it more, they're pleasure or there's the last we've began a series of actions to address the emergency and the northern regions of the country, both to evacuate those affected and to provide them with support and humanitarian aid. although the cycle and jak who didn't had land, the national hydrology and meteorology services, it specs the storm to dissipate in the next few days. authority, se, although cycling yup, who is more than a 1000 kilometers of the coast of the pacific? it will continue to produce more rain, more damage, and more misery to a large part of the country. improved morsa neighbors were buckets mud from flooded homes, a polar keep close eye. we've made teams and we are in every home supporting each other in this all heavy machinery is helping people to clean up. but for now, the force of nature continues its deadly path. medina, santas, i'll just heat up a bit. masa. ah,

hello again. i'm elizabeth bronman, doha with the headlines on alf serum. well, always president has appealed for global support. after a tropical cyclone had the east of southern africa, its commercial hub, blan tie has seemed the most damage with flooding and mud slides. 326 people have died. farmer the miller has more. this is melinda west, a just outside of the commercial capital, bland tire. we infrastructure such as roads, telephone poles, as well as electricity poles have been completely destroyed. now this road behind us is a gaping hole, and people have placed logs across it so others can cross. but they can only cross if they can pay people who placed these polls. you're a charging and not everybody has the money to use this, make sure bridge. they don't have the money. they have to you as an alternative route, which is far more dangerous. poland has become the 1st of ukraine's allies to commit to sending fighter jets to keep polish president. andre duda says warsaw will

deliver 4. meg 29 jets and the coming days ukraine has been asking the west for jets for month to help its defense of efforts. the u. s. military has released video of an encounter between a russian fighter jet and a u. s. drawn. the pentagon says the russian aircraft unsafely intercepted the drone, which then crashed into the black sea. moscow says the u. s. was ignoring russia's airspace restrictions. europe central bank has raised interest rates by half a percent and lined with its inflation. tackling measures. the height comes after fears of further market turmoil, the se beach has europe's finance sector remains resilient. the french government will force controversial pension reforms through without a vote in parliament, out of failing to convince a majority of in peace to back the bill. the changes will raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. has been widespread opposition to the plan. the leader of south korea, as in japan, for the 1st time and 12 years,

the 2 nations are they want to rebuild ties in the face of continued threats from north korea. a police officer implicated and last year's fatal crush at a football stadium, and indonesia has received 18 months in prison. 2 other officers had charges against them, dismissed. a 135 people died in the disaster last year. but those are the headlines on al jazeera. do stay with us. the stream is coming up next. inspiring stories from around the world. ah, a human life captain. and his foster one groundbreaking fools from award winning filmmakers. what is going on in new york city? with on a jazz eda, i

i am josh rushing. welcome to the stream. it's been nearly 20 years into us led invasion of iraq and event that ushered in decades of chaos, lawson, instability. but even though the shadow of invasion remains a rockies continue to work to rebuild their country. to day we ask, what is the legacy of them based on life in iraq now, but 1st, let's hear from a couple younger rockies who share their memories from 2003 m. and how do i know what to puzzle put on during the war in 2003, we lived 3 bombing gunfire and explosions with fear and anxiety. we were not comfortable up that the situation is now better. and we remembered the days of the war. but we hope that they are gone for good. i'm deny unadilla and boy and, and i am welcome to heinous. there's an incident after the war that i'll never forget until this day. one of the neighbors who sells cds and cassettes was killed by armed men. the killing happened in the street and destruction was everywhere. i

believe it was a result of the oppression and injustice by the former regime when no hold on me telling him of i'm. so joining us to discuss from ghazi, it's up activist and co founder of i q piece nuf, asi and providence, rhode island, professor and director of the center for middle east studies at brown university nadia ali. and with us from mister bull journalist and author of a stranger in your own city gate of hud. and of course, there's one more seat at this table. and that's you. if you're watching live on youtube, see the box over there. we have a producer waiting to get your comment to me so i can get them to our guest. all right. case, i'm going to begin with you because i just recently read your article in the guardian with reflections about the day that you realized us troops had arrived and baghdad. you can walk me through that that, that memory. well, i mean,

i was in my house, i went to the balcony to the roof to actually and i, so these are american helicopters. i realize that what american because they're small and nimble and british kerry and just kind of like an angry wasp, which i thought was a yes, a little corruption because we'll used to these kind of fat kind of russian and 8. so you know, that swayed left to right. and the neighbor comes and looks at the door and says, the americans are here. the yes i heard on the word service that and ha, 100 kilometers to the south. just know that here on the street. and, and, and i can't describe this feeling up until today, 20 years later, this is your fed for decades on america being this invader with had already award with america would been bombed by the americans for like 23 weeks in 19 to one. we were bombed, and then he go down and you see american soldiers, there were marines actually. and it's a, it's kind of a very weird,

strange feeling. and i followed them, of course, that day. and i stood in the square and i watched that you've been troubled. can i ask you about that real quick because it, that's a very famous moment. and, and a number of people believed that was the stage moment because they said that the, the young men on the square didn't have a rocky accents. they happened to have a flag that was pre saddam, you know, ready to put up on the statue. you were there in the square that they were, what was your impression of it? so i live very close to that square. i mean, i live by the theater square, the national theater, and i followed the marine down the 2nd street. and we just kind of happened to be that statue there, that kind of very bad because a statue but also in front of the start to go these to famous hotels, the shirt and then the media. and we're all the international media with that. so i stood in the square, there were marines, there were probably $250.00 journalists, and much less smaller car, the fair darkies. so i stood there watching. it wasn't staged. and then the air up

is trying to topple the statue. they had these big, kind of hammers they, they hammered out the, the plane just cried some marbles and then the marine probably was so impatient that they drove back their vehicle for the news, pulled the statue. but before pulling one of the marines took off, took out this american flag and put it on the face of the statute. this icon an image. and at the time i thought, what are you doing? this is kind of like, this is really bad, you're destroying, let, the iraq is at least celebrate this fiction of elaboration. but later i came to realize that this marine was much more honest than anyone else because he's so the war as a war between the united states and era. he didn't believe in all this rhetoric of flip ration and treat and what not. so you know, it, i was there, this was, it's such a metaphor though it's such a metaphor for the,

the success of the invasion for knocking out saddam, which lot of people i think had hoped for. and then for immediately screwing it up, ah, in the name of this kind of got ga. gov, go ahead. i don't think that act screw up. anything. i don't think that up pulling a flag screwed up the whole fiction. i don't think drummer's mishandling screwed up things. i don't think the fact that the americans came to rock so criminally negligent of what was happening, screwed up everything it was bound to fail. it was bound to have an american occupation of a middle eastern country after a 100 years of all, what's been happening in the middle east. it was bound to fail. there was no, i mean, it could have failed less dramatically. maybe without an extreme civil war, would of the geologist floating into iraq, maybe. but the idea of invading a country then establishing a democracy. not any country. a country that you bombed in $1.00 to $1.00,

put under severe sanctions for 13 years, and then again bombed in 2003 and come and told become a democracy was bunker bound to fall? um, okay, for disclosure, a lot of our audience knows this on how to 0, but i was a marine at the time, our session, doha, at u. s. central command headquarters, when that statue went down to what are your memories of it? you were quite young at the time. right? yeah, i mean, like i said, i was like a gift teenager. year old was like has no idea what's going on except like the idea of like that, like when i think it was like in my memory that like my parents, my family, they have a memory of like couple of wars. and that's my 1st. so i was like try and like to do that comparison between like what is the difference between like, my older sisters like memory of like the other like 2 words and mine. what's gonna happen? didn't think much of like,

what's going to happen after or like how it's going to my because like to be honest like what i was like thinking like, oh them he's like going to when and then like we're going to have another like day or school because that's why we had like, used to why never like that, like that, like this whole experience will change the way i look at life or like the way that we all of us like my generations. how we are like now become like different in the way of thinking, the way of making decisions. and so more digging on that how to change the way you look at life. let's say that like i, i was, i was a dreamer who was like to be an artist and then i studied like find out. but then i realize that like all i know is emergency response driven my career at the moment because i'm better at it. i'm better at like, like doing,

like in just wanting to emergency because i have experienced the experience that i know how people feel. i know how people are afraid and that's like shifted my whole life. gave me another like perspective into what i'd like the play out if you'd like for me is literally like not only i'm like for me is that like the water itself, it is something. but then like the aftermath of the water, that's like really shape that that doesn't seem like considering like life and death. i remember like i some part of my life. i lost like my humanity. i couldn't like care for others who are like dying because people are like getting close to the street. and when i call them like, you know, to get like, like that, like for me like this is like an embed. wait, wait, wait, no. so how do you go from being nerd to death as you're around all the time to now

you're actually got to help with the earthquake and emergency response like what a transition there the transition is that like yeah, as i mentioned that like i'm a person who has like experience for experience golf like some violence. and then at one point i was a few g s one time and at one time i was an i d p. i know like that. how people feel. so which makes me like no better how like, what is like the media? just one for them. so that's why i was like, that's like how it's shifted. like now, like i know like i really understand like people in chicky when les it and also like and say yeah, they like over a sudden like these, not their houses and they're like, you know, less everything and badly, like, you know, a life. i totally get that feeling because i experienced it. so that may make me think about like what, like the priorities like to present and terms of like how we design or respond. and so as a human italian, it's a weird thought,

i think that thinks something. so terrible, this war actually created this kind of loving, compassionate thing that you're doing now for people who are suffering from a disaster. that, that, that's, that's quite an arc nadia i want to bring you in. as the 20th anniversary of this invasion, as, you know, come upon us what, what have you been reflecting on what you've been thinking about? well, i mean, on one level, i was remembering the time when i was part of the iraqi diaspora. i have a slightly different perspective because i wasn't inside iraq. i was a non done during the time of the invasion. and as many, many iraqis i'm in iraq since the 15th century, to experience several waves of migration and displacement. so that's a very large iraq, a diaspora, and interestingly the diaspora was quite divided over the question off the invasion . so there are actually some people in the iraq diaspora who were pushing for it. i

was not part of that. i was part of the protest movement against sanctions and invasion and i had together with some friends, started act together woman action for iraq. and i remember you of seeing the pictures being part of or protest and feeling some sense of, you know, hope and collector from because ation just a non done but globally. and i have to say that until the very end. i couldn't believe that it was actually going to happen. the day of the invasion act together started an exhibition in london called our lives in pieces. we had asked iraqis to provide us with some artifact or some piece that symbolized the relationship to iraq. and the day that we opened exhibition the invasion happened, and i remember all of us just couldn't believe it. and of course i'm thinking about my family. i have some family members who lost their lives and for me,

if i could them a clear sense, the invasion, i've been trying to really document the huge gap between the very rhetoric of liberation and reality. and my focus has been to show that women actually have been the largest victim of the invasion and occupation. because not only half is seen the proliferation of violence and militia lawlessness kills. but we've seen an incredible increase in gender based by then and much greater shift to what social conservatism. so, i mean, eyes has documented the increase in the militia weatherstone. neosha when they would move into a neighborhood. the 1st thing that would do would target women would force them to, to where certain dress code would control their movements would control who they

would be seeing. so. but i think it's also important to not portray iraqi women as me a victims off the invasion occupation because just also saw that after 2003 that was the mushroom main office and rights organization. and you know, women really try to push against the us led occupation policy. i mean some people and i go and give talks and the superset box, you know, the occupation gave women the quota. so a certain percentage 25 percent of all representation is women. but that's despite us objection the says, iraq, he women's rights activists pushing and pushing until they would get this. so the 1st thing that dropped off the agenda of the us led occupation was women thrive and any kind of commitment agenda based equality struck by your position before because you were saying yes were against the war. but at the same time you have to

acknowledge that saddam actually is a really negative force. yeah, i'm in iraq. yes. yes. so i'm in. i was not happy. many of us were not how he was some of the us based, or you ok based on to sanctions and auntie war activism. because i think that very much focusing on, you know, imperialism on to western policies, but they were glossing over the atrocities of the regime of saddam hussein. and for myself and many of my friends, it was really, really important to do both to stay well to them. saying is that the cater has been involved in terrible atrocities and human rights abuses. but that does not justify an invasion and occupation. i want to bring in another voice. this is from our community. this is from our l. saudi checked us out. i have the

feelings about 20 to adversity of the invention of one of the site that iraq is more open to the work and the time compared with saddam hussein and other side. many bad things happening since then. many keys have been killed and there is a lot of hate speech and extremism. now yes, so you know, as a young marine, i believe what i was told when we were kind of, i was telling the war in the media basically as this liberation. that's not the way it turned out at all. that's not way turned out. it turned out with, with, with what he was saying mix results, i would say a whole lot of chaos get key key kind of bring us up like 20 years later what, what do we have now in baghdad? i mean, i totally agree with you. i mean, this whole binary, i mean, up until now 20 years later, people asked me, so it was better or,

or the occupation as it is or nothing, either mad dictator or an illegal occupation. i mean, eric is that something else and in between? 20 is on, when are we now? we are, you know, apart from all the disasters that happened with the war, apart from all the atrocities committed after what the war enshrined in iraq and shined a political system. although democratic on paper, it's based on sectarian ethnic quarter, what we call an out of the hassle, and that my house assistant ensures that there is this division of spoils, the division of state resources. and you end up with one of the most corrupt governments or countries in the world era today is $12000000000000.00 a year budget. what kind of oil money. and yet some parts of add up, some parts of,

but about itself is on par with one of some of the worst countries in the world in terms of poverty. it's, it's in the bottom of everything. bottom, transparency international. you and d, p, you call it. so what is out this is a newton state, it is democratic in terms of constitution, but it has a penal code that goes back to the birth is regime of 1968 the kind of the freedom that which was the only thing that was good outcome of a kind of a freedom of expression, arts, creativity of blighting whatever you want to call it. that is being eroded as we speak. and, and the other thing which is kind of very, very important. i personally, i think is the state of anna is this kind of very weird newton state. it's not here defined 20 years later. it's still trying to define it's, it's trajectory, it's nation of rhetoric and all these things. so i'm getting those who are

not one of them to you tube and i'm going to come to you. it's a lot of people. youtube are sharing their memories of where they were when they were rock war started. this is american that says that she felt helpless, hated bush, and the guy who threw the shoe at him was a hero. that's catherine. we have a lot of there's some rockies in there, sharing memories as well. so just what i want to say to you to community is i love, it keeps your memories. keep talking about this in the meantime, nadia. yes, please jump in. yeah, i just feel that it's really important, given that it's 20 years to also stress that i mean i personally feel uncomfortable to not to mention that it's not only the us led invasion when you asked that. of course, there were other international military troops, particularly the ok. but i think we also need to stress the responsibility off corrupt victorian iraqi politicians. and yes,

it is true that the us that invasion facilitated them getting into power. but iraqis on north shelf pockets, i mean, many of them where advocates of the invasion, many of them were complicit. many of them since then have been, as a very much pointed out, have been incredibly corrupt. have been also, it's harry and i mean we have come full circle again and terms of political repression. and of course we also need to think about regional factors. i mean, that's iran, the how there may be, there's gotta, i don't think we can live also in this sort of world where we can reduce everything to the us invasion. this is not at all to demand ish, the responsibility and the facts. but there are many, many actors, and many factors that half lat to the situation that we find ourselves and to day.

but also picking up on us race, we're saying there is the new generation is really trying to resist. and i half hope because the new generation house been out on the street. it's protesting. it is very much opposed to sectarianism. it is using not just a traditional forms of politics, but also creativity, culture, a film to express their descent and also to express their vision for the future. and they just want to live. they want to live, quote, unquote, normal lives. you know, so and 6, i'm hearing a thread here girth. you just mentioned about a kind of loss of the arts model. you just said that the younger generation might be engaging with the arts again. and then i say move over there who dream to being an artist spends her life responding to disasters. it, there has a rock bound, it's identity,

the post war that isn't defined by the war yet. move. i think it's like we had to like, let's say it's like looking at like the past 12 years. we have been like in different like struggles we have the like into different like to say people like trying like different ways like i 11 like to be honest like i lose hope that like we will have like let's say like a generation that is really born like to that, to the country, and knows like, like that considered like what we need as iraqis not like what is like my sect or like my background or like where, like, i'm belonging like one clued in militia as far as the parties and so on. the all the like considered until october, october like, did that change? did something like really important? like after like if we look at like, like after like the sectarian was like iraq. iraq have been divided into silos like

based on sex background. so like, i'm from back that back that have been like silos as neighborhood which like lead inches like generations that like we had not really makes amongst each other that like that mix that like maybe like the different, like the other like generations that have the living like to get those like we didn't feel that. and the generations like comes after me october or like to read how i love to call it should be and broke like that to sri makes like everybody together. i have been like in plenty of the quiz like we were like all together and people were like talking about like i'm from like this area and like we are like altogether even so like we are in different by zones. i had it took, took a driver who was like, telling me that like, you know, i was like, i'm really glad now that like i have a friends who are like one of them as a doctor. one of them is an artist, and one of them is the thing, get a new edition then like i will be sitting like together, like in one group,

i've only got about a minute left, but i know a rock is reconsidering. has constitution right now. they want to have hope that a new constitution might offer a new hope for iraq's future real quick gave. so i totally agree with that is a moment of happiness that a moment of a transacted, impose sectarian politics that took place. and that was to spend 20192020. this is a new generation, a post civil war generation. now. uh, you know, the biggest, one of the biggest casualties of the war is democracy itself. because for the new generation, when you tell them parliament, they think corruption, when you tell them elections, they think people selling the votes of buying votes. so that is a victim. so talking about changing the constitution is it also updated double sided sort because people so fed up with disc there, this idea of democracy. i had a call for bringing back a strong. okay. i gotta stop it because we've got about half

a minute left. i just want to think all 3 of you for being on the program today. i want to remind our viewers, the actual anniversary of the invasion is march 20th alger english will cover it all day. so. so come check back in here for that. and we'll see you next time on the 2nd. ah ah

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