Iraq hasn't really been in US news much since about 2006, until now. After President Saddam Hussein was executed on the first day of Eid on December 30, 2006, Iraq disappeared out of the news until President Obama withdrew US troops from the country in 2011.
Few Americans know that the US government left behind a residue of not only an embassy and consulate of over 20,000 staff along with thousands of what are politely called "private contractors," but carnage has also been left behind. It has been continuous in that country since the government proclaimed end of the war.
The Iraqi people are being mocked and warred against continuously, and what this documentary that was recently broadcast by al-Jazeera English shows is that an incredibly unique culture was literally murdered.
I had never before heard of any modern culture that put such emphasis on art, books, and the cultured like Iraq once did. I have seen paintings by Iraqis that moved me and read some of their incredible poetry that must be even more outstanding in the original Arabic. I have read Iraqi bloggers over the years who were some of the best writers in the blogger-sphere when blogging was king. I had no idea about the depth of this country and culture as it once was. I knew that it is one of the most ancient civilizations on earth, but I knew little about what modern Iraq really stood for in world culture.
What a treasure the world has lost because of the crimes of the country I live in. As a lover of history, culture, art, poetry, books this documentary touches my heart more than it would many people. But if a person has a drop of humanity left and even if he or she lacks my tastes, this documentary should move them. This is a story about a people and a great nation smashed and thrown into the dirt to burn. Now this country is plotting to finally rip Iraq's territories completely apart...
After over a decade of hearing negative propaganda about Iraq, it is past due that Americans learn what the true enemy destroyed. This is a great tragedy that should be seen. As the Iraqi poet at the end recites:
They were thirty armies,
Backed by all the people on earth.
Even neighbors and family.
They all waged war against a small land
That is great with its' history.
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