Shlonkom Bakazay?

First, thank you Ladybird for making me aware of it. I'm extremely proud, excited, and humbled to be quoted by Paul Mason on Jeremey Paxman's Newsnight last night on the BBC! Wicked. Thank you again Paul Mason! Below are a couple screen shots...and Here's a little audio recording of the entire segment that included Kurdo, Zeyad, some Islamist site (never heard of them), and the "conciliatory" me. It's funny because after I read Robert Fisk I'm usually very angry, upset, and not conciliatory by any stretch of the imagination because he speaks so much truth. I think I became conciliatory because I was indeed moved by the images of people voting. But let's see if these elections will change the level of violence. I know for a fact they will not change the strength of the resistance to occupation. In fact, I would say people came out to vote in order to give nonviolent methods to get rid of the occupation a chance. Also, these elections will not be representative of all Iraqis. In fact, they can be considered a sham and it's not a stretch. But I hope the mere action of voting will empower more Iraqis to work for justice and peace. Because as the saying goes, without justice there will be no peace.

Unfortunately, they didn't mention my blog's name. Perhaps because it's Maslawi slang? Oh well! I would have it no other way though! They did quote something quite appropriate. So that made up for it. One of my main messages in this blog is to make people aware it's not only very possible to be Anti-Occupation and Anti-Saddam at the same time, it is probably very much the mainstream-thinking in Iraq after all the terrible mistakes made. Excuse me if this is too much tooting of my horn, but I've stuck to my beliefs strongly for this long and I want to enjoy this slight moment! Here's what they quoted:

Still, let us hope for the best...even with all the American designs on Iraq, its oil, and the strategic influence of having 14 permanent bases inside Iraq.

And I'm both proud to be Iraqi and proud of Iraq today. Let us move forward together with pace. [Let's not allow or tolerate the injustices described above.]-[they edited this out, referring to the Robert Fisk report I had in the post] Let's demand for a more humane future for Iraq. Let us see the end of American occupation and the beginning of self-determination. I hope.

Here are some screen shots and the audio, don't forget:


Paul Mason the producer of the blog segment for Newsnight


Notice the crippled person walking and my quote, "...even with all the American designs on Iraq, its oil, and the strategic influence of having 14 permanent bases inside Iraq."


Notice the American tank and my quote, "Let us move forward together with pace."


Notice the tank again and my quote, "Let's demand for a more humane future for Iraq."

I think it's a bit of an eerie juxtaposition. This is how I see it. Until the occupation ends Iraq will be crippled on the path of self-determination. We will not be able to completely move forward with pace (and peace) nor have a more humane future until the tanks leave. Now watch Newsnight before it goes away tomorrow!

A little overboard, I know. But it feels nice to have one's voice heard.

oUT,
liminal

BBC Newsnight's Iraqi Blog Monitor Segment by Paul Mason, 31 January 2005

update: Self praise does not suit me. In fact, yuck...I was excited when it happened , now I would prefer to erase this post. Truthfully, I rock. But more truthfully, there are perhaps 50 bloggers who should be quoted on the BBC before I am. So, I am humbled by the attention. -lim