The Diary of an Iraqi National

In my view, the human history resembles a river, a huge one: both the beginning and the end of which we probably do not know. We do not know when it started and when it is going to end . These tributaries could represent countries, continents, races or all people. Each one of us is a drop in this huge river. Writing the story of my life is an attempt to shed light on my life journey, on the stations and on the destination, on the events throughout my life trying to explain them in the context within which these events took place. This book, among other things, is a journey in the stations of my soul. Now I can look back at these events in the lives of myself and my country and draw some useful lessons for the future generations. I have decided to write the story of my life keeping in my mind my belief in that history should not record only the events of conquerors, or rulers. Also history should not be only about kings, rulers, presidents and sultans. More importantly it should be about the life of the common person. History, where some believe is written by the winner, should now take into consideration the nature of the human experience, and above all the individual and the people. History should not only record events without explaining them. When we were in school, history to us was what the sultan said and what he did, but we never had a glimpse of how the people under him felt. I chose to write this book in English because I believe we should share our problems and experiences with the rest of the world to find effective solutions for common problems. Iraq has always tried to find local solutions to its chronic problems but most of these local solutions failed to move the country forward. A lot of the issues in this book are human in nature pertaining to the struggles people make in their lives irrespective of where they live or where they come from. I believe knowledge and experience belong to the human race and we should not take them with us to the grave. Slowly, we are finding out that the differences between people are diminishing as we are faced with insurmountable problems that threaten the continuity of the entire human race. Similarities between human beings are stronger than their differences. One nation or even a group of nations cannot alone solve the gigantic problems facing the human race today. I am trying here to recapture pictures of my daily life, in a particular time, in a particular place and in a particular setting. It is the countryside and the community of a small city (my hometown) in a specific period of time. It is the history of a life lived in a certain period, in a certain place and in a certain context. It is an attempt to recall events and to conserve memory. Memory of a Nation is a summation of the memory of its citizens. Conserving the memory of our nation will help us prevent catastrophies that we have witnessed, from recurring again. While we should not be prisoners of the past, conserving the memory is something else. The world is fast changing and for that reason, our memory becomes weaker every day. Memory and time move into two different directions. From the day of one’s birth to one’s death, the world undergoes tremendous changes: some changes are positive such as advances in health and technology and some, unfortunately, are negative such as poverty, wars, dictatorships, the worsening of peoples’ living conditions, the overpopulation and the worsening of the environment. It is through learning from these experiences, which we derive from our memory bank or from our memory book, that nations can make progress and can attain their social and economic advance. There are three social entities that have more or less similar characteristics. These are: the individual, the family, and the individual organization (private or public). Most of the laws that apply to one of them would, to a large extent, also apply to the others. While the family is also a form of organization, the difference between the family and the organization could be seen from an economic point of view where the family could be viewed as a consuming entity, while the organization would be, to a certain extent, seen as a producing one. These entities; the individual, the organization and the family, are like different motors. If the work of these three motors is synchronized, the country would reap optimum results. It is through these three motors that a society can move ahead. The objectives of each of these three individual motors must be aligned with the society's overall objectives. In the case of Iraq, these three motors were rarely seen as interacting among themselves. In Iraq, unfortunately, these three entities lost their autonomy and independence and that is why this huge retreat for Iraq and its failure “to achieve". Setting objectives and targets, communicating them, reviewing performance every once in a while and getting feedback up and down on performance levels, are all similar and are relevant for all these three entities. If we take an example of an organization that exceeded its revenue and profit targets a year ago but failed to achieve its targets this year, it needs not imprison itself in the fact that last year it exceeded its target. It needs to review its performance in totality and see where it has failed and where it has succeeded. One can reflect and can learn from experience. Memory is vital to all. Migratory birds remember complex routes covering thousands of miles. We are an accumulation of our memories. If someone could take out your memory, you would not know who you were, where you were. You would not recognize your friends and your loved ones. The same applies to a country.