Here's an interesting Question and Asnwer Section in IslamonLine
Guest Name Ali Halni, IOL's Iraq correspondent
Subject Eyewitness Account by IOL’s Iraq Correspondent
Date Monday,Jul 28 ,2003
Time Makkah
From... 17:30...To... 20:00
GMT
From... 14:30...To...17:00
Name Host -
Profession
Answer
Dear viewers,
The session has started. You are invited to join us with your questions.
Name Alfwine Mischler -
Profession
Question We’ve heard that American soldiers have been going into people’s houses and taking whatever money or jewelry they find. Do you think this was systematic, or was it just done by a few rogue soldiers? Was anything done – any disciplinary measures taken against these soldiers? Has such searching and looting of private homes stopped? Did the US army ever give any justifications for such actions?
Answer I don't think that Americans have been looting Iraqis' houses systematically. However, I think that it was a common phenomenon, as I saw many cases in which Americans took Iraqis' properties. I also met many Iraqis who told me that their properties were looted by Americans.
The Iraqi people whose properties are looted go to the occupation forces' offices to tell them about their grievances; however, their inquiries are not taken into consideration.
The US army has never given any justifications for such actions which are committed by US soldiers.
Name Haroon - Pakistan
Profession Electronic Engineer
Question
What are the possible routes of entry into Iraq for the Mujahideen brothers and how can we help them?
Answer
Regardless of the purpose for which people may want to enter Iraq, Iraq can be legally entered through Turkey, Iran, Syria, Jordan and Kuwait.
I am not in the position of advising mujahedeen.
Name Marwa -
Profession
Question
What is the attitude of the majority of Iraqis toward US soldiers in Iraq? Do Iraqis consider US soldiers as liberators or occupiers?
Answer
Ordinary Iraqi people see the US forces as occupiers, not liberators. It is true that Americans ousted the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but this doesn’t mean that Americans are welcomed in Iraq.
Sometimes, in the media, we hear some of the leaders of different Iraqi factions branding Americans as liberators; but the vast majority of the Iraqi people see American forces as occupying forces, and this explains the strong resistance in the different regions of Iraq.
Name Sally.. -
Profession
Question
Salam Mr. Ali..
I want 2 ask about the soldiers who escaped from Iraq.. How can they escape? Who help them? Where they can go? Can they reach us safely?
Answer
Yes, this happened. Many American soldiers have been fleeing Iraq for the past two months. They had to do that because of the difficulties they met in Iraq, as well as the strong resistance there. They had to escape from the environment and the hot weather.
They pay money to the Iraqi drivers just to drive them across the borders of Iraq through Turkey, Syria and Kuwait.
For the American soldiers to hide and avoid being recognized, they had to wear traditional Iraqi garments.
Many of them arrived at Turkey, Syria and Kuwait and could head to the US to join their families.
Officially, the occupation forces deny that this happen and they claim that it was a kind of propaganda spread by the Iraqis; but through many other sources, we were assured that American soldiers really fled Iraq.
Name Ramy... -
Profession
Question How do the US troops in Iraq deal with journalists? Do they let you do your job smoothly?
Answer Normally, American soldiers let journalists do their job. But sometimes journalists meet obstacles from the occupying forces. This happened to many journalists, including me.
When I was filming an ordinary scene inside Baghdad (with the US forces’ permission), they ordered me to stop the filming and hand over my camera. When I showed them my ID, one of the US soldiers said to me “I don’t care.” They harassed my Iraqi companion, my driver, and myself and they pointed their guns toward us. After about 30 minutes, they released us.
They confiscated my digital camera. We tried to track them and know their names, the names of their commanders and the name of their compound; and fortunately we managed to know all this. But their captain ordered us to leave the place in 30 seconds or, otherwise, he would arrest us and put us in jail.
We went to the information center of the occupation forces. All what we got was application forms for us to fill. Later on, I discovered that I am among at least 9 journalists whose cameras had been confiscated. Neither me nor the other 8 journalists managed to get back our cameras.
Name Ali 2 -
Profession
Question
Mr. Ali1.. I'm Ali2.. A new American Muslim..
They told us it's gonna be a picnic.. Was it?
Answer
It was not a picnic. In my opinion, Bush and his administration already knew that it wasn’t. American soldiers are facing many difficulties in Iraq: the hot weather, Iraqi people – whom the Americans don’t know, the Iraqi resistance, etc.
I think that American soldiers themselves inside Iraq are the best ones to answer this question.
Name Jonathan -
Profession
Question
I think that Bush is a big liar.. Can u tell me about the dead Americans In Iraq? How many per day? & How the Iraqis resist our fool troops?
Answer
I dont know exactly how many Americans die per day, but what I know is that the number of Iraqi attacks on the American soldiers reach 25 per day - as Mr. John Abizaid admitted.
And I think, also, that Iraqis' operations against US soldiers will continue as long as the occupation remains.
Logically, as long as there is an occupation, there is resistance.
Name Barbra -
Profession
Question
Do US soldiers attack Iraqi civilians?
Answer
Sometimes, US soldiers do attack Iraqi civilians when they are, for example, searching for weapons, or when they are looking for “wanted” Iraqis. Even when they attack Iraqi civilians for no reasonable purpose, they have tens of justifications to make.
Name Fadwa -
Profession
Question The attacks on American soldiers has been played up in the media as guerrilla warfare and blossiming islamic resistance.
Maybe those who lost relatives during the american bombings are taking revenge for the loss of their loved ones? Did you ever get that impression during your travels through Iraq?
Answer From my personal observations, and according to the eyewitnesses I met and intervied in Iraq, Iraqis are not resisting Americans to take revenge for the loss of their loved ones; they are fighting to liberate their country from American-British occupation.
Name iman -
Profession student
Question assalamualaikum mr ali,
May Allah bless you for your sincerity in answering my questions. In the 19th century we've heared about the strong wind of islamic revivalism in Egypt, Algeria and around the middle east. I am interested to know about the islamic revivalism in Iraq during the time of Saddam. Was there any Islamic movement strong enough to threaten the ruling of Saddam?
Answer Iraq, like other Arab and Middle Eastern countries, witnessed some kind of Islamic revivalism. But Islamists in Iraq were working in secret. Saddam detained and prosecuted many Iraqi Islamists, both Shiites and Sunnis. A number of them managed to flee the country and maintained their influence on their followers.
When I went to Iraq, I found new waves of Islamist groups working there, but their influence can not be compared to the influence of similar Islamist groups in other Arab and Middle Eastern countries.
The dominant Islamism in Iraq is non-partisan Islamism that doesn't belong to the mainstream political actors.
Name Ismail -
Profession
Question
As a Somalian.. Do U hate U.S.A.? & Why?
Answer
I don't hate USA. But, I don't accept most of the US government's policies in Somalia and other countries.
And I think that many citizens of the world share me these feelings.
Name Steve - United States
Profession
Question
Hello. I was interested in knowing whether Iraqis really believe that Saddam's sons were killed. The evidence presented and the circumstances seem rather suspicious. The photos also do not seem convincing.
Answer
I am no longer in Iraq. I left Iraq before Saddam's sons were allegedly killed.
Name Marry -
Profession
Question Do u think that Iraq will act with USA like Somalia did before?
Answer This question is to be directed to the Iraqis themselves, rather than myself.
I think that, strategically, Iraq is not like Somalia. Americans are ready to sacrifice the lives of its soldiers in Iraq (unlike the case in Somalia). The reasons are well-known:
1- Americans want the Iraqi oil.
2- Geographically, Iraq is located in a strategic position in the Middle East.
3- Iraq is located near Israel.
http://www.islamonline.net/livedialo...GuestID=j6319W