102 Quotes by Iraqi authors

Iraqi sayings carry the steady pulse of the Tigris: plainspoken, sly, and tender. They weigh honor with neighborly wit, braid patience with defiance, and find warmth in small cups of cardamom tea. From reed marshes to alleys of Baghdad, the imagery is earthy, dates, dust, and the shadow of palm fronds, while the mood swings between elegy and resilience. Poets and street vendors share a language that answers hardship with sardonic sparkle, remembers old glories without pretense, and insists that hospitality and dignity outlast any storm.

See the complete list of authors from Iraq

"Politics is when you say you are going to do one thing while intending to do another. Then you do neither what you said nor what you intended"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Public Servant

"Baghdad is determined to force the Mongols of our age to commit suicide at its gates"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"Allah is on our side. That is why we will beat the aggressor"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"We are not intimidated by the size of the armies, or the type of hardware the US has brought"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"We are ready to sacrifice our souls, our children and our families so as not to give up Iraq. We say this so no one will think that America is capable of breaking the will of the Iraqis with its weapons"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"A military coup needs a sacrifice and courage that you can't find in an army without morale"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"This will be Iraq for all without discrimination among Iraqi citizens, or ethnic or sectarian discrimination"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Every human must take responsibility for his actions"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Wishful thinking is one thing, and reality another"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Justice for the major perpetrators cannot be separated from the vindication of the rights of the individual victim"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of Baghdad. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly"

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Public Servant

"Search for the truth. I tell you things and I always ask you to verify what I say. I told you yesterday that there was an attack and a retreat at Saddam's airport"

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Public Servant

"The Iraqi people are living a long-running tragedy because of the legacy of the old regime, the Americans and their actions that are unsuitable for Iraqi society, and the weakness of national resolve"

Ahmed Chalabi, Statesman

"We should have a banquet on the day haters die"

Ovadia Yosef, Clergyman

"You know me... If you are Iraqi, you know me"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"Those who fight in God's cause will be victorious"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"There is much to be said for having an experienced international jurist who is entirely unconnected with the allied invaders, on the tribunal"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"I said I'm the president of Iraq... I did not say deposed"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"I didn't say 'former president,' I said 'president,' and I have the constitutional rights according to the constitution, including immunity from prosecution"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"If you are Iraqi, you know who I am... and you know that I do not tire. I am the president of Iraq and I refuse to answer these questions because this court is illegitimate"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"I am not guilty, I am innocent"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"Remember the valiant Iraqi peasant and how he shot down an American Apache with an old weapon"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"Who are you and what are you?... I need to know"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"I am not going to answer to this so-called court, out of respect for the truth and the will of the Iraqi people. I've said what I've said, and I'm not guilty"

Saddam Hussein, Criminal

Small: Saddam Hussein

"All I wanted was to be a university teacher"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Rather, it is through conciliation and compromise that we are building a fair Iraq, a just state for all its peoples"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Our gratitude to the American people is immense and we should never be embarrassed to express it"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"I shall stand for freedom of thought and expression in a place where it has been trampled and penalized"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"We believe that an Iraqi founding national assembly, freely elected, must decide the future of Iraq"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Democracies, unlike dictatorships, are forgiving and generous, but they cannot survive unless they fight"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"We must provide all kinds of freedom, personal and economic, to all Iraqis. I will fight for that"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"The justice of our cause must be reflected in the manner in which we rectify the crimes of the past"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"My door will always be open to those who genuinely renounce violence and seek peaceful accommodation into our nascent democracy"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Military confrontation is not a suitable alternative in confronting terror and current security threats"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Our plan is to struggle against terrorism and have security for the country and help draft a democratic constitution as soon as possible"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"The Kurdish people have the right of self-determination like every other nation in the world"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"Self-determination could mean independence, confederacy, federal and autonomy"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"As president of Iraq, I shall strive to represent the diversity of a country that has too often in the past denied difference"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

"The Kurdish people welcome the no-fly zone protection, contrary to the Iraqi regime that is against it"

Jalal Talabani, Politician

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