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The streets of Baghdad are completely deserted, fuel is conserved to operate the aggregates to guarantee undisrupted supply of electricity. There is happiness and joy all around, no one is a stranger but participate in the celebrations.
What is happening? Simple answer: 11 Iraqi men on a soccer pitch in Asia defending national Iraqi honor in a semi-final match against South-Korea. The Iraqi’s haven’t come this far in 30 years, the nation is united in their support. Unbelievable.
I found a satellite channel with live broadcast of the match. At the 90 minute mark, the game is scoreless 0-0. Going into extra time of twice 15-min. and decision must come. or a penalty shoot-out will follow.
For the Iraqi people … GO IRAQI’S!
Iraq's fans cheer during their 2007 AFC Asian Cup
semi-final soccer match against South Korea
in Kuala Lumpur. (Reuters)
Previous match: 2-0 victory over Vietnam.
“By this game, we are united! By this game, we are defiant!” chanted one group of youths wrapped in Iraqi flags.
“How about a little something for Iraq’s good fortune?” one beggar asked with a wide, toothless grin.
Few spectators missed the irony of Iraq defeating Vietnam, a nation with its own experience with a bloody, ill-fated U.S. war. One Iraqi sports commentator dubbed the match “the wounded vs. the healed.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki praised “the brave lions of Mesopotamia” and the embattled Iraqi parliament blessed the players in a session before the game.
The U.S. military also rooted for the home team in Wednesday’s semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur. “Good luck against the winner of the second-round quarterfinals team, neighboring Iran or the Republic of Korea!” a U.S. statement said.
Sporadic bursts of celebratory gunfire sounded even before the game had ended, and erupted into a full-scale symphony once the clock had run out. The rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns was drowned out by the thundering booms of larger weapons. Iraqi authorities said at least two people were killed and 50 injured by stray bullets.
At one traffic circle, Iraqi police abandoned their checkpoint and were busy lighting fireworks. At another, Iraqi soldiers in spiffy uniforms danced in a circle, pumping their AK-47s in the air.
“This is the happiness of a whole people,” said Abdel Basit Majeed, 41, who watched the game from his sporting-goods shop in Karada. “They are forgetting what happened to them yesterday, what happened last year, what happened before. They needed this joy. This is proof that the Iraqi people are bigger than their tragedies.”
Iraq in Asian Cup Final!
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It’s just delightful to hear a moderate voice speaking on the terror threat, intelligence gathering, uniting communities and last but not least, checks and balances.
A “highly visible” uniformed force would bring together immigration and Customs officers, Gordon Brown said.
An “all-party consensus” on the use of intercept evidence in court and questioning of suspects after they have been charged would be sought.
Mr Brown also said he would consult on whether to extend beyond 28 days the period suspects can be held before they are charged – possibly up to 56 days, subject to a judge’s approval and parliamentary scrutiny.
UK watchlist of suspects to be linked to the Interpol database of lost and stolen documents.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
Iraq defeats South-Korea on penalties: 4-3.
Will now play the winner of the other semi-final match between Japan and Saudi-Arabia, scheduled later today.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."OH OUI, THIS IS SUCH GREAT NEWS! I am hoping they are winners. Wouldn’t it be great if all the nation would just see what it was like by uniting to win the war. To work together as a team and do what a nation would love to do….be for all of it’s citizens! Thank you for some good news for a change….hugs
PS: yes it is ironic for them to be playing Vietnam…
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There is always politics involved –
Iraqi Olympic Soccer Team Gives Bush the Boot
The danger for an Iraqi sportsman today.
Previous regime’s Olympic Committee under Uday Saddam.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I guess my comments were sounding political…I suppose I do understand; however, I really did not mean them that way.
I am rooting for the Iraqis cause they deserve the right to play, as anyone does. I just assimilated the difference. Just think how many obstacles and hardships they have had to endure to get to where they are today…..my praise to them for this….hugs
The Iraqi team made made me so proud at the Olympics, first for their beautiful performance on the field, and second for their courageous refusal to allow Bush and Powell to capitalize on their success.
The thing is that what is new and different in Iraq is not Sunnis, Shi`as and Kurds getting along, it is Sunnis, Shi`as and Kurds fighting each other. Prior to March, 2003, relationships at the level of society were no more of a problem than they are in any other religiously and ethnically diverse society.
The “received truth” that Sunnis, Shi`as, and Kurds in Iraq have been “slaughtering each other for centuries” flies in the face of historical fact.
The “received truth” that Iraq is composed of three inherently incompatible ethno-sectarian-geographic parts that were held together only by the iron fist of Saddam is also nonsense. It does not explain, for one thing, how during its first half century as a modern-day nation state – a period of great political instability – Iraq managed to hold together very nicely indeed, and how Iraqis of all kinds became well-known for their strong sense of national identity and unity.
The Iraqi soccer team, and the public reaction to its success, is typical of what Iraqi society was always been like, both before and after statehood. We can only hope that the U.S. will get out before it is too late to mend.
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For your comment and insightful diary –
A Common-Sense Analysis
Many of the U.S. policies and practices in Iraq have driven wedges between Iraqis, encouraged and enabled divisive and extremist elements, and helped lead to and exacerbate the current deepening and widening sectarian violence in a region that has never before in its centuries of history experienced serious, widespread, or protracted sectarian civil conflict.
U.S. failure to establish and maintain order have enabled criminal gangs to operate openly and at will, kidnapping, raping, murdering, robbing, and generally terrorizing Iraqis.
BTW Welcome to BooMan’s Place!
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Thanks, Oui, for the kind words and the welcome.
I hate being the bearer of bad news, but it is the lead story on MSNBC’s website right now:
the violence continues:
lTMF’sA
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Malek Maaz helped end Japan hopes of a hat-trick of AFC Asian Cups with the livewire striker bagging a double as Saudi Arabia defeated the defending champions 3-2 in a see-saw semi-final at the My Dinh Stadium.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Happy that the Iraqis see themselves in terms of one nation when it comes to a game, or sad that they only seem able to think of themselves as a nation in terms of victory in soccer.
Soccer fans are volatile “lovers.” When a team loses, they’ve been known to murder the players. I suppose we’d all better hope that the Iraqis aren’t defeated in this tournament.
“Iraqis see themselves in terms of one nation when it comes to a game, or sad that they only seem able to think of themselves as a nation in terms of victory in soccer.“
Unfortunately, Americans do not see or hear this nearly often enough even on the alternative media, but believe me, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis DO see themselves in terms of one nation – one nation that is being torn apart by outside forces beyond their control. This morning listening to a report on a recent demonstration in Baghdad, I heard a man screaming something like “They cannot divide us! We are not Sunni! We are not Shi`a, we are Iraqi.” That is not at all uncommon, nor are signs declaring unity among all Iraqis.
And if you think about it, if Iraqis did not, at their core, see themselves as one nation, the success of an Iraqi athletic team would not have the meaning it does.
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BAGHDAD – The jubilation over Iraq’s ascension to Sunday’s final in Jakarta, Indonesia, gave Iraqis a rare respite from the daily violence. The victorious run sent men of all ages cheering and dancing in the streets.
“We have been suffering for a long time, not just in recent days,” striker Younis Mahmoud told reporters Saturday in Jakarta. “But we know that by winning, we can make the Iraqi people happy. We have reached the final, but that is not enough for us. Our ambition is win the title.
“We are shouldering our responsibility to bring hope to the Iraqi people,” Mahmoud said. “The players are concentrating on the match. It is the only way they can make the people happy.”
But extremists seemed just as determined to destroy national pride and unity. Two car bombs tore through crowds of revelers in two Baghdad neighborhoods, killing 50 people after Wednesday’s semifinal against South Korea.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf said security forces would be on high alert Sunday and patrols would be stepped up. The U.S. military also said it would position troops as necessary to maintain security nationwide.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
As CNNi reports from Baghdad. The Iraqi translators and civilian employees went onto the streets and bought Iraqi soccer shirts as a gift to US forces, joining them in watching the final match for the Asian Cup played in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Iraqi’s are united: Sunni and Shia, muslims and christians. There hasn’t been so much pleasure in Baghdad for years.
In the 70th minute of the match: Iraq leads Saudi Arabia 1-0.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
The office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement that it had planned to send a Cabinet delegation to the game, but that it was not possible to organize a charter flight due to technical issues related to “the flight’s path and overflight permissions by countries through which the plane would have to cross en route to Jakarta.”
The jubilation over the ascension of the team known as the “Lions of the Two Rivers” to Sunday’s final in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the quarterfinals and semifinals gave Iraqis a rare respite from the daily violence. The victorious run sent men of all ages cheering and dancing in the streets in what politicians said was a show of unity that proved Iraqi factions could come together.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
The team arrived in Baghdad, minus three players — including captain Younis Mahmoud, the Sunni who scored the winning goal in the final, who remained abroad out of fear for his life. The limited homecoming came nearly a week after Iraq bested three-time champions Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final cup game Sunday in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Hundreds of Iraqi expatriates had turned out at victory celebrations during stops in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Amman, Jordan.
Soccer fans welcome members of the Iraqi soccer team upontheir arrival at Baghdad airport. Reuters/Thaier al-Sudani
But there was no parade or public fete in Baghdad. “I feel sorrow that the soccer win is being exploited for political purposes, which is very clear from the site of the celebrations in the Green Zone,” said Hamid Qais, the 30-year-old owner of an accessories store in Baghdad.
Several hundred fans waved Iraqi flags and scuffled with police as they pushed through airport security to greet players as they stepped off a charter plane Friday evening. Police wielded truncheons against some in the crowd who were trying to touch goalkeeper Nour Sabri. He was hoisted onto the teammates’ shoulders and carried to a waiting bus.
The Neverending Story, Again: Can Soccer Save Iraq?
● Photo’s of celebration
● Irag: Il trofeo della Coppa d’Asia
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."