control. I have tried to annotate the map here
Mosul's new Police commander has ordered all police forces in Mosul to return to their stations in 24 hours.
4 ING (thought to be ex-Peshmargas) were killed and 35 were injuried in yesterday's fighting in Al-Salam hospital where 3 Kurds were found beheaded.

Also terrorists attacked Kurdistan Democratic Party's headquarter in Mosul, Peshmargas have returned the attack and have killed 4 terrorists in that failed attack.

No one gives a damn

People are enjoying the second day of "Eve Jezhn". Streets are packed with people and restaurants and cafes are as busy as ever.

People are worried that the Iraqi cancer would spread to Kurdistan if Kurds participated in the fightings.
Despite that, Peyamner.com , a website close to Kurdistan Democratic Party said that the left-side of Mosul, a Kurdish populated area of Mosul is under control by ING, mostly ex-Kurdish Peshmargas. The website says that troubles are still occuring in the right side of Mosul.
Remember MOSUL was a city where both Saddams' sons, Uday & Qusay, were killed. Mosul has an Arab Sunni majority, a Kurdish minority, Assyrians and Chaldeans, and Yezidis.

These events are not just sudden events. They were building up since last year and they just exploded now.
The PUK says that the Police Forces in Mosul have just given in their stations to the insurgents, which has some Police elements as well.



Joke of the day....
Compare Al-Jazeera.com with CNN.com . Do you see any differences between the website designs ?! This is what I call hypocracy. They even copy American websites.

Mosul's latest News on the 1st day of Eve. ****updated***

THREE KURDS BEHEADED IN MOSUL


According to PUKMedia.com

*Clashes has been reported in Sheikh Al-Fatihi Police Station between US Forces and Iraqi National Guards ING (Mostly ex-Peshmarga Kurds) on one hand, and Iraqi terrorists on the other.

* ING has entered the Al-Salam hospital this morning. This has led to clashes between terrorists and the INGs. PUKMedia reports that casualties are high between both sides.

* 3 Kurds have been beheaded by terrorists in Mosul, according to PUKMedia.com.
Peyamner.com's reporter from Mosul says that the three beheaded Kurds were killed yesterday and their corps were thrown infront of the Al-Salam Hospital.

Their only crime was being Kurds. One of them is called Goran Aziz and he is 45 years. He is from Bardarash village and the other 2 are from Akre, all regions under the control of the Kurdistan Government.

Happy Jezhn (Eid)

Today is the first day of "Ramadan Eve" (Jezhn or Eid). For Kurdistan, there is nothing abnormal, apart from tight security measures. But as usual, people are trying to make the most of it.
The declaration of the "Emergency State" has naturally divided Iraq. It is natural because we don't accept such declaration in our regions.

This is Kurdistan, not Iraq.
Some Kurdish bloggers have made that as their slogans, such as Kardox and Avasin.This "Eve Jezhn" , many come to this conclusion again. Iraq is the war-torn country, and there are no signs of war in this region.
An examplehere
:
"I have no connection to Iraq," said Kharman Khasrow, 21, a history student at the University of Sulaymaniyah. She does not speak a word of Arabic.

"I've never been to Iraq. I wouldn't even want to go there," she said. When reminded that the Kurdish provinces are part of Iraq, she smiled and said: "I am in Kurdistan, not Iraq."

Mosul
Many are worried about our boys being sent to Mosul. There are mixing reports about the city. One claims that Peshmargas are in control, as the re-enforcement sent by the Iraqi Government were all ex-Peshmargas, others claim that Peshmargas were sent to protect the Kurdish associations and suburbs in Mosul.


Blessings..
My blessings for all my readers, Dilnareen, Medya , Kardox and the KBU folks, Karda, Avasin, Ziyad, Omar, Salam and the rest of the bloggers (with no exceptions) !

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

updates from Mosul

* Despite the arrival of the ING (Peshmerga) from Sulaimani & Hawler (Erbil) , the PUKMedia website reports that there are still riots going on in Mosul especially from the right side of the Tigris river.
*Armed men are travelling in their cars brandishing their guns and firing in the air.

*In "Hay Arabi" "The Arabic District" at around 2.30 Mosul local time, the US contractors agency in the region has been bombed. In the same distrcit, a "Reuters" reporter was beaten up and his camera was broken by the locals.

* In "Hay Nur" "Nur Distrcit", a Peshmarga convoy was attacked but no casualties were reported.

* A group called "Saraya Jihad" distributed leaflets telling people not to loot any governmental buildings.

*In the Turkmen city of Tall Afar, gunmen attacked the Tall Afar Prison and freed tens of prisoners.

*Mosul TV & Radio stopped from broadcasting because the towers were attacked by terrorists.

Peshmargas free Mosul

Peshmarga forces have arrived in Mosul, after a day of riots by the terrorists and the Baathiests, according to Peyamner.com.
Peshmarga forces who joined the Iraqi National Guards (ING) from Sulaimani and Hawler (Erbil) have arrived in Mosul to control the city.

In a funny way, the police forces in Mosul yesterday gave in for a few terrorists. Police forces deserted the streets in Mosul after terrorists took control of 6 police stations.

I think this is all the Ameican Adminstrations fault in the first place. Mosul & Kirkuk should have been given to Kurdistan Regional Government just after Arpil the 9th 2003.
Logically, we had 2 governments in Kurdistan, Mosul & Kirkuk didn't even have police forces. But USA, and to please its ally Turkey, ordered the Peshmargas to leave Kirkuk & Mosul.
Well if I was the Kurdish leaders I would have told the Iraqi government, "Look, we said we will help in 2003, and you refused because of Turkey. Now when you are f***ed up, and have lost control of Mosul, you want me back ?!!!

This article talks about the terrorists terrorising Kurds & Christians in Mosul:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=582470

IRAQI government axes Kurdish officers graduated from Kurdistan Military Colleges
Kurdish officers who were graduated from military colleges in Kurdistan in the last 13 years will be axed, according to the Iraqi Interium Ministry.

The officers are border guards in Khanaqeen, an Arabised-Kurdish city on the eastern border. They were told that their qualifications are invalid and soon they will be replaced with 650 Arab officers.

In any democratic country, the police forces must be local. First, they speak the language, second they are local and know the area.
But this is a racist move, planned by the pro-Baath Diyala Governer. If the Kurdish leaders accept the Iraqi order, they destroy their what is left of their reputation in Kurdistan.

In Mosul ....
In Mosul a group of terrorists attacked a PUK headquarter, but funnily 10 of them were killed and 5 were arrested by the PUK Peshmargas. We have a Kurdish saying, "He went to get beard, but he lost his moustache".

Friday Prayer in Sulaimani
Most Imams are telling people to vote in the elections for the Kurdistan list. The most striking part was one of them who said "There are nations of 500,000 people, have a parliament, have a state and are proudly participating in the world. But a nation of more than 40 Millions, are still stateless in the 21st century and are being deprived from even minortiy rights.

Arafat

While an Iraqi blogger Raed says "Out of Respect" to Arafat, I would like to remind him of this photo.



northern iraq

The Kirkuk mayor escaped the terrorist attack, while the terrorist was let to bun to death.

Our wills are stronger than the terrorists. We will rebuild Kirkuk no matter how hard they try to keep us from returning to our homes.

A number of civilians were also wounded in the terrorist attack.

Kirkuk's Kurdish mayor was targetted yesterday in a terrorist attack. Thanks God he escaped. 5 of his body guards were hit.

Fierce Fighting Erupts in Mosul

. First, a new Kurdish blogger on board. This guy is a famous Kurdish WEBSTER and has created many professional websites. He has returned from Sweden to Kurdistan to build a hotel ! Interesting Episode to follow !! Does he succeed ? Does he fail ? Does he fall in love with a US soldier (MARENZ and of course a female) ??? Check it out.
.

Fierce fighting has been erupted in Mosul, according to the. PUK-Media reporter in Mosul.
The reporter says that fighting has erupted between terrorists and US fighter planes and the sounds of explosions can be heard everywhere where terrorists are sheltering.

Casualties are like this so far :
Civilians: 26 injured and 4 killed (Al-Jumhuriya and Al-Salam hospital figures).
Terrorists: 15 killed and their corps are in the streets of Mosul.

In another attack on US forces in Mosul, a terrorist in a car attacked a convoy of US forces near Al-Sheikh Fathi police station and this resulted in burning a few cars.
Another terrorist just blew up himself near Saddam's old palace in Mosul resulting in burning a US vehicle (unknown US casualties according to PUKMedia).

Also, curfew is placed in Mosul from 4 p.m. Iraq local time till another announcement.

Also, the biggest joke of the day must be .this video from Fallujah. They showed around 5-6 unknown humans wearing Iraqi National Guard clothes and claiming they were prisoners.
They said we will not kill them but we kill anyone we capture from now and on. This is a joke. That video has not being produced in Fallujah, and these people are not ING.
If I was Allawi I'd have said "KILL THEM" ! They are acting.Otherwise why not show their faces to be recognised ?!

Check out . to know how Al-Jazeera works and this . to see how Fallujah looks like .

Fallujah update.

A BBC reporter is updating LIVE news from Fallujah on BBC.Check it out.

Fallujah & Newspapers

The long awaited "clean-out" attack on Fallujah has started. Many hope this will clean out the area from terrorists.
The commander in cheif of the Iraqi 36 Battalion was a Kurd, he fled the army the day after he was given a breifing on the Fallujah assault.
I don't have any explanations for his act, maybe perhaps the Fallujah plan is very aggressive that could result in many civilian casualties, he must have thought "Oh I won't participate in this."
OR he could have been assigned to the frontlines and he was scared to be killed, hmmm true, why to be killed for the sake of Fallujah ?! Sounds reasonable if you are in his shoes.
Well these are just my own thoughts, I guess if an Iraqi or Kurdish newspaper sees this they will publish it the next day qouting "their internet souces".
Many newspapers just translate loads of craps and junks and publish them qouting "The Internet".
Perhaps still now many beleive that anything published on the internet can be the truth. Anyways, our newspapers will be "BLANK" if there weren't the "internet articles". But there are still some good quality newspapers.

The Sulaimani University this year has accepted around 110 overseas students. I don't know if the "term" overseas is the right term. Because 80 of these students are Kurds from Iranian Kurdistan and 30 others are from Syrian Kurdistan.

No wonder why Turkey is worried about "developments" in Iraqi Kurdistan. Simply because "Freedom is like cancer, once infected, it spreads out through all over the body".

G.W.B = GREAT WILD BALLS ????

RE: President Bush's Re-Election

The pre-election polls gave some mixed reactions on who will win the US elections. In Kurdistan people were very worried on who will win the elections. Many people watched the elections very eagerly.
I remember in 1992, people were against Bush The Senior, everyone was hoping that Bill Clinton should win. This was because people were looking at Bush The Senior as the US President who left us on our own when Saddam massacared hundreds of thousands.

But this time, Bush The Junior was looked at differently. Many people were hoping for the removal of the Baath party and Saddam Hussein, many waited and waited, died and never saw.
People think that Bush the Junior, even if it was for US's interested, removed Saddam and the Baath party, and this is a positive move.

Here are some views from the Middle East (BBC)

After Bush's victory, I think the US forces will withdraw. But not before they have passed through Iran or Syria!
Ali Mohammed Jum'aa, Kirkuk, Iraq

I personally would have chosen George Bush, because there is no way but to stand against regimes such as the Taleban and Saddam. The world cannot afford to negotiate with them.
Seyed Yashar Qezavati, Tehran, Iran

I was happy to hear that George Bush was elected again. The policies of the US are important for all countries no matter who becomes president. Mr Bush will follow his plans with more determination now and will continue what he has started. I think it is very likely that Iran will be liberated towards the end of his second term, because I am sure this is one of his plans.
Saeed, Tehran, Iran

The victory of the much admired George Bush proves that the American people always choose the right person for the right place in order to achieve a better future.
Ali Jawad, Baghdad, Iraq


Oh, Al-Jazeera saddest day was 3rd of November 2004.

come on BOSH (Bush) I know you can do it.BUSH in Kurdistan is the man. Report says it all.
Hope I will wake up tomorrow, turning on Al-Jazeer, seeing Bush smiliing, and Al-Jazeera crying.
Dear Americans, BUSH is the man, if you haven't voted yet, go to the boxes and Vote Bush !
Reason:
If it wasn't BUSH, Saddam Hussein was may have still been in Baghdad, but not in a prison, but in full power, and Iraqis in full terror.