There is a lot of history and a lot of perspective to get through and this is going to take a while but when I am finished the outcome to this illegal invasion into Iraq will be obvious. A good deal of people reading this are doing so to confirm what they believe and it will be no surprise. The last person this will surprise is Representative Murtha who hasn't told the whole story but just enough to bring people to a different perspective. He opened up the door to USA withdrawal. I am simply going to finish it.
The final solution for Iraq is a political one.
The thing is the war is already won but the USA is disgused it can't claim victory in the manner it indeeded. It is on a slippery slope which it cannot win. Iraq is already won. The USA has to leave.
Withdrawal soon is inevitable.
Everyone else had their chance.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
I recently asked my father a Korean War Veteran what he thought of Representative Murtha.
He stated he was right. The war has been over for sometime in Iraq, but, the 'terms' the USA desires is not met and that is why our soldiers are being killed and maimed.
I said to him, "You know Dad, this old marine is coming off as a senile old man who is caught up in emotion and not logic. People is saying Bush is president and it is he we should be abiding by that."
My father wiser than I could ever hope to be stated. "Who did you vote for?"
I told him, "John Kerry."
"Why" he wanted to know.
I said because Bush had no workable solutions for any of the nations problems.
He stated, "I thought is was because of those wildly spinning clouds of yours."
"Well, isn't that one of the nation's problems?" I stated.
He chuckled and said, "Yes, of course, it is. Do you want to know why I didn't vote for that lunatic in the White House?"
"Sure, of course, I am interested in your reasons." I stated.
My father of seventy five years, a chemist, a former Air Forces Officer whom worked in munitions in North Korea, a retired long time employee of a former chemical company where he worked in the capacity of 'Emergency Coordinator' to be sure there was no Bhopal Incident in the USA in Bound Brook, New Jersey answering only to the Plant Manager, a dedicated husband and father; looked me with a strange look in his eyes, betrayal maybe, "I could not vote for a man who lost the Korean War after all these years?"
I paused and realized he was deeply pained over the now eminent threat that North Korea was to this country and the world after all the sacrifice of his generation and he blamed Bush. This is a man not unlike Representative Murhta who believes in service to his country, the defense of his nation but also the high integrity of the USA Armed Forces. This is a man who never wanted his grandsons to serve in this war and not because he wouldn't be proud but because he never believed in this president, vice president or this administration due to it's corrupt nature. He never thought he would see this country in the condition it is today or the lack of international esteem it faces. He is 75 years old and he feels his grandchildren are more in danger by their leadership today than ever in the history of this country. He wonders why he waited until he did to marry his sweetheart as he served to be sure his family including his grandchildren would not have to face any threat. He could raise his family in peace looking forward to prosperity.
That may seem 'old fashioned' but my father is a citizen of this country who has seen a war he rather not talk about and by damn it he has a right to his opinion.
I said to him, "You know Dad, this old marine is coming off as a senile old man who is caught up in emotion and not logic. People is saying Bush is president and it is he we should be abiding by that."
My father wiser than I could ever hope to be stated. "Who did you vote for?"
I told him, "John Kerry."
"Why" he wanted to know.
I said because Bush had no workable solutions for any of the nations problems.
He stated, "I thought is was because of those wildly spinning clouds of yours."
"Well, isn't that one of the nation's problems?" I stated.
He chuckled and said, "Yes, of course, it is. Do you want to know why I didn't vote for that lunatic in the White House?"
"Sure, of course, I am interested in your reasons." I stated.
My father of seventy five years, a chemist, a former Air Forces Officer whom worked in munitions in North Korea, a retired long time employee of a former chemical company where he worked in the capacity of 'Emergency Coordinator' to be sure there was no Bhopal Incident in the USA in Bound Brook, New Jersey answering only to the Plant Manager, a dedicated husband and father; looked me with a strange look in his eyes, betrayal maybe, "I could not vote for a man who lost the Korean War after all these years?"
I paused and realized he was deeply pained over the now eminent threat that North Korea was to this country and the world after all the sacrifice of his generation and he blamed Bush. This is a man not unlike Representative Murhta who believes in service to his country, the defense of his nation but also the high integrity of the USA Armed Forces. This is a man who never wanted his grandsons to serve in this war and not because he wouldn't be proud but because he never believed in this president, vice president or this administration due to it's corrupt nature. He never thought he would see this country in the condition it is today or the lack of international esteem it faces. He is 75 years old and he feels his grandchildren are more in danger by their leadership today than ever in the history of this country. He wonders why he waited until he did to marry his sweetheart as he served to be sure his family including his grandchildren would not have to face any threat. He could raise his family in peace looking forward to prosperity.
That may seem 'old fashioned' but my father is a citizen of this country who has seen a war he rather not talk about and by damn it he has a right to his opinion.
This is a chart roughed out in a comparison of the Iraq and Vietnam Wars.
The chart line on the top is of Iraq. It has a higher inital death toll. This is the first 32 months of engagement in both wars.
The second line is of Vietnam beginning in 1961 when President Kennedy first deployed advisers to South Vietnam. Looking at this graph it is obvious when his assassination took place and President Johnson took office escalating the commitment to South Vietnam by deploying numbers of troops. Afer the 23rd month of this chart the numbers in the Vietnam War started to escalate.
Noted: There is an average increase in fatalities at least six times that of Vietnam at any point on this graph.
This is a continued comparison of the two wars.
This is now a look at years, four years to be exact of Iraq compared to Vietnam. Representative Murtha, a dedicated former marine frequents the military hospitals and notes the young soldiers returning with maimed and disabling injuries in the prime of their lives without complaints. He sees the numbers escalating and he knows our presence in Iraq is due to be reduced as the war is making no headway on the path this president has set. 2005 is the third year we are in Iraq, the first started March of 2003. This graph shows the end of 2005 as we enter 2006 and the good Congressman is looking at an escalating war dead if history repeats itself as it seems to be doing already. The soldier of Vietnam did not have body armor. If they had they would be coming home maimed more often than dead as well.
It was Representative Murtha's responsiblity to come forward with his concerns. When he did it was to the American people which lends itself to speculation that the doors of the Oval Office are closed to him as an avenue of influence as he sees necessary.
This is the entire Vietnam Conflict over more than a decade of time. The generals as well as Don Rumsfeld, Condi Rice and Steven Hadley along with Bush and Cheney state it will take still another decade before Iraq is 'as it should be.'
The Iraq invasion to date is still in it's early beginnings to the left of this chart.
I am not even close to being finished ...
At the height of the Vietnam War there was over 500,000 troops. Over a half a million of our military was on the ground, in the air and on the waters of Vietnam. The 'objectives' of the USA could not be met then. The 'objectives' of the USA will not be met in Iraq either.
Noted: The words Korean Conflict (My Dad says there is no such thing as a conflict or a police action when American military are dying. It's a war and was a war.) or Vietnam War never roll off the lips of George Walker Bush or Richard Cheney. Those veterans and what they think just don't exist. After all if they had esteem Bush could never have defeated Kerry.
We are looking at our campaigns of the past and in WWII as Bush likes to make reference and not Vietnam or Korea we were in a world war with allies all over the continent of Europe, Asia and North Africa. We defeated an enemy with superior weaponry by sheer manpower alone as noted in Normandy. Germany had superiority over the air as well as with missiles. It was German scientists brought to the USA that designed our first rockets into space launched by NASA.
We were NOT alone in WWII. We were in Vietnam and virtually are in Iraq except the Coalition cannot go unrecognized as they have sustained losses as well and have been staunch supports of this country without batting an eye. Loyalty. A very nice capacity.
To follow. The myths we live with today and why Iraq is already settled.
Noted: The words Korean Conflict (My Dad says there is no such thing as a conflict or a police action when American military are dying. It's a war and was a war.) or Vietnam War never roll off the lips of George Walker Bush or Richard Cheney. Those veterans and what they think just don't exist. After all if they had esteem Bush could never have defeated Kerry.
We are looking at our campaigns of the past and in WWII as Bush likes to make reference and not Vietnam or Korea we were in a world war with allies all over the continent of Europe, Asia and North Africa. We defeated an enemy with superior weaponry by sheer manpower alone as noted in Normandy. Germany had superiority over the air as well as with missiles. It was German scientists brought to the USA that designed our first rockets into space launched by NASA.
We were NOT alone in WWII. We were in Vietnam and virtually are in Iraq except the Coalition cannot go unrecognized as they have sustained losses as well and have been staunch supports of this country without batting an eye. Loyalty. A very nice capacity.
To follow. The myths we live with today and why Iraq is already settled.
Iraq?
Why Iraq?
Why did Bush decide to go into Iraq when the weapons of mass destruction he was seeking were clearly in the possession of Al Qaeda? Why would this administration say for one moment Iraq was a clear and present danger to this country when PROOF positive lay in Afghanistan?
Iraq is no threat to us. I mean it attacked Kuwait and Iran in the past but there is no threat to those countries either. So, why, Iraq?
Tapes shed new light on bin Laden's network
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/08/18/terror.tape.main/
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) --A large archive of al Qaeda videotapes obtained by CNN in Afghanistan sheds new light on Osama bin Laden's terror network, revealing images of chemical gas experiments on dogs, lessons on making explosives, terrorist training tactics and previously unseen images of bin Laden and his top aides.
The archive includes 64 videotapes that span more than a decade and provide new insight into al Qaeda's planning, tactics and mindset. Nearly all the tapes pre-date last year's September 11 terror attacks. But one tape includes recorded segments from televised news reports of the attacks on New York and Washington, including CNN coverage.
CNN has shown the tapes to many experts, including Rohan Gunaratna, an expert on al Qaeda who was called on to address Congress, the United Nations and the Australian Parliament following the September 11 attacks. Gunaratna, the author of "Inside Al Qaeda," has interviewed members of the terrorist network and previously viewed more than 200 al Qaeda tapes. But he had not seen the tapes obtained by CNN and believes they were intended only for the eyes of the terror group's leaders.
"The collection has al Qaeda videos taken by al Qaeda of events," Gunaratna said. "Whenever Osama bin Laden met with foreign journalists, he always had his own cameraman. And it is those tapes that are there, because that itself shows that this is the al Qaeda library. This is not the library of someone else ... This is their history, the record room of Osama bin Laden."
CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson obtained the tapes from a source in Afghanistan, following a 17-hour drive from Kabul through treacherous terrain to a remote part of the war-torn country. According to the source, the tapes had been found in an Afghan house where bin Laden had stayed.
Some of the tapes are video training manuals for terrorists, much different from the al Qaeda promotional videos that have been released in the past. One three-hour tape, for example, shows how to make purified TNT from easy-to-get materials. They demonstrate sophistication in planning and explosives skills.
Experts interviewed by CNN say no terrorist organization is ever known to have put this much knowledge on videotape before. And although it is not known with certainty that all of the material contained in the tapes came from bin Laden's personal library, it includes revealing looks at the al Qaeda leader and his personal security arrangements.
One scene shows bin Laden with his security detail firing shots into the air as they get set to announce their new jihad against Americans. That scene was shot in 1998, three years before the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
Among the most frightening scenes in the collection of tapes are those of testing of a poison gas on three dogs. The disturbing images show the dying moments of the defenseless, enclosed animals.
A senior Bush administration official who is intimately involved in weapons issues said he was "very troubled" by the issues the video raises, particularly about chemical weapons.
The official said the video of the chemical tests on the dogs suggest a very strong desire to acquire the capability to use such weapons against humans. Until now, he said, he had seen nothing that indicated bin Laden or al Qaeda had the capability.
"This tape is unquestionable documentation that he has some capability," he said. The tape, he said, shows "some level of sophistication, and indicates they were trying to get results."
In one scene, a group of unidentified men wearing Afghan-style sandals rush out of an enclosure where one of the dogs is penned. A white liquid that gives off a gas is then seen seeping in from the left. Soon, the dog begins showing physical reactions.
Experts who were shown the tape by CNN had different theories as to what kind of chemical agent may have been used in the experiment. But there was agreement that whatever it was, it was a powerful agent, adding to the significance of the tapes and what they say about al Qaeda.
"It's probably extremely significant, if not profound," said John Gilbert, a chemical weapons specialist and arms control expert who advises the U.S. government. "I know there's been a lot of speculation about the state of technology, and how far they may have advanced toward having a usable chemical weapon. The fact that they were able to repeat tests or demonstrations on this tape indicates that they clearly have a way to produce a predictably lethal chemical."
In the months since September 11, U.S. officials have repeatedly said publicly that al Qaeda was believed to be seeking weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons. But, so far, no evidence on tape has been shown that al Qaeda has succeeded in obtaining or developing such weapons.
Al Qaeda documents examined by CNN last fall showed formulas for sarin, a deadly chemical agent. And Ahmed Ressam, a man trained by al Qaeda and convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, testified in court about tests using cyanide to kill dogs.
Coalition intelligence sources who have examined the tape obtained by CNN of the dying dogs said this appears to be an al Qaeda experiment with lethal chemicals at the remote Darunta camp in Afghanistan. The sources said dead dogs have been seen in past satellite images of the Darunta camp.
The sources said no intelligence agency is known to have previously seen most of these tapes.
continued ... no, I am not going to discuss oil.
Iraq? No I am not playing with symantics. You only 'think' you know where this is going.
There are many aspects to this and you might lose patience with the issues as they are presented but this composite of 'truth' is extensive and deals with the issues today. Bush has Libya's weapons on display, does he have al Qaeda's?
This is one of the Golden Retrievers that Osama bin Laden's research compound found helpful in understanding the Chemical Weapons they possessed.
I apprecaite your patience.
Pan Arabism. Secular Government. "Arab Socialism." Why? Is "Modern Iraq" really modern? Where would a 'moderate' authority get Iraq?
Modern Iraq became a British mandate (the British League of Nations Trust Territory of Iraq) at the end of World War I and was granted independence from British control in 1932. It was formed out of three former Ottoman Willayats (regions): Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. The British-installed Hashemite monarchy lasted until 1958, when it was overthrown through a coup d'etat by the Iraqi army, known as the 14 July Revolution. It brought Brigadier General Abdul Karim Qassim's leftist government to power (which withdrew from the Baghdad Pact and established friendly relations with the Soviet Union), from 1958 till 1963, when he was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif. Salam Arif died in 1966 and his brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, assumed the presidency. In 1968, Rahman Arif was overthrown by the right wing Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The Ba'ath's key figure became Saddam Hussein who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), Iraq's supreme executive decision making body, in July 1979, killing off many of his opponents in the process. Saddam's absolute and particularly bloody rule lasted throughout the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), which ended in stalemate; the al-Anfal campaign of the late 1980s, which led to the gassing of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq; Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 resulting in the Gulf War; and the United Nations-imposed economic sanctions. The United States and Britain declared no-fly zones over Kurdish northern and Shiite southern Iraq.
A leading member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and socialism, Saddam (see 2 regarding names) played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power. As vice president under his cousin, the frail General Ahmed Bakr, Saddam tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces by creating repressive security forces, and cementing his own firm authority over the apparatuses of government. Meanwhile, high oil prices helped Iraq's economy to grow at a relatively rapid pace in the 1970s. 3
As president, he developed a pervasive personality cult, ran an authoritarian government, and maintained power through the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991), which were both devastating to Iraq, lowering living standards and human rights. Saddam's government severely repressed movements that it deemed threatening, particularly those from ethnic or religious groups that sought independence or autonomy.
While he remained a popular hero among many disaffected Arabs and among the people of South Asia for standing up to his opponents in the West, the United States and other members of the international community continued to view Saddam with deep suspicion following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Saddam was deposed by the U.S. and its allies during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Captured by U.S. forces on December 13, 2003 while hiding in a hole in a barn outside Tikrit, he will stand trial before the Iraq Special Tribunal, established by the Iraq Interim Government installed by the US.
Iraq was under Ba'ath Party rule from 1968 to 2003, in 1979 Saddam Hussein took leadership and became president until 2003, when he was unseated by a US-led invasion. The unicameral Iraqi parliament, the National Assembly or Majlis al-Watani, had 250 seats and its members were elected for 4-year terms. No Ba'ath candidates were allowed to run.
The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (also spelled Baath or Ba'ath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was founded in 1945 as a radical, left-wing, secular Arab nationalist political party. It functioned as a pan-Arab party with branches in different Arab countries, but was strongest in Syria and Iraq, coming to power in both countries in 1963. In 1966 the Syrian and Iraqi parties split into two rival organisations. Both Ba'th parties retained the same name and maintain parallel structures in the Arab world.
The Ba'th Party came to power in Syria on 8 March 1963 and has held a monopoly on political power since later that year; the Ba'thists ruled Iraq briefly in 1963, and then from July 1968 until 2003. After the de facto deposition of President Saddam Hussein's Ba'thist regime in the course of the 2003 Iraq war, the occupying authorities banned the Iraqi Ba'th Party in June 2003.
The Arabic word Ba'th means "resurrection" as in the party's founder Michel Aflaq's published works "On The Way Of Resurrection". Ba'thist beliefs combine Arab Socialism, nationalism, and Pan-Arabism. The mostly secular ideology often contrasts with that of other Arab governments in the Middle East, which sometimes tend to have leanings towards Islamism and theocracy.
The motto of the Party is "Unity, Freedom, Socialism" (in Arabic wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya). "Unity" refers to Arab unity, "freedom" emphasizes freedom from foreign control and interference in particular, and "socialism" refers to what has been termed Arab Socialism rather than to Marxism.
A leading member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and socialism, Saddam (see 2 regarding names) played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power. As vice president under his cousin, the frail General Ahmed Bakr, Saddam tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces by creating repressive security forces, and cementing his own firm authority over the apparatuses of government. Meanwhile, high oil prices helped Iraq's economy to grow at a relatively rapid pace in the 1970s. 3
As president, he developed a pervasive personality cult, ran an authoritarian government, and maintained power through the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991), which were both devastating to Iraq, lowering living standards and human rights. Saddam's government severely repressed movements that it deemed threatening, particularly those from ethnic or religious groups that sought independence or autonomy.
While he remained a popular hero among many disaffected Arabs and among the people of South Asia for standing up to his opponents in the West, the United States and other members of the international community continued to view Saddam with deep suspicion following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Saddam was deposed by the U.S. and its allies during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Captured by U.S. forces on December 13, 2003 while hiding in a hole in a barn outside Tikrit, he will stand trial before the Iraq Special Tribunal, established by the Iraq Interim Government installed by the US.
Iraq was under Ba'ath Party rule from 1968 to 2003, in 1979 Saddam Hussein took leadership and became president until 2003, when he was unseated by a US-led invasion. The unicameral Iraqi parliament, the National Assembly or Majlis al-Watani, had 250 seats and its members were elected for 4-year terms. No Ba'ath candidates were allowed to run.
The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (also spelled Baath or Ba'ath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was founded in 1945 as a radical, left-wing, secular Arab nationalist political party. It functioned as a pan-Arab party with branches in different Arab countries, but was strongest in Syria and Iraq, coming to power in both countries in 1963. In 1966 the Syrian and Iraqi parties split into two rival organisations. Both Ba'th parties retained the same name and maintain parallel structures in the Arab world.
The Ba'th Party came to power in Syria on 8 March 1963 and has held a monopoly on political power since later that year; the Ba'thists ruled Iraq briefly in 1963, and then from July 1968 until 2003. After the de facto deposition of President Saddam Hussein's Ba'thist regime in the course of the 2003 Iraq war, the occupying authorities banned the Iraqi Ba'th Party in June 2003.
The Arabic word Ba'th means "resurrection" as in the party's founder Michel Aflaq's published works "On The Way Of Resurrection". Ba'thist beliefs combine Arab Socialism, nationalism, and Pan-Arabism. The mostly secular ideology often contrasts with that of other Arab governments in the Middle East, which sometimes tend to have leanings towards Islamism and theocracy.
The motto of the Party is "Unity, Freedom, Socialism" (in Arabic wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya). "Unity" refers to Arab unity, "freedom" emphasizes freedom from foreign control and interference in particular, and "socialism" refers to what has been termed Arab Socialism rather than to Marxism.
Man, oh, man; Saddam didn't get along with anyone. Not Syria and they were Baathists. Not Iran. So what gives here?
I thought Iraq was a 'moderate' Arab nation. Hm? For all intents and purposes it would appear as though Iran and Iraq will be at each other's throats forever, huh? It looks that way to me.
Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979. He remained there until 2003.
The Iran - Iraq War began in 1980 after Saddam took Iraqi leadership.
The Iran-Iraq War, also called the First Persian Gulf War, or the Imposed War (جنگ تحمیلی) in Iran, was a war between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran lasting from September 1980 to August 1988. It was commonly referred to as the (Persian) Gulf War until the Iraq-Kuwait conflict (1990–91), which became known as the Second Persian Gulf War and later simply the Persian Gulf War.
The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on September 22, 1980 following a long history of border disputes. The conflict saw early successes by the Iraqis, but before long they were repulsed and the conflict stabilized into a long war of attrition. The United Nations Security Council called upon both parties to end the conflict on multiple occasions, but a ceasefire was not agreed to until August 20, 1988, and the last prisoners of war were not exchanged until 2003. The war irrevocably altered politics in the area, playing into wider global politics and leading to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979. He remained there until 2003.
The Iran - Iraq War began in 1980 after Saddam took Iraqi leadership.
The Iran-Iraq War, also called the First Persian Gulf War, or the Imposed War (جنگ تحمیلی) in Iran, was a war between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran lasting from September 1980 to August 1988. It was commonly referred to as the (Persian) Gulf War until the Iraq-Kuwait conflict (1990–91), which became known as the Second Persian Gulf War and later simply the Persian Gulf War.
The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on September 22, 1980 following a long history of border disputes. The conflict saw early successes by the Iraqis, but before long they were repulsed and the conflict stabilized into a long war of attrition. The United Nations Security Council called upon both parties to end the conflict on multiple occasions, but a ceasefire was not agreed to until August 20, 1988, and the last prisoners of war were not exchanged until 2003. The war irrevocably altered politics in the area, playing into wider global politics and leading to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
The other day I heard someone say...
... if we leave Iraq then Iran will kill all the Shi'ites.
Couldn't be more wrong.
I'll settle this now.
No doubt.
No more.
Composition to Follow.
Couldn't be more wrong.
I'll settle this now.
No doubt.
No more.
Composition to Follow.
Iran. A theocracy. In 2005, Iran is still a theocracy. Hm. I wonder why?
Was the Shah of Iran so bad? Who is this Khomeini guy and why are the Muslims so much in favor or him? Odd.
Sometime around 1500 to 1000 BC, the Iranian nomads of Indo-European stock emigrated to Iranian plateau possibly from Central Asia. In 8th century BC, the first Iranian government established under the Median dynasty and under the following dynasty, the Achaemenids, Iranians built the first world empire. Their empire emerged in the 6th century BC under Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, who called himself "King of Iran and beyond". Indeed, the name Persia is derived from Persis, the ancient Greek name for the empire. The Achaemenid dynasty was followed by the Parthian and Sassanid dynasties as Persia's greatest pre-Islamic empires. Alexander the Great first conquered Persia in 331 BCE, followed by Islam's Arab forces in the 7th century, and Genghis Khan and Tamerlane in the middle ages.
The 9th century saw the rise of the Saffarids and then other lines of kings or shahs. During the 19th century Persia came under increasing pressure from both Russia and the United Kingdom, leading to a process of modernisation that continued into the 20th century. By the 20th century Iranians were longing for a change and thus followed the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905/1911.
In 1953 Iran's elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, was removed from power in a complex plot orchestrated by British and US intelligence agencies (dubbed "Operation Ajax"). Many scholars suspect that this ouster was motivated by British-US opposition to Mosaddeq's attempt to nationalize Iran's oil.
Islamic Republic of Iran
Following Mosaddeq's fall, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Iran's monarch) grew increasingly dictatorial. With strong support from the USA and the UK, the Shah further modernised Iranian industry but crushed civil liberties. His autocratic rule, including systematic torture and other human rights violations, led to the Iranian revolution and overthrow of his regime in 1979. After more than a year of political struggle between a variety of different groups, an Islamic republic was established under the Ayatollah Khomeini by popular vote.
After 2500 years, the ruins of Persepolis still inspire visitors from far and near.
The new theocratic political system instituted some conservative Islamic reforms and engaged in an anti-Western course. In particular Iran distanced itself from the United States due to the American involvement in the 1953 coup, which supplanted an elected government with the Shah's repressive regime. It also declared its refusal to recognize the existence of Israel as a state. The new government inspired various groups considered by a large part of the Western World to be fundamentalist. As a consequence some countries, currently led by the USA, consider Iran to be a hostile power.
In 1980 Iran was attacked by neighbouring Iraq and the destructive Iran-Iraq War continued until 1988. The struggle between reformists and conservatives over the future of the country continues today through electoral politics and was a central Western focus in the 2005 Elections where Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triumphed.
Sometime around 1500 to 1000 BC, the Iranian nomads of Indo-European stock emigrated to Iranian plateau possibly from Central Asia. In 8th century BC, the first Iranian government established under the Median dynasty and under the following dynasty, the Achaemenids, Iranians built the first world empire. Their empire emerged in the 6th century BC under Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, who called himself "King of Iran and beyond". Indeed, the name Persia is derived from Persis, the ancient Greek name for the empire. The Achaemenid dynasty was followed by the Parthian and Sassanid dynasties as Persia's greatest pre-Islamic empires. Alexander the Great first conquered Persia in 331 BCE, followed by Islam's Arab forces in the 7th century, and Genghis Khan and Tamerlane in the middle ages.
The 9th century saw the rise of the Saffarids and then other lines of kings or shahs. During the 19th century Persia came under increasing pressure from both Russia and the United Kingdom, leading to a process of modernisation that continued into the 20th century. By the 20th century Iranians were longing for a change and thus followed the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905/1911.
In 1953 Iran's elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, was removed from power in a complex plot orchestrated by British and US intelligence agencies (dubbed "Operation Ajax"). Many scholars suspect that this ouster was motivated by British-US opposition to Mosaddeq's attempt to nationalize Iran's oil.
Islamic Republic of Iran
Following Mosaddeq's fall, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Iran's monarch) grew increasingly dictatorial. With strong support from the USA and the UK, the Shah further modernised Iranian industry but crushed civil liberties. His autocratic rule, including systematic torture and other human rights violations, led to the Iranian revolution and overthrow of his regime in 1979. After more than a year of political struggle between a variety of different groups, an Islamic republic was established under the Ayatollah Khomeini by popular vote.
After 2500 years, the ruins of Persepolis still inspire visitors from far and near.
The new theocratic political system instituted some conservative Islamic reforms and engaged in an anti-Western course. In particular Iran distanced itself from the United States due to the American involvement in the 1953 coup, which supplanted an elected government with the Shah's repressive regime. It also declared its refusal to recognize the existence of Israel as a state. The new government inspired various groups considered by a large part of the Western World to be fundamentalist. As a consequence some countries, currently led by the USA, consider Iran to be a hostile power.
In 1980 Iran was attacked by neighbouring Iraq and the destructive Iran-Iraq War continued until 1988. The struggle between reformists and conservatives over the future of the country continues today through electoral politics and was a central Western focus in the 2005 Elections where Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triumphed.
The Iman Ali Mosque in the sites of the USA military (Cliick On and Page Down)
Do you remember the battle of Najaf? There is a profound difference between Shi'ite (Shia) and Sunni Muslims. The atrocites reach far beyond Abu Ghraib. The Grand Ayatollah al Sistani stopped the attacks. Al Sadr's conditions were ALL met. Don't forget who is in charge of the flock.
Introduction
The words Sunni and Shia appear regularly in stories about the Muslim world but few people know what they really mean. Religion permeates every aspect of life in Muslim countries and understanding Sunni and Shia beliefs is important in understanding the modern Muslim world.
The Beginnings
The division between the Sunnis and the Shia is the largest and oldest in the history of Islam. To understand it, it is good to know a little bit about the political legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
When the Prophet (pbuh) died in the early 7th Century he not only left the religion of Islam but also an Islamic State in the Arabian Peninsula with around one hundred thousand Muslim inhabitants. It was the question of who should succeed the Prophet (pbuh) and lead the fledgling Islamic state that created the divide.
One group of Muslims (the larger group) elected Abu Bakr, a close companion of the Prophet (pbuh) as the next caliph (leader) of the Muslims and he was duly appointed. However a smaller group believed that the Prophet's son-in-law, Ali, should become the caliph. This reflected the belief that leadership of the Muslims is a divine right of the family of the Prophet (pbuh).
Muslims who believe that Abu Bakr should be the Prophet's successor have come to be known as Sunni. Muslims who believe Ali should have been the Prophet's successor are now known as Shia. The use of the word successor should not be confused to mean that that those that followed the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were also prophets - both Shia and Sunni agree that Muhammad (pbuh) was the final prophet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sunni_shia/
Comparison Chart
http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islamic_sects.htm
Introduction
The words Sunni and Shia appear regularly in stories about the Muslim world but few people know what they really mean. Religion permeates every aspect of life in Muslim countries and understanding Sunni and Shia beliefs is important in understanding the modern Muslim world.
The Beginnings
The division between the Sunnis and the Shia is the largest and oldest in the history of Islam. To understand it, it is good to know a little bit about the political legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
When the Prophet (pbuh) died in the early 7th Century he not only left the religion of Islam but also an Islamic State in the Arabian Peninsula with around one hundred thousand Muslim inhabitants. It was the question of who should succeed the Prophet (pbuh) and lead the fledgling Islamic state that created the divide.
One group of Muslims (the larger group) elected Abu Bakr, a close companion of the Prophet (pbuh) as the next caliph (leader) of the Muslims and he was duly appointed. However a smaller group believed that the Prophet's son-in-law, Ali, should become the caliph. This reflected the belief that leadership of the Muslims is a divine right of the family of the Prophet (pbuh).
Muslims who believe that Abu Bakr should be the Prophet's successor have come to be known as Sunni. Muslims who believe Ali should have been the Prophet's successor are now known as Shia. The use of the word successor should not be confused to mean that that those that followed the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were also prophets - both Shia and Sunni agree that Muhammad (pbuh) was the final prophet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sunni_shia/
Comparison Chart
http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islamic_sects.htm
The treatment of the Iraqi population is disgraceful from every aspect you look at. No, I am not yet finished. Now, I write my essay.
U.S. Hunt for Baath Members Humiliates, Angers Villagers
Deaths of Teenager and Two Others Spark Talk of Revenge
By Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, June 15, 2003; Page A14
THULUYA, Iraq -- Along orange groves and orchards of figs and pears watered by the timeless churn of the Tigris River, Hashim Mohammed Aani often sat before a bird cage he built of scrap wood and a loose lattice of chicken coop wire.
A chubby 15-year-old with a mop of curly black hair and a face still rounded by adolescence, he was quiet, painfully shy. Awkward might be the better word, his family said. For hours every day, outside a house perched near the riverbank, the youngest of six children languidly watched his four canaries and nightingale. Even in silence, they said, the birds were his closest companions.
On Monday morning, after a harrowing raid into this town by U.S. troops that deployed gunships, armored vehicles and soldiers edgy with anticipation, the family found Aani's body, two gunshots to his stomach, next to a bale of hay and a rusted can of vegetable oil. With soldiers occupying a house nearby, his corpse lay undisturbed for hours under a searing sun.
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/US_hunt_for_Baath_061503.htm
Islam in Iraq: Overview
Although members of the ruling Baath Party generally are ideologically committed to secularism, about 95 percent of Iraqis are Muslim and Islam is the officially recognized state religion. Islam came to the region with the victory of the Muslim armies under Caliph Umar over the Sassanians in A.D. 637 at the battle of Al Qadisiyah. The majority of inhabitants soon became Muslim, including the Kurds, although small communities of Christians and Jews remained intact in the area of present-day Iraq.
http://www.geocities.com/iraqinfo/islam/islam.html?20052
The Prophet of Islam - His Biography
IN the annals of men, individuals have not been lacking who conspicuously devoted their lives to the socio-religious reform of their connected peoples. We find them in every epoch and in all lands. In India, there lived those who transmitted to the world the Vedas, and there was also the great Gautama Buddha; China had its Confucius; the Avesta was produced in Iran. Babylonia gave to the world one of the greatest reformers, the Prophet Abraham (not to speak of such of his ancestors as Enoch and Noah about whom we have very scanty information). The Jewish people may rightly be proud of a long series of reformers: Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, and Jesus among others.
2. Two points are to note: Firstly these reformers claimed in general to be the bearers each of a Divine mission, and they left behind them sacred books incorporating codes of life for the guidance of their peoples. Secondly there followed fratricidal wars, and massacres and genocides became the order of the day, causing more or less a complete loss of these Divine messages. As to the books of Abraham, we know them only by the name; and as for the books of Moses, records tell us how they were repeatedly destroyed and only partly restored.
http://www.geocities.com/iraqinfo/islam/prophet.html?20052
Shi'a Islam or Shi`ism (from the Arabic word شيعة, short for the historic phrase shi`at `Ali شيعة علي, meaning "the followers of Ali") is the second-largest denomination of the religion of Islam. The singular/adjective form of this name is Arabic shi`i شيعي, traditionally translated into English as "Shiite" or "Shi'ite". This is used to refer to a follower of the Ahlul Bayt and in particular a follower of Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the Islamic prophet Muhammad's cousin, his son-in-law, and the father of Muhammad's only descendants. Ali was the male head of the Ahlul Bayt (Muhammad's household).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia
The following table analyzes the demographics of Islam as of September 2005.
The exact percentage of the world's Muslim population that adheres to the various Shi'a sects, as opposed to the majority Sunni group, is indeterminate. No Sunni-Shi'a breakdown is available for many countries. The CIA World Factbook gives a Sunni-Shi'a breakdown only for countries where Shi'a are a significant minority. When no breakdown is given, all the country's Muslims have been enrolled, provisionally, in the Sunni column. This is certain to have exaggerated the proportion of Sunni Muslims. Much further work will be required before the Sunni-Shi'a statistics given here can be considered reliable. At present, the figures indicate 88.7% Sunni and 11.13% Shi'a.
At present, the figures indicate 88.7% Sunni and 11.13% Shi'a.
At present, the figures indicate 88.7% Sunni and 11.13% Shi'a.
At present, the figures indicate 88.7% Sunni and 11.13% Shi'a.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Islam
Returning Iraq to the Iraqis. It isn't as difficult as you might BELIEVE.
A little more about Iran.
Ruhollah Khomeini — his given name means "inspired of God" — was born to a family of Shi'ite scholars in a village near Tehran in 1902. Shi'ism, a minority sect in Islam, is Iran's official religion. Like his father, he moved from theological studies to a career as an Islamic jurist. Throughout his life, he was acclaimed for the depth of his religious learning.
Rummy and Iraq
Rumsfeld might have been a moderate compared to Barry Goldwater, but over the years, his political profile moved to the right, whether as a function of relativity or driven by a actual change in attitude. Illustrative of this point, legend has it that Henry Kissinger describes Rumsfeld as the most ruthless man he ever met (and this is a guy who met Mao Tse-Tung and Augusto Pinochet, not to mention himself).
As the fabulous Ford years drew to a close, Donny R. chose to return to the private sector, focusing on super-lucrative jobs in pharmaceuticals and technology. Although he had no previous business experience, Rumsfeld beefed up his resume with implied political influence by simultaneously serving in a variety of government posts. He served in nearly a dozen special postings of one sort or another from 1982 to 2000.
Perhaps the most memorable of these roles came during the Reagan administration, when Rumsfeld was named special presidential envoy to the Middle East. According to the Washington Post and others, Rumsfeld was a major proponent of the Reagan administration's support of Iraq and its dictator Saddam Hussein.
As a conciliatory gesture, the U.S. removed Iraq from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1982, paving the way for Rumsfeld to visit Baghdad in 1983, about the midpoint of the decade-long Iran-Iraq war.
Commentary
Some would say the way one 'sees' it is the answer. Some would say it's all in a perspective. Some believe the people of Islam are ignorant and need guidance. Still others would say they are crude and cruel and it is the theocratic doctrine that is 'at fault.'
It is none of those.
We are all children of Abraham. But. We are all very, very different. Within in the Christian faith there are two big divisions, namely Catholic and Protestant. Under those divisions there are divisions and under those divisions there are divisions. Yet, they all practice worship to the same God.
In the Hebrew faith there are divisions and there are divisions within divisions but less so than Christian. But. They all worship the same God.
In Islam there are divisions within divisions of the faith. But. They all worship the same God.
This is all monotheism. There is polytheism in the world, namely Hinduism. Buddism sprang from the Hindus.
There is only one Holy Land. It belongs to the worlds' faiths. There are very fortunate people who live within that Holy Land and they are a majority Muslim. When you stop to consider the hugely varied interests in this region of the world and how that interests speaks to the very belief in God what then exists is a chronically charged set of circumstances and a whole lot of ownership problems.
Iraq is the very heart of Islam. The Iman Ali Mosque is the third Mecca for the Shi'ites. The pictures here also show a huge graveyard surrounding the Mosque. It goes to show how the Shi'ites feel about their faith and the proximity of it to their souls. Of course, the Shi'ites still recognize the Five Pillars of Faith of Islam. They still see the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina as their responsiblity. In many, many ways the Shi'ites are the fundamentalists to Islam. It is only logical that they are in the minority. Most fundamentalist faiths are.
The Shi'ites walk the holiest of the ground in Islam. They are keepers of the treasure so to speak. When the USA was about to kill al Sadr and his militia they were also going to destroy the Iman Ali Mosque. That was completely unthinkable and then to realize the one religious leader that could stop them and did was wisked away to London for a Heart Condition is to realize the Shi'ites were desperate beyond any imagination to hold their ground in Najaf. Al Sadr would have given his life to preserve that Mosque. Those people were not fighting against the USA, they were fighting for their right to exist as they had come to know it.
Not all Shi'ites live in Iraq. There are actually two countries where Shi'ites call home. Those two countries are Iraq and Iran. There is no way those two countries will ever have real borders. There are pilgramages all the time and they see their little corner of the world as a whole world of Allah and not two countries. For these people there are no borders between Iran and Iraq. As a matter of fact the enviable position of the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani as the keeper of the Pilgramage of the body of Iman Ali between Kufa and Najah is a precious one and he came from Iran to live his life's devotion. He is immoveable. So is al Sadr. He has lost his father and his grandfather to the Saddam tyranny. Najaf is home to him and the souls of his ancestry. He is immovable.
There is no hatred between the Shi'ites of Iran and Iraq. As a matter of fact those in Iran have a great deal of influence with those in Iraq because they are such a distance from their beloved Iman Ali. The problem here is not the Shi'ites or the Sunnis so much as it is Saddam Hussein. He warred with everyone. He warred with the USA from his balconey of his palances. There are few surrounding countries that Saddam did not invade.
The point is Bush and Blair have done the worst things possible. They have completely destabilized the region allowing the Sunnis to be cast out of paradise only to fight back and they have destabilized a very volitile country by removing the political parties of Saddam without realizing that once Saddam was gone things might turn around for those of the Baath and Sunni people.
The USA coalition forgot that Saddam would even kill his own. What made Bush and Blair this blastedly stupid to extricate the very infrastructure that supplied the Iraqi people with the Oil for Food Program and security within their borders ESPECIALLY realizing they were completely unprepared for providing security in the void that followed. These were and continue to be impoverished people. Of course they are going to loot when they can get away with it.
Iraq has never had much of a military. Even with all these invasions to surrounding countries and chronic border issues under Saddam they were always defeated. There is security in that for all their neighbors. Iraq does not need a large and highly skilled and very powerful military. Quite the contrary. Don Rumsfeld tried to make Saddam into the do all and end all of the Middle East back in the day but during the 'throes' of the Iran-Iraq war after the Aytollah took over in Iraq. Saddam billed himself as a moderate, a Arab interested in secularism for Iraq and for that he received vast amounts of military support with expectations of the West. That was a bad idea. See, Rumsfeld needed to redeem himself from his previous go round in Washington, Dc and it was just too good a deal to try and set the record straight after Carter's Administration washing out in Iran. Don to the rescue. So, Saddam was never seen as the aggressor even then.
But, why?
Why?
Because.
Because the USA made the same mistake then that it is making now and that is the fact they never bothered to LEARN ABOUT the people of the country. People are disposable. There are always to many around anyway. Especially those Arabs who don't even know or care to understand their own assets in their oil. Had the USA government bothered to check the religious dynamics with the Saddam dictatorship it would have realized Saddam was a Sunni and Iran was Shi'ite. Surprise, Saddam is a bigot.
Then as today the USA is serving it's own grievances and priorities at the expense of the safety of the Shi'ites and the miniority Sunnis in Iraq. The Shi'ites are so blastedly scared of the demise of their Holy Land by ANY people outside their faith that they are determined to be dominatant of the country of Iraq and inflexible otherwise. I don't blame them.
What prejudices the issues with Iran surrounds that of nuclear proliferation no different than North Korea, Pakistan and India whom are not supposed to have nuclear weapons. The issues the USA and the rest of the world are about issues other than Iraq and it's security. To think any regional country wants to invade Iraq is nonsense. The Shi'ites of Iran are not interested in killing the Shi'ites of Iraq. The security issues of Iraq are artifical created by the presence of the USA military.
The United States of America needs to leave Iraq. It is dangerously defining ethnic cleansing at the hand of the majority Shi'ites in Iraq by the simple fact they CAN though they SHOULD NOT. There is a lot of diplomacy that needs to take place here. Iraq is not afraid of Iran, nor should it be. The reason for the old Iran-Iraq War is gone. The bigot Saddam is in prison and will face the death sentence with certainty; to that end we can understand the assassinations of his attornies. The Iraqis will be fine and they won't be needing a huge and highly armed and skilled military anytime soon. If it ever fell into the "W"rong hands again. the Shi'ites would be facing the same peril. They do, however need food, water, electricity and their sanity returned to them without the benefit of American Propaganda.
Good night and good luck !
Ruhollah Khomeini — his given name means "inspired of God" — was born to a family of Shi'ite scholars in a village near Tehran in 1902. Shi'ism, a minority sect in Islam, is Iran's official religion. Like his father, he moved from theological studies to a career as an Islamic jurist. Throughout his life, he was acclaimed for the depth of his religious learning.
Rummy and Iraq
Rumsfeld might have been a moderate compared to Barry Goldwater, but over the years, his political profile moved to the right, whether as a function of relativity or driven by a actual change in attitude. Illustrative of this point, legend has it that Henry Kissinger describes Rumsfeld as the most ruthless man he ever met (and this is a guy who met Mao Tse-Tung and Augusto Pinochet, not to mention himself).
As the fabulous Ford years drew to a close, Donny R. chose to return to the private sector, focusing on super-lucrative jobs in pharmaceuticals and technology. Although he had no previous business experience, Rumsfeld beefed up his resume with implied political influence by simultaneously serving in a variety of government posts. He served in nearly a dozen special postings of one sort or another from 1982 to 2000.
Perhaps the most memorable of these roles came during the Reagan administration, when Rumsfeld was named special presidential envoy to the Middle East. According to the Washington Post and others, Rumsfeld was a major proponent of the Reagan administration's support of Iraq and its dictator Saddam Hussein.
As a conciliatory gesture, the U.S. removed Iraq from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1982, paving the way for Rumsfeld to visit Baghdad in 1983, about the midpoint of the decade-long Iran-Iraq war.
Commentary
Some would say the way one 'sees' it is the answer. Some would say it's all in a perspective. Some believe the people of Islam are ignorant and need guidance. Still others would say they are crude and cruel and it is the theocratic doctrine that is 'at fault.'
It is none of those.
We are all children of Abraham. But. We are all very, very different. Within in the Christian faith there are two big divisions, namely Catholic and Protestant. Under those divisions there are divisions and under those divisions there are divisions. Yet, they all practice worship to the same God.
In the Hebrew faith there are divisions and there are divisions within divisions but less so than Christian. But. They all worship the same God.
In Islam there are divisions within divisions of the faith. But. They all worship the same God.
This is all monotheism. There is polytheism in the world, namely Hinduism. Buddism sprang from the Hindus.
There is only one Holy Land. It belongs to the worlds' faiths. There are very fortunate people who live within that Holy Land and they are a majority Muslim. When you stop to consider the hugely varied interests in this region of the world and how that interests speaks to the very belief in God what then exists is a chronically charged set of circumstances and a whole lot of ownership problems.
Iraq is the very heart of Islam. The Iman Ali Mosque is the third Mecca for the Shi'ites. The pictures here also show a huge graveyard surrounding the Mosque. It goes to show how the Shi'ites feel about their faith and the proximity of it to their souls. Of course, the Shi'ites still recognize the Five Pillars of Faith of Islam. They still see the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina as their responsiblity. In many, many ways the Shi'ites are the fundamentalists to Islam. It is only logical that they are in the minority. Most fundamentalist faiths are.
The Shi'ites walk the holiest of the ground in Islam. They are keepers of the treasure so to speak. When the USA was about to kill al Sadr and his militia they were also going to destroy the Iman Ali Mosque. That was completely unthinkable and then to realize the one religious leader that could stop them and did was wisked away to London for a Heart Condition is to realize the Shi'ites were desperate beyond any imagination to hold their ground in Najaf. Al Sadr would have given his life to preserve that Mosque. Those people were not fighting against the USA, they were fighting for their right to exist as they had come to know it.
Not all Shi'ites live in Iraq. There are actually two countries where Shi'ites call home. Those two countries are Iraq and Iran. There is no way those two countries will ever have real borders. There are pilgramages all the time and they see their little corner of the world as a whole world of Allah and not two countries. For these people there are no borders between Iran and Iraq. As a matter of fact the enviable position of the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani as the keeper of the Pilgramage of the body of Iman Ali between Kufa and Najah is a precious one and he came from Iran to live his life's devotion. He is immoveable. So is al Sadr. He has lost his father and his grandfather to the Saddam tyranny. Najaf is home to him and the souls of his ancestry. He is immovable.
There is no hatred between the Shi'ites of Iran and Iraq. As a matter of fact those in Iran have a great deal of influence with those in Iraq because they are such a distance from their beloved Iman Ali. The problem here is not the Shi'ites or the Sunnis so much as it is Saddam Hussein. He warred with everyone. He warred with the USA from his balconey of his palances. There are few surrounding countries that Saddam did not invade.
The point is Bush and Blair have done the worst things possible. They have completely destabilized the region allowing the Sunnis to be cast out of paradise only to fight back and they have destabilized a very volitile country by removing the political parties of Saddam without realizing that once Saddam was gone things might turn around for those of the Baath and Sunni people.
The USA coalition forgot that Saddam would even kill his own. What made Bush and Blair this blastedly stupid to extricate the very infrastructure that supplied the Iraqi people with the Oil for Food Program and security within their borders ESPECIALLY realizing they were completely unprepared for providing security in the void that followed. These were and continue to be impoverished people. Of course they are going to loot when they can get away with it.
Iraq has never had much of a military. Even with all these invasions to surrounding countries and chronic border issues under Saddam they were always defeated. There is security in that for all their neighbors. Iraq does not need a large and highly skilled and very powerful military. Quite the contrary. Don Rumsfeld tried to make Saddam into the do all and end all of the Middle East back in the day but during the 'throes' of the Iran-Iraq war after the Aytollah took over in Iraq. Saddam billed himself as a moderate, a Arab interested in secularism for Iraq and for that he received vast amounts of military support with expectations of the West. That was a bad idea. See, Rumsfeld needed to redeem himself from his previous go round in Washington, Dc and it was just too good a deal to try and set the record straight after Carter's Administration washing out in Iran. Don to the rescue. So, Saddam was never seen as the aggressor even then.
But, why?
Why?
Because.
Because the USA made the same mistake then that it is making now and that is the fact they never bothered to LEARN ABOUT the people of the country. People are disposable. There are always to many around anyway. Especially those Arabs who don't even know or care to understand their own assets in their oil. Had the USA government bothered to check the religious dynamics with the Saddam dictatorship it would have realized Saddam was a Sunni and Iran was Shi'ite. Surprise, Saddam is a bigot.
Then as today the USA is serving it's own grievances and priorities at the expense of the safety of the Shi'ites and the miniority Sunnis in Iraq. The Shi'ites are so blastedly scared of the demise of their Holy Land by ANY people outside their faith that they are determined to be dominatant of the country of Iraq and inflexible otherwise. I don't blame them.
What prejudices the issues with Iran surrounds that of nuclear proliferation no different than North Korea, Pakistan and India whom are not supposed to have nuclear weapons. The issues the USA and the rest of the world are about issues other than Iraq and it's security. To think any regional country wants to invade Iraq is nonsense. The Shi'ites of Iran are not interested in killing the Shi'ites of Iraq. The security issues of Iraq are artifical created by the presence of the USA military.
The United States of America needs to leave Iraq. It is dangerously defining ethnic cleansing at the hand of the majority Shi'ites in Iraq by the simple fact they CAN though they SHOULD NOT. There is a lot of diplomacy that needs to take place here. Iraq is not afraid of Iran, nor should it be. The reason for the old Iran-Iraq War is gone. The bigot Saddam is in prison and will face the death sentence with certainty; to that end we can understand the assassinations of his attornies. The Iraqis will be fine and they won't be needing a huge and highly armed and skilled military anytime soon. If it ever fell into the "W"rong hands again. the Shi'ites would be facing the same peril. They do, however need food, water, electricity and their sanity returned to them without the benefit of American Propaganda.
Good night and good luck !
keep the faith by Bon Jovi
mother mother tell your children
that their time has just begun
I have suffered for my anger
there are wars that can't be won
father father please believe me
I am laying down my guns
I am broken like an arrow
forgive me forgive your wayward son
everybody needs somebody to love
(mother mother)
everybody needs somebody to hate
(please believe me)
everybody's bitching
'cause they can't get enough
and it's hard to hold on
when there's no one to lean on
faith: you know you're gonna live thru the rain
lord you got to keep the faith
faith: don't let your love turn to hate
right now we got to
keep the faith
keep the faith
keep the faith
lord we got to keep the faith
tell me baby when I hurt you
do you keep it all inside
do you tell me all's forgiven
and just hide behind your pride
everybody needs somebody to love
(mother, father)
everybody needs somebody to hate
(please don't leave me)
everybody's bleeding
'cause the times are though
well it's hard to be strong
when there's no one to dream on
faith: you know you're gonna live thru the rain
lord you got to keep the faith
now you know is not too late
oh you got to keep the faith
faith: don't you let your love turn to hate
right now we got to
keep the faith
keep the faith
keep the faith
lord we got to keep the faith
walking in the footsteps
of society's lies
I don't like what I see no more
sometimes I wish I was blind
sometimes I wait forever
to stand out in the rain
so no one sees me cryin'
trying to wash away the pain
mother father there's things I've done I can't erase
every night we fall from grace
It's hard with the world in your face
trying to hold, trying to hold on
faith: you know you're gonna to live thru the rain
lord you got to keep the faith
faith: don't let your love turn to hate
right now we got to keep the faith
faith: now it's not too late
try to hold on, trying to hold on
keep the faith
that their time has just begun
I have suffered for my anger
there are wars that can't be won
father father please believe me
I am laying down my guns
I am broken like an arrow
forgive me forgive your wayward son
everybody needs somebody to love
(mother mother)
everybody needs somebody to hate
(please believe me)
everybody's bitching
'cause they can't get enough
and it's hard to hold on
when there's no one to lean on
faith: you know you're gonna live thru the rain
lord you got to keep the faith
faith: don't let your love turn to hate
right now we got to
keep the faith
keep the faith
keep the faith
lord we got to keep the faith
tell me baby when I hurt you
do you keep it all inside
do you tell me all's forgiven
and just hide behind your pride
everybody needs somebody to love
(mother, father)
everybody needs somebody to hate
(please don't leave me)
everybody's bleeding
'cause the times are though
well it's hard to be strong
when there's no one to dream on
faith: you know you're gonna live thru the rain
lord you got to keep the faith
now you know is not too late
oh you got to keep the faith
faith: don't you let your love turn to hate
right now we got to
keep the faith
keep the faith
keep the faith
lord we got to keep the faith
walking in the footsteps
of society's lies
I don't like what I see no more
sometimes I wish I was blind
sometimes I wait forever
to stand out in the rain
so no one sees me cryin'
trying to wash away the pain
mother father there's things I've done I can't erase
every night we fall from grace
It's hard with the world in your face
trying to hold, trying to hold on
faith: you know you're gonna to live thru the rain
lord you got to keep the faith
faith: don't let your love turn to hate
right now we got to keep the faith
faith: now it's not too late
try to hold on, trying to hold on
keep the faith
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