Article

2007-04-18 Iraq

Hypocrisy has a Human Price on the Streets of Baghdad

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Steve White 2007-04-18 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Another friend, Mohammed, got tired of living in fear of death or mutilation and so he fled his home and went north to Erbil, where it is relatively safe. There were others like him who were fortunate enough to have had a way to safety - most Iraqis do not, since most countries, including mine, the United States, have all but closed their borders to Iraqi citizens. I am ashamed of that.

Don't blame the victim. The author should be pointing his finger elsewhere. Something he has a difficult time doing amidst all the hand-wringing.

Millions of Iraqi women will experience what Jamilah has, and worse, if the American Left and the Democratic Party are successful in effecting a premature withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. What kinds of sons will those traumatized women raise? How vengeful will those sons be when they come of age?

"Millions" of Muslim women are already experiencing trauma and abuse at the hands of Muslim males. If you widen your scope a bit more, Iraqi women are just part of the overall picture.

In the end, whether Iraq thrives or descends into total chaos depends largely on whether or not American soldiers stay long enough to restore order, and to impart their skills on Iraqi security forces. If American forces leave before law and order is permanently restored, or before Iraq's security forces are capable of holding the line against the terrorists, Iraq surely will be lost.

All righty then, with all the weeping and wailing done with, let's make sure to place the blame where it needs to be settled. Yes, the Democrats and America's Left play a major role in exacerbating the perils that Iraq currently faces. The author hammers on that point like a railroad spike.

Some greater attention needs to be given to (gasp) Root Causes. Ones like Iran and their incessant meddling. Ones like Sunni sponsorship of global terrorism. Yes, a lot hinges on a continuing American presence, but what about Iraq's politicians cleaning up their collective acts? What about scumbags like Moqtada Sadr who adamantly refuse to cooperate in any peaceful resolution of this crisis?

Enough self-flagellation already! Apply the lash to those Muslim factions that bear deep responsibility for protracting the Iraqi people's misery. Start highlighting the need for more aggressive intervention at much higher levels. Starting at, say, Teheran.

Without this author properly limning out the real topography of why Iraq is such a shitheap, far too much blame is being thrust rather unfairly upon American shoulders. Personally, I am sick to death of it and require these sort of apologias to identify the true villians.

Yes, the Left and American Democrats have much to answer for. Yes, their humanitarian artifices are a truly disgusting form of moral hypocrisy. However, they are but a small part of a much larger problem called radical Islam. A problem that would still exist even if the Democrats did not. To piss and moan about the problems that beset Iraq and give so little attention to the central players in this ongoing cycle of bloodshed serves no one any good except the terrorists themselves.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-18 01:53|| 2007-04-18 01:53|| Front Page Top

#2 A different perspective based on some maps I've seen detailing the changing Sunni/Shiia makeup of Baghdad. Previously, Sunni and Shiia were spread throughout the city with many mix neighbourhoods and few clear borders. Now Sunni and Shiia neighbourhoods are separated and the borders known. People know not to cross into the other's territory - just like Belfast in the 70s.

I expect similar segregation has happened in the areas around Baghdad.

Paradoxically, it is easier to enforce law order in segregated areas as there is no long a pervasive climate of fear and distrust.

Posted by phil_b 2007-04-18 04:55|| 2007-04-18 04:55|| Front Page Top

#3 Some of us consider all this talk about "Iraqi People" to be hypocrisy.

Posted by gromgoru 2007-04-18 06:17|| 2007-04-18 06:17|| Front Page Top

23:55 gorb
23:54 JosephMendiola
23:52 Zenster
23:46 Zenster
23:43 Zenster
23:42 Zenster
23:40 Icerigger
23:39 Icerigger
23:38 smn
23:37 Icerigger
23:31 Seafarious
23:30 Asymmetrical T
23:22 JDB
23:18 Jackal
23:17 mrp
23:17 trailing wife
23:16 Old Patriot
23:15 Angie Schultz
23:12 trailing wife
22:53 Sonar
22:51 Excalibur
22:51 Zhang Fei
22:44 crosspatch
22:43 tu3031