I watched the Mecca PR stunt yesterday, a dazzling feast that has plenty of action and romance, with dazzling special effects, I especially loved the way they made them all sit with the holy Kaaba visible from the window with people circling it, the fatwa is supposed to be the religious s be-all end-all viewpoint on the sect-fueled war that is going on between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq, it was supported by all the big players - Read about it in details here, if you want
In the conference that was broadcast live, a table was shown, Ahmed Abdilghaffour al-Samarrie, the Sunni endowment head, in my opinion a nice harmless guy who's just about as clueless about this as any, and a SCIRI representative, approprietly frowny and white-bearded like a Jalal al-Din al-Sagheer fashion fan, sat together and told knock-knock jokes about Sunni-Shiite being as much friendly to each other as teddybears and that their faith is in the essence the same, brilliantly clad in symbolic black & white turbans as a cinematic afterthought, after the blah-blahs faded, they gave space for reporters to ask them questions, this was what they asked them, the actual exchange was much more graceful, but luckily I had my Bullshit Filter on:
REPORTER 1: Do you have any mechanism for implementing your edict on the ground? (actual question was more decorated than this)
KHOSH-WALAD SAMARRIE 1: blah-blah yaddad yadda peace and prosperity, but we hope that Iraqis are naturally good and this is the last night of Ramadhan.
REPORTER 2: Do you have any method by which you can apply your fatwa in Iraq?
FROWNY-JALAL TURBAN 2: wiggilie-wiggilie peace humpty dumpty love sumbul bulaybul dumbk dunaibuk understanding.
REPORTER 3: Excuse me, but on terms of a practical appreciation of your document, do you expect that it will be endorsed and applied (same question reworded)
THE COORDINATING GUY IN THE MIDDLE: All right buddy, you asked for it, this is the top religious clergy here, we tell you how in which direction to shit and how many papers you use to wipe your arse, we are here to say that blood is forbidden, it is up for the Iraqis, the natural loving and peaceful nation to endorse it, if they do not - we have made ourselves clear on the matter.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Shiites favor al-Mahdi's army Read it, it's very nice, and very honest.
Can you blame the Iraqi Shiites? I do not. They tell the truth, this is not a simple ideological struggle that can be waived aside by the whiff of a religious clergy's ruminations, even Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is waning, after being used by UIA as an advertising campaign to win the elections. Anyone who calls for peace is shut-up by the realities of life as it is, everybody is so afraid of each other, I remember when Zarqawi died and I went to the mosque to listen to the Friday speech in an Adhamiya mosque, the Imam was practically crying! Nobody wants militas or Zarqawi, but everybody is so afraid of the other now, there is no trust.
Unless the National Reconcillation gimmick targets those who you should really make up your peace with, the blood-soaked Baathists, the backbone of the insurgency, who had their homes and money but now lost it all and are giving Iraqis and Americans a hard time about it, it will be fruitless. al-Qaeda is worthless without their straetgic allies the Baathists, who adopted a more Islamic veil to fit in with the times and bring us all to this sectarain lollapalooza. Shiite militas atrocities are infintely more horrific, but you have no right to blame them when you are part of the blame, get real. In Sadr City, Abu Der'a is a national hero, to quote Abdilaziz al-Hakim's 12 year old son. These murderers will lose their support only when you negotiate with the Baathists.
Ayad Jamal al-Din, my only favorite politicain (aside from stand-up comedian parliament speaker Mahmood al-Mashhadani) says: "I support dialogue with those who killed Iraqis, you see, most of the insurgents attacks these days are 95% targeting Iraqis, and 5% targeting Americans, reminding them that we, the Baathists, were your loved ones before and we can stir shit up if u ignore us - these are not necessarily terrorists in the regime time but they had homes, positions, and gains and now these were all stripped and they were even persecuted, so it is only natural that they resort to violence. It is like a young stubborn child who's being kicked out by his mother and is starting to throw rocks at the house. Unless you convince them, there is no hope behind it all."
PEOPLE ARE AFRAID. and they resort to their sectarian identity because they ARE AFRAID, not because they are hateful beings.
--------------
KID (leaving the mosque's prayer with Habib, his neighbor): Man, that speech was one disgusting peace of crap!
HABIB: Come on man, now they can slaughter us like sheep! and we can't do anything about it! If they killed one, we could've killed a hundred! it's like Saddam, he was bad but when he left everyone missed him.
-----------------------------
"Be careful of the Wahhabis!" said the father in Sadr City to his departing 8-year-old son
"I just want him to know whom to hate."
-----------------------------
You may laugh and say look at these nomadic Arabs slicing each other's heads off like there's no tomorrow, but please try to understand...this is no joke...
We are dying? Do you understand....we are dying...
105 comments:
It's no joke, and it sucks. But realistically there are too many crazy monkeys on the loose since the zookeeper was overthrown. Eventually there will be a new zookeeper with a pretty turban who will tell the Iraqis what direction to shit, and how many pieces of paper to use, then everyone will be as happy as Iraqis seem to get.
Whatever you might think of the individuals that make up the Iraq bloggers, thank god they are there. Right now, when it would seem that it counts, they are trying their best to pick up the slack left by the admin's insane information policies. If not for them and their attempt to reach out to us from the battle filed we would be lost, with only the jihad porn on one side, and the Christian right's fantasies on the other.
I support dialogue with the Baathists. you seem to have ignored that, jefferson.
Knock knock, execuse me I think that u've missed something about Mecca's document " IT IS JUST A RELIGIOUS DECLERATION" nothing less nothing more, so it shouldn't be carried on by any armed force in the world and there is no mechanisms for it to be applied just relying on the person's mind and what he believes in, it is just our way -the Muslims- of saying "This is what we beleieve in, this is the Islamic law so if u r a Muslim u'll act according to it else u have to think over for whom u belong", so Mecca's document may not stop the blood bath but that is expected cause do u really believe that a Muslim who his holly book told that if a Muslim killed unjustly an inocent soul it is just like that he had killed all the people in the world and if he saved an inocent life it is just like he had saved all the people in the world.
That is all I can say and it is up to u to use ur mind...
Dear KID,
I am so admired of your brave lines, you always hit the nail on the head.
To me, your lines are animated.
May I add your link to my blog?
Thanks
Kyubai..
you'd think they'd solved it all with all the hype....
Knock knock, execuse me I think that u've missed something about Mecca's document " IT IS JUST A RELIGIOUS DECLERATION" nothing less nothing more,
Read the introduction:
"It goes without saying that this ruling, which is identical in the teachings of all Islamic sects and factions reserves to the perpetrators of this act severe punishment in addition to a very harsh punitive measures in the hereafter."
and
"The publications of the content of this document, will underline the severe punishment reserved to this crime by Islamic teachings, and by the deliverances of Islamic formal legal opinions issued by Islamic religious establishments in Iraq, which benefit form great respect and acceptance by the people of Iraq."
OIC is a political institution, if they were really backing up this statement, it would mean the Iraqi government had finally gained the support of not only Arab, but all Muslim countries.
Sadly there's a fly in the ointment. It became obvious during the Lebanon crisis, that the sectarian issue is dividing the Ummah/OIC, too. In an urgent OIC meeting, Saudi-Arabia stepped up against the main course and severely critisised Nasrallah.
A check of the Summary pres reports sadly indicates that the Mecca Document won't change anything concerning the external sources of Iraqi violence. No Syria, and only Khatami from Iraq. The notorious Achmadinedschad didn't comment. It seems to me that Khatami, who's obviously not speaking on behalf of the government, is the only Shiite in that document.
Kid,
your proposal to negociate with the Baathists makes sense. There's another point I don't understand:
“I know they are killing Sunnis now — none of us likes this,” said Firas al-Saeidi, a 29-year-old Shiite resident of Sadr City, who works in the Ministry of Defense. “But it keeps balance in our sensitive areas. We need that.”
Can anyone seriously need 'balanced killings'? Or isn't this 'balance' a code for conquering the sensitive areas? They claim they have to defend themselves, but the outcome can be seen in Amara: they're taking over control.
You can judge better: Do you really believe those Shiit militias will stop killing and give up control if... ??
Solve what? they did solve one thing the vagueness that some may recliam about the position of Islam in all that mess "The Document will serve as a reminder to all Muslim in Iraq of the immense gravity of killing others Muslims, which is considered by Islam as a crime against humanity" so now it is very clear to all what the Islam got to say about all the killing in Iraq so that is one problem that had been solved but if u meen whether the document solved the situation in Iraq then I'll just quote from Dr.Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu "None has a magic wand that may wave around so that everything will be alright" so it is up to us to make things right I can't deny that there r some uneducated personel that r acting in there own in the name of Islam (but thier number is quite few compared to the number of militias that been paid for to spread chaos) so it is our job to clarify the teachings of Islam to all people by supporting Mecca's document and by that we r supporting Islam...
Obviously if killing were really such a crime in Islam, it wouldn't be so boringly common. Unfortunately, interpretations of Islam since 1000 years can justify killing quite easily, and the verse that says killing one person is like killing all of humanity is considered abrogated by most Islamic scholars.
BTW, what's with the male/female icons on the top image, is Kid trying to say he's gender-konfused? ;)
The Saddamist's only real weapon has always been the slaughter of the Iraqi people. For them it's cheap, easy, and safe.
Will negotiations stop the violence? Or have things gone too far down the sectarian divide to be stopped? I don't know. I know the US military has said that they are willing to negotiate with anyone except al-Qaida.
Don't be too hard on the guys issuing the fatwa. It may be all smoke and mirrors, but at least their hearts are in the right place.
Pssst, Kid....I don't know what happened with your blog, but it takes forever to load and the picture is gone.
Pix are part of a sect-related joke, but it was kinda made less obvious by my new design, have to rework it - basically it's a collection of bathroom signs in a democratic multi-party new Iraq: Men, Women, Sunni, Shiite (the bottom 2).
[Jeffrey] “I agree with you. The Baathists, whom TAI would always call the "beloved resistance," have been working with the Al-Qaeda terrorists for a long time.”
Hm. As usual you have everything upside down.
The truth is that the FIRST thing that the CIA did when America had completed the military conquest of Iraq was to round up all the Mukhabarat Baathists it could lay its hands on and make them the nucleus of the new Iraqi intelligence service:
CIA recruits Iraq's feared secret police
Mark Franchetti, Baghdad Times Online, 21 September 2003
From: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,1-824614,00.html
AMERICAN forces have launched a covert campaign to recruit former officers of the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein's infamous secret police, who were responsible for the deaths and torture of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. Dozens of agents are now in the pay of the Americans, who have turned to their former foes for help in hunting resistance groups responsible for daily guerrilla attacks against coalition forces. The agents are also involved in the hunt for Saddam and in identifying and tracking down Iraqis suspected of spying for Iran and Syria, the neighbouring countries most hostile to Washington.
[...]
Abdullah, 48, has worked with the CIA and American forces since early May. A fluent English speaker, he is paid $700 a month. A long-time member of the Ba'ath party, he made no attempt to hide his respect for Saddam nor to deny that the Mukhabarat tortured and killed on an awesome scale.
In his new job he helps the Americans identify Ba'ath party loyalists who could be worth questioning. He is also trying to win over influential tribal leaders in and around Baghdad. "Saddam was highly intelligent and he loved his people," Abdullah said. "He was a strong leader and the mistakes he made were the fault of people around him who gave him poor advice." Everyone now is saying they hated Saddam. They are lying. But I don't see anything wrong in working with the Americans.” //end excerpt
And nothing has changed. The US still controls the Iraqi Intelligence service, and still employs ex-Mukhabarat agents to do it’s bidding:
Amidst doubts, CIA hangs on to control of Iraqi intelligence service
By Hannah Allam and Warren P. Strobel - May. 08, 2005 - Knight Ridder
“ But an elite corps of CMAD operatives was recruited into the third and most important Iraqi intelligence agency, the secret police force known by its Arabic name: the Mukhabarat. Its Iraqi director is Mohammed Abdullah Shahwani, a Sunni general whose three sons were executed by Saddam in retaliation for his involvement in a botched, CIA-backed coup attempt in the mid-1990s. Shahwani's top deputy in charge of daily operations is said to be a Kurd; Shiites are believed to comprise just 12 percent of the force.
[…]
Several Shiite politicians in the new government want Shahwani out, saying the Mukhabarat's ranks are filled with Saddam's former officers seeking revenge against the Shiite militias they fought in the 1980s.” //end excerpt
Kid –
I agree with most of your points. I agree fully that people motivated by fear will embrace people and positions that they would never otherwise embrace in better times. Fear is an extremely powerful motivator. Look at the way it is routinely used in US politics in order to make people support ludicrous policies.
There MUST be dialogue between Iraqis, whether they are Baathist or Sadrist or whatever. Sure, the obstacles are great. But to continue the slaughter is just a losing proposition.
As long as the US is in Iraq and as long as the Iraqi politicians and intelligence services there are influenced and controlled by America you will never have peace. I support the idea of a whole Iraq run for Iraqis by Iraqis, and not by Americans, Iranians, Saudis or any other sort of foreigner.
We are dying? Do you understand....we are dying...
i am listening, i wish there was more i could do. i understand, tho i can never truly know.
in solidarity
you are in my thoughts
As long as the US is in Iraq and as long as the Iraqi politicians and intelligence services there are influenced and controlled by America you will never have peace. I support the idea of a whole Iraq run for Iraqis by Iraqis, and not by Americans, Iranians, Saudis or any other sort of foreigner.
Boy! you would almost think Bruno actually said something.
We'll just pack up and everyone will sing Kum ba ya and live happily ever after. No need to worry about the Iranians, the Syrians, all the Ba'athist in Jordan, or the Russians and Chinese. Bruno knows, they're all staying at his house and promised to be good.
Hey Kid, maybe your right and all Iraq need is some
Male Restroom Etiquette
As you can see in this animation
[madtom] "We'll just pack up and everyone will sing Kum ba ya and live happily ever after."
Let me guess ... YOUR plan would be to stay in Iraq and kill off all the Iraqi Baathists, Iraqi Sadrists, Iraqi Communists, Iraqi Kurds against Turkey, Iraqi patriots, nationalists ... ?
Yeah, it will be much easier to Occupy Iraq when there are only three Iraqis left and they are called Talabani, Chalabi and Allawi.
That's almost funny bruno.
First of all I think our mission should be to protect Iraq from the foreign influence, we should close down the boarders and control the flow of arms and money coming in from outside. Cut the command and control lines to the Ba'athist in Jordan, and the Sadrist in Iran.
Then bring the different parties to the table to start negotiations for reconciliation. Iraqis have a lot to do, they have to negotiate an electoral districting law, and a natural resource sharing law.
Both these laws will be vital to ending the violence and moving on with reconciliation. But as long and everyone has their hand in the pot nothing is going to get done.
If we were to just up and leave it would be open season and everyone would just annex parts of Iraq for themselves.
[madtom] "First of all I think our mission should be to protect Iraq from the foreign influence"
Coming from the very AMERICAN FOREIGNERS that INVADED Iraq, your statement is more than a bit rich.
[madtom] "But as long and everyone has their hand in the pot nothing is going to get done."
Everyone including the good ol USA, of course.
I like the way you automatically assume the US has Iraqi interests at heart. It is precisely from the US' setting up of parties against each other and meddling in Iraqi politics that this sectarian holocaust is occurring.
btw, Madtom, to be fair, and to give you some kudos as opposed to flaming your usual useless ideas ... I happen to agree broadly with the idea of national reconciliation and the cutting of foreign influences.
Except for, unlike you, I see the US on a par with Iran. You should BOTH be barred from Iraq.
There you go, you could not hold out. You make one reasonable statement, broad as it might be, where we might find mutual agreement and you ruin it with a idiocy like
I see the US on a par with Iran.
Sure Bush = Hitler, and castro is a catholic saint. What could anyone ever find to argue about?
castro is a catholic saint.
Castro will go down in history in a positive light. Bush will be remembered as the Anti Christ.
[madtom] "you ruin it with a idiocy like 'I see the US on a par with Iran.' "
You are right. I shouldn't have said that. Iran has not invaded anybody in this century. They did not drop atom bombs on people, nor did they topple governments in the name of profit. When the US was supplying bombs to Israel for destroying Lebanon, Iran was giving them money to rebuild.
I don't like Iran particularly, but your statement made me realise just how unfair I was being to them by lumping them together with America.
My apologies.
We know you are dying. It is horrifying and unspeakable but what can we do about it when the Iraqis themselves "choose Mahdi's army"?
Maybe the US should occupy in the true sense of occupation? First thing would be to make religion illegal! Then ban any language other than English. Remove people from their homes and put Americans in their place. Sterilize all Iraqis and populate the country with Americans. Round up all guns and no one but the police would have them. The police would be run by Americans ONLY. Public gatherings would be illegal. The country would be be in shape in no time. The word occupation has SO lost it's true meaning these days.
Castro will go down in history in a positive light.
The sharks will agree with you, they were on the endangered list, and then came castro and now their fat and happy, living the good life. If I was a shark I'd love castro too.
Bruno -
Your link doesn't work. Can you please provide the right link for the story?
Bruno -
Please provide links to the CIA stories you mention. I'd like to investigate the charges further.
Monica, try these:
http://home.earthlink.net/~platter/articles/030921-franchetti.html
www.inblogs.net/twentyfourstepstoliberty/2006/06/iraqi-testimonies_25.html
Otherwise you might have to use the Lexis-Nexis engine to dig the story up. They fall off the Google radar after a while.
Other very useful links on the Death Squads and formation of the Iraqi Special Forces / Intelligence / Paramilitary units are here:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?
context=viewArticle&code=FUL20051110&articleId=1230
and :
http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/archives/
2006_02_01_healingiraq_archive.html#114020401267563155
Hope this helps.
madtom, i have friends who have visited cuba numerous times. they loved it. a beautiful country w/beautiful people. i think castro is well loved these days by cubans living there.
monica, follow all the links here and here for background and msm and congressional reports
So annie,
A few of your friends spent a weekend on the beach in Varadero and now their experts on Cuba and it's people? They got plenty of insight to the plight of Cubans.
I see.
A few of your friends spent a weekend on the beach in Varadero and now their experts on Cuba and it's people?
not quite. they worked on a farm there one summer.
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