Maps or "Kharit" Al-Hatimi

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We have spent decades bearing the responsibility for what happened on August 2, 1990, when Saddam Hussein believed that the path to Jerusalem passed through Kuwait, even though the Iraqi citizen only learned about the war on the morning of the day Iraqi forces entered Kuwait. At that time, several popular poets competed in singing about what happened, reminding us of the famous poem recited by one of the poets in the early seventies as he addressed the then-Iraqi president Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr: "Tomorrow in Jerusalem, Abu Haitham will give a sermon." Instead of al-Bakr giving a sermon in Jerusalem, Saddam appeared to give a speech in the Hall of Eternity, marking the beginning of a phase of uprooting anyone who does not believe in the battles of destiny. I remembered these tragedies as I listened to the ramblings of a popular poet named "Abdul Hussein Al-Hatimi," who belongs to the group of poets of the "Mother of All Battles," wanting to fight his battle in Riyadh and pray in Mecca, at a time when thousands of graduates are protesting for job opportunities, the absence of services, and waiting for the mercy of electricity, while the state fails to provide funds for medicines and the printing of school curricula. For thirteen years, during which the Iraqi people lived the tragedy of the nineties' siege, the poets of the Mother of All Battles competed in glorifying destruction. When you hear the "ramblings" of poet Hussein Al-Hatimi, you say to yourself that nothing new is added to the tragedy of Iraq. The new thing is the difference in voices and the difference in sponsors; yesterday, poems were written for the generosity of the president, and now they are written for the generosity of the "MasterCard." A few months ago, we lived with the trend of "re-occupying Kuwait," and the hero of the incident was the former deputy Wael Abdul Latif, who came out to demand that Iraqis re-occupy Kuwait. Imagine, after 23 years of change and speeches of democracy, and discussions about the tragedies of the wars caused by Saddam, a former deputy comes out and says verbatim that "the boys with the scooters said we will enter Kuwait, beat them, and return." He did not stop there; he informed us that the youth of Basra stood at the borders inside coaster buses, chanting: "Oh, the dust of your land is fragrant," while Abdul Hussein Al-Hatimi decides to compete with Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot in drawing a new map for the region. Imagine politicians, deputies, poets, and political analysts wishing to return to the era of the mighty corner, the era of the inspiring leader, the era of dictatorship. After 23 years of change and the toppling of Saddam's statue in Paradise Square, those who do not want us to leave the era of battles of destiny and war anthems emerge. Some do not want to learn from the lessons of history and realize that countries are not built by speeches and revolutionary slogans or by the poems of "MasterCard" poets, but rather by work, combating political illiteracy, development, social justice, and fighting corruption, backwardness, and opportunism. As I listened to the poem of poet Abdul Hussein Al-Hatimi, I remembered the famous phrase that Saddam used to say while puffing on his cigarette: "Good job."