
When I look at the history of Iraq after the war and the incidents that took place, I conclude that all of the events are part of one big major well studied plan, specially the recent events.
If we look back at the announced causes of the war, and the announcements that followed the occupation which stated that the war was a mistake and no weapons of mass destruction or links between Alqaeda and Saddam's regiment were found; we will know that it was a big fat lie, because (as I see it) it's unbelievable that the US intelligence or the spies from all over the world who were in Iraq couldn't know that there was no weapons or links, so that wasn't the cause, and someone would say the war was to liberate Iraq and Iraqis, I would say it's nonsense to spend those millions and scarifies those soldiers for a country that is thousands miles away, it's nonsense because there are many countries without oil or strategic position that is ruled by a regiment much more worst than Saddam's, why didn't the US go there and liberated them?
The reason behind the war was to control the oil, turn Iraq into a war zone to fight Alqaeda and terrorism (that was announced by the white house), and turn Iraq into an American base through which they can control the Middle East and the whole east including Iran and Russia (Iraq and Afghanistan).
In fact, sometimes when I think deeper, I begin to think that Alqaeda is not something that happened accidentally, it was meant to be, it was the best reason to start any war (the national security). This is not something certain, and I don't think like this all the time, but still it's a possibility.
The situation in Iraq and the disasters that happened in it wasn't something uncontrolled or unplanned, in contrary , it was carefully planned (as I think sometimes) although sometimes it went out of control because manipulating fire is not an easy thing, let's start with the looting that happened after the war, it was in front of the US troops and they did nothing to stop it, they weren't ordered to stop it and soldiers can't act by them selves, although the looting continued for many days but no orders were made, why is that?
And then to the most important issue in Iraq which is the sectarian violence, it was something planned for and something that must happen, it was meant to happen from day one, whether from raising the issue of sects and who should govern Iraq depending on the sect, they gave the advantage of one sect over the another instead of preventing the injustice of any sect and give the proper position to the proper man regardless of his sect, or by lettings those twisted sectarian leaders killing and acting as they want without anyone to be afraid of, or through the ill constitution that had many gaps and which made the sectarian violence problem even deeper, it was a certain thing that fanatics from both sects will fight each other and drag with them the rest of the people into the blood bath, the constitution is very silly to a way that it has two laws that contradict each other, this contradiction was exposed in the case of Sultan Hashim's hanging.
In the previous paragraphs I just wanted to give a quick view to support what I'm going to say, in the last month or let's say in 2 weeks, things have really improved in what used to be called "Hot zones" like Adhamyia, Alamria and Aljamiaa after more than a year and a half while other areas are the same, the situation improved in less than two weeks??! While no one even dreamed that it can improve! How could that be? If it's that simple why didn't they do it long time ago? It wasn't that hard, just big cash to give and that's it.
They didn't do it because it wasn't the right time. I'm not Nostradamus to know why now, but I think it is related to the US elections, it is so related to the US economy that is greatly affected by this war, it's time to begin with the projects in Iraq that will bring the US economy unlimited benefits but needs stable security situations at the same time, and it’s time to withdraw the troops while keeping the interests of the US government in Iraq, it is related to Iran because if things continued like this in Iraq, the US can't protect it's self from the Iranian threats or stop the nuclear program and also I'd like to think about the relation with the recent oil and gas law, and this law is the best thing that can happen to the US economy if it got approved, I believe there are many other reasons that is beyond my (and many others) knowledge but these are the most obvious.
I anticipate that in the next 8 months we will see a great change in the Iraqi political scene, many politicians will be wiped away, because they were tools to do the dirty jobs and as we call these people in Iraq (Shit's pincers), they are expired now and need to be replaced with new fresh faces to begin a new era in the Iraqi history, and this will really help Bush and his party in coming elections.
And for some recent updates, as I heard from an officer in the awakening movement that they don't like to be called awakening, they call them selves Adhamyia Revolutionists!! And by the way when people outside Iraq is hearing about the improvements they have the idea that everything is very good and it's so safe now, well, I'd like to make a correction; the "Hot zones" are way much better, because they were very disturbed before, it's relatively OK now, but the rest of the areas are almost the same, for example while I was writing this post there was two earth shocking explosions, and there was the 10 missiles attack in AlShaab few days ago and even yesterday I was in Palestine St. when a side road explosive detonated very close to me, I saw it in my own eyes…
I must say that the awakening movements and the improvements is a really great thing and I'm so happy with it, and I wish the security situation improves much more so we can be as near to normal as possible, but I have one question in mind; who pays the salaries for the awakening members? When you know the answer you will know that all what I have said is true, you will know that they could do this long time ago but they didn't because it wasn't the right time yet and you will finally know that it's all part of the big plan, and few who knows what are the coming chapters in it.
If we look back at the announced causes of the war, and the announcements that followed the occupation which stated that the war was a mistake and no weapons of mass destruction or links between Alqaeda and Saddam's regiment were found; we will know that it was a big fat lie, because (as I see it) it's unbelievable that the US intelligence or the spies from all over the world who were in Iraq couldn't know that there was no weapons or links, so that wasn't the cause, and someone would say the war was to liberate Iraq and Iraqis, I would say it's nonsense to spend those millions and scarifies those soldiers for a country that is thousands miles away, it's nonsense because there are many countries without oil or strategic position that is ruled by a regiment much more worst than Saddam's, why didn't the US go there and liberated them?
The reason behind the war was to control the oil, turn Iraq into a war zone to fight Alqaeda and terrorism (that was announced by the white house), and turn Iraq into an American base through which they can control the Middle East and the whole east including Iran and Russia (Iraq and Afghanistan).
In fact, sometimes when I think deeper, I begin to think that Alqaeda is not something that happened accidentally, it was meant to be, it was the best reason to start any war (the national security). This is not something certain, and I don't think like this all the time, but still it's a possibility.
The situation in Iraq and the disasters that happened in it wasn't something uncontrolled or unplanned, in contrary , it was carefully planned (as I think sometimes) although sometimes it went out of control because manipulating fire is not an easy thing, let's start with the looting that happened after the war, it was in front of the US troops and they did nothing to stop it, they weren't ordered to stop it and soldiers can't act by them selves, although the looting continued for many days but no orders were made, why is that?
And then to the most important issue in Iraq which is the sectarian violence, it was something planned for and something that must happen, it was meant to happen from day one, whether from raising the issue of sects and who should govern Iraq depending on the sect, they gave the advantage of one sect over the another instead of preventing the injustice of any sect and give the proper position to the proper man regardless of his sect, or by lettings those twisted sectarian leaders killing and acting as they want without anyone to be afraid of, or through the ill constitution that had many gaps and which made the sectarian violence problem even deeper, it was a certain thing that fanatics from both sects will fight each other and drag with them the rest of the people into the blood bath, the constitution is very silly to a way that it has two laws that contradict each other, this contradiction was exposed in the case of Sultan Hashim's hanging.
In the previous paragraphs I just wanted to give a quick view to support what I'm going to say, in the last month or let's say in 2 weeks, things have really improved in what used to be called "Hot zones" like Adhamyia, Alamria and Aljamiaa after more than a year and a half while other areas are the same, the situation improved in less than two weeks??! While no one even dreamed that it can improve! How could that be? If it's that simple why didn't they do it long time ago? It wasn't that hard, just big cash to give and that's it.
They didn't do it because it wasn't the right time. I'm not Nostradamus to know why now, but I think it is related to the US elections, it is so related to the US economy that is greatly affected by this war, it's time to begin with the projects in Iraq that will bring the US economy unlimited benefits but needs stable security situations at the same time, and it’s time to withdraw the troops while keeping the interests of the US government in Iraq, it is related to Iran because if things continued like this in Iraq, the US can't protect it's self from the Iranian threats or stop the nuclear program and also I'd like to think about the relation with the recent oil and gas law, and this law is the best thing that can happen to the US economy if it got approved, I believe there are many other reasons that is beyond my (and many others) knowledge but these are the most obvious.
I anticipate that in the next 8 months we will see a great change in the Iraqi political scene, many politicians will be wiped away, because they were tools to do the dirty jobs and as we call these people in Iraq (Shit's pincers), they are expired now and need to be replaced with new fresh faces to begin a new era in the Iraqi history, and this will really help Bush and his party in coming elections.
And for some recent updates, as I heard from an officer in the awakening movement that they don't like to be called awakening, they call them selves Adhamyia Revolutionists!! And by the way when people outside Iraq is hearing about the improvements they have the idea that everything is very good and it's so safe now, well, I'd like to make a correction; the "Hot zones" are way much better, because they were very disturbed before, it's relatively OK now, but the rest of the areas are almost the same, for example while I was writing this post there was two earth shocking explosions, and there was the 10 missiles attack in AlShaab few days ago and even yesterday I was in Palestine St. when a side road explosive detonated very close to me, I saw it in my own eyes…
I must say that the awakening movements and the improvements is a really great thing and I'm so happy with it, and I wish the security situation improves much more so we can be as near to normal as possible, but I have one question in mind; who pays the salaries for the awakening members? When you know the answer you will know that all what I have said is true, you will know that they could do this long time ago but they didn't because it wasn't the right time yet and you will finally know that it's all part of the big plan, and few who knows what are the coming chapters in it.





43 comments:
I am the first one to want to see improvements in Iraq. Bush gave free reign to a bunch of incompetent people in Iraq, starting with believing Chalabi in the first place. Bremer made big big mistakes while he was there running the show. Rumsfeld's response to the looting in those first days was, "freedom is untidy." The first places to be secured in Iraq all had to do with the oil industry. Rumsfeld is gone and although the new guy isn't perfect, he's a lot better. Some of the changes could be credited to different leadership. Some of it goes directly to incompetence. The rest of it is open to speculation the way you have suggested. Then there are all the other outside agitators, like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia making mischief in Iraq. Some of the credit to the better conditions now are going to Iran stopping support for militias and letting munitions go into Iraq. Other's say Syria is doing a better job of stopping jihadis from going to Iraq. There are so many ingredients in this toxic soup that is Iraq, I'm not sure we will ever know the whole truth. As for our election, Iraq was the big factor in 2004 and 2006, so of course it will be a factor in 2008. Still, Bush has kicked his party to the curb. I'm hoping the Democrats will everything next November in a big way. Thanks for your insight, Mohammed.
If you had full possession of the facts, you'd know that
SADDAM'S OWN GENERALS IN HIS ARMY THOUGHT THAT THEY HAD WMDS.
You'll have a lot more credibility if you quit twisting the truth.
it could be a plan, or it could be the biggest mess up in the entire world based on a crappy president and bad intelligence
2 things to point out
1. thankfully bush cant run for a 3rd term but i don't see many republicans primaries screaming to stay in iraq as much as bush did
2. FBI and CIA don't work together, why does this matter? that means that if intelligence that proved there was no WMD or they where all moved to another country were provided, the CIA and the FBI would not have a efficient way of doing the info since there major rivals, the FBI and the CIA are always trying to top each other, i would not be surprised if they withheld info just so they can make the other one look bad, its sad but thats how it works
Average Americans, like myself, want nothing more than peace and freedom for the people of Iraq. We support our troops being there in the hopes that one day that peaceful freedom will be achieved. We are frustrated by the politics, too. If we had our way, we would have filled the streets of Iraq with every US military resource available. Had we done things the good old fashioned American way, peace and freedom would have filled your streets long ago. Alas, too many politicals in American politics today haven't the spine nor the will to do things the right way anymore and so the people of Iraq suffer while the US politicians bicker. It is sickening to the average American. We want nothing but peace and freedom for all peoples. The sad fact is we have all of the power and capabilities to make that happen for you in Iraq, but unfortunately, no longer the will. I am sorry for you. Truly, I am.
I don't think feeling the streets with millions of forces and weaken positions around the world is going to help Iraq
I guess my question to you, Mohammed, is "Do you think the future of Iraq will be better or worse for its people?"
My major point that I want to reach in this post is that why we had to go through all of this when it's so easy to control! two weeks? why so many had to die from all the sides? when it could be controlled in two weeks?
and to the guy who tells me that I'm twisting the truth!!!
well, any iraqi child knows that we don't have WMDS and the generals too, don't listen to the generals who were payed to say so because they were paid to say that so the war could be legal, by the way what was the UN doing for many years during the sanction? weren't they searching for these weapons? why didn't they find it? because there is none..... what truth I'm twisting? I never twist a truth but I'm an Iraqi and I live in the war zone, but you listen to what your media tells you and take it as the truth....that's the difference.
the future is unclear till now but I wish that it will be better, I don't want to be optimisted then I might be shocked with the truth, but things seems to go in the right way
[mohammed] "I must say that the awakening movements and the improvements is a really great thing and I'm so happy with it, and I wish the security situation improves much more so we can be as near to normal as possible, but I have one question in mind; who pays the salaries for the awakening members? When you know the answer you will know that all what I have said is true, you will know that they could do this long time ago but they didn't because it wasn't the right time yet and you will finally know that it's all part of the big plan, and few who knows what are the coming chapters in it."
You've put your finger on the problem, Mohammed.
The Americans pay the Awakening members and the members of all sorts of militias that were previously fighting them. Some Shiekhs have received hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop killing American soldiers. This COULD have been done earlier, sure. But the truth is, the Neoconservative movement in America has always been keen on toppling Iran. They thought they could do it by supporting SCIRI and BADR but that plan was a big flop, as any child with some sense could see it would be.
Now, what I fear the next move is, is to arm the "sunnis" and get them ready for a fight with the "shias".
Why? Well, if the US bombs Iran, there are lots of Iraqi Shia that will be angry and will try to attack and kill American troops. That's when the Sunni militias will come in handy to fight them, and what we will have is Iraqi killing Iraqi on behalf of the invader, yet again.
There is a lot of opposition to striking Iran from the US generals, who can see the disaster this will be for their army. I hope it never happens.
Read this article on the larger US strategy:
"Flynt Leverett, a former Bush Administration National Security Council official, told me that "there is nothing coincidental or ironic" about the new strategy with regard to Iraq. "The Administration is trying to make a case that Iran is more dangerous and more provocative than the Sunni insurgents to American interests in Iraq, when - if you look at the actual casualty numbers - the punishment inflicted on America by the Sunnis is greater by an order of magnitude," Leverett said. "This is all part of the campaign of provocative steps to increase the pressure on Iran. The idea is that at some point the Iranians will respond and then the Administration will have an open door to strike at them.""
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022507Z.shtml
I agree with you, Mohammed.
Great post Mohammed. I agree with many of your conclusions.
WMD:s? - No.
Al Qaeda connection? - No.
Bringing democracy? - LOL! No.
Sionist world dominance scheme? - No
Oil? - Hell yeah!
PLEASE DON'T GET CRAZY!
I am really very very very sad for Iraq. And though I think the invasion was a disaster for the entire world(Just look at Wall Street...), I really hope things will improve.
However, don't you think that it would be crazy to think that all this mess was planned by the US, while thousands of their soldiers died? And unilke Vietnam, most of the deads are white and come from typical conservative areas in the South or the Mid-West? And don't you think that it is fundamentally crazy to think that the US planned everything, while they were so stupid to make thousands and thousands of mistakes in Iraq?
Mohammed, your thinking is clear and cogent. The USA wanted chaos in Iraq and wanted the population reduced as much as possible. The plan was to pit Iraqis against each other, so that the civil war would make Iraq easier to control by an occupying force and to also reduce the population. They used the Machivellian tactic of "Divide and conquer."
Over one million Iraqis have been killed, around four million have fled the country. We don't know how many have been seriously injured. The health system is almost in tatters which has resulted in the neo-natal death rate rising dramatically and the life extectancy rate has been severely reduced. Contagion is raging in some of the slum areas such as Sadr City.
Out of a pre-war population of 25 million Iraqis, how many are left now? Around 17 million? Of this 17 million how many are healthy?
What is the net reproduction rate?
Is it more than 2.6? What is the incidence of children surviving past the age of five? Studies are showing more and more Iraqi babies are being born with birth defects.
Iraqi Doctors are worried about depleted uranium and the rise of premature cancers.
In conclusion, I believe the chaos was planned to effectively weaken Iraq and destroy any chance that Iraqis would consolidate into one fighting entity to defeat the occupiers.
The USA intends to annexe Iraq as a colony of its own and have no intentions of leaving. A certain proportion of the Iraqi population will be allowed to live. They will fulfil the role of "citizens of the new American democratized Iraq, ever grateful to the USA".
This population will provide the puppet government, security guards for American corporations, a certain percentage of the police force, farm labourers, and domestic servants for the growing numbers of American families who will move to Iraq.
The odd, individual Iraqi will be allowed to have a prestigious position, ie a media figurehead. These people will be held up and used as "examples" of people America "liberated".
Increasingly, the population of Iraq will turn into a majority American born population with a dwindling minority Iraqi born.
Mohammed, Saddam did claim to have chemical and nuclear weapons. His main objective was to keep Iran worried. He did not expect American oil interests to use this excuse against him, however, and overthrow him. All the time, he thought Iran was his greatest foe, not realizing that our intelligence 'found' these weapons and gave reason for an invasion.
But the fact is, I think cooler heads will prevail when it comes to Iran, and that their leverage over Iraq will prevent us from going to war. Similarly, mainstream Iranian recognition that war with America would be a disaster would prevent an increase in Revolutionary Guard flow to Shi'a insurgents. Eventually, the idiot of a president Iran has will be replaced with a reformist, and he'll see the value in at least cooperating with a new Iraq.
"SADDAM'S OWN GENERALS IN HIS ARMY THOUGHT THAT THEY HAD WMDS."
Even after Saddam went on TV in February 2003 and said that he didn't have any? boy, are they gullible.
I figured it out (while in North Carolina) in 2002 that we would not find any nuclear WMDs in Iraq. Any one with a brain and an internet connection could figure that out.
If Saddam had had nukes in 2002, we would have never gone in there.
"We want nothing but peace and freedom for all peoples."
and bin Laden wanted the same things for Americans, I'm sure - that's how people express such a desire - by bombing them.
And Mohammed - you are right - it is about oil and control of the area.... control of the oil, to be exact. As to why all the things that happened - go read THE SHOCK DOCTRINE and you will have a clearer idea of what the agenda truly is.
I think there are basically three ways to do a counter-insurgency.... civil war, genocide, and bribery.
They are trying bribery right now.
Let's hope they never try all out genocide.
and 'friend from germany' - you can bet your last dollar that a lot of this was planned - and not by the State Department or regular military guys. Go see the movie "No End In Sight" to see all the "mistakes" they planned and deliberately made - but do not look at that movie to understand WHY they did it. Go read the book THE SHOCK DOCTRINE to figure out WHY.
Bruno,
That's a good way of thinking, what you said might be possible, it might be the next move but I wish this will never happen, because I think we had enough.
Friendly,
you and me think like this, but not the politicians and presedents.... they think of the soldiers as tools, sacrifice for the best of the nation....etc.
Mohammed,
It took a lot more than two simple weeks. I knew months ago, when the concrete barriers started going up, efforts to get AQ out of Adhamiya were beginning. So, it started at least that long ago.
Even so, the real reason that things are improving in Adhamiya is because the people of Adhamiya have finally decided to take their neighborhood back.
When Nabil was still in Adhamiya, he saw AQ every day. He knew who many of them were, and he knew they were destroying his neighborhood. But he would not help the American military do anything about it because he was too afraid.
We can set up checkpoints, put up concrete barriers, and engage in gun battles with people who attack us, but until the people themselves swallow their fear and begin to tell us who the bad guys are, where they are hiding, and where they keep their weapons, there's not a hell of a lot we can do.
Bridget
Mohammed,
Bridget is correct. What you are seeing are the results of months and months of work.
I'm sorry, Mohammed, but I disagree with quite a bit of your post here.
The sections of this blog entitled Adhamiya Dispatches are observations from a resident of Adhamiya.
Bridget
why we had to go through all of this when it's so easy to control! two weeks?
this is very easy. imagine if, instead of all of bremmers policies, the general infrastructure had stayed in place, many people had not lost their jobs, the army had not been dismanteled, and there still could have been a lot of back handed deals flaoting about, but no mayhem ensueing. or just nothing so drstic. for a big starter just imagine if people had not been treated so differently depending on sect. even if many people resisted but didn't have the moral backing from most iraqis who wanted peace and hope for a new country.
well? did you imagine this? now, beside oil (so obvious) what is the most important reason the US is there? of course as it is pointed out earlier in the thread it is for america to have a permanant presence in the ME and iraq was chosen for many reasons.
what if the war had gone swimmingly and everybody was happy and then the US says, ok, we want some permanent bases? no, iraqis have to 'need' the US for there 'protection'. to save them from themselves. iraqis more than anything needed an enemy besides the US and saddam was not enough. AQ is a perfect enemy. now there was no AQ per se in iraq earlier and what was there could have been squished but that didn't happen, they grew, and this is important to ask how and why and in what way did having this illusive, often foriegn, certainly evil enemy in iraq, how did it serve war?
what iraq has and what america wants is not something we can simply take and go home, that is why we need to be able to contain irraq over a long period of time and that is not something that cbn be achieved over night. it can't even be achieved in a year. it is a generational thing.
the most important thing to subdue a society i would imagine would be to eliminate those that potentially are your greatest threat. notice the word potential, in other words even people who are not intially against you.
in iraq, who might they be? the strongest males both mentally and physically. what is the fastest way to achieve this? to have them kill eachother.
of course the worst thing is to be seen as organizing this. as soon as things get too bloody awful it penetrates the msm in the states and an election comes up we can seen to be the only thing that can make hope in iraq. now i agree the long term goals are to destabalize not just iraq but iran. after a good solid chunk of the strongest of the fighting force are dead, for many of the educated up and leave naturally, the people who have been puppets and lame greedys will get their come upance. but not too fast of course.
at some point the US is going to need a lot of male, fighting age, to defend iraq (and the US in iraq) agaist iran becasue the US doesn't want to be fighting them.
do you have any idea how the US might find 10's of thousands of young fighting age sunni males that have been somehow protected from death in iraq. they are all hangng out together rounded up waiting in cells.
just saying.
“Don’t do it too fast,” said Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik
anyone who doesn't think this has been done by design is simply not thinking clearly. i can understand giveing the US the benefit of the doubt early on but there is just so much one can expect the average person to accept in the way of 'mistakes'.
one of the long term goals is to divide iraq into regions. this 'soft partition' is what you are seeing now. at the end of that link there is a segment on the battalions going back to there regions. there will probably be a version of 'cleansing' of neighborhood for the purpose of more division of the regions.
the only way iraq can eradicate itself of this foriegn occupation and heal itself is to unite. that will be very very tricky given the agitation inspired by... who?
“The White House has been informed conceptually,” said one senior Bush administration official, referring to planning. “Fundamentally, this concept is not going to change.”
this article is total propaganda framing. what this means is this is the 'concept' we are supposed to endure. we're 'training' iraqis....and arming them.. w/ an awareness there is an eventability they will kill eachother.
sorry, inevitability. sorry for the other typos too.
Arabs do love a good conspiracy theory Mohammed. Fact is,Saddam wanted the world to think he had WMD's. He liked playing Arab strongman. My own pet theory is that Bush Jr. had Saddam in his sights because Saddam tried to assasinate Bush Sr.
You've got to be kidding on the oil thing. Oil was $18 a barrel under Saddam. $98 now. Saddam was smuggling oil through Syria and Jordan,and undercutting OPEC in the process. Today,nothing keeps OPEC from running prices through the roof.
As for why the awakening didn't happen earlier? Well,the sheiks had to turn on Al Qaida first. We tried to drive a wedge between Al Qaida and the other insurgents from day one. If you'll remember,the government announced a willingness to negotiate with everyone but Al Qaida from the beginning. Of course the U.S. is paying the awakening salaries. Perhaps you can offer to pay them instead? The Iraqi government hasn't shown a willingness to.
News flash Mohammed. There is no grand puppetmaster pulling life's strings. Shit happens,and the White House reads about it the next morning like everyone else. It may be comforting to believe someone has a handle on the levers....but that ain't happening.
Someone in the White House must have missed a switch...
"Three soldiers and ten civilians were killed after gunmen attacked the headquarters of an Awakening Council in Hawr Rajab, a Sunni village south of Baghdad.
In a similar incident 11 people were killed after al-Qaeda fighters attacked Al-Kulaiyah, a village 25km (15 miles) north of Baquba. A few hours after that, al-Qaeda fighters attacked the nearby village of Qobat, but the villagers defended themselves and ten of the invaders were killed. The attack came a day after leaflets warning Sunni Arabs against becoming American allies were distributed in the village.
Documents seized by US troops in an insurgent camp in northwest Iraq showed that about 40 per cent of foreign fighters had come from Saudi Arabia. Libyans were the second largest group, accounting for 18 per cent of 700 foreign militants listed, The New York Times reported. US officials said the number of foreign fighters in Iraq was falling. (AFP) "
Someone in the White House must have missed a switch...
The Bush Administration knew that Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf planned to institute emergency rule but did not act or speak out about the plan, according to officials with knowledge of the discussion who spoke anonymously in Friday's Wall Street Journal .
ok everybody! to the tune of carly simon's 'you're so vain'..
(dedicated to 'There is no grand puppetmaster ' perry)
i'm so benign
i bet you know this song is about me
i'm so benign
i bet you know this song is about me
don't you
don't you..
i walked into your country like i was walkin into _______
It may be comforting to believe someone has a handle on the levers
comforting? to know the neocons are driving the agenda.
you're so vain
US officials said the number of foreign fighters in Iraq was falling.
so what? the percentage of foreign fighters has always been scant.
Mohammed broadcasts to the nation (UK)!
Saturday 24 November 2007, on BBC Radio 4, early evening magazine programme on the BBC's "flagship" speech radio channel. See links on this page to podcast and download.
I see that the ludicrous Lynnette and Bridget still think they are better informed than anyone actually living in Baghdad. Can't you see how silly you sound, you two, with your presumption?
So perry1961, how many Arabs do you know?
"So perry1961, how many Arabs do you know?"
Actually,one of my long time acquaintances is an Imam Indigo. He also has a chain of service stations and employs dozens of Arabs. I know most of them on a first name basis. I'm not kidding when I say Arabs love a conspiracy theory. I've heard 'em all. It's mostly wishful thinking imo. They WANT to think someone somewhere has a plan. Some kind of grand design. Trust me,this White House ain't got a clue. It couldn't plan its way out of a wet paper bag. It just finally got something right by putting Petraeus in charge.
This is such an awful mess. I can't believe Bush hasn't been impeached! We are just holding our breathe here waiting for the end of him. It will be less than a year now. What an awful man, and what awful company he keeps. The polls show his approval rating to be less than Richard Nixon, which is just amazing. I really can't believe he hasn't been brought up on charges.
I hope the rest of the world doesn't confuse him with Americans, as all the Americans I've spoken to can't stand him. He won the election illegally, which is a very sad fact this country has to wake up to. I can't believe congress didn't do anything when this was brought to them in the year 2000. America has always done pretty good, however since Nixon was president, more lying scum get into the white house. I hope our next president has courage and integrity.
"I see that the ludicrous Lynnette and Bridget still think they are better informed than anyone actually living in Baghdad."
I made any number of posts to the comments section on Nabil's blog warning him that operations to clear AQ out of Adhamiya would be beginning soon after the concrete barriers were put up, and suggesting he should probably leave for a while because he could get caught up in the fighting. (You remember Rachel, all that happened right before you tried to guilt Nabil and Zeyad into paying you 100UKP that they can't afford.) I didn't need to live there to figure out what was going down, just needed to be able to put two and two together.
As for the link I posted regarding how the effort to restore security to Adhamiya is unfolding, that comes from somebody who LIVES IN ADHAMIYA.
Bridget
I have been reading your blogs with great interest. I appreciate getting a perspective from an actual Iraqi citizen.
I'm certainly aware that about 80 percent of public news is propaganda and/or a bias opinion.
We don't have independent News people in Iraq and if we did their reports would be heavily censored in our country.
Any communication with a foreignor can be spied on, including this post. So, it discourages people from getting more involved in what truth is. As causes restraint in what they can say.
I find it disturbing how the death toll is and has always has been played down. The innocent life of even one human being is a tragedy.
Most people have a bias, and I try not to fall into that category. However, even your blog, sounds like you have a bit of bias, as sounds anti-Shia, which I thought was the majority of population in Iraq.
I read what you wrote about Iraq before the war, and its my opinion, that likely majority of Shia people,want peace too.
The problem I believe, is outside interference, and the Militias, which are low character, thugs, paid mercenaries, who don't care about the welfare of the people, period. So certainly, will be bad if paid for it, or good, if paid even better for it.
From what taped testamonies, I've heard by them, its more a dire need for money than for religious or nationists purposes. Desperation results in horrific behavior.
For an example The 1st and 2nd Bombing of the Shia Mosque was blamed on the Sunnis. Yet, There was no solid evidence for that claim.
So, since certain actions can be falsely attributed to a certain group/party doesn't make it a fact.
I personally suspect it was done by outsiders, that hired mercenaries with the intent to keep civil war going between the Sunni and Shia.
As in Pre-War days, the Sunni and Shia could at least tolerate each other, as Iraqis.
I am sympathetic with the plight of the common people who are the victims of political tomfoolery. I see the only hope for what is left of the, Sunni and Shia,is to unite.
I am aware of the Kurdish personal goals, and persistent pursuing their own agenda, which is indifferent towards the good for Iraq as a whole, or anybody other than themselves. Turkey's nemisis.
So many innocent lives shed in this horrible fiasco. It saddens me.
My thoughts and prayers are with you, & all innocent people of Iraq,
astara
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has launched a stinging attack on US policy, comparing it unfavourably with the British Empire.
In an interview with Muslim lifestyle magazine Emel, he said the British Empire had put energy and resources into "normalising" lands it took over.
But the US had assumed a "quick burst of violent action" to "clear the decks" was it all had to do in Iraq.
It thought it could then leave others to "put it back together", he said. BBC 25 Nov 2007
That interview in Emel, Muslim lifestyle magazine, is here.
I have also saved a copy to my hard disk, in case that link disappears.
The Archbishop - a highly intelligent and compassionate man - also condemns the Israeli wall on the West Bank.
Iraqi children bear the burden of an uncalled-for war Seattle PI, 20 Nov 2007
A quote from this jumped out at me: The editor of The Lancet, Dr. Richard Horton, stated recently: "Our collective failure has been to take our political leaders at their word."
Too right.
And this will resonate with everyone except the likes of Bridget and Lynette and 17-year-old Americans who don't know the names of the prime ministers of other countries.
Despite all evidence, some political leaders continue to insist that the situation is improving, as though the brutal TV images of the war did not exist, as if they were a fantasy invented by evil spirits. The chasm between the people's view of reality and that of their leaders has rarely been greater.
American-backed killer militias strut across Iraq Sunday Times, 25 Nov 2007
Your US tax dollars at work, funding thugs to do your killing for you.
the Baghdad Brigade, a Sunni militia funded by the American forces ... Members of the Baghdad Brigade receive $300 a man each month from the Americans, who also provide vehicles, uniforms and flak jackets. In return the brigade keeps out Al-Qaeda, dismantles roadside bombs and patrols the area, a task performed with considerable swagger by many of its 4,000 recruits.
The US military is delighted with the results achieved by the brigade in Abu Ghraib and by similar groups in other former “hot spots” of sectarian conflict that have seen a sharp decline in violence.
For Shi’ites such as Kahiriya Musa, however, a Sunni militia represents another potential source of terror in a country where millions have been traumatised by ethnic cleansing. ... Exotically named groups such as the Knights of Ameriya and the Guardians of Ghazaliya strut the streets in camouflage uniforms, brandishing new AK47s that the Americans say they have not supplied.
Last week I entered the western Baghdad district of Ameriya by crossing check-points manned by the eager “knights”. Not only had some of them been members of groups aligned with Al-Qaeda eight weeks ago, but they had now created a virtual enclave surrounded by concrete blast walls. ... n an Ameriya school last week some of the knights showed that although they may have switched allegiances, they still hold the fundamentalist beliefs that drew them to Al-Qaeda in the first place.
Carrying their weapons, they went from one class to the next, looking for mobile phones with “unIslamic” ringtones. One child with a pop music ringtone was slapped and kicked in the legs as a warning to the others.
Meanwhile, the targets of ethnic cleansing continue to suffer.
Great thoughts! I'm totally agee about every statement you took up! It will be interesting to see how Bush and his partymembers will change the politics of Iraq! I saw a movie about the miilitary-industrial complex (I'm from Sweden by the way) and for the first time I realized how much of the US economy goes to militaryrelated things...
Take care of yourself and your wife!
Mohammed,
American tax payers have spent over $500 billion of their hard earned tax payer dollars in Iraq.
America has got nothing in return (except for some dead Al Qaeda). Nor was there any reasonable expectation that America could get any financial reward.
Iraq's entire national revenues are $40 billion a year. By contrast American tax payers spend over $100 billion a year inside Iraq.
All of Iraq's oil revenues belong to the GoI in practice as well as under international law. No serious American ever believed that a democratically elected Iraqi government would ever "give" Iraq's oil revenue to the US.
We Americans aren't very smart, and out mistakes have cost Iraqis and Americans a lot. But we are sacrificing a lot for Iraq, and to fight Al Qaeda inside Iraq. The Iraq war was never for financial gain.
America can only win if Iraqis win. Most Americans understand this.
Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم) Mohammed. (I hope I got that right.) I am so grateful for your blog and what I have learned from you awakens me.
Your post leaves me speechless.
It won't help bush in upcoming elections because bush can not run. He served his 2 periods and is now done. No one can be president for more then 2 terms. He can not even run. There is no helping his election if hes not in it.
I fear your feelings about Al Quaida and the oil are most likely true. If you see the movie Syriana with George Clooney it discusses this topic for controlling the middle east and oil. If there is chaos in the country, then nobody will notice when companies are bleeding the ground dry. If the U.S. has a reason to be in Iraq (insurgent violence) then they can set up a permanent base there as they have in S. Korea in the name of keeping the peace...but more like keeping an eye on other countries and the oil....
I'm an American and all I can say is sorry, but clearly this isn't enough. I was totally against the whole war (or occupation- whatever you choose to call it) from the beginning, and have been appalled every step of the way. I know we are there so Bush and friends can profit but we've not only ruined the place for you guys, but our country is a mess as well- and we aren't going to rebound. If there is anything I can do for all of us-I would. I'm truely sorry. I'll be thinking of you, and your friends and family.
Good post Mohammed and I agree with your analysis.
Peace/ Nadia
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