Polygamy is degrading and humiliating to all women and should be prohibited, and to legalize it under the disguise of the word acrobatics of Islam is as a laughable matter as it is insulting to the majority of women. You speak of the animalistic nature of men???, that is, their sexual instincts and drives. Well what about the sexual desires and motives of women. If you agree that women have also sexual desires then you should agree that polygamy should be for men and women alike, otherwise it should be prohibited and your religious theorization the lay psychology convinces no one.
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Talal Alrubaie People of Iraq should stand up against thefts and exploitati
Since we have a government of robbery and corruption, what else one would expect from these companies whose only aim is the one of the government; to get richer and richer and to the hell with people of Iraq. People of Iraq should stand up against thefts, exploitation and violation of the right to privacy
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Talal Alrubaie A club of religiously fanatic imbeciles
Sadly, the people comprising the provincial committee of Basra have proved again that they act as a club of religiously fanatic imbeciles who meddle into affairs that have nothing to do with them. These people are paid money to provide service. What service is that they are providing? Who is controlling these people? Are they above laws and constitution? They should be brought to books for squandering moneys and violating the constitutional rights of people of Basra. They do this in the name of religion, but they are paid not to be religious spokespeople. They are paid to serve people of Basra. What they do is a disgrace and disservice to people of Basra
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Talal Alrubaie Working with people on ground is the only solution
As you rightly indicate, the Iraqi Communist Party should continue and even intensify using all possible means to advocate the needs of the oppressed people of Iraq, that is, the vast majority of Iraqi people. It should work actively with people on the ground, rather than wait passively for people to attend its party’s centers-and they wouldnt attend. Democracy should be practiced from the bottom, not from the top. Working with people on the ground and advocating their needs is the only way for the party to proves its being a real community party, being the people’s party, not the ‘Yes Sir Party’ of Almaliki and his corrupt Cos.
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Talal Alrubaie How deep more will these satellites fall?
In your excellent article you read my thoughs, as I have always thought how degrading and humiliating these ‘generous and noble shows???’ are. These satellites seem to market, in the most vulgar way, the sufferings and pain of those in need. How deep more will they fall? Best thanks.
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Talal Alrubaie How deep more will these satellites fall?
In your excellent article you read my thoughs, as I have always thought how degrading and humiliating these ‘generous and noble shows???’ are. These satellites seem to market, in the most vulgar way, the sufferings and pain of those in need. How deep more will they fall? Best thanks.
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Talal Alrubaie Both Communist Parties are committing suicide
I agree with many things said in this interview and wish to note some of the ills plaguing the leaderships of both the Iraqi Communist party (ICP) and the Iraqi Kurdistan Communist Party (IKCP). 1. Leaderships of both partiers, as Mr. Ahmad indicates, have arrogantly distanced themselves from people on the ground and preferred barricading themselves in the empty parties’ centers and the infamous Green Zone. This has lead inescapably to the loss of parties population and base, as evidenced by last elections, as well as by the failure of the ICP to push through even for minimal measures that ensure the lives of its members, as for example, the failure of the ICP to get the government to find and arrest the killers of the intellectual Kamel Shiaa. The question is: Why does the ICP keep holding onto the myth of change from inside and thus keeps being a part of an immeasurably corrupt and sectarian government, a government which is contributing to, or at least keeps silent on , the killings of party’s comrades. Is not that a treason by the party ? Also, the loss of contacts with peopl
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Talal Alrubaie A very intriguing friend and Tourette’s Syndrome?
Dear Mr . Rabah Because your friend, Mr. Safa, having been the way he had been, I would feel somewhat reluctant to ask whether he saw a psychiatrist or neurologist. Anyhow, I would like to note that Mr. Safa seemed to have suffered from a neurological disorder called Tourette’s Syndrome (though this is only a retrospective and a tentative diagnosis). People with this syndrome might feel the compulsion to involuntarily utter obscene words. The technical term for this phenomenon is coprolalia (from Greek, Kopros means ‘dung’: and lalia means ‘talk’). This neurological condition could be associated with the psychiatric disorder of anxiety, which Mr. Safa seemed to have had as well. I admire your ability to describe in such elegance something, which we, psychiatrists, usually tend to express in a cold, clinical language. It was obviously so difficult not to have loved such a lively and intriguing person and his death must have been a real loss for you. Look forward to reading more of your most interesting words. Best regards
We have heard these promises from Almaliki over and over again, and nothing whatsoever has happened. On the contrary, security has got much worse. So why should we trust him? Please, give me one reason why we should trust him now. The question is: if he is serious now, which I very much doubt, then why has not he been serious before (not discovering yet those assassinated kamil Shiaa, for example). Well he has to say the things he is saying now, because of the upcoming election, because the last terrible massacres have proved that his pervious talks about improvement in security were just boasting and a propagandistic show off, and because he is not going to lose anything by making new promises because he and his government anyhow are neither countable nor credible. Also combating terrorism in Iraq is not a matter of security forces alone, despite its importance; it is first and foremost a matter of combating social, political and economic injustice in Iraq. His talks prove that he is totally unserious in his promises; Almaliki and his government are doing their best not to allevi
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Talal Alrubaie God-like psychopathology could afflict the leftists too
You rightly refer to some psychological ills plaguing the democratic and leftist movement in Iraq. Certainly psychological complexes, some of which you refer to, like self- overinflation, disregard of other views, ‘delusional’ belief in the automatic success of the historical cause, rather than through hard work with people on the ground, are evident. I cite a couple of examples here and I am not sure how much psychology contributes to their cause-in psychology one can never be sure unless the phenomenon at hand is subjected to direct investigation, though failing that does not devalue (an attempt at) analysis. The first example has been discussed ad nauseum, but nevertheless remains of vital importance and one should never gives up. It is the question of why the website (www.iraqcp.org) does not open (as for example, Ahewar) for democratic exchange of views; THE MOTTO IS DEMOCRACY FOR IRAQ (right?). A psychological assumption for the cause (and it is only an assumption) is that the editor (I refer to the editor as a single person, but it could be an editorship that shows
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Talal Alrubaie The unfair system itself is perpetuating, self-feeding, uns
Dear Dr Habib You have not stressed the fact that the whole Iraqi society is living in a crisis, and these last explosions are just one manifestation of this crisis. The other aspects of the crisis, as well have repeated ad nauseum, are the endemic corruption, the widespread unemployment and poverty, the sectarian unjust system, the violation of human rights, particularly of woman and sexual minorities, supression of freedom of expression, devastated infrastructure, unparallel ecological contamination, millions of widows and orphans, etc. Hence, to state, as some parties have hastily and in a ready-made fashion did, , that the Alkaida, albathists etc. are to blame for the last explosions is saying nothing (according to the theory of information it is just a noise, as it is devoid of any useful information) as it has not been based on any investigative work and therefore its misleading. Also, such declarations do not address the root-causes of the explosions, namely, the inhumanly unfair society Iraqis live in. As this unfairness and injustice continue, we will continue s
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Talal Alrubaie Is it a government or a religious-political mafia?
Dear Dr Habib Oddly enough, you still seem to believe there is an Iraqi government that is keen on safeguarding the security of Iraqi people. The Wednesdays’ coordinated attacks indicate once again that this government is a total failure, a religious-political mafia of corrupt and utterly incompetent politicians who are interested solely in getting wealthier at the expense of the vast majority of Iraqi people. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have been killed or injured at least in the last year. Has this (mis)government been able to arrest any of those committed the vast majority of these crimes? The answer is a simple NO. The government has no shame, pride or national interest; otherwise it would have resigned a long time ago. Most importantly, one should never forget that the current politicians should be held responsible by the future government before a court of law for their crimes and corruption. Regards
Dear Mr Alasadi Many thanks for this wonderful article. I, however, would like to call this barbarous procedure ‘Female Genital Mutilation’, rather than use the somewhat benign label of ‘circumcision’. There is a website with this name devoted to combating this appalling habit in Kurdistan. (http://www.stopfgmkurdistan.org/). International organizations like WHO (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/) and Amnesty international (http://www.amnestyusa.org/violence-against-women/female-genital-mutilation--fgm/page.do?id=1108439) are strongly opposed to such a procedure. As you rightly indicate this procedure can and will have devastating psychological and physical consequences on the girl and would-be woman. Immediate complications include infections and bleeding, which can certainly lead to other complications and even death. Later complications include psychological trauma that would associate genital organs with pain and suffering, something that would certainly impair healthy sexual relationships. Later physical complications could include what we called ‘d
What the Presidency Council is calling for is a clear violation of the Iraqi constitution that ensures the freedom of expression. If someone writes something by which members of the Council feel wronged they could go to a court of law and the court will decide who is wrong and who is right. The call by the Council is unconstitutional and all thinkers, intellectuals and journalists of Iraq should come out and speak out against this another violation of constitution and of freedom of expression. The members of Council neither holy nor are they above the law. That should be clear to them. The call, however, should come as little or no surprise. Someone who has committed a crime of Pesht Ashan and never called for an official investigation into this matter to clear his name of the ‘accusations’ would never become a democrat. Sure he could claim being a democrat, bur we all know that actions speak louder than words and that the emperor wears no clothes. Many thanks for this excellent article.
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Talal Alrubaie The hypocrisy of the Government of Law and Order
This in an excellent statement by HRW, which exposes the dreadful violation of sexual human rights at the hands of the Iraqi government who hypocritically claims to be the government of Law and Order. I have addressed these matters in my articles, (http://www.ahewar.org/eng/show.art.asp?aid=743; and http://www.ssrcaw.org/eng/show.art.asp?aid=659) for example, and called on all human rights organization in Iraq and abroad to speak out against these barbarous crimes. I extend my cordial thanks to HRW.
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Talal Alrubaie They are the problem, not the solution
The parliamentary members of culture and information committee you refer to obviously do not believe in democracy and freedom of expression, despite their paying lip service to the contrary. Some of them have become a part of a corrupt, bankrupt government, and hence they are a part of the problem and not the solution. Therefore, there is nothing strange about their ear-deafening silence. Thanks for this excellent article.
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Talal Alrubaie Bankrupt and opportunistic leaderships
This is an excellent and timely statement, on which I cordially congratulate you. The same statement would be applicable to the leadership of the Iraqi Communist Party. I, among many others, have warned of such a fate and repeatedly called on the leaderships to revise their policies and return to working to people on the ground, instead barricading themselves in party’s centers or the Green Zone. We have also called on them to open their websites for democratic exchange of views, but nothing has changed. The leaderships of both parties have sold the parties to the political and class opponents for their own interests. These leaderships are a disgrace and have nothing to do with communism whatsoever. They have to be replaced immediately and urgently, as you rightly indicate, by ones that really represent the oppressed, exploited and disenfranchised people of Iraq.
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Talal Alrubaie Why cannot you show love, instead of blind hatred
Your views of sexuality are non- scientific and absurd to say the least. Homosexuality in medicine and psychiatry is not a mental disorder. And I don’t now the level of expertise you have in this field, but it seems to amount to naught. What constitutes illness is not a matter of interpretation by you or anybody else. If you are biased against homosexuality, then that it is your privilege. But you cannot create illnesses by distorting facts or showing such an ignorance of them. Please try to educate yourselves about these matters before writing. Also, there is nothing in the Iraqi constitution that prevents homosexuality or transgender. Hence any discrimination or abuse of homosexuals or transgender is illegal and should be harshly punished by law. Your words are a disgrace. What cannot you preach love, respect and tolerance for others who happen to be different, rather than be the bearer of hatred, prejudices and intolerance?
Dear Mr. Jamal Thank you for this article. However, I take issue with you conclusion that capitalism, rather than religion, is to blame. I have some brief comments here. 1. Religion, as we know, is not a unified theoretical construct and each religion and its holy book is subject to many historical interpretations. We witness that in Christianity and Islam for example. 2. There is undeniably firm connection between religion and capitalism, which Marx had already detailed. On the US dollar, we read “IN GOD WE TRUST’. 3. Religion, or at least in its name, humanity has witnessed many dreadful wars and tortures, that is even before the capitalist era. 4. Socialism is not the solution if it does not uphold human rights. A communist dictatorial regime, as in North Korea, is as equally bad as the Taliban in Afghanistan. Have a great trip*.
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Talal Alrubaie A political disorientation and vertigo of the party’s leade
This is an excellent article, which poignantly voices many of our thoughts. I just wish to add that the party, despite paying a lip service to democracy, is undemocratic in its website and other media. I, among many others, have repeatedly called on the party to open its website to comments, as in the case of Ahewar, in order to tech all of us how to converse in a democratic fashion, and to enrich the ideological and intellectual thinking among members and supporters. The party has refused up till now to do so for unknown reasons. The other problem is the hieratical structure of the party and the designations of its organizational structure. For example, the designation of Central Committee is fully inappropriate, as this designation endows a totally unjustifiable glorifying aura on his structure, which in turn inhibits, directly or indirectly, the creativity of other members. We have no evidence that the members of this structure, the Central Committee, are distinguished through namable achievements and most of them are more like bureaucrats or Yes Sayers, in which case any tal
You are a leftist person, but unfortunately you equate US with America. Perhaps this is a trivial matter for you, but I know from personal experience that most, if not all, South and Central Americans would consider this terribly offensive.
I am afraid to say that you article, titled ‘The Scientific Nature of Marxism’, is starting with a non-scientific statement that says that thinking is a reflection of ‘reality’ in the brain is totally wrong. We. neurologists, know that it is not as simple as such and the brain does not reflect the reality as if it were a mirror,, and even identical twins (sharing all their genetic lead) van have different views, personalities, that is despite sharing the same environment and even genes. You unfortunately, repeat a dated non-scientific, though well repeated, Marxist slogans on the relation between thinking, brain and so-called reality.
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Talal Alrubaie Instead of what you advocate, we need real noble virtues
Drear Mr. Shamel I disagree with your implication that poverty is something that could be solved by personal remedies or struggle alone. To argue this way is a harmful oversimplification. Poverty is a complex socio-economic-political matter that in the vast majority of cases is not resolvable by personal efforts alone. The implication of your views is that the poor, for example, in Africa are ‘lazy’, a racist designation (?), and should feel guilty for not being rich. This adds insult to injury, since we well know that corruption of local governments and external exploitation is mainly responsible for poverty there. Richness in itself is not an ethical virtue and if you consider it as such, then the implication is that one should endlessly need more of it and this eventually leads to more greed, exploitation, conflicts and even wars. Is that what you are advocating? Why cannot/shouldn’t we advocate instead real noble virtues like care for others, social support, self-awarness and authenticity (or these virtues have fallen out of fashion nowadays?), working for peace and clean
Advocating the presidential government as the solution of Iraq’s crises, Mr. Almaliki is trying in vain to escape from naming the real reasons for having a simulation of democracy, which you seem to support, namely, a consensus government, a government of sectarianism, tribalism and cronyism. I just want to remind you that the consensus government is the main, if not the sole reason, for many of the problems we have in Iraq; corruption, terrible infrastructure, discrimination against women and sexual minorities, massive unemployment, abysmal agricultural situation, polluted environment (Do I have to go on counting?) A system, be it presidential or otherwise, has to be based on the participation of its entire people irrespective of religious and national affiliations. The current governmental system is corrupt to its core and a dire failure, and no theory of yours or others can do away or hide the ugly reality of this government.
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Talal Alrubaie We need proper constitutional solutions, rather than a recip
You article is more confusing, I am afraid to say, You talk of an alcohol problem or, more precisely the sale of it in public, forgetting willingly or unwillingly, that the main problems facing people of Iraq now are the corruption, manipulation of religion for selfish and political goals, massive unemployment, masses of widowed women who enjoy little or no social support, absence of decent infrastructure, deterioration of educational system, catastrophic agricultural yield, polluted environment, and last but not least, sectarianism. And this list is not meant to be an exhaustive one. You speak of the chaos associated with sailing alcohol in public (should alcohol be sold underground?). But is not this chaos all pervasive everywhere in Iraq? And why cannot the government of Law and Order organize the sale of alcohol in a more civilized way? Is not the duty of government to organize things in a proper way without sacrificing civil rights? Why should people scarifies their civil rights because the government is incompetent and cannot organize properly simple things like the sale of