The hard to swallow picture of Iraq. Not that this thread will be allowed to stand but what the hey.

[GwynO 16]

So.. another bomb goes off in Iraq, in a stadium this time. Most people it seems either ignore these stories now because they are so routine, or else read them but don't use any modicum of common sense to understand what is happening, to who, and why. This bombing, like almost all large acts of violence in Iraq has nothing to do with oil, or the occupation.

 

This bomb targeted a Shia neighbourhood.. ring any bells? If you haven't noticed, yet then start noticing! It's almost always the Shia that are the targets just as they were under Saddam, because nothing has changed in that regard. So who are the Shia you might ask? Well to cut a very long and boring story short, you could think of the Shia as being Catholic if they were Christian, they have a figure somewhat like a pope whereas the other major grouping are called Sunni, although there is nothing Sunny in their disposition, they could be seen as the protestant in this analogy as they generally don't have a pope like figure, however the analogy isn't what's important, what's important is that in Iraq's 80 something year history as a set of straight lines on a map, the Sunny Arabs have constituted roughly 20% of the country... they are the minority, albeit some a ruthless, vicious and loud minority.

 

So if the Sunny Arabs are no more than 20% of Iraq, who are the rest? Well, the rest are a mix of all sorts, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrian, Roma, Jewish, Christian and many many more smaller ethnic and religious groups, all of who have been persecuted to varying degree throughout Iraq's sordid 85 year history by the same community, time after time, the Sunni minority have sought to keep their dominance over the whole country through outrageous acts of violence against any and all non Sunni groups.

 

It won't surprise anyone to note that the blame for this is usually put onto the British, because the lines on the map were drawn by the British, and they supported a Sunni leadership in the country, but you would be incredibly naive to make an assumption that this was an example of British meddling making a bad situation in the world because this atrocious situation for the non Sunni had already been going on for three hundred years before the British set eyes on the place as the Turkish Ottoman empire (Sunni) has established this status quo and the British Empire of the time simply kept the same groupings in power. It won't surprise anyone to note that Saddam was Sunni, and we all know what he did to Shia, and Kurds, and anyone who stood in his way. Likewise it won't come as a surprise that Al Qaeda are Sunni, or that the most violent and cowardly of all the various insurgent groups are invariably Sunni.

 

What might surprise you, is the cockheaded way in which we, the Western world have gone about trying to sort out the current situation. You would think, given our pride in democracy and being fair to the masses, that we would eschew the history of minority rule through fear and violence in Iraq and support the Shia. You would think that a rather bloody simple if not politically correct way to bring stability to the country would be to arm the hell out of groups like the Mehdi Army (Shia) and allow them to "defend" their community in as ruthless a manner as it takes for Sunni groups to realise that their reign over 80% of the country by force is over. But no. We don't. We stand by, all of us who aren't even fighting, we stand by and don't even take the time to learn what is happening where, why and to who, so we aren't even qualified to make a suggestion to our politicians about it. So I implore you, good people, please! Take a good look at the news reports and count yourself, how many of the suicide bombs go off in Shia neighbourhoods, how many suicide bombs target Shia markets. How many suicide bombs target Shia mosques. How many bombs target Shia funerals?

 

Finally, to all of you who think that all this is the fault of Western forces destabilising the country, it may be true that during Saddam's time the Shia were not in the news because they had been suicide bombed, they weren't, but neither were they in the news for being kidnapped and thrown into his special prisons, or summarily executed by his henchmen. There is nothing smart about a suicide bomb, the West did not make this mess, but we can help to reduce it, the choices just aren't politically correct enough nor are the politicians brave enough to stand up for what is right.

 

(Edited to remove unnecessary swearing)

Edited May 15, 2010 by GwynO

[GwynO 16]

I'm sorry if I'm ranting, I'm sorry if I upset anyone by that post, but it's been simmering in me for years and I didn't say anything because I could see it being censored or removed straight away. I guess I just don't care any more, the decision is not mine to make. If you disagree with me fine by all accounts, if you don't wish to see my words on a screen then do away with them, if you hate then so be it, but I'm sick of holding my tongue. I am lucky so far that none of my friends have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, but every day I hear some news about the stuff that's happening in both places, I feel ice cold inside knowing they could caught up in that and none of it is any of their fault.