A Mesopotamian Summer

re: Dost-Mittar # 10

A civil war in any nation is bad news for the world, because it will attract the very people who will cause the most amounts of damage. A civil war in a Muslim nation is an awful idea for peace in general and western interests in particular and a civil war is a really serious nightmare for the heathens in Saudi Arabia. Iraq is headed ala Iran of 1979 and whether the neo-cons stay or depart is meaningless. What is significant is that neo-cons have compromised the security of Israel and that means, there will be no peace in Middle East.

Secondly, the Americans have made sure that Iraq will replace Afghanistan as the haven for terrorists and Iraq in 2004, will be like Afghanistan was in the post 1989 period. Iran will exploit this situation like Pakistan did, with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1990s. There was a reason, why most sane people opposed this war. The war on terrorism will remain a sound-byte as long as the Americans continue to create political vacuums in the arc of instability and in the process, create the rendezvous points for global jihad to unite.

It makes no difference whether Bush believed he was a crusader against evil or the neo-cons fooled him. What matters, now, is whether the United States stays the course or it it bolts from Iraq. If the United States stays beyond June 2004, the insurgency will gather momentum and if it leaves, the anarchy in Iraq will destabilize the entire region and thus, continually pose a ``clear and present danger`` to the United States` interests in the Middle East.

This is no 100 meter dash! This a marathon!

Ciao

``The United States ... occupation of Iraq is considered as being akin to the monarchial rule of Iraq from the 1920s to the 1960s and the rule of Saddam Hussein from the 1960s to the early 2000s.``

By whom?

Here`s what a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows. In response to the question: ``Are you and your family much better off, somewhat better off, somewhat worse off or much worse off than before the US invasion?``, a majority (51%) said they were somewhat better off or much better off than under the rule of Saddam Hussein.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-28-gallup-iraq-findings.htm

Cordially,
O_M

P.S. ``Statistically it is impossible that nothing that the United States has done is ever right.`` Dr. Henry A. Kissinger

ferozk:
I do not think that the neocons were/are naive; but Bush probably was/is in believing that he was leading the forces of good against the evil. The sole agenda of the neocons was to weaken Iraq, and this is likely to be accomplished, no matter what else happens; so they won`t mind leaving Iraq in a hush, letting Iraqis fight it out among themselves. But is an Iraq at civil war good for the rest of thee world?

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This is a disjointed and confused article but just enough for Romair to take potshots at secularists, liberal, middleclass and every thing under the sun. Good for him. But there are startling revelations in Romair’s post. He claims “Isn`t it odd that every time there is a freedom struggle to fight, it is the mullahs who lay down their lives…” So now mullahs are fighting in Iraq. How did you know that Romair? It is a pretty tall claim.
How many Mullahs were in Vietnam or in France or in Algeria or even in Afghanistan?

Who exactly is fighting the US in Iraq. Locals, foreign fighters, Saddam loyalists, the former Iraq Army personal, angels or Mullahs?
Who is supplying Arms and money and logistic support to them? If this thing is home-grown then there must be insiders who are financing and arming the resistance. There are very few armed resistances in the modern world that have succeeded w/o active foreign support. Wasn’t Cuba the only one? Vietnam was supported by China and the USSR. The struggle in Algeria had support from the Arabs and the USSR.
Close to home the Kashmir struggle would have died a long time ago if it did not have Pakistan to sustain it.
Who is fighting the Iraq resistance? Is that mullah? Which Mullah? That Sadr guy just joined after he figured out that the US occupation has failed and it is now time to get into some bargaining position before it’s too late. Come to think of it, may be he is the US guy in Iraq. First rule in power politics-never exclude any possibility. Strange things have happened before and they still may happen in Iraq. Just don’t bet the house as yet.
Anyways, has any body have any clue as to who is fighting in Iraq? Iraq never had fundamentalist type political parties. There aren’t very many Saudi supported mujahideen there. Wahabi’s don’t fight Americans. They talk Jihad but never walk it. Have you ever seen Jamati Islami sending its members to fight Americans in Afghanistan or in Iraq or even in Kashmir? It is all talk. Whosoever is fighting in Iraq, it is not mullah definitely.

Who beat soviet out of Afghanistan? Not mullah! The first afghan govt after the commies left was dominated by secular Ahmad Masood types. Mullahs had some positions because of the Pakistani ISI. Afterwards, it was ISI, which first destabilized the govt and then brought on the Taliban. World one day will find out how many Taliban were actually Pakistan army recruits. But most of them were not mullahs. They were poor people scarified by Mullahs.
So if Romair had said it is always poor led by some middleclass or rich that man the resistance, I would have said you are right; but Mullahs fighting outside the mosque? Not believable. No mojo there Romair.
Btw, Middleclass rarely fights and that has nothing to do with religion.

Losing this war is the best thing that could have happened to the USA. Had it not lost, the neo-cons would have taken complete control of the USA, and would have destroyed an otherwise decent society.

If Iraq does not end up in a civil war, the Arabs finally may have a nation which can take up a leadership position. I must admit, I didn`t think the Iraqis had it in them. Arabs have allowed themselves to be kicked around by everyone. Finally one nation, stood up, and fought for what they believe in.

The biggest impact of the Iraqi efforts is that the USA`s, ``dahshat`` is now crumbled. No one is scared of the USA, as the sole superpower any longer. And the USA will itself think ten times before invading anyone else. And individuals in the USA, like Gen. Zinni (and newsweek mag etc.) are finally starting to critique Israel lf hijacking US policies.

This war was was written by the think tanks of Israel (literally), through the policy papers authored by them........

If Iraq does end up in a civil war, then I am afraid, we may have another Afghanistan on our hands.

There is one point that needs to be made. People on this site are always quick to put down mullahs and maulvis. I have always thought that every group has something good to offer. Isn`t it odd that every time there is a freedom struggle to fight, it is the mullahs who lay down their lives for their causes and their nation. In Afghanistan, it was the Sunni maulvi brigade that kicked out the Soviets, while the secular crowd headed for California, or joined the Soviets. In Iraq, it is the Shia maulvis who are fighting the USA and kicking it out. While the Iraqi secular brigade has headed for Detroit, or has joined the Iraqi Governing Council. Why do the, ``secular`` forces run away when it is time to fight for their nation, and return to take over, once the maulvis have done all the dying.

Not that I am a maulvi supporter, but credit must be given where it is due.......

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Check out this hilarious letter:

What beauty?

Sir: The much hyped and publicised Ms Universe contest, which was held in Puerto Rico last week, turned out to be a complete fiasco. Right from the beginning it lacked what it needed in order to be a classy show. The host left a lot to be desired. The judges also appeared to lack the expertise they needed for the occasion. Above all the formatting of the show was pathetic. And to top it all, the crowned Miss Universe hardly deserved the title. It seems that the only consideration for judging the contents was the US-led war in Iraq and since Australia is a great supporter of the US, they were rewarded. Or perhaps what it really boiled down to was that the judges just didn’t know the meaning of ‘beauty’
DR SHAUKAT MAHMOOD
Lahore


And reply:

Sir,

This refers to Dr. Shaukat Mahmood`s letter, ``What beauty?``. While I understand
the animosity that U.S. policies elicit within Pakistan, I cannot fathom why
Dr. Mahmood blames the U.S. government for rigging the Miss Universe contest
just because the contestant Dr. Mahmood was rooting for did not win?

Personally, I cannot imagine Rummy sitting in his Pentagon office coming up with
ideas about how to rig a beauty contest. I am sure the Secretary of Defence has
more important issues on his mind. For what its worth, I thought Miss Australia
was quite good looking.

Sincerely,

Taimur M. Khan

This and many more long and hot summers of HATE. USA missed the social dimension of Iraqi society.
Cheerios

The signs are not leveraging for either sides at the moment, transfer of power to the iraqis is being sped up for the BUSH Pre November clear out for the elections. The violence in the Middle East is escalating out of control, with real troubling signs in Saudi Arabia. I think this is quite a bad cut and run situation, for the American`s this is Vietnam without the utter humiliation.

Arjun M, this war and the control over oil was thought through to be a simple thing, unfortunately, the Rumsfield/Rice/Chenny and there mouthpiece Bush, forgot things like insurgencies and rebellion by the masses which is ineffect forcing the fuel prices up, infact it was this demon that the Anti-War Groups were trying to highlight as a natural outcome of this Illegal War. But then everyone was so in delerium about that thing about bringing democracy and free world and all that nonsense.

Remember Afghanistan.....Anyone

It is for America`s own good that it is defeated, humiliated, and expelled from Iraq and Middle East. It will definitely make US a better and civilized country. Whatever happens in Iraq will prove to be the last nail in the coffin of Imperialism and scourge of neo-Colonialism and it will seal the fate of both attrocities on humanity for good. Therefore, it is in the best interest of all citizens of the world that this neo-evil must be stopped in its tracks right now. If we want to give our children and coming generations a better, lawful, just and well-behaved world tomorrow we MUST raise our voices now. We must also salute Iraqis (plz never use the hateful term `Iraqi people` that Americans use for them) for their perseverance and their love for their motherland - these people who are forsaken by the rest of the world, these helpless and weak people have gone above and beyond their call of duty. God bless Iraqis.

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