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Iraq I feel like we (the US) wrecked and looted y'all and left the mess for you to clean up. I can remember being shocked at the start of that war and extremely skeptical about the pretext. Uneasy in general about the treatment of women there. I do think of the culture as so old, like the weight of history would lay heavy, and feel so bad about historical places getting smashed in war.
(Also so sorry for severe edit - my sleepy brain read Iran)
A neighboring country
I've heard Iraqi Kurdistan is a nice place to visit and is relatively safe compared to the rest of the country.
One thing I know is. There's a lot of ruins. In Mesopotamia.
One thing that struck me as an adult is that I grew up learning about some ancient civilizations, but in school I never learned that Mesopotamia is a location in present day Iraq. It just feels weird that we could study about ancient cultures and not learn where they are on the globe today.
Didn't you have a picture of the cities were in the school manual? I find that surprising
Lovely people, amazing history, real shame about the politics. Also sorry about what my country did to yours. I hear your country is gorgeous.
Gilgamesh
I know very little about iraq.
I'll just throw mine in to help confirm some of the general consensus coming from the states. Before 9/11, nothing really. A few brief mentions in history class etc, our education is horrible about human history but shoves American history down your throat. During the wars? Absolutely fucking horrific that any country is just allowed to attack an area like that. Every time I heard about some new operation I thought about how my family (if they were in that situation) would be huddle in the corner of a room just hoping to survive the night. Something that would make me want to lash out at anything because of the danger to my family, I never got why ANYONE thought this would "stop the terrorizing" by making more radicalized citizens.
After and currently, I'm completely blown away by the historical and cultural context of Iraq. In school there was never an emphasis on how important that country was to the civilization that we have now. Every documentary or book I read that touches on ancient history includes that area. I think if it was better taught in schools, the general consensus would've been more honorable towards finding a solution that worked for both countries.
Shoves American mythology down your throat, a large amount of what you were taught is just straight up lies or lacks incredible amounts of context.
Bossy militias... we call those cops here in the US. As for Iraq, I think of the people I have met from there and that area. All good people. As for the government... I don't know of a single government that I think positively of. Once you get enough people in one organization, it attracts the worst kind of people to join.
Sometimes they're called proud boys
I LOVE the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the historic city of Uruk (Warka) is in modern day Iraq. In that way, I have a lot of respect for the history. However, I would be too scared to travel there, for example. I hope truly that now after ISIS war, things keep getting better for the people there. I don't hear many news from there anymore, though I wouldn't mind hearing.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is really cool, I wish there were more modern reinterpretations of it, though.
Lots of tourists come around here, mainly to The marshes, the city of Babylon and Ur, yearly from the month of November to April where the temperature rates are at it's modest. I recommend you coming here, it's not that scary really from the tourists perspective.
I think Iraq has a similar climate to the desert where I live. Having grown up in the desert of the US, I have always wanted to visit other deserts to see how other cultures deal with the heat/dryness firsthand.
Beyond that and the obvious war news I do not know too much about Iraq.
I think of it as a highly imperialized and exploited country full of workers trying to make it a better place for eachother. In short, a victim of empire who deserves our material support in their struggle. However, this is my position on a lot of places.
I don't know much about modern Iraq outside of how the US has affected it in all honesty. I know little about its current governmental structure or the major political forces at play. Would you mind giving me a brief synopsis?
There are like 20 or even more government parties, I stopped counting them really, they all fight for who will be in charge of different sections of the government each one of them having no chance of agreement with each other, which results in a a political conflict the last 14 years at the end of every election cycle on which party is the prime minister nominated from, in the end it comes down to the nomination of an acceptable figure among these parties. And it doesn't take long until each one of them starts digging holes in the way of that figure for the sake of benefits, either Money, investment contractsΨ positions amongst the authority.
It really doesn't effect us that much now with them recently settling down to form an electoral alliance in the last 2 years. It has become more safe the last 6-8 years so much to hold sports events "recently The Arabian Gulf Cup Which was won by Iraq btw". Iraq has come along way and now somewhat on par with its neighboring countries.
I'm glad to hear things are improving for y'all :D
Best of luck o7
We just don't think of Iraq.
No matter how big the protest is... the war will continue. Feeling represented yet?
I'm Canadian. I would say that I don't think much about it in terms of current events, I haven't heard much in the news about it in recent years. And my assumption from that is that's probably a good sign. There used to be a steady stream of bad news, and "no news" lies along the path in between "bad news" and "good news."
I did see a video recently about Iraq's plans for a giant new port facility on that little tidbit of Persian Gulf shoreline it has and road/rail link from it up through to Turkey, and thence onward into Europe. It sounded like a very optimistic development if it can be seen through to fruition, opening an alternative trade corridor to the Suez Canal. Anything that diversifies a country's economy is a good thing, and anything that removes single points of failure in global shipping networks is also a good thing. I can't imagine the Houthi obstruction of the Red Sea would still be a thing by the time that route opens up but at least it'll be an option if something like it happens again.
(bart simpson voice) The exports of ~~Libya~~ Iraq are numerous in amount. One thing they export is corn, or as the Indians called it, "maize". Another famous Indian was Crazy Horse. In conclusion, ~~Libya~~ Iraq is a land of contrasts. Thank you.
joking aside, sorry about America.
Well, we don't get a lot of easy to find news on Iraq here in the US. You have to go looking for it.
That being said, with the little that I have gone looking for, it really seems like the people of Iraq are busting their asses to recover, and have shown incredible resilience in the face of so much destruction that hit them in the last fifty years. It's impressive as hell tbh.
That's been my impression as well. Other countries recovering from a conflict seem to have a lot of people still looking for others to blame for their problems but Iraqis seem more interested in just trying to make things a little better each day. I think if they can hold on to that hope their future will be bright.
Are you an Iraqi in Iraq? I am an ex-iraqi but have lived in the Nordics majority of my life. People here don't talk much about the country, but the few tourists that go there go to Erbil and only have good things to say about it.
Would love to hear your own experience too.
Yes, born raised and probably gonna die here. I live in southern region of Iraq, specifically the city of Nasiryah. Generally everything are still lacking behind due to years of war but it's getting better bit by bit with some hiccups because of the Iranian government influence, inflation, corruption.
Good that improvements are happening. I was briedly in basra long time ago. Stay strong!
What little I know about about todayβs Iraq comes from Hakimβs personal stories on The Deprogram podcast.
I think the US military canβt get out soon enough. I hope Iraq joins BRICS, dedollarizes, and has continued success with BRI. The neocolonial ^*^ imperial core^*^ is no oneβs ally, and is in decline.
Hmm. Unofficial Kurdish state in the north, typical Middle Eastern country in the south. Lots of Iranian influence. It had a wild ride thanks to warmongering Americans and Saddam, but as far as I can tell it's settled down since the end of ISIS as a territory-holding entity.
Aside from the politics, it's home to a lot of the oldest cities and ruins in existence. Like the rest of the region it used to be greener, but millennia of agriculture takes a toll.
I donβt think about Iraq. Should I?
should you think about the planet earth too?
I don't think they meant it as a slight against your homeland. You probably don't think about my homeland either, and idk why someone in Iraq would be concerned about Louisiana
I didn't took it that way, and i know he didn't mean something against my country either. It's more of a general idea rather than thinking of something. I don't think of the US that much but I do have a general idea about it, current political situation, and the states.
Wonder if that's more of a language thing. You got a handle on English so presumably get more news about the English speaking world. If I read Arabic maybe I'd have more exposure to Iraqi goings-on.
Ehh, I disagree. A counter example; I'd bet money that folks in England know more about our country than we do theirs, especially when it comes to politics and current issues. I'm pretty sure most Americans wouldn't be able to name the British PM or even what party is in power there. Everyone there probably knows Biden is the president and that he is a Democrat.
Also, Al Jazeera publishes in English, I don't think language is the primary barrier. American media just generally doesn't cover foreign affairs all that much (and when they do, they generally do a shit job).
Just going by population, you should about as much as you think about Canada.
Uh oh, I think about Canada a lot.
I didn't see the domain at first, haha. Substitute in Italy or Poland if you want. You should think about Sweden or Greece a lot less, going by population like this.
By money or something like that Iraq is way smaller than Canada, and by geopolitics way bigger. By land it's between Sweden and Japan. We're all kind of in an information bubble in the first world. It's okay, the first step is knowing you have a problem.
I think its history, particularly ancient is fascinating.
As an American, sorry about the war that my country committed against yours for no good reason. And I'm sorry for all the innocent people that my country killed. I wish your country well, and hope you can achieve peace and stability for your people.