- Zeinab: Student, 17
-
- I am unable to go anywhere I want on my own.
-
- I am only able to get to school and back.
-
- During Saddam's rule, I used to walk to school.
-
- Now, my mother has arranged for cab to take me and some
of my school friends to school.
-
- Even when I am at school, I am tense because I see security
men standing nearby.
-
- Despite this, in the past year I began to sense an improvement.
-
- Our teachers began to take care of us and of our studies.
-
- Under the previous regime, when we were handed our textbooks
they used to be of poor quality and falling apart.
-
- Now, by and large, we receive brand new textbooks.
-
- The school has also began to distribute free stationary
and there is a renewed focus on sports including the refurbishment of facilities
and the buying of new sports equipment.
-
- I am also a Girl Scout and, together with others, I am
responsible for the saluting of the flag ceremony every Thursday.
-
- Financially, I am also better off because my father's
income has been increased.
-
- As a result I am now able to buy clothes that suit me!
-
- I look forward to the future with optimism, and I long
for my country to be a democratic and a just place.
-
- I am confident that we can achieve this if we stick together
and leave aside our differences.
-
- It is time that we learnt to live in peace, hope and
freedom. It is time to enjoy a decent life which we deserve to have because,
above all, we are all part of the human family.
-
-
-
- ~~~~~~~~~
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- Fawzia: Teacher, 36
-
- The war had no impact on my personal freedom. It was
restricted before the war and it is restricted now.
-
- The last war had many sides to it, some negative and
some positive. The negative include the looting of our heritage such Iraq's
antiquities, as well as the lack of security and the chaos that this causes.
-
- Lack of security makes life difficult in Iraq, especially
for women.
-
- We also saw the emergence of groups, which claim to be
Islamic, that have targeted women by pressurising them and restricting
their freedom.
-
- In the holy places in Iraq, the wearing of the hijab
or abaya (traditional Iraqi women garment) has become compulsory.
-
- Such practices have nothing to do with Islam.
-
- One of the scenes in Iraq now that really hurts is seeing
some Iraqi children, who have abandoned going to school, begging or doing
menial jobs.
-
- I ask the new government to focus on improving the lot
of Iraqi children who have been denied their childhood.
-
- It must work hard to safeguard their humanity and their
dignity.
-
- On the positive side, we saw an increase in our incomes.
-
- Teachers, too, have enjoyed a rise in their salaries,
with the result that the practice of private tutoring is on the decline.
-
- Teachers now do want to teach and look after their pupils.
-
- Among other positive developments have been the refurbishment
of school buildings, the printing of new school textbooks and the provision
of free stationary to pupils.
-
- The cost of food is lower now too and we are now free
to say what we want to criticise without fear.
-
- I hope that the world's humanitarian organisations will
help Iraq and call upon them not to abandon us during our present crisis.
-
- The terrorists want to return Iraq to backwardness and
ignorance.
-
- We are grateful to those who listen to us and hear our
voice.
-
-
- ~~~~~~~~
-
- Essraa: Student, 18
-
- The most important development to come out of the war
was freedom.
-
- We were denied it, especially freedom of thought. This
to me is very important.
-
- Another important consequence was our ability now to
access modern means of communications, such satellite and computers.
-
- Satellite television was banned under the previous regime
because Saddam wanted to keep Iraq isolated from the rest of the world
so he could have total control over Iraqis.
-
- Computers were available before the war, but the prices
were prohibitive.
-
- Now, thanks to our ability to access the internet, we
are able to contact our relatives abroad and to talk to them without fearing
the eavesdropping of the "mukhabarat" (the previous regime's
secret intelligence service).
-
- On the financial side, my own income went up because
my father's salary went up.
-
- So, now I can afford to buy what I want, including new
clothes, without difficulty.
-
- In the past, buying a shirt would have cost the monthly
salary of a civil servant.
-
- We had to make do and bought things that we did not particularly
like.
-
- I used to feel sad for my parents, who were unable to
provide us with things we needed. I saw the sadness in their eyes.
-
- Lack of security is one of things that have marred our
new experience.
-
- For example, when we were taking our final exams, we
heard an explosion near our school. One of the teachers fainted. This was
scary.
-
- I urge the young people of Iraq to work together and
to be united to face the pressures and the crises.
-
- Our Iraq is one Iraq. Our history is one history.
-
- Let us all leave ignorance and separatism behind us and
build a peaceful country. A country that respects the human rights of its
citizens regardless of their origin or race.
-
-
-
- ~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Um Samir: Housewife, 51
-
- The last war was not as big a catastrophe for our people
and for my family as the Kuwait war, which brought us much pain.
-
- And despite the fact that electricity is in short supply
and that there is fear because of the security situation, our material
situation has improved a lot.
-
- The income of my sons, who have been working as blacksmiths
since graduating from university, has begun to increase.
-
- This is a general trend. The income of Iraqis in general,
especially those working as civil servants, has seen a rise.
-
- With the increased income, we have begun to buy household
goods to replace the old ones.
-
- In our case, we bought a new television set to replace
the 25-year-old one we used to have!
-
- Satellite television, which was banned under the previous
regime, has also entered our homes.
-
- Access to the internet too, which was a dream to many,
has become available.
-
- All of these changes took place within three months of
the end of the war.
-
- And now, a year and a half later, we have bought a new
car.
-
- This was something that we could only dream about during
Saddam's rule.
-
- We took our new car to northern Iraq, a beautiful place
to visit during the summer.
-
- Again, this was something we couldn't do before, because
the borders between the northern region and the rest of Iraq were sealed
off for 12 years.
-
- My sons are now engaged to be married and I am busy preparing
for their wedding ceremonies.
-
- The thing that worries us is the security situation,
but when peace returns Iraqis will be able to experience happiness.
-
- As we say here: "God is benevolent and everything
is possible."
-
-
-
- ~~~~~~~~~
-
- Samira: Engineer, 31
-
- It is impossible to have a war that does not leave a
trail of woes in its wake.
-
- We suffered on all fronts because of the first war to
liberate Kuwait. I would need many pages to summarise exactly what I mean.
-
- The impact of sanctions (which were imposed on Iraq following
the invasion of Kuwait) was harsher than the pain caused by the war with
Iran, during which we lost the flower of our youth and the best of our
men.
-
- The thing about sanctions was that they penetrated every
aspect of our lives.
-
- The middle classes and those with limited incomes were
hardest hit.
-
- The share of pain endured by women (because of sanctions)
was not less than that suffered by men.
-
- In my view the impact of the recent war, despite its
many negative sides, was less severe than that of earlier ones.
-
- I think the negative aspects that have come to the surface
were not caused by the war as such or by the American occupation alone.
-
- Rather, these things happened because of the change of
the governing regime.
-
- A fall of a regime is not a small matter.
-
- In Iraq there are those who support the previous government
and there are those who are opposed to it.
-
- These tensions have resulted in the disturbances we see
and the reactions we witness, as well as in the emergence of political
groupings, some of which operate openly while others do so in secret.
-
- Some of these groupings threaten Iraqi security.
-
- Worse still has been the targeting of places of worship,
be they Muslim or Christian, as well as acts of robbery and kidnapping.
-
- The intention behind such acts is to keep the situation
unstable so that the perpetrators can claim that the situation under the
previous regime was better.
-
- My hope is that Iraqis who perpetrate these acts turn
to peaceful means, for the sake of the 26 million people who happen to
have been born in Iraq.
-
- I have faith that the situation will get better, even
if it takes a while.
-
-
-
- ~~~~~~~~~
-
- Noura: Civil servant, 22
-
- After the recent war, the salaries of those working in
the civil service were raised and as a result my own income went up.
-
- By contrast, my father's financial situation deteriorated.
-
- He owns a workshop as a metal turner and his business
is affected by the rate of exchange of the US dollar, which has fluctuated
a lot recently.
-
- My mother works as nurse in a private hospital and she
has a good income.
-
- The security situation means that we are not free to
come and go as we please, especially if it involves travelling to areas
that are relatively far from where we live.
-
- Recently, we began to see families who are enduring ill
health and hunger because of the lack of state control and supervision
and because of those who exploit the bad security situation.
-
- Some religious bodies here have also been intimidating
women.
-
- Some women's hairdressing salons and shops selling women's
clothes have been threatened because they employ men.
-
- This is a new phenomenon for us.
-
- There are some people here who have certain views and
beliefs they want to impose on the rest of society.
-
- There is another repugnant phenomenon, namely that of
the kidnapping of children - as well as doctors and other professionals
- for money.
-
- The healthcare system is also a cause for concern, because
central accountability systems are absent and because many doctors have
either emigrated or have been assassinated.
-
- If this situation continues, my family and I would consider
leaving the country.
-
- However, and notwithstanding all these negative aspects,
it is now possible to talk freely and to criticise the government.
-
- It has also become possible for many people to afford
the essentials of life that were not available before or were even banned
under previous regimes.
-
- On the social front, Iraqi Christian women are finding
it hard to find suitable marriage partners because many Christian Iraqi
men left the country in the 1990s.
-
- But we hope that the situation in Iraq will improve soon
and that peace will once again return to our country.
-
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3632288.stm
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