Here's an Iraqi who sees clearly. Omar at IRAQ THE MODEL.
This piece just gave me chills. Mebbe I'm overly sentimental (whitespace added):
Whenever some of my Iraqi fellow citizens start to whine about the Palestinians killed in the (Intifadah)-provoked by the dramatic scenes and reports from the local TV (now Al-Jazeerah and Al-Arabia), I used to reason with them: Shouldn't we care about our children as well?Yes, I too feel sorry for the Palestinians, not because they are harshly treated by Israel (after 3 years of Intifadah, the number of Palestinian causalities is far less than what S.H or Abdul Nasser could consider a full month job) and certainly not because of their tragic living conditions (most of the Palestinians kids, I have seen, were dressed much more properly than 90% of the Iraqi kids) but I do feel sorry for them because -they too- are the victims of our tyrants and their media, who managed to convince them that they're fighting a holly war, and that each one of them dies during this fight will go straight to paradise. The poor lads believed it and threw themselves into the flames (and still do so) only for the joy of our dictators, who would use their mighty media horns to slap us on the face saying "stop complaining and demanding luxuries, look at your brothers in religion, your Arab brothers, being killed and tortured by the Zionists, at least you're free!!! While their land had been occupied and their homes destroyed by your eternal enemy. Join the battle, support the Intifadah, and when we get rid the Zionists and free Palestine; all your wishes will come true".
But they, and it seemed that only they (in the Arab world at least), knew that this battle would never be won, and they kept sure that the other possible end (peace) remains almost impossible.
Exactly. The palestinians are victims alright, but not victims of the US or Israel. They are victims of their own corrupt, brutal governments. They are victims of their Arab and Muslim "brothers". It doesn't have to be this way! But we'll never fix this problem by averting our eyes, or distorting the truth, or supporting cruel despots, even those who style themselves as liberators.
News flash for the palestinians: You're being played for suckers. By your government, by the Arab world, and by the leaders of your religion. Wake up and smell the coffee, willya?
Omar continues:
It’s just like that windmill in the (Animal farm). NO, this is not the central issue, the central issue is: millions of Iraqis killed and tortured by S.H, it's more than a 100 thousand Algerians murdered in the last 12 years (both by the fundamentalists and the army) and it's hundreds of thousand of Sudani people killed in the civil war, it's tens of thousands of Syrians killed within few days by Asad the father (in Hims and Hamah), its 100s of thousands Arab citizens detained for years all over the Arab world for merely expressing their opinions, it's more than 250 million citizens of deep-rooted cultures living under the rule of cruel ignorant tyrants such as S.H, Gaddafi, the Assad dynasty and to put it short, all the Arab governments with very few exceptions.That's what a real (Arab nationalist) should consider as the central issue, but for the man with an open mind and heart, it's much more than that. It is the oppression, injustice, poverty, diseases and ignorance anywhere on this planet. All seem to have one thing in common!.
Now let's get back to our central issue.
This vicious circle of wars, oppression and hatred can never be broken by opening dialogue channels or building walls between the two concerned parties as long as the (hate producing reactors)are still functioning. It can only be solved in Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus, Yemen, Jeddah, Tehran and Islam Abaad.
Exactamundo! You, over there, on the Left, would you please read the above paragraph again?
Omar finishes with this analysis of the situation of the Arab leadership. It's enough to make Tom Paine proud:
As desperate as they seem, they do have a chance of achieving one of three objectives:-(this is their dream)Helping the terrorists to inflict as much casualties as possible among the coalition forces to force them abandon their task.
-Creating a situation of disharmony (relying on the ethnic and religious differences)in the hope that this will lead to civil war, just as they did in Lebanon.
-(this seems to be their best chance)Making the Iraqis pay a very high price for their freedom, so that their own people may refrain from demanding it when seeing how much it cost.
My word to them: “IN YOUR DREAMS”, The wind of freedom has already started to whiffle, and no matter what you do, you can not stop it.
(sniff!)
Tell me again who the good guys and bad guys are? Canada, tell me again why you don't have troops helping out with this? Mexico, tell me again why you wanted to leave Omar in shackles? France, explain to me why you so loved this man's oppressors? Germany, did you learn nothing from the 20th century?
That's ok. If it comes to choosing between the Axis of Weasels as "friends", and the likes of Omar, I'll take Omar every time.
There was an announcement today that only Coalition members will be eligible to bid on US-funded primary construction contracts in Iraq.
YES!
Exactly the right move, and the right message.
There has been, as you would imagine, a lot of commentary around the world, and the blogosphere.
One possibility I haven't seen mentioned, though, is that this was intentionally delivered as a one-two punch to the Axis of Weasels, following on the earlier, more subtle move of appointing James Baker as Bush's personal envoy to Iraq to help them deal with their pretty odious debt problem.
Hey Weasels! Here's the deal: come around on financial support, come around on NATO support, stop biting at our ankles - and we might, in future, take a more conciliatory line about contracts going to your country, and we might encourage Secretary Baker to go easy on Iraq loans. Continue being weasels, and expect to be cut out of Iraq, but ALSO expect to have the entire debt repudiated.
Hardball!
Very. Hard. Ball.
Hey Jacques, paying attention yet?
People keep underestimating Bush. They think he's kind of sleepy, and stupid. Guess again. I bet this whole thing was deliberate, and planned for some time.
In depressing proof that moonbattery is not confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, Argentina thinks Great Britain should apologize for daring to deploy nuclear weapons (as was then standard procedure) against Argentina during the Falklands war.
From a Reuters piece, comments by the Argentine Prime Minster:
"It is regrettable and monstrous," Kirchner told reporters who accompanied him on a visit to the town of General Pico in La Pampa province, deep in Argentina's farming heartland 400 miles (650 km) west of Buenos Aires."Britain should never have usurped sovereignty over the Malvinas ... I am simply demanding the rights of Argentines and I hope (Prime Minister) Tony Blair understands that and is listening," Kirchner said on Saturday. "What Argentina needs is for (Britain) to have the decency to make a necessary apology."
The Argentine government issued an angry statement on Friday, saying the deployment of nuclear weapons could have had "huge consequences for the inhabitants, natural resources and environment of the region".
No shit Sherlock. Get a clue. Why do you think such weapons were developed? It was precisely to create huge consequences for those who start wars of aggression. Um, in case it's not clear, that's you, Argentina, among others. Don't be getting on your high horse.
Message to Argentina: you showed yourself as both unjust and fools when you started that thing. This is not making you look better on either count.