Your comments

We welcome your feedback on Inside Iraq. To comment on the show click on ‘Send your feedback’ at the top of the page. Below is a selection of your comments.

Your comments

Thank you for your truly wonderful news broadcasts and other programmes which are ever so refreshing as far as coverage and truth is concerned. I must admit that I only watch Al Jazeera now. While I like every programme you put on, my favourite, particularly from the perspective of truth and subject matter, is Inside Iraq. Your choice of Jasim Al-Azzawi is great, because he knows his subject well and also how to ask just the right questions. Keep it up, Mr Al-Azzawi.
Sylvia, Kenya

I have to compliment you on one of the most important programmes on any news channel and one which I have grown to appreciate. My only request to you is to please use your show to keep the focus on the main issues of reconciliation, progress with the oil law and Kirkuk. None of the world’s media are giving much time to reporting the Iraqi parliament or government’s progress (due to a preference for covering violence) and so they are not held to account while weeks go by with very little news of what al-Malaki is up to. The last programme on the security contractors in Iraq I felt was a side-issue and the woman from the Policy Studies Institute was an insult to our intelligence. I am more worried about Dr. Iyad Allawi being arrested and charged with treason by the current bloc if he tries to take them head on politically with support from ex-Baathists. I supported the war because I want the Iraqi people to be free but I am beginning to feel that al-Malaki is taking Iraq nowhere.
Amaria Dami, UK

As a taxpayer, I am greatly disturbed that my tax dollars are going to the mercenaries as described in today’s Inside Iraq, adding to the profits of Halliburton and BlackWater among others. Their profits, at my expense, are killing innocent Iraqis and the death of poor American soldiers who think they are protecting America. They appear to be protecting the interests of those companies making enormous profit! And, just to let you know, this is an excellent programme. I wish the information you provide would receive some coverage in mainstream American broadcasts.
Marty, US

Phillis Bennis was rude, arrogant, resorted to emotional responses, and certainly did not contribute anything worthwhile to your programme, while discussing the impact of private contract security forces in Iraq. She was unwilling to let your other guest even attempt to portray his side of the issue. She was not respectful of the programme’s host, either. If you choose to have her on your programme in the future, please ask her to be polite, wait her turn to talk, and be respectful of the host and the other guests. I certainly do not support the position of your other guest, but after listening to how she presented herself and her side of the issue, I would be hard pressed to support her. Kudos to your other guest for keeping his cool and not falling for her obvious attempts at manipulation. My sympathies to the host for having to put up with her. Thanks for your otherwise excellent show. And excellent news presentation on Al Jazeera in general.
Michael, US

Do you think that Tony Blair, George Bush or any war monger will admit to the big mistake of removing Saddam Hussein from power, despite the killings and destruction taking place presently in Iraq? I can guaranty you that privately they wished they never invaded Iraq. Saddam Hussein in Iraq was like the safety pin of a hand grenade. Once you remove the safety pin, the grenade will explode. This is what is happening right now in Iraq. The unfortunate thing about the situation in Iraq is that many innocent people will continue to lose their lives or get hurt for a long time to come. Those bombs will continue to explode in the name of democracy for a long time to come. Is this the price for removing Saddam? Refugees, bombs and sectarianism.
Bruce, Saudi Arabia

Discussing Inside Iraq is important to all people who are citizens on earth. I liked the discussion about al-Qaeda in Iraq. Thank you, Jasim Al-Azzawi.
Jared Ombui, Uganda

I am really very proud of you Mr. Jasim Al-Azzawi. You know how to address the hard questions we want you to ask. I am a continuous watcher of your wonderful programme. Keep up the good work.
Mohamed, Mauritania

I always watch your good and informative programme, Inside Iraq, but recently I started to become agitated with some parts of your talks. Let me get straight to the point. You want to imply to your viewers that the cause of all the misery, mayhem and injustices that go on in Iraq now are not only because of the American occupation but the Shias in general and Islamist Shias in particular. I agree 100 per cent with you about the Americans; they invaded Iraq unjustly, illegally and based on mere lies, no doubt about it. But now look to the events from the viewpoint of the majority Shias and Kurds. You repeatedly mention the word ‘sectarian’ (particularly in the programme you had with Adnan Pachachi and Ali Sharif), i.e. sectarian elections, sectarian government, sectarian killings and so on. You know better than me that from the very beginning of the establishment of the state of Iraq 87 years before, it was definitely sectarian. The colonial power of the day created an artificial country and established the Hashemite dynasty, brought Faisal I from Hejaz to this place and named him the king, a Sunni, in spite of the reality that Shias were the absolute majority and Sunni’s were the minority. I do not want to go into the whole history beginning with the so-called Shia revolt from the very first day and the later events in connection to those times, but please look impartially to the era of Saddam and the atrocities the Ba’ath regime (you can read Sunni minority) did to the Shias and Kurds. Were not the events of all those years sectarian?
Morteza Zahedi, Tehran

Why are the same old men running Iraq, or the rest of the Middle East? Are the young people satisfied doing the same old things that have failed before? What direction do young Iraqi people want to go in?
Donald Burks, US

I think democracy will not work in Iraq. Democracy as you can see today and as in the past has presented many problems. To start with it has to have an election. The problem with elections is that they can be influenced by money and threats. The UN which is supposed to demonstrate good democracy in practice is actually portraying an example where the rich countries dictate what is right and what is wrong. What is right and what is wrong is not universal. In Malaysia there are three different races each with a different culture. But we respect each other and live together without trying to force each other to accept what we think is wrong and what is right. The scenario in Iraq is that the Sunni’s, the Shia and other ethnic groups are fighting each other. Each one is trying to say that they are right and the others are wrong. If democracy is to work correctly in Iraq, the people must learn to accept each other as they are, and respect each other as they are, and not to dictate what is right and what is wrong. This is going to be very difficult when we also know that George Bush plans to stay as long as possibble in Iraq, perhaps until there is no more oil in Iraq.
Mohd Sabah, Malaysia

There are three questions that I have never heard any journalist ask ordinary people in Iraq and I hope that you might do so: 1) What do you think of Syria funneling car bombers daily into Iraq and what do you think of Syria? 2) What do you think of Iran funding and arming death squads in Iraq and undermining the Iraqi government? 3) Could you be the first news channel to ask those who are carrying out sectarian killings in Iraq why they are doing so?
Maria Dami, UK

I believe democracy is taking hold in Iraq. It is the fault of the US that the divisions and hatreds within the Iraqi communities are coming out. However, this violence has been suppressed and exacerbated by the corrupt regimes that have ruled Iraq throughout the 20th century. It is the most democratic and long term solution to the problems facing Iraq that they work out their problems between themselves. I do not see what Syria and Iran have to do with any of this other than as agitants to the sectarian strife. Ultimately the Iraqi people must learn how to live together otherwise all of their problems will be put off by another totalitarian/authoritarian regime and the grandchildren of today’s combatants can go at it again. Figure it out. The USA is not the problem, hate is.
Rick, Germany