Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Posted here Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at 4:41:20 PM     The fighting in Najef... history of the shrine http://www.e-resaneh.com/English/Introducing%20centers/History%20of%20the%20Shrine%20of%20Imam%20Ali%20(AS).htm and on a recent poll in Iraq Oxford university http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2004_08_24_raedinthemiddle_archive.html#109336441648846522 Question nineteen (Q19 in the media tables) was an important one, it has three sub questions about which national leader in Iraq do people trust more, and will vote for in the coming presidential elections. AsSadr took the third place in both questions, after Sistani and Jafari (from the Shia fundamentalist Dawa party and the current Iraqi vice president). The other interesting thing in the survey was that more than half of Iraqis refuse to answer the questions, which gives an indication of how secure people feel about having freedom of speech. My point is that AsSadr, against whom the U.S. forces are now preparing a final attack, is a national Shia leader! Whether we like him or not, whether I like him or not, he is a national leader who is trying to strengthen his position before the time of the elections (and the flaws of the bush administration gave him and other religious leaders the space to reach to the current level of influence and power). In other words, he is already a national leader who should be either contained or given the space to rule the country. It is too late to marginalize him now. I’m trying to spot out the huge contradictions in the idea of imposing imported democracy on Iraq. Iraq will never reach a government based on public participation unless it was built on a national basis, then developed and modified by internal forces. The current U.S. plan for solving the Sadr situation is the usual plan: Kill him. If they killed him, it will be a disaster. We’ll just witness more chaos and bloodshed. If they tried to kill him and didn’t succeed, it will be a disaster too. AsSadr will be THE hero. For the sublime,  http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=3471 Blair refusing to receive US honour 10:00 AEST Tue Aug 24 2004 AFP - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is refusing to fly to the US to receive a medal bestowed on him by the nation for his support over last year's Iraq war, a London newspaper has reported. US President George W. Bush has put huge pressure on his closest ally to pick up the medal in person, which was awarded over a year ago, the Sunday Mirror said, quoting a senior British government source. Blair has been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The Sunday Mirror had reported in error that the prime minister had been given the Congressional Medal of Honour - an award handed to US servicemen for valour in combat. Blair is immensely popular with large sections of the American public for his staunch support of the Iraq war and the White House believes a visit by the prime minister now would provide a much-needed boost to Bush's re-election campaign, the weekly said. "There has been a lot of telephone traffic between the White House and Downing Street over the medal in recent weeks," the Sunday Mirror quoted a senior government source as saying. "George Bush wants the prime minister to come to Washington and pick up the medal, which is the highest honour America can bestow on a foreigner. "But he has refused for more than a year now and for good reason. He cannot possibly accept an award for the Iraq war when British and American troops continue to risk their lives there." Blair is concerned also that a trip to the US now would effectively be giving a boost to Bush ahead of November's presidential elections. and back to reality, this from an iraq teenager. http://me-vs-myself.blogspot.com/ Sunday, May 02, 2004 I can’t speak out what’s in my mind anymore. As the war broke out, I intended to head to the extreme day by day; under such pressure, I couldn’t express myself in a peaceful way, neither any other civilian could, everybody seemed to be deaf…and no one would listen to what I said. I started to understand the ideology of suicide bombers; no one would listen to their despair, either. My ideology was to raise my voice, and that’s why I was into the idea of founding Al-Muajaha… but soon after, people started to be deaf again, I had to make it louder, I started to post blogs at the family site… then I started to blog here… I had to prove in any possible way that the US administration, is not the angel we were waiting for. I assure everybody that Saddam may be the most evil dictator ever, but at least he was honest enough to be proud of it; he thought with his primitive mind that it’s the only way to treat people like Iraqis. Sadly, most of Iraqis still believe in same thing. Ammar, a person who I met after the war, said “those Americans will not succeed unless they ruled like Saddam, we Iraqis are easily inflamed and nothing can rule us except fire”. Now actually there is no Ammar, but there are hundreds of “Ammars” I meet all the time; taxi drivers, grocers, neighborhood guards, unemployed people… whether they liked or not, and whether you liked or not, they know that one fact is life under Saddam was much easier, period. Anyhow, it is obvious that Bush has learnt those people’s advices now. Now, it’s year 2004, and we live in a country that has been “liberated”, but surprisingly, it’s still missing its freedom of expression, freedom of publish, freedom of criticism… we live in a country that has a ministry for human right, but no rights for humans. We barely are able to live. We are barely able to be. So when Bush shows up and blabs about how he was sent from the God to free Iraq, then blabs about Iraq’s WMD, then kills more than 2000 civilians with no word of sorry. Then he goes handing over the west bank to Sharon with pleasure, and then you see a comparing between how wonderful and deep and touching stories of US brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the happiness of Iraqis were, and how margined and unimportant and shallow stories of Iraqi civilians deaths were. you SHOULD expect mad Iraqis after that; because they are just a weak society, that was trained for decades to start wars, to live in wars, while all what they wanted was just like what any other peaceful society has asked for; peace. They got sick of life now, they had high hopes in life after Saddam, but US invasion has made things worse, made the life under Saddam like precious memories, and made Iraqis lose their hopes to live until they see a peaceful Iraq. So… *ding*, Iraqis stopped giving a shit about it. Why would we care? What do we have to lose now? Or let me put that again… What do we have now? Dead relatives, burnt city, destroyed monuments, blocked roads, useless government, injustice invader, expensive markets… and now tortured prisons. What pushes me now? What is the motive to go on with my life? Why don’t I just join my other schoolmates who dropped out the school and joined the armed resistance? Wasn’t it me who always dreamt of studying at MIT? Weren’t it us [students] who were told that we are the future and that this country is depending on us? Why did I lose my dreams? Why did my friends dropped out their schools? Who made me turn my ideology from “I’m a 17-year-old guy and I can do much” to “I’m a 17-year-old guy and when am I going to die?” They did. They destroyed my life, my girlfriend’s, and my people’s… whether they wanted it or not, whether they were mean enough or stupid enough. No one cares no more. I started to feel happy reading the headlines now, more of US Soldiers are dead, let them all burn in hell. Let’s all jump on those burnt hum-vees. YIIIIHAAAAA. Barbarism can be also subjective. They destroyed lives of everyone I loved… and mine as well. Didn’t these soldiers say that this is kinda pay back to what happened in 9/11? Did those civilians who died were involved with what happened in 9/11? Actually, many of them haven’t even heard of that tragedy. Anyway, being a Muslim, I should always treat the bad with good, its better for both of the parties. But now, heh… I don’t care, when Bush spits on my face next time, I won’t clean my face and say I’ll forgive you… no, I will fuck him. And fuck anyone who won’t like it. Well, I received lots of messages lately warning me and telling me to warn my people not to get angry, because that is a trap made by the US administration. And we would lose much if we attacked and became violent. But wait a second; what do we have to lose again? You’d better be aware, stupid US army, US moronic politicians; I am a 17-year-old VERY... VERY mad teenager, periods. ********

Posted here Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at 10:35:57 AM     good presidential  poll summary http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-battleground04-an0823.html ********

Posted here Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at 8:44:10 AM     Another must read.. http://www.logosjournal.com/west.htm an analysis of the needs of real democracy now. excerpt.. Democracy matters are frightening in our time precisely because the three dominant dogmas of free-market fundamentalism, aggressive militarism, and escalating authoritarianism are snuffing out the democratic impulses that are so vital for the deepening and spread of democracy in the world. In short, we are experiencing the sad American imperial devouring of American democracy. This historic devouring in our time constitutes an unprecedented gangsterization of America—an unbridled grasp at power, wealth, and status. And when the most powerful forces in a society—and an empire—promote a suffocation of democratic energies, the very future of genuine democracy is jeopardized. And as for solutions   No democracy can flourish against the corruptions of plutocratic, imperial forces—or withstand the temptations of militarism in the face of terrorist hate—without a citizenry girded by these three moral pillars of Socratic questioning, prophetic witness, and tragicomic hope. ********