The youngest of four children from a middle-class Iraqi family, Omar lives in Baghdad. He has had temporary careers managing a mini-market and raising aquarium fish, but he is trained as a dentist and that is his profession. Omar has always been interested in politics. With his brother Mohammed, he blogs at Iraq the Model.
Why do you blog? > To speak my mind and to see if that makes sense to others.
What has been your best blogging experience? > Making a lot of new friends and learning a lot of things I wasn't familiar with.
What has been your worst blogging experience? > Feeling that I need to blog but not being able to for one reason or another.
What would be your main blogging advice to a novice blogger? > To be patient, to seek truth and not to be afraid of expressing what you really feel.
What are your favourite blogs? > Roger Simon, Michael Yon and Sandmonkey.
What are you reading at the moment? > Nothing - well except for this questionnaire!
What is the best novel you've ever read? > Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.
What is your favourite poem? > 'Inshodat Al-Matar' ('The Song of Rain') by Badr Assayab, an Iraqi poet.
What is your favourite movie? > The Matrix.
What is your favourite song? > 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica.
Who is your favourite composer? > Vivaldi.
What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to combat? > Theology.
Who are your political heroes? > From Iraq I pick Noori Al-Saeed (prime minister in the days of the monarchy) and Mithal Al-Alusi; from elsewhere I pick Tony Blair.
If you could effect one major policy change in the governing of your country, what would it be? > That would be the quota system for government posts. The system currently in use distributes posts according to quotas allocated to each party, bloc, ethnic group and sect. I would like to see this changed to allow qualified people to fill the offices they are best at running. At the moment we have people responsible for functions they know little about, just because their party or faction has been granted a certain number of ministries.
What would you do with the UN? > Dismantle it.
What do you consider to be the main threat to the future peace and security of the world? > Power concentration in one hand, i.e. dictatorship.
Do you think the world (human civilization) has already passed its best point, or is that yet to come? > I think the world hasn't reached that point yet and I think it will take some decades before it does.
Do you think you could ever be married to, or in a long-term relationship with, someone with radically different political views from your own? > I don't think so. Actually, I'd rather stay alone.
What do you consider the most important personal quality? > Honesty.
What personal fault do you most dislike? > Not being ready to change one's opinion.
In what circumstances would you be willing to lie? > Basically when lying can save my life or someone else's life.
What commonly enjoyed activities do you regard as a waste of time? > Going to the movies, going to the stadium - things like that.
If you were to relive your life to this point, is there anything you'd do differently? > Yeah, I think that would be no cigarettes, and more books.
Where would you most like to live (other than where you do)? > Anywhere where temperatures are between 18c and 28c for 12 months a year.
What would your ideal holiday be? > Drinks and barbecue with my closest friends.
What do you like doing in your spare time? > Hanging out with friends; computer games.
What is your most treasured possession? > My SUV.
What talent would you most like to have? > To be able to play and/or compose music.
What would be your ideal choice of alternative profession or job? > Nuclear Physicist.
Who are your sporting heroes? > Diego Maradona, Michael Jordan and Bruce Lee.
Which English Premiership football team do you support? > Manchester United.
If you could have one (more or less realistic) wish come true, what would you wish for? > To have peace in my country.
What animal would you most like to be? > A leopard.
[The normblog profile is a weekly Friday morning feature. A list of all the profiles to date, and the links to them, can be found here.]
