Mr.George W.Bush

President of United State Of America

 

 

Dear Mr President 

 

 

I am sure that you and your Government are aware of the intense suffering the Iraqi people have had to endure since 1968. Over the past 35 years, a "River of Blood" has been created in Iraq under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein, where hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi's have been massacred. The People of Iraq will undoubtedly appreciate the intervention from the International community, who are working together to "liberate" the Iraqi people from the fascist and vicious dictator.  Nevertheless the approach the coalition forces have been somewhat disturbing. The pictures that are being broadcasted in the media have shown innocent Iraqi's being humiliated in hands of the coalition forces that have come to "liberate" them. This will without doubt hinder the positive picture that the forces are trying to show the people of Iraq and will prolonged the time it takes for Iraqi's to even begin to trust the forces because at the moment the Forces are being depicted as "invaders" rather than "liberators".

 

In order to bridge the gap between the coalition forces and the people of Iraq, and begin to create a relationship of trust and understanding between them, the following points MUST be taken into account and demonstrated to the Iraqi people by action rather than words!:

 

- First and foremost the traditional and religious views of the people must be respected. I was extremely disturbed to see a troops breaking the religious barriers and invading the privacy of a women by searching them at check points. This caused  and will cause distress amongst the men of Iraq as well as the women and will create feelings of hatred towards the coalition forces and will hinder the progress that the forces make towards building a relationship with the people. It is understandable that the forces are anxious about possible suicide attacks, however, they must always be sensitive to the religious implications of their actions especially because the Iraqi's will not understand the reason behind the troops actions and will see increasingly see them as invaders. It would be helpful to show the good intentions of the coalition forces by having a female soldier searching them if need be.

 

-Furthermore, it should be made clear to the people that it is not an attack against them, rather against the regime, and this could only be done if the forces show mercy and kindness towards the innocents of Iraq.

 

-It should be made clear with words and actions that Iraq will be autonomous, democratic and sovereign and will be governed by Iraqi's, for Iraqi's, with the help of the international community but without interference from it. 

 

As an Iraqi exile I hope that the day of freedom for Iraq will come shortly and that day will be the beginning of a new life for all the people of Iraq; those living inside and out and that all Iraqi's will come together to build Iraq and restore it to its past glory.

 

 

We hope to see the flag of justice,freedom and democracy raised in Iraq by all those that suffered under Saddam Hussein. And I am sure that the Iraqi people will be grateful to all the nations that have stood by them, liberated them and supported them for years to come. 

 

 

Thank you

 

Dr. Naser Alhaq

London, UK