Religion and Iraq: up shit creek
The Sunni-Shia (and to a lesser extent Kurdish) religious make-up of Iraq was always going to cause problems 'post-war' and it is the blackest of jokes that president GW Bush did not know the first thing about the issue before waging this catastrophic war. But religion certainly is the issue that divides Iraqis and leads to the casual continual slaughter of thousands of combatants and civilians alike; killed often for no other reason than a religious mark. Check points are set up and people are quizzed on obscure Sunni or Shia facts to ascertain whether they really are who they say they are. Then they are killed if they get the questions wrong. Life is that cheap, that worthless.
This is like Bosnia but 50 times worse because of the size of Iraq and because of our dependence on oil. Religion is not only a rotten, vile moniker which people use to project all their brutality, but religion is also the main theme of this war as people perpetuate stereotypes and the violence is all-encompassing in its ability to shake all of society. Nothing now goes on in Iraq that does not involve death, near death or talk of death. There seems no way out, and as this brilliant article by Patrick Cockburn states, the US 'surge' has simply not worked.
Perhaps one reason is that the Americans want to calm the number of attacks against them, protect Sunnis and stop the Shias from having too much power. If no radical change is to come then there will be no end to this, because this 'balance' the US seeks is a nonsense, a non-starter.
So, the solution is perhaps simpler than you'd imagine. Firstly, US military must block routes from Iran so that fighters and weapons cannot enter the country. Secondly, disarm people with guns everywhere. Once the guns start to disappear then there will be less gunfire - easy isn't it? Meanwhile, pour money into projects which will have a positive effect on people's lives, bring Sunni and Shia and Kurd together, kill or capture al-qaida figures with the help of Iraqi forces, then finally the US military should withdraw from the streets and focus more on blocking borders especially with Iran, leaving the Iraqis to become more self-sufficient. The present situation simply cannot go on because it is a human catastrophe of epic proportions.
Finally, and this may be more difficult, America should not be allowed to wage wars like this; the UN must be stronger against immoral bullies in all countries, whether they be dictatorships or countries masquerading as once-great democracies.
The surge: a special report by Patrick Cockburn - Independent Online Edition > Middle East
This is like Bosnia but 50 times worse because of the size of Iraq and because of our dependence on oil. Religion is not only a rotten, vile moniker which people use to project all their brutality, but religion is also the main theme of this war as people perpetuate stereotypes and the violence is all-encompassing in its ability to shake all of society. Nothing now goes on in Iraq that does not involve death, near death or talk of death. There seems no way out, and as this brilliant article by Patrick Cockburn states, the US 'surge' has simply not worked.
Perhaps one reason is that the Americans want to calm the number of attacks against them, protect Sunnis and stop the Shias from having too much power. If no radical change is to come then there will be no end to this, because this 'balance' the US seeks is a nonsense, a non-starter.
So, the solution is perhaps simpler than you'd imagine. Firstly, US military must block routes from Iran so that fighters and weapons cannot enter the country. Secondly, disarm people with guns everywhere. Once the guns start to disappear then there will be less gunfire - easy isn't it? Meanwhile, pour money into projects which will have a positive effect on people's lives, bring Sunni and Shia and Kurd together, kill or capture al-qaida figures with the help of Iraqi forces, then finally the US military should withdraw from the streets and focus more on blocking borders especially with Iran, leaving the Iraqis to become more self-sufficient. The present situation simply cannot go on because it is a human catastrophe of epic proportions.
Finally, and this may be more difficult, America should not be allowed to wage wars like this; the UN must be stronger against immoral bullies in all countries, whether they be dictatorships or countries masquerading as once-great democracies.
The surge: a special report by Patrick Cockburn - Independent Online Edition > Middle East
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posted by JW at 4:57 PM
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