Iraq: A Self-Devour

Iraq is a lone fighter, who

blinded by His light,

with his sword

cuts his own wrists while hacking away

at his most potent enemy.

A War Without A Reason

Today, the death toll in Iraq again has peaked in the three digits and so I asked myself what is going on? And as I thought of this three things came to mind. One of them was that this entire war on terror started with our focus on al-Qaeda--a Sunni terrorist organization. And we were doing a good job in Afghanistan. But then, for some unknown reason, Bush decided that Iraq needed to be invaded. So, he made up some bullshit, got the country behind him and went to war. Now our focus has shifted from our original enemies to the new ones we created in Iraq. And as if irony wasn't enough of a bitch, now we are fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq because since we stretched out our forces and put all of our energy into Saddam, the terrorist organization gained in strength and followed us.
Also, I have realized that we have our military--the strongest and most well-trained in the world--in a country without a war. What the hell are they going to do? There is no war. Armies are trained to fight wars and now that the war is over, they remain in Iraq with nothing more to do than defend themselves from the insurgents who want them to leave.
And one of the biggest problems is that because we have in office a thick-headed authoritarian Billy Bob Hitler, our government has been cursed with the inability to adapt to the changing scenarios in Iraq. Thanks to Bush's tunnel-vision tactics, our military is fighting a war that doesn't exist and we are waiting for a victory that will never come. It would have also been great if this administration had planned for more than a few days when it came to preparing for war.
If I sound a little...I don't know...distraught over the war in Iraq, perhaps it is because it was the brain child of a brainless man who had no concept of action and consequences and even less regard for human life! When are we going to leave? If George is waiting for Judgement Day, it may very well come sooner than later the way he's running things. I can't...no, I refuse to imagine a world that is more screwed up than the one Bush created when he bumbled into the White House. Why don't we give every psychopath with delusions of violence without repercussion a job in U.S. politics? I can't seem to stress how wrong this war is. I apologize if I'm simply ranting on at this point but I need some sort of pressure valve to release my frustrations at this administration and its worthless foreign policies or else I'll blow up. Hey, maybe that's why there's so many people exploding in Iraq?

Blind Man Lead Thyself

It was announced that religious leaders from the Shiite and Sunni sects within Iraq have met with each other and have agreed that they need to band together as one nation in the name of peace. One religious leader, though, who has been very controversial since the beginning of the war has been neglected in the talks for peace--Muqtada al-Sadr. Now, I may seem by now to be an advocate of his but in fact I am an advocate of peace and I do not see why someone with such religious importance as well as political has been left out of the equation. And to prove that this situation in Iraq is not as black and white as most people think, here are some of the facts I learned from picking up a Time Magazine and reading it.
I wonder if our soldiers, some of whom have not even graduated high school and are yet given the responsibility of pulling a trigger, even know the differences between the Shiites and the Sunnis. Other than the historical differences they have certain names that appear in only one of the two sects, they pray in different mosques, they pray in different fashions, depending on a predominantly one-sect region they can have differing accents and also their cars can give away signs. One such sign would be a picture of a holy figure belonging to one of the sects or a license plate from a region with a large Shiite or Sunni population. This can be helpful at security checkpoints.
Also, there is validity to the Shiite grudge that they have been oppressed. The predominantly Sunni Middle East has treated the Shiites as a lower class with what Time said as being, "institutionalized prejudice". And Iraq is right in the middle of some of these grievances. Ali ibn Abi Talib, the person Shiites believed to be the next to follow in the prophet Muhammad's footsteps and later became the fourth Caliph of the Muslim faith was killed in 661 in none other than what is today, Iraq. It is time now for a change to the unequal distribution of power and rights and time for Muslims to come together in Iraq as nothing less than Iraqi citizens.
And even in 1991, after the Gulf War, Shiites attempted to rebel against Saddam but without any backing from outside forces the rebellion was quickly stopped and nearly 300,000 Shiites were killed. Another factor in this current scenario is that Iran is a Shiite nation and coincidentally an enemy of the United States. It is also worth mentioning that though many organizations such as Hezbollah and other terrorist groups may praise those such as the Madhi Army in Iraq, they are two separate people fighting for two separate causes and should not be confused. And in case anyone was wondering, al-Qaeda is a Sunni terrorist group.
When al-Sadr's Mahdi Army of Shiites fought the U.S. early in the war they were celebrated by even the Sunni insurgents. al-Sadr himself was praised as a hero for Iraqis and not just Shiites. But in the end, the current government in Iraq chose to side with the U.S. who helped them gain power and hold onto it. This created a common enemy in al-Sadr. And it is this choosing of U.S. support over the people of Iraq that has fueled the ongoing fighting in violence. This is why six ministers of the Cabinet resigned yesterday who were followers of al-Sadr.
Originally the fighting was between Sunnis and Shiites to fill in the newly formed power vacuum. But because of the U.S.'s poor planning for the war and stubborn leadership in the White House, the common enemy between Iraqis became the U.S. occupation itself. And now the sectarian violence is more between Iraqis and government supporters of U.S. occupation than it is Sunni vs Shiite. And while both sects continue their violent acts against each other throughout Iraq, it is clear that one thing they all agree on is that this is their fight and we are merely getting in the way.
And while those who may suggest that Time Magazine, the source of most of this information, may be a liberal magazine I will not suggest alternative sources for other people. This was a source I decided to use and none of the facts were incorrect though you might disagree with my ideology concerning their nature. For those who wish to learn more about this intricately complex issue, I suggest that you do your own research. Do not listen to people who say that this source is unbiased or that source is right. Only you can make up your own mind and educating yourself is a monumental step in being an individual voice and not just another follower.

Mr. al-Sadr Leaves Baghdad

If I sound like I am repeating myself in these articles at times it is for two reasons: 1) the information being repeated needs to be emphasized and 2) the same stupid shit keeps happening. So today, six ministers of the Iraqi Cabinet who are loyal followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr resigned in protest to the government's refusal to support a pull-out date for the U.S. With tens of thousands of Iraqis marching only a couple of weeks ago in protest to the U.S. occupation and now the resignation of six ministers of the Cabinet, the Iraqi people are getting fed up with us being there. And the majority of Americans recently feel the same way. The U.S. military has become yet another road block in Iraq's progress toward peace.
With the resignation of those six ministers, al-Sadr has shown he still has a firm grip on the Shiite community as a powerful leader. The U.S. has brushed this off suggesting that it will go fairly unnoticed and the government will remain intact. Meanwhile, Iraqis within the government fear that this is a huge setback. As al-Sadr continues to defy the U.S. and Iraqi government for supporting the occupation, he has been slandered more now by these two governments than ever before. The Associated Press wrote that "Forty-two victims of sectarian murders were found in Baghdad the past two days...U.S. and Iraqi officials have blamed much sectarian violence on Shiite death squads associated with the Mahdi Army [of al-Sadr]." But also, "The brazen nature of the targets of the attacks are similar to previous assaults that blamed on al-Qaida fighters..." With so much violence in Iraq, it is difficult to determine who is to be blamed for what.
I hope that al-Sadr is not merely blamed for the violence because he defies the "powers that be". After all, al-Sadr helped Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki get to power and now that he is in that position he has turned his loyalties from his people and toward the U.S. which is helping him keep that power. We should all hope that bias on politics does not promote slanderous propaganda on al-Sadr and that focus aim more toward diplomacy. Though al-Sadr is an enemy of the U.S. occupation he is a pivotal ally in peace within Iraq.

Iraq's Bridges Burning Down

Americans have become detached from the realities of war. Instead of listening to the news or reading the paper, many people have given in to listening to our politicians give their opinions on how the war is going. John McCain has said that there are streets in Baghdad that are safe to walk on. Meanwhile, the citizens of Baghdad have been begging him to tell them where this safe street is because no one seems to be living on it. Our politicians have their own agendas and make the war to be something that it is not. It is a smoke and mirrors trick in a whole show of illusions to influence voters that this party or that has the right stuff to become our next White House administration. The republicans want to convince people that they are succeeding and that Iraq is becoming freer, safer and an all around better place to be since the fall of Saddam. The democrats are making this out to be the war that puts them into the White House. But no one is actually considering that this is a civil war in which people are dying each day because we continue to bicker here in America all the while neglecting those affected most by this war: the Iraqis. This war has shifted its concern from them and onto the soldiers fighting it in an increasing effort to show which American political party cares most about our troops. The prize for the winner--a comfortable seat in the White House.

But we still can't get a bill passed into law. The president has continued to flank himself with family members of war veterans as his new sheep's clothing and has made repeated statements that he wishes to discuss the differences between republicans and democrats but at the same time is unflinchingly stubborn in his stance on the bill. And the democrats continue to stand their ground, barely, demanding that the troops come home. The only difference between these two stubbornly defiant stances is that Congress is representing the majority of Americans (democracy) while the president is representing his own image invested heavily in this war (tyranny). But if diplomacy can't even work here in America how the hell is it going to work in Iraq which has come to depend on us for its very survival?

And as this stalemate rages on in Washington, vice president and part-time grim reaper Dick Cheney said in a recent interview about the democrats, "They will not leave the troops in the field without the resources they need." He said this after making a prediction that soon the democrats in Congress will give in and accept the president's terms. Bull S*&t! This is more word spinning on the vice president's part. By cutting off the funding for the war, the troops will not be left in Iraq with stones and sticks to defend themselves. If the funding is stopped, then the war itself ends and the troops come back home. And if anyone should be blamed for this delay in funding it is President Bush for remaining stubborn on this issue and not even considering other options in his failed war.

It is not Congress's job to get involved in war but when the war is begun and fought with no exit strategy in sight, someone needs to pull our soldiers from the wreckage this war has become. And so far, the only people willing to put an end to this bloodshed are the democrats in Congress. Bush burned his bridges early in the war so that there was no turning back without victory. But now that the victory he imagined turns out to be exactly that--imagined--we need to start constructing a way out.

A Ranting In Response

Today's post is simply a let-out of some built up pressure created when I read an editorial published in Monday's Florida Today titled, "Standing with Bush in funding battle". Our author makes the first point that the democrats' strategy in Congress is "gutless". He cites that they won't vote on a bill to cease funding of the war in Iraq but instead want to ride this out until the veto, leaving Bush to "hang in the wind". This is crap to begin with. This government is far too bureaucratic for two bills on the same issue to be floating around at the same time.
Also, our author makes the point that, "If he [Bush] uses money to fight the war that is not approved, they impeach him." As noble as this person is making Bush appear to be, I question where our president is going to cough up over $100 billion to fund this war. Face the facts, whether he likes it or not, our president needs Congress to fund the war.
Another point our budding White House aid came up with was that a time table for troop withdrawal is a war-tactic and because it is not within Congress's power to "fight a war" the Supreme Court would rule in the president's favor that such a bill is unconstitutional. A time table is not a war tactic! It is within Congress's power to decide how the government will spend its money and if they say they want to stop the funding at this point, then obviously the troops would need to come home. Leaving the funding of the war in the president's hands is like handing someone else's credit card to your spoiled teenage girl who wants to go on a shopping spree. After all, it is the money of the American people.
And the way our author summed up his editorial was, "The Democrats will not budge, and I hope Bush stands firm." Well, I hope this person is a big fan of making no progress then. Congress has repeatedly asked the president to negotiate with them on this bill (after all, they're not terrorists). Bush has stood firm this whole time and if you can't see that it has led to nothing, then you are blind. This president is stunned and left confused after seeing for the first time that in a democracy, facing overwhelming change with a totalitarian resolve is met with utter defiance. He can't rule America with an iron fist forever, thank God.
Within Iraq, we can see a perfect example of what happens when the leader of a government acts out of sync with the pulse of the rest of the country. Six members of Iraq's Cabinet loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr will give in their resignations later today in response to the Prime Minister's lack of care toward the Iraqi people. They feel that because the majority of Iraqis wish to see U.S. troops leave their country and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports the motion of keeping the troops in Iraq, the only thing left to do is step away from such a government. It is a shame that power-related loyalties are coming between diplomacy but that is the reality of what is happening in Iraq now. The people are ignored and left to be blown up in the markets of Baghdad while those made powerful by the U.S. occupation neglect diplomacy.
For our budding writer to the Florida Today: when you go back to the fuhrer bunker, say hello to Ann Coulter for me.

Masonry Of The Mind

From Hadrian’s Wall in England to the Great Wall of China, human beings have had a history of building walls. But what is it about a wall that is so comforting to the human psyche that people around the world obsessed over them. In some cases it was to separate civilizations from nature or civilizations from other civilizations. But walls are more than just a tangible form of separation; they are the embodiment of a subconscious concept that has thrust mankind from the pits of primordial ooze to the present.
Within our very own minds we build and bear the weight of walls every single day. One of the most “monu-mental” walls built by the subconscious is that of faith. The experiences that we encounter from early childhood to now dictate the path we all follow in terms of faith. And walls are constructed to keep one’s beliefs in and others’ beliefs out. For some, these walls have many gaps or doors built within them. These doors represent a person’s ability to be open-minded about something. Then you have those who have no doors—only brick and mortar built higher and thicker. These people you hear about in the news after they’ve blown themselves up on a crowded bus in Iraq. For these people, faith is an unflinching principle in their lives that is to be taken to the grave. There is no room for interpretation and no welcome guests allowed in who wish to change these strict beliefs. And when someone has built a wall of this nature without doors something unique happens: the wall encloses the rest of the mind, coming full circle, and in essence traps that person within their own inability to escape. This is why suicide bombers resort to killing themselves and others. This is why people flagellate themselves in the streets. This is what drives crusades, jihads and witch hunts.
When it comes to a person’s faith, by very definition of the word regarding a lack of evidence, doors should be constructed if for no other reason than to act as an air hole in a coal mine. Without some form of a release for the free exchange of ideas which is healthy for the mind, the pressure of one’s own incapacity to understand something as vague, personal and unknown as faith and yet totally commit to something so intangible, a collapse of the mind is the only certainty.
Another wall that the mind constructs is one of racial separation. One of the issues in Iraq can be connected to the majority of Iraqis and the Kurdish population to the north. Even the Iranians who consider themselves Persian have a racial agenda in the Middle East in conflict with Arabs. And yet, only .01% of the genetic code represents salient traits. Race itself is a wall constructed to unite a certain group of people with similar physical features and exclude all others who do not match. These walls, too, have serious consequences much like that of religion. If the wall one builds becomes too massive then race will be the only thing that person sees and will consume their thoughts.
This unhealthy obsession with racial differences has led to ethnic cleansing and genocide on astounding levels from the Holocaust to the Sudan. Most people have doors within these walls that allow them to see other human beings as more than just a color or physical trait. But there are many who still believe that those differences mean something more than an evolutionary history of that person’s geographic origins. It is when their actions become violent in the form of hate crimes that their walls have enclosed upon itself leaving nowhere for the emotional pressure within to vent. This lack of ideas being exchanged between what the person believes and what others believe is what makes that person incapable of living in an ethnically diverse society.
There are many walls we build. They are prejudices that are inescapable because all around us we encounter experiences that change our ways of thinking on a daily basis. It is how we survive in that we are able to mentally adapt to new situations. And so these walls do have a constructive purpose. But it is when these prejudices are built brick by brick to the point where they are no longer able to adapt that the wall becomes fixed and will only devour itself in the end. There is no way to fully deconstruct a wall; it will always remain within the subconscious to serve as a helpful variable in the decision-making processes of our lives. But we can always build more doors.