Anwaar
Administrator
Speak the truth and keep on coming.
Posts: 463
|
Post by Anwaar on Dec 15, 2006 15:17:18 GMT 4
No Mr. Buckley, No Dear Mr. Buckley,Writing in National Review Online in February 2006, you William F. Buckley Jr. its Editor at Large and a diehard conservative icon, admitted that the U.S. mission in Iraq has failed but gave the following reason for the disaster; “Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans…………they have not been able to contend against the ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols.”No Mr. Buckley, no. You are muddying the water. Since your chant has now been taken up by many Cons, Neocons and Repubs, the record must be set straight. Mr. Buckley, your great country went to war with a nation that was already impoverished by more than 20 years of war and American led, UN-imposed sanctions. The immediate aftermath of the war found the traumatized Iraqi society without a recognized head of state or a working administration with well over 70 highly fragmented political parties pulling their unfortunate country in every which way. Mr. Buckley, that Iraq would indeed have plunged into complete chaos was a foregone conclusion clear to every one but the likes of your good self. Your military annihilated Iraq’s central leadership, disbanded its armed and police forces, decimated its bureaucracy and stumped its judiciary with mock trials. Your country encouraged competing tribal and ethnic forces to pull Iraq apart. With no infusion of money, no central leadership, no overseeing bureaucracy, no American commitment for rebuilding, and no self-sustaining industry, Iraq was certain to sink into a bloody civil war and that is precisely what has happened. Do not muddy the water Mr. Buckley. Moreover, any nation, including yours that has now become not a dream but a nightmare for many, would have behaved the same way under similar circumstances. As a matter of fact, your country may have fared far worse. Your society, sir, has now been transformed into a culture of carnivorous marauders, most of them with a past criminal record. Allow me to give a glimpse of this violent nature of the society of which you are a mouthpiece. According to Christian Science Monitor, in 2003 alone, more than 5.6 million Americans were in prison or had served time there. That's 1 in 37 adults living in the United States, the highest incarceration level in the world. Talk of ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols Mr. Buckley. Not only that, with over 570,000 prison inmates released annually, "the suspect has a criminal record" has become more like a broken record playing over and over for American victims and their families. In the past about four decades, total crime in America has increased over 350%. Millions of criminals have been released from prison, many have been given probation for their crimes. All now roam the streets of America like cocked guns and ticking bombs. Talk of ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols Mr. Buckley. Yours is the most violent society in the world presently Mr. Buckley. In your great country, the crime clock continues to click incessantly. According to reliable statistics, there is one murder every 22 minutes, one rape every 5 minutes, one robbery every 49 seconds, and one burglary every 10 seconds. Not only that, the cost of crime in your beloved country continues to mount: $78 billion for the criminal justice system, $64 billion for private protection, $202 billion in loss of life and work, $120 billion in crimes against business, $60 billion in stolen goods and fraud, $40 billion from drug abuse, and $110 billion from drunk driving. When you add up all, crime costs Americans a staggering $675 billion each year. Talk of ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols Mr. Buckley. The crime battle in America now rages in terms of seconds and minutes within your own national boundaries Mr. Buckley. It rages in your states, cities, towns, communities and yes even in your own streets and homes. With crimes to property occurring every two seconds, and a violent crime every 19 seconds, crime is a war with casualties now being counted in seconds and minutes. Talk of ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols Mr. Buckley. And hush Mr. Buckley. It is not a just a matter of crime statistics availability in your country. Compare your beloved country with some other developed countries of the world for example. You would squirm if I informed you that of the 10 cities having the highest murder rate in USA and Europe, 8 are American cities i.e. Washington, Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Houston and New York City. Talk of ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols Mr. Buckley. Now if by a quirk of fate, a world force of a million odd strong men were formed up from countries that have had enough of you and your divine country’s endless machinations, landed in your great country, surrounded your murderous capital and cities like Chicago and New York, dissolved your federal and state administrations, disbanded your armed, civil and police forces, threw into the stockade your lying bunch of criminal leaders and announced the arrival of a New American Century of dog eat dog within you geographical confines, what would happen in your society that has more guns than hands Mr. Buckley? Talk of Iraqi animosities and ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols Mr. Buckley. This is how criminal and violent your society has become Mr. Buckley. This is what you need to keep in mind next time you talk of Iraqi animosities and ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols Mr. Buckley. And I have not even touched upon the racial and religious tensions simmering on the fault lines just below the surface of your national fabric. Get this straight Mr. Buckley. Iraq fiasco was, is and always will be a gigantic human catastrophe, resulting from the stillborn vision of small men who wanted to ride high on their demented dreams. No Mr. Buckley, no. Do not muddy the water. Yours Truly, Anwaar HussainCopyrights : Anwaar Hussain
Sources: 1. www.nationalreview.com/buckley/buckley200602241451.asp2. www.csmonitor.com/2003/0818/p02s01-usju.html3. www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/crime.html4. www.atps.com/crime/usa.htm5. tinyurl.com/y5cjqp
|
|
|
Post by Michael Carmichael on Dec 15, 2006 16:14:56 GMT 4
Brilliant!
|
|
|
Post by Carl on Dec 15, 2006 18:29:16 GMT 4
Anwaar:
My friend on the other side of the world you are so right. There is a big difference between real understanding and assumptions. From the moment the very first White man sets foot on another's land, they assume they know everything about that country. If they are uncertain, they can always ask America to bomb the life out of that place because that can always be justified because of the people's race.
From the moment World War 2 ended the reasons for all hose animosities that William Buckley perceives as suddenly coming into existence when "The Coalition" --What coalition attacked Iraq the animus had been like the slippery green moss on the trails on northern mountains silently spreading in the darkness of unfairness.
During my 81 years of life as a White man I have never heard America say, ‘Israel stop what you are doing to your neighbors, it is not right’. Buckley knows everything but in the end, he knows nothing but Right Wing Politics that put American in a pickle barrel with kosher herrings...
As a youngster, I had an old friend who was a Black Smith. When he finished assembling the spokes and fellies, he would place the red-hot rim around the assembled wheel and drop it in cold water. One day with the perspiration running like rivulets, he threw his arms around me and said, “Now you know that making just one wheel needs some help, but it will need much more help to make it turn. The Near East is a part of the World and the world will solve the problem.
Keep well and hope for better times.
Carl
|
|
|
Post by C on Dec 15, 2006 21:23:51 GMT 4
Anwaar;
There are, by the latest estimates, some 100,000 to 150,000 contract killers (contractors) hired by the United States to be "ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols" in the manner of Negroponte's death squads used in Nicaragua. I would suggest that a considerable amount of the "civil strife" is fomented by their activities.
Best,
C.
|
|
|
Post by Jeff on Dec 15, 2006 21:25:14 GMT 4
Dear Anwaar,
Another great look at U.S. society. I moved to Europe in 1975 and returned to the U.S. in 1983. In Europe, I heard many people criticize the U.S. and its violent and imperialistic ways. I was apolitical at the time, so I had no opinion on the criticism. When I returned to the U.S., I thought, "Holy shit. They were right." It takes someone from the outside to make the picture clearer.
As far as the National Review, in my current column, I published this parpagraph in which I quote a National Review writer who stated that there would be no resistance in Iraq:
"On March 11, 2003, nine days before the announced start of hostilities, Amir Taheri wrote an article for the conservative publication, National Review, called 'Saddam's Soldiers: Will They Fight for Him?' Here's the first sentence: 'Talk of protracted urban guerilla warfare is unrealistic, for the simple reason that Saddam and his gang are not guerilla leaders.' This has to be the biggest gaffe of all predictions."
So much for National Review's assessment about this or anything.
Keep turning up the heat. We all must.
Jeff Archer lekkerspikkels@msn.com
|
|
|
Post by Doug on Dec 15, 2006 21:28:24 GMT 4
Anwaar: Invading armies do what they are designed to do........ destroy. The longer the US military is in Iraq.... the longer will be the destruction. Armies don't build societies very well..... and they administer governments even more poorly. Building a society and a government is best left to civilians. The christian conservatives and the liberal jews of America conspired with the hawks of Israel conspired to invade Iraq. They believed then.... and still believe now that Iraq is indeed a success! From their perspective, what could be better than arabs killing arabs? What could be better than muslims killing muslims? Since the muslims and arabs own the oil.... they will pump and pump the oil supply to fund the wars...... and in doing so, drive down the price of oil. That was their thinking! Chaos in the arab/muslim world is encouraged by this group. Instability is desired and encouraged by this group. The idea is to start a game ..... and make the other nations in the middleast play a game that America and Israel know that they are superior at. And that game is war. In spite of statements from the governments of America and Israel, they secretly and quietly are enjoying the chaos. Fractioning the arab and muslim world shifts the focus away from Israel and their apartheid system of governing. Turning arab against arab.... why it just doesn't get any better than that!. That is the thinking behind the scenes in Washington, New York and Israel. Unfortunately for the US............ the most inefficient and incompetent execution of the grand strategy arose after the fall of Bagdad. Thus, the benefits of Iraq society rebuilding..... the benefits of Iran and the Saudis conducting an arms race......... pumping oil and getting US dollars...... then purchasing arms from the American war machine..........The latter did not happen....... YET....... But the ineffectiveness and extreme inefficiencies of US military occupation of Iraq.... has far outstripped any benefits to America. Osama Bin Laden....... sought such a result........ making Americans bankrupt by convincing them to fight a war........ asymetrically to America's own detriment. Osama underestimated Americas military might and bankroll......... but not by much. He is achieving the result he has sought. In that sense, he has been the greatest war strategist against his chosen enemy since Mao. Doug Shipe
|
|
|
Post by LYNN on Dec 15, 2006 21:38:43 GMT 4
Found this after seeing your article! lynn None Dare Call It Reason. Right-wing Media Warriors Continue to Tell It Like It Isn't by Mark T. Harris, December 15, 2006 I couldn't help but overhear the young man in the retail chain store last week. He was the fellow wearing the T-shirt with the word "security" emblazoned in large block letters. He was talking to a young couple as they browsed the store's music section. At first I thought the young man, who looked like he was in his early 20s, worked for the store. But a closer look at his T-shirt revealed in smaller letters the word "eternal" above "security," and below that a biblical reference to John 3:16. It was not an unusual message in this part of the Midwest. But what really caught my attention was what the young man was saying. Apparently, the other man was planning to enlist in the army in a few months. The man in the Jesus shirt was telling the couple about his military tour of duty in Iraq. How they shouldn't believe all the media reports about how terrible it is in Iraq. "I mean, when you're over there and you hear that a million people got electricity last week, it's awesome, man," declared our evangelist for Jesus and foreign occupations. "Some of these people live in mud homes." The young couple he was addressing smiled and nodded their heads agreeably. "You'll see, it's not like they're saying. There are amazing things happening," the young man assured the future soldier. Listening, I was also amazed. I wondered what this fellow knew about the modern history of Iraq. Did he know about the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report from 1990 that discussed methods at the outset of the first Gulf War for sabotaging Iraq's water treatment system? Did he know about the U.S. bombing raids then on Iraq's dams, pumping stations, municipal water and sewage facilities? Or how the post-war economic sanctions against Iraq included a ban on the chemicals and equipment needed to repair water and sanitation treatment facilities? Did he know about the approximately 500,000 children estimated to have died during the sanction years, deaths caused in significant number by disease related to the deterioration of the sanitation system? Ironically, Iraq actually began exporting electricity to Turkey in 1987. In those days the country's electrical system had been modernizing for a couple decades. In those days the Reagan Administration was also an ally of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship. Then Saddam's world of helicopter gunships, chemical weapons, torture and dictatorship were not a problem for the Republican White House. In those days Iraq was at war with Iran. Then Iran's nationalist revolution was considered the major threat to U.S. oil interests. If you're a torturer with oil, Washington has a way of rationalizing unpleasantries when they happen to dovetail with the year's policy agenda. But despite the encouragement (and arranging shipments of arms and money) from glad-handing Reagan envoy Donald Rumsfeld, Saddam's war with Iran exacted a heavy price not only in lives lost, but also in a shrinking gross domestic product. Thirteen years of economic sanctions and two wars later, Iraq is a country where prospects for a better life look about as bright as a distant star on a smoggy Los Angeles evening. The Land of Sound Bites and Sycophants While the young veteran in the store may believe the U.S. mission in Iraq is a noble enterprise, you just have to wonder how anyone can continue to support a war that has been so discredited? It may be because the right-wing media warriors who whipped up pro-war sentiment four years ago are still at it. Indeed, despite the shattered reality of life in Iraq, you will be hard pressed to find any genuinely critical accounting of the war's course from its many talk media boosters. At a time when an old-line right-winger like William F. Buckley bluntly admits the U.S. mission in Iraq has failed, when even professional reprobate Henry Kissinger says a military victory is impossible, talk radio stars like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, and others remain intrepid defenders of the heroic rightness of the President's war. In the brave new world of the media warrior, the only challenge remains “finishing the job.” These are folks who once predicted candy and flowers for our troops (hey, Dick Cheney told them this!) and got instead a nation where polls show 61 percent of Iraq's population now supports attacks on U.S. and British troops. They also made the mistake of taking seriously the not-so-sage wisdom of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who in the weeks following the invasion could not imagine resistance to the occupation lasting more than six months. Of course, Rumsfeld's grotesque misreading of Iraqi reality was only an early clue to what was coming. No Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) found. No textbook lessons in helping a grateful nation learn the ABCs of building a fledgling democracy. No end to terrorism. No peace. No security. A war with no end in sight. Death everywhere. In the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, the mainstream news networks and press largely gave a pass to all the duplicitous nonsense emanating from the White House about Iraq's secret cache of weapons. But it was the talk media industry especially that played a critical role in turning the White House's recipe for disaster into a dish palatable enough for the public to swallow. Yet as the public grows ever more disillusioned with the war, the more the media warriors sound like some crude Stalinist propaganda machine, all self-righteous bluster in the name of the beleaguered theory of America as the world's only moral force for good. But beneath the bombast, the media warriors travel increasingly in desperation and delusion. In place of edifying political thought, we instead get people like CNN host Glen Beck, a glib talker who thinks torture in the name of the red, white, and blue is highly commendable. Or the bluster of Hannity, who prattles loudly on radio and TV about things like “moral character” while explaining away the blood-drenched streets of Falluja under U.S. siege. Then there's Bill O'Reilly, whose national platform on Fox News allows him to advocate things like incarcerating “all those clowns” at Air America for treason. At least O'Reilly is opposed to the death penalty, unlike radio host Michael Savage. The latter believes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright should be tried for treason and hanged for not preventing North Korea from buying two nuclear reactors during the Clinton era. No word from Savage on whether he would also march exiting Defense Secretary Rumsfeld up the gallows steps, since he was on the board of the engineering firm ABB when it was hired by North Korea to build those nuclear reactors. In place of productive discussion, we instead get anger, packaged in self-righteousness and delivered as cheap entertainment. There's syndicated radio host Mark Levin, a Republican lawyer and frequent guest on Hannity's program, who regularly delivers some of radio's nastiest name-calling rants against liberal “appeasers” of evil (meaning basically anyone who disagrees with Levin). Levin's radio moniker is “The Great One” and he's a case study in the crassness that pervades talk media. Levin is the kind of guy who in a radio exchange with actor Alec Baldwin, a Bush critic, attacked Baldwin with mocking taunts about his weight and divorce proceedings. During the recent military conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Levin more notably incited his listeners with high-decibel declarations on the need to “crush the barbarians” in Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria, to “rain hell on them so they'll know what hell is like before they get there.” If you happen to think otherwise, prepare to have a payload of outrage dumped on you. It's all apparently designed to appeal to Levin's perpetually aggrieved fan base. It also just gets worse. If hell is other people, as Sartre once said, then the Mark Levin Show is the show those people listen to. They also might read the thuggish columns of Ann Coulter. On almost any topic this talk media fixture offers a grab bag of predictably disgraceful thought. To the news that a former spokesperson for the Taliban government in Afghanistan is now attending Yale University, for example, Coulter in her May 10 column asked why the man hasn't been “beaten more senseless than he already is?” Where is “an angry, club-and torch wielding mob when you need one?” asked our word-processing vigilante? But the times are not only crass; they're ironic. To the suggestion that the trial of Saddam Hussein is flawed since the defendant's lawyers are routinely killed, Tony Blankley, editorial page editor of the Washington Times, declared on Santa Monica's KCRW radio's “Left, Right, and Center” on June 23 that he's never been a big fan of the “Nuremburg precedent.” In the true spirit of civilized life, Blankley admitted he's always thought it better for the winning side to just shoot the leaders of the losing side. Leave it to a former policy analyst for President Reagan to want to obliterate the concept of surrender for the justice that comes up against a wall. It's all typical of the type of extremist thinking now prevailing in the conservative cauldrons of American politics. Indeed, in any major market scan the radio dial on any given day and you're likely to hear some media warrior going on about how insurgent Iraq and the rise of global anti-U.S. sentiment is explainable only as the product of crazed enemies who “hate our freedoms.” Better to stick with that cartoon analysis than strive to actually understand the deeper roots of global conflict. The latter is in fact a suspect activity in today's right-wing culture, where interest in understanding the phenomenon of terrorism is equated with condoning terrorism. This is derivative of the line of philosophical argument that evil is basically inexplicable. So instead we hear opinions such as those of actor James Woods, who in a recent Tonight Show appearance explained that unlike previous wars, we Americans now face a barbarian enemy unlike no other, who has no demands but the crazed desire to kill us. Unfortunately, defining barbarism for the media warriors has become more an expression of partisan political loyalties than political integrity. Responding to criticism of Israel for air raids that killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians, Chicago WLS radio host, Eileen Byrne, for example, declared in her July 28 website blog that “an ambulance or a school bus is the first place I'd look for Hamas or Hezbollah.” The word “look” we assume is Byrne's euphemism for air strikes by jetfighters and helicopter gunships. “Oh, How could Israel hit an ambulance? Oh the humanity!” mocked Byrne, unaware or unconcerned that in her sarcasm she endorses acts constituting potential war crimes.” In a similar vein, Limbaugh explained in an Aug. 15 broadcast critical of the U.N.-sponsored cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, that the West is in fact in a religious war, one that allows not for negotiation or compromise, but only total victory! Brave General Limbaugh is apparently otherwise quite content with an outcome that left a large area of south Lebanon unlivable because of unexploded cluster bombs. Real Anger, No Solutions The right-wing media trades on the grudges, resentments, and frustrations of a section of the popular culture defined by almost endless disgruntlement. It's a world of faux populism where an unjust war is painted in red, white, and blue hypocrisy, while issues such as unaffordable health care or a pension system under attack fade before the burning evils of gay marriage or stem cell research. In this media world, evolutionary biology is bad news, but political evolution toward a more just, compassionate, and progressive society is just some laughable Hollywood fairy tale. The trouble is the media warriors exploit the public's various frustrations and fears and offers nothing in the way of real solutions. This is a milieu that thinks it's having a serious discussion when it solicits callers' comments on the topic of whether the minimum wage should ever be raised, or even exist! Their product is especially toxic when what's for sale is a belligerent brand of patriotism, the kind that equates “supporting the troops” with unquestioned support for an administration whose fogged vision has meant death for nearly 3000 troops. In the end, right-wing talk media is less some bellwether of democratic discussion than just sordid. It's a corporate propaganda system whose gauge for what is considered “responsible” debate is set to stiflingly narrow parameters. In this media system the global drama of human struggle and conflict exists only in relation to its significance to U.S. foreign policy interests, as interpreted by a domestic(ated) press corps and the sludge of retired military generals and professional terrorism “experts” who now moonlight as network consultants. This is a world whose center of gravity is defined by all things corporate and all things American, beyond which exists only a global community less to be understood than contained With the exception of Air America, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, and a few other hosts, the talk media industry largely reflects the rise to prominence of the far right. No longer is the loopy agenda of those who equate government social programs with “nanny state” socialism limited to monthly John Birch Society newsletters. But with the rise of talk media has also come an increasing coarseness in the culture. Never before has boorish incivility been so valued on a radio host's resume. Listening to one of Hannity's recent typically strident discourses on Iraq, I couldn't help but note that the war's duration has brought no run of media warriors leaving their radio and TV hosting responsibilities to enlist in the military. That job they rather comfortably leave to the mostly working-class young men and women who are fighting and dying in Iraq. Listening to Hannity, I thought about my recent overheard chain store conversation, wondering what would be the fate of the fellow with plans to enlist. Where would he be a year from now? In Iraq, possibly? Alive? Dead? Would he become one of those young faces on the local television news, his formal military portrait haunting the screen while the announcer gives details of his upcoming memorial service? Later, I gave a friend's high school-aged daughter a ride to a sports practice. She told me in the car about how one of her girlfriend's plans includes joining the Marines after college because she wants to fight in Iraq. Being a sophomore now, this means her stint in Iraq would be scheduled for exactly seven years from now. My friend's daughter had objected that we don't belong in Iraq now, but we will certainly not belong in Iraq seven years from now! The other girl explained that our government wants to leave, but can't as long as the “terrorists in Iraq keep blowing up bombs against us.” To those who have opposed the U.S. war in Iraq from the beginning, such ideas might seem frustratingly, dangerously naïve. But they are also indicative of the corrosive effects on American life of the right-wing extremism that has emerged on the main stage of both American politics and media. The architects of the Iraq war are people without humane vision, as inured to death as they are attuned to the profits and geopolitics of the region's oil and gas reserves. With control over the largest military force the world has ever seen, they confuse their power with being right. The media warriors only confuse their access to cables and satellites with genuine power, the kind that comes from critical thinking, searching self-reflection, and the capacity to form opinions that are not for sale. The news talk floats through American culture now like a drone of white noise. It's all a kind of detached backdrop to the real America where the fragmented reality of private life prevails. In this America everyone's “informed,” few are involved, and the live network feed from Baghdad on the latest roadside bombings has the effect of a chronic IV drip of anesthetic on the public spirit. This is a democracy in decline. Mark T. Harris is the author of “Welcome to 'Whole-Mart'—Rotten Apples in the Social Responsibility Industry,” which was published earlier this year in Dissent magazine. You can write to him at Mark@Mark-T-Harris.com, or visit his website at www.Mark-T-Harris.com.
|
|
michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
|
Post by michelle on Dec 16, 2006 4:21:25 GMT 4
Great article, Anwaar. The prison system in the US is a growing and lucrative business. It is a lopsided system where the wealthy can literally get away with murder, while the poor languish in jails for misdemeanor crimes. Our high crime rate is also indicative of poor social conditions for many citizens of the US.
Lynn, thank-you for the article. It is amazing to see the effects of propaganda and how easily part of the population swallows it up.
Concerning Anwaar's remark to Mr. Buckley: "Your country encouraged competing tribal and ethnic forces to pull Iraq apart," here's an article I was going to post.... MichelleIraq: Long History of Multi-Faith Co-Existence in Jeopardy Eerie Silence on Northern IraqBy B Nimri Aziz November 30, 2006 The term "Turkmen" means little to most western people, even those here who think they are up on Iraq ethnography. This is because Turkmens have not figured in media reports for reasons that will become clear. But watch for it. Iraqi Turkmen will soon demand world attention. Iraq, for outside observers is increasingly a land of ethnic and death statistics, usually in the context of the current conflict. More and more, Iraq is debated in terms of the Sunni-Shia-Kurd formula, as if Kurd were not themselves populated by sunni and shia devotees. Forgotten are the once romanticized Marsh Arabs of the south. (For the most part, they have moved to the cities.) Christians are also set aside, as are Iraqi Jews. Iraq's Christians represent probably the earliest Christian community anywhere, and along with Iraqi Jews, demonstrate the long history of multi-faith co-existence in this part of the world. Iraqis had rightly been proud of that. Today, upheavals resulting from the US invasion in 2003, from Zionist penetration of Iraq and the breakdown of civil order, create new and fiercely protected divisions. Christians are departing, continuing the exodus begun in the early 1990s. Jews are little heard from; if anything their numbers are increasing as Israelis, some of them of Iraqi origin, return to purchase homes and land and engage in business, if not settle here immediately.
While a terrifying power struggle and polarization goes on between Sunni and Shia in the country's center--around Baghdad, home to more than 25% of the nation's people--Iraqi Kurds, with Israel's help, are consolidating their expansion and hold in the north. They have largely escaped the upheaval across Iraq, protected in three autonomous northern governates which are somehow sheltered from the deadly forces unleashed across the rest of Iraq after 2003.
The north 'appears' stable (as far as Kurdish-speaking Iraqis are concerned); in fact, there are troubling signs of an ethnic cleansing underway. Here we return to the Turkmen Iraqis. They number close to 3 million:--12% of Iraq's people. While press attention focuses on Sunni-Shia battles, Iraq's Turkmens face a campaign of discrimination that could become very ugly and costly. Tel-Afar, a Turkmen-speaking majority Iraqi city was subject to bombardments and a crushing siege by US forces. According to Iraq Turkmen Front spokesman Orhan Ketene, "This was instigated by Kurds who called in American firepower on the claim that the city harbored foreign terrorists". (see http://www.Kerkuk.net) Two years ago US air and land assaults on the scale of Falluja were carried out in Tel-Afar. A city of more than 300,000, it remains under military siege, crippled and little heard from. This, say Turkmen survivors and Ketene, is part of new Kurdish campaign to extend their sway and dominance West, beyond their traditional governates of NE Iraq. As troubling as the terrorizing of Tel-Afar is, we also see signs of a Zionist-type settlement by Kurds in the coveted city of Kirkuk. Kirkuk is targeted as a new center for Iraqi Kurdistan. Until recently, the city was multi-ethnic, although it is identified as the center of Turkmen Iraqi society and economy. For the past 3 years, Kurds have been moving into the city at an increased pace, frightening the Turkmen residents. As with Israeli 'settlement' in the West Bank, this is a strategy of "changing the facts on the ground'. Assassinations against Kirkuk's Turkmen families have begun. Fear and tension are rising. Because the city is center of the important Kirkuk oil fields, it is a major economic prize and Kurds do not hide their ambitions for the city. Kurds, backed by Zionist and American elements, are well armed and powerfully placed in the Iraqi government. Turkmens say the ongoing settlement of tens of thousands of new residents, all of Kurdish origin, is in anticipation of a referendum on the city's fate in 2007. With a majority Kurdish population, the city could become an official Kurdish territory. It is a frightening prospect for Iraq's Turkmens. How Turkey, long an antagonist to Kurdish sovereignty, will react, no one knows. It could be brought into the equation if Iraqi Turkmens are further threatened and find no alternative protection. They say they have been unable to interest the Occupation Authority in their fate and their rights.With the Americans hardly able to protect themselves and with the city of Baghdad out of control, US support for Turkmens appears unlikely, especially when Washington would be unwilling to confront the Israeli partners of Iraqi Kurds. American troops will one day depart. Now or after some years, it would not undo the wickedness their arrival planted.Source: www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/sectarian/2006/1130longhistory.htm
|
|
|
Post by Daniel on Dec 16, 2006 8:08:20 GMT 4
Dear Anwaar,
Both Sunnis and Shiites should be aware that top down solutions from centralized government will be slow in coming. Concentrated wealth and power in Iraq will not serve the best interests of the majority and common good. I challenge all Muslims to remember that the betterment of communities and achieving widespread economic and social justice is more important then differences in religious doctrines. This is the common bond of all major religions. And it is something that is not included in the American led coalition efforts to bring a viable democracy. I would also encourage my fellow brother and sisters to reflect on the teachings of Chinese General Sun Tsu of 500 B.C. who said,"The supreme art of warfare is to subdue your enemy without fighting." The announcment of a cease between Sunni and Shiites will be viewed as a great wonder. And then if it is the will of Almighty G-d, I hope to come to the Middle East as a goodwill ambassador and personally establish the A.C.E. Network Mission and Project for New Iraq. If Bush is sincere in creating a model democracy and beacon of hope then we should all pitch in and help him achieve this goal. If there is resistance and criticism then we shall know that there are ulterior motives by those who are only self-serving and committed to protecting the status quo. Our success will depend on active participation and sharing of time, talents and treasures. For your information I and others which will likely include officers in the USAF are in the process of designing a non-violent, legal grassroots initiative that empowers each Iraqi citizen and encourages across the board bottom up strategies at the community level. Guidelines for forming a collaboration between residents, business owners, inventors will be included. Economic development can be spurred through bartering, time banks, and alternative currencies and more... I will keep you posted and welcome your participation and feedback.
Sincerely, Daniel E. Moore, Founder/Pres. A.C.E. Network Mission ASPIRE, CREATE, ENVISION A BETTER WORLD
|
|
|
Post by Jon on Dec 16, 2006 10:38:12 GMT 4
Having just read the Book of Job from the Old Testament it interests me to note that Anwaar is writing from a righteous pain he and all humans should feel over the multi tradgedies in the Middle East, each with a huge American hand involved, yet the sorrows he speaks of seem to mostly elicit excuses for the US, it's because our media misleads, it's because of our poor educations, it's out of our control. Well to me what Anwaar wrote here was simply a description of our sordid and sick society, and taking this sickness to all the World we can, no matter the means, no matter the reason. There is no excuse for the People Of The USA, we have watched this atrocity and done nothing. It's not my problem, wash the blood off of my hands, just like we've being doing in our own country for more than 150 years! We have watched the slaughter of our inner cities, the drug addictions of our children, whole segments of our society marginalized or worse, the crushing of nation after nation, and what? The if I get mine too bad for the other guy attitude, lauded as something wonderful here, in the USA, it's that rugged American Individualism, YAHOO! We have locked up 15% of our population at any one time, we have 40 million living in poverty, over 15 million homeless, and as long as we've got the stuff, we just let it slide. For one short period of time, in the late 1960's it seemed like the US would get a conscience, but no, those people weren't real, we all were really only protesting for ourselves, to keep ourselves out of danger, once that was past, we became worse than our parents. No, blaming the Conservatives won't do, for they may have led the procession, but we all either marched along, or stayed home to watch it on TV, on our new 42" LCD, Hi-Def Super-SurroundSound Home Theater Systems, in our 8000sq. ft. McMansions, 2 New Vehicles and you name it gadgets. With all that shopping we didn't have time to go protest, besides they never have protests at convenient times, always during a Football Saturday, now ones being planned during March Madness, Jeez! My fellow Americans, we are lost and in danger of hell, will we get up off our asses and make Bush/Cheney be impeached, make congress bring our troops home, make changes to benefit our society, even if it raises our taxes? What are you willing to do, besides blame others?
|
|
|
Post by brianboru on Dec 16, 2006 15:14:37 GMT 4
Buckley's neocon line is not surprising. He sold his soul to his jewish masters long ago. You can be sure that none of his relatives are dying in Iraq and I'll bet that he has a few shares in Haliburton. The Buckleys of the world deserve only to be impaled. Middle and working class Americans are certainly not living the dream any more; more like it's becoming a nightmare. The jews have constructed their Orwellian police state without a hitch. It won't be long before the yankee gulags open for business. It's the jewish way where ever they gain the kind of power they have in America now. Of course they could never have done it without the help of the WASP elite, who have bottomless contempt for their own middle and working classes. What they have done in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be a surprise to anyone. Look what they did in Russia and eastern Europe. In this new world order the measure of a man now is not his race or religion but where he stands on the jewish question.
|
|
DT1
Moderator
You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
Posts: 428
|
Post by DT1 on Dec 17, 2006 3:07:36 GMT 4
Brianboru,Jon; I completely agree with your thoughtful replies,and despair of the"dead-ender" Bush drones ever plucking thier heads out.Do they actually think they will escape the camps by saying,"Hey wait!I voted for Bush!!!Sorry...No reciept. Today,I commited a minor act of vandalism.I took a blue crayon and rubbed out TR from a bumper sticker,leaving it to say "Support President Bush&our oops"... Juvenile,I know,but it made me feel better. Thanks for posting.
|
|
Anwaar
Administrator
Speak the truth and keep on coming.
Posts: 463
|
Post by Anwaar on Dec 17, 2006 14:41:57 GMT 4
Legal System in Iraq Staggers Beneath the Weight of WarThe NYTExcerpt : The United States established the Central Criminal Court of Iraq three years ago, envisioning it as a pillar of a new democracy. But like the faltering effort to create effective Iraqi security forces, the system for detaining, charging and trying suspects has instead become another weak link in the rule of law in Iraq, according to an examination of the justice system by The New York Times. The stakes are rising. The court has begun sentencing American-held detainees to death by hanging, 14 this year. Almost every aspect of the judicial system is lacking, poorly serving not just detainees but also Iraqi citizens and troops trying to maintain order. Read the rest : tinyurl.com/y28nfj
|
|
|
Post by Jane on Dec 18, 2006 5:24:25 GMT 4
As usual, you have hit the nail right on the head. People understand situations that compare. "It's like...." It's like Hell in Iraq and we are very lucky that Hell on earth hasn't spilled over into the entire rest of the world. Or is that what the neo-cons are actually hoping for? Yikes!
Jane
|
|
|
Post by Steve on Dec 21, 2006 4:29:45 GMT 4
The truth is that we are winning this war. The Press isn't telling the truth and in this case perception becomes reality, at least as the politicians are concerned.
I have talked with several fine young men who have come back from Iraq and each of them the first thing they say to me is that they were shocked at how the news media was misrepresenting what was going on there.
So now we send more troops. That is a great idea and will only increase our successes in Iraq.
Our new Secretary of Defense is really tough and understands the Military. He will get the job done faster. Americans tend to be impatient, but in the end they know that victory is the only choice we have. And we have achieved victory for the most part but we need to clean up the small trouble area faster.
|
|