Iraq after 4 years...

Today, my aunt who is living till now in Baghdad and 2 of my cousins arrived to Egypt. I was so excited to meet them and get to know them, after all those years (can't say i knew them, we were so young last time we met).
i only passed about 2-3 hours with them today, but it was enough to feel strange. really, what i heard today is beyong any thinking. i can't imagine how they are living, and how they are telling all those stories as a normal thing.
i decided to tell some of them, even if it is not so nice, cos the truth must be told, the stories of the common iraquis must be heard.
i'm sorry if i'll make you more depressed, or more upset, but i just feel i must do this.

i don't know from what to begin, just imagine that they don't have electricity (it would be great if 1 hour in the day), it is freezing, no heat, no light. it is not safe to be outside from 3pm. what is the life if u can't do anything, when u don't have the luxury that normal people have or should have, to just feel safe when u go to work or university, to walk on the street with no fear, to be able to sleep in ur bed knowing that nothing can harm u.

one of my uncles, when going to jordan by bus, el kaeda members stopped the bus and asked if there are any shiites.. well, they asked them to pray, to make sure that they are all sunnis as they said. they would kill if shiit. they took my uncle (who is christian), and held him for a night. anyway nothing happened to him thank God. the "amir" of this group is a 22 years old Saudi guy. Do u know that one to be "amir", has just to kill 10 people to get this title.

it is not safe to go from a place to another, people make false papers, so if i a sunni area, they have paper with sunni last name, or the contrary if going to shiite area. no where is safe, no one is safe. Is this democracy they r shouting night and day in the news and in every interview? i doubt. it is as my brother said, the democracy to kill anyone.
do u know that in some places, they go to a house and kick people living in it, with nothing but their cloth, just to make the area theirs.

i am still under chock of what i heard. i knew the situation was so bad, but when meeting my relatives and hear it from them is totally different than hearing it on the news (though even the news, don't tell details about the normal, average, iraquis).

i'll stop now cos i have nothing more to say