With politicians falling over themselves to throw in the towel in Iraq I thought a look at Iraqi blogs would be useful:
Iraq the Model: I believe that America would like to see Iraq emerge as a model for the region and is working hard to find a way to solve the current crisis. But that cannot be done without having a cooperative Iraqi partner on the ground who shares similar views for Iraq and the middle east. And that’s the point; that partner does not exist, at least not in the government. And I don’t think Iraq’s neighbors would instruct their representatives (their servants in Iraq) to give America a hand, even though they pretend to be heading in that direction because their vision for Iraq and the region are fundamentally in conflict with that of America. They want to see America defeated in Iraq and that’s of course at the expense of Iraq. So, to start looking for solutions, America must first start looking for an Iraqi partner, a partner that is devoted to building a model state in Iraq and that favors building a strategic alliance with America instead of grave alliances with rogue regional powers that want to throw Iraq back to the ages of despotism or settle old accounts with America through a proxy war.
Thoughts from Baghdad: Throughout the three days of curfew, hear explosions every day. Hmmm… how is that happening?
Iraqi Atheist: Suppressing all kinds of violence and opposition, with blood baths and massacres, yeah, the American image needs to be reinforced as callous and ruthless, using Saddam’s army as leverage in Shiite insurgent cities and Shiite militias in Sunni insurgent cities. American soldiers are to instigate people to fight them and get all their khara (shit) they have out. They should take risks of killing civilians and innocent people as long as they are being attacked. Until no one is attacking, they should keep killing people they think are supporting the attackers. That’s for sunni cities, for shiite cities I suggest that they unleash Saddam’s republican guard and Baathists to retrieve security in case it’s revoked. Closing all borders to all countries and running patrols, plus searching trucks of food and goods for putative explosives.
Iraqi Mojo: While it is true that Iraqi Shia and Sunna coexisted peacefully before 2003, the fact is that the top brass of Saddam Hussein’s regime were Tikritis, and the vast majority of their victims were Shia and Kurds. Sunni Arabs who defied Saddam’s rule (or even insulted him or his family) were also murdered or jailed, but Sunni Arab towns never saw the mass slaughter of their people like many Shia and Kurdish towns did. Are the Sunni Arabs of Iraq to blame for what Saddam and his henchmen did to the Shia and Kurds? Absolutely not, and the Iraqi people never blamed the Sunni Arabs for the crimes of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Sunni Arab civilians were attacked in large scale by Shia militias for the first time in 2005.
Baghdad Chronicles: Woke up at some point in the night on a weird noise, or early morning was it? It was dark. My senses started to realize slowly it was war outside! Heavy shooting! It involved RPG, guns and rifles. In between there was a horrible sound of bombing. I was still not completely awake but those three years made us all experts. It was a car bomb, I could hear the echo, and I could feel the huge flames reaching up to the sky. Another run of heavy shooting. “Please God make me sleep again” I was praying to Allah. Recited some verses while my eyes were still open. Seconds later silence filled the place, like if it was a nightmare, only it wasn’t.
MixMode: In the meantime, back to Iraq, the killing, mutation of bodies, the discovery of unknown dead bodies, and the kidnapping is continuing under the sight and sound of a crippled Iraqi government! A death machine just crashes everything and anything that might light a candle to see the path towards a better Iraq.
Iraqi Rocker: I saw women in the street with uncovered hair it was just like a part of a scene from the past, from before the war, that’s a good thing, and the other bad thing is I saw a lot of lorries carrying furniture, not one not two, in one day I saw over 5 or 6 lorries, that’s mean 5 or 6 families kicked out from their neighborhood, and going to some other safer area, and its imposable to find safe area in Baghdad, those people are moving from place to another place inside Baghdad, and about the people who’s moving outside Baghdad and Iraq, I guess its hard to count them, like in our block only 5 families still in their houses. All my friends are in Jordan now, to be more specific my class back in school it’s all now in Jordan, just me stay over here, yeah life sucks in Baghdad.
Green Zone: What can I write on the life here!! Every body knew the events because all the news in the TV on Iraq and talk about what happened here in the day. The situation here is very dangerous in baquba every day there is a battle in the street and the people stay inside the cross fire. People very sad because if you wanna to do something or going anywhere you should be think more and more first about from which road you go because we knew the road that every time bombed therefore you should be choice a calm street and if the place you wanna going to it dangerous and you shouldn`t stay outside after the sun set because no one can go out of his home in the night just the police and the military troop there and if the saw any one in the street the maybe killing him or arresting him.
My Not-So-Humble Opinion: I would love to one day see a secular, liberal government that was elected on bases of merit and competence. Clear of political thieves and benefactors and frauds and back-door dealers. Responsible enough to pair words with action and up to the task of imposing legal authority over every other authority that anybody can claim, including that of religion and that of semi-independent, ethnic-based states-to-be. For once I would like to see my government pure Iraqi rather than Shiite Arab or Sunni Kurd or I don’t know what Turkoman. No more American dummies and puppets, at least. They can invest all they want but they can just pull their hands off politics. They look bad enough with their hands and arms in to the elbow.
Eye Raki: We do of course have some corrupt police forces (militias in police uniform), but I am sure most of them do their job properly and do it professionally. A salute to some of the bravest men in Iraq, maybe or maybe not these ones, but you have to respect the ones who show courage and bravery in the face of a cowardly enemy who can strike at any time and at any place without warning.
Madly in Love with Iraq: One day they will leave and we will be left with a history of violence and wounds which are very hard to heal, and yet we will still be together. Like a catholic marriage, no way out….It is for better and for worse.
