Taste of Iraq

The good:

People were happy with the initial results and it was very clear to everyone that the people have learned from the bitter experiences of the past few years and the previous elections of 2005. They all believe that the religious parties brought nothing to this country but sectarianism, which cost them the lives of hundreds of thousands of their relatives and friends. The secular parties became an alternative for most of the Iraqis.

The heartwarming:

As a journalist stationed in one voting center, I was not able to vote. It made me very sad at heart that I was sitting out these elections (especially after boycotting the last ones).

After work I rushed to my assigned voting center only to find it long closed. I started blaming myself for not voting before heading to duty. At home, I was overjoyed to see my family’s purple forefingers. I hid my hand in my pocket, slipped to my room and dipped my finger in a bottle of ink. Not out of fear but out of a desire to be part of this great experience.

The bad:

We are a displaced family. We were told that we could only vote where our ration card is issued. How do they expect us to go vote in the neighbourhood from which we were displaced? All the world knows that there are millions of Iraqis displaced inside Iraq – couldn't the Elections Commission place a box for the displaced in every centre? We have been issued IDs stating that we are displaced – Is corruption so wide spread that they don't trust their own IDs?

The awful:

A woman suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has confessed to organising their rapes so she could later convince them that martyrdom was the only way to escape the shame.

In a video confession, she explained how she had mentally prepared the women for martyrdom operations, passed them on to terrorists who provided explosives, and then took the bombers to their targets.

"We arrested Samira Jassim, known as 'Um al-Mumenin', the mother of the believers, who was responsible for recruiting 80 women'', Major General Qassim Atta said.

It was Winston Churchill who said "war is beyond all words horrible."

But then what do you call this orchestrating the rape of women and then telling them they need to kill themselves while blowing up nearby enemies in order to escape the shame?

It too is beyond all words, but even more beyond.

Update: Ladyblog's take: "monsters"