The varnage in IraqWho is responsible? [Archives:2004/764/Opinion]

It is simply difficult for the observer to come to a sensible reasoning behind all this carnage one is hearing about in Iraq. Hundreds of lives are being wasted away as though all these people were simply set up for target practice. Yet the attitude from Washington indicates that the Administration of George W. Bush is so enmeshed in confronting his Democratic opponent that what happens to Najaf or the hundreds of Iraqis that are loosing their lives is just an unexpected nuisance that simply will have to take a back seat to the Florida hurricane. After all, his brother is the Governor of the state and it was the state that assured him an unsure presidential office. But the helpless Iraqis are really tired of trying to find justifications for Uncle Sam, while their blood is spilled endlessly in what has long been regarded as a relatively peaceful area in occupied Iraq. With the joy of the end of Saddam Hussein's regime now worn out and the obvious clear intentions of Washington to make the “handover” no more than a ceremonial stunt, the Shiite south of Iraq decided to make its real feelings felt about the American true intentions in Iraq: No! Iraq will simply not be a vassal state of the United States or an open field for opportunists, on whom the Bush Administration counts on for its political power now and in the next presidential period. Furthermore, the Iraqis are not content with also seeing the Americans rely on their fellow Iraqis to do their fighting for them, while the Americans hide cozily behind their heavy gear or unleash their weapons of mass destruction on mostly helpless Iraqi civilians. This is the good life, which Mr. Bush is continuously raving he has given the Iraqis. Assuring the whole world, he did not care to even listen to, when it cautioned him that there was really no justification for an invasion of Iraq, he says the Iraqis should be grateful for all he has given them.
Yet, the Iraqi government is at a loss in dealing with a general insurgency that is finding Sunnis and Shiites really united against it and their American superiors, who really determine how the peace with Moqtada Al-Sadr is to be made, depending on the tactical positions that they can occupy, which will enable them to crush the rebellion against an apparently long term occupation.
The question then still arises? What do the Americans want from Iraq? For that matter, what do the Americans want from the rest of the world? Hegemony is an agenda that breeds self destruction and it is obvious that many of the poor allies that are beginning to decrease one by one, because they realize that hegemony based on opportunism and contempt for the interests of others is not acceptable. Yes, Mr. Bush, you are fighting your “War on Terror”, on the wrong grounds and what is happening in Iraq has in fact turned your Administration into one that will be called to account for the thousands of innocent lives wastefully being taken in Iraq. Why should the Iraqis hang on endlessly to see when your good side will ever turn up, if indeed there is a good side to Mr. Bush? Even the Americans are beginning to realize that this side is not forthcoming and surely the American people are a people of conscience to realize that the moral grounds for the Iraqi adventure have gone up in thin smoke with every lethal explosive unleashed by American airpower or heavy artillery. The American military command daily announces the hundreds of casualties that they proudly have done away with and speak of the good progress they have made in eliminating the “insurgents”. But what we are seeing now is more than the work of a few fly by night operations. The Iraqis are simply now telling the Americans that they have no intention of being governed by puppets, many of whom have been living under CIA or other covert operations funds. Now the Shiites are saying, we fought Saddam and you were supporting him and we told you thank you for your belated awareness about Saddam. But now, we simply want you to pack up your Halliburtons and friends as well as your scores of unwanted Israeli firms and agents and let us decide how to govern ourselves. We also have our religious sanctities and there is no way that we will let you dishonor our religious heritage, even under the guise of fighting terror. If we have to mention terror, then it is quite clear that there was no terror in Iraq until the Americans brought the venue that made terror a common phenomenon.
It is quite clear that the Iraqis have really been giving the short end of the stick and for once the Americans can easily discern that their leaders have deceived them and made monsters out of the American people in the eyes of the world. This is not leadership. This is sheer madness and for whom and for what, not even Dick Cheney will be able to wiggle his partner out of, when the Al-Mighty starts doing the accounting. Maybe, the hurricane in Florida is an omen that the Al-Mighty has detected a flaw in the American superpower arrogance that the Bush Administration and Hurricane Charley was meant to show that there is still the Heavens that even superpower America must contend with. The timing could not be any more persuasive accordingly. Imam Ali was known for his piety and revered for his strong moral fiber and advocacy for the malcontent. To disturb his peace, will simply not be tolerated by those who revere him. Certainly God Al-Mighty, who knows Ali as one of the greatest champions of sound moral conduct and chivalry, will not allow the disruption of the eternal peace of one of the greatest champions of justice and moral conscientiousness. After all, the latter is simply something the Bush Administration has failed to show by any means, domestically and internationally.
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