No its not Mars, Its Baghdad

Not only do they have bombs, water and electricity for only one hour a day, they get sand storms as well.

After another long wait, I am Back!

Hello everyone. I am sorry if you have came to this page many times and saw nothing new, but all of that is due to many crazy things that have happened to me this past year including my marriage. Yes, I got married and that is a very long and amazing story on its own which I am sure I will cover on this blog.

Come again and check this place out!

Irony

Here is a quote from The Guardian:

“Next week's reconciliation conference has been postponed twice already. Most recently set for October 21, the meeting was put off indefinitely, with the government citing waves of sectarian violence as the reason.”

So the various Iraqi groups were trying to meet in order to hold reconciliation talks in hopes of curbing the violence, which is obviously caused by them, but the talks got postponed because of more violence.

Wow this must be one of the funniest and saddest things I have ever heard recently. I mean holy shit are these people out of touch with themselves or what. They know deep down that they are not willing to stop their struggle for power but they still act like they care about fixing the situation.

Even in South Africa when the white dominated government finally gave up and when the powers shifted there was a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that began hearings on human rights crimes committed by former government and liberation movements during apartheid era.

In Iraq however, instead of a Reconciliation Commission, we had a raging Sunni insurgency, which led the country into a path of violence and instability. The intense violence eventually transformed into the Shia groups and helped radical elements like Sadir to gain greater power among the Shia community. Now we have a mini civil war in Baghdad where people get shot randomly in the streets.

True reconciliation comes from acknowledgement of mistakes and the power to forgive those mistakes and move on toward a new path. I don’t think the group that held power for so long in Iraq took the initiative to admit the unbalanced rule they led in Iraq and by this point the majority seems to be beyond the point of forgiving them anyway.

Selfless.

I am getting sick of the fact that its hard to talk about anything but Iraq lately. Its so tasking to constantly think about how horrible the situation is over there. I don't even live there and I am feeling the mental pressure of this situation crushing my normal daily life. I can't even concentrate on my work as much. Its not good.

That being said... I wonder how do people actually live over there? My brother was there till recently until we couldn't deal with it anymore and we begged him to leave Iraq and go to Syria. He finally agreed. It seems like people feel so accustomed to their lives that they don't want to try anything new even if it means that it will save their life.

Taking a risk is the most important thing I have done in my life and without it I wouldn't have one. I am a big believer in the saying that most men live their life in a certain way only for one of two things, either to live up to the expectations of their fathers or live to avoid the mistakes of their fathers.

I am the second kind. My father is the kind of person who would never take a risk in his life unless he is under extreme pressure. This is something I have been trying to avoid all my life and I think it is physiologically messed up cause it interferes with the natural way I should build my personality and who I really am. Its crazy.

Getting back to the subject of Iraq, I have one thing to say to those people in Iraq who are killing and unleashing rage and violence on others, you should think about your children and the children of others before you think about yourself, if you do, I promise you that things will get better.

Iraq : Tears. Smiles. Hopes.

I have finally decided to design a series of small posters that I am calling “Iraq : Tears. Smiles. Hopes.” I am dedicating these posters to Iraq and the Iraqi people everywhere. In doing so I hope to introduce the graphic design and visual communication style of our culture to the world using this new era of electronic communications through the web. I will be posting a new piece every week on my blog until the series is complete. I am not sure what is the final count of posters yet, but I will decide that based on different factors as I go. I hope to hear your feedback and comments. That would help me immensely.

P.S. the Calligraphy used in this poster is by Hashim Mohammed Al Khatat (God Bless His Soul) He was my main inspiration since my childhood days.

Thank you all

The Death of a Nation

Iraq is spiraling into an intense cycle of violence that is crushing the spirit of every Iraqi around the world. I see it in my own family. Everyone has a different perspective on the situation and everyone likes to blame everyone else.

The situation is absolutely devastating and appearing to be unsolvable. Iraq as a country is under the mercy of everyone including its own people. The United States of America have a very special and particular interest in Iraqi politics and is trying to twist the arms of any group that attempts to work out of its circle of control.

This is causing a lot of different dynamic and random responses from the multiple groups in Iraq. Sunnis are trying to establish a powerful opposition and get as much as they can out of the elected government. On the other hands we have the majority Shia spinning out of control under the enormous pressure of the past few years. They no longer obeying their spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani and are actively engaged in the fighting and the sectarian killing. The Kurds are interested mainly about kurdistan within Iraq. So they play a very little role in solving the sectarian problems.

This situation is so complex and sensitive that it will change the history of the region forever. I am not trying to make a statement here… I am just thinking out loud. I wake up every morning and stare at my computer screen, skipping from one headline to another. I just wish that one day I wouldn’t see these headlines that are tainted by death and misery about my country.

Too busy

Between teaching and work I have no time to post for a while.... Talk to everyone much later