We literally laugh when we hear the much subdued threats American politicians make towards Iran. The US can no longer afford to threaten Iran because they know that should the followers of Sadr, Iranian cleric Sistani and Badir’s Brigade people rise up against the Americans, they’d have to be out of Iraq within a month. Iran can do what it wants- enrich uranium? Of course! If Tehran declared tomorrow that it was currently in negotiations for a nuclear bomb, Bush would have to don his fake pilot suit again, gush enthusiastically about the War on Terror and then threaten Syria some more.
Congratulations Americans- not only are the hardliner Iranian clerics running the show in Iran- they are also running the show in Iraq. This shift of power should have been obvious to the world when My-Loyalty-to-the-Highest-Bidder-Chalabi sold his allegiance to Iran last year. American and British sons and daughters and husbands and wives are dying so that this coming December, Iraqis can go out and vote for Iran influenced clerics to knock us back a good four hundred years.
What happened to the dream of a democratic Iraq?
Iraq has been the land of dreams for everyone except Iraqis- the Persian dream of a Shia controlled Islamic state modeled upon Iran and inclusive of the holy shrines in Najaf, the pan-Arab nationalist dream of a united Arab region with Iraq acting as its protective eastern border, the American dream of controlling the region by installing permanent bases and a Puppet government in one of its wealthiest countries, the Kurdish dream of an independent Kurdish state financed by the oil wealth in Kirkuk…
The Puppets the Americans empowered are advocates of every dream except the Iraqi one: The dream of Iraqi Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen… the dream of a united, stable, prosperous Iraq which has, over the last two years, gone up in the smoke of car bombs, military raids and a foreign occupation.
4 comments on “Via Riverbend”
Watch it, buster.
I agree with your political statements.
However, I am an American, and I take offense to being lumped into the single category of “Americans” which, as you make it clear above, all unanimously agree that the war in Iraq was a good thing and everything done in that war has been a good decision.
That is, quite simply, not true. I actively make my discontent with my government’s actions known. Many agree with me, and many more are growing equally discontent every day. Don’t go calling me a war-hawk just because of my nationality.
Keep in mind I’m sharing Riverbend’s writing here. I put emphasis on her paragraph because I believe it to be an important aspect of the piece. I also don’t believe she intended it to be a blanket statement about Americans, though to be sure Americans and the world have failed in our attempts to stop this war; we should not refuse our piece of responsibility, however small it may be compared to that of our leaders. Riverbend is a more sophisticated thinker than to assume all Americans think in American-centric and intentionally malicious ways, so if she’s failed in making that clear, please don’t confuse that for a false belief.
Saying we all hold our own share of responsibility for what has occurred says we’re all to blame for this. What of those who have made their stand? What of those who were too young and uninformed at the time to know, yet have now come to realize the horrible consequences and implications of this war?
I refuse to see that as being the case.
And in reference to your defense of Riverbend…well, a sophisticated thinker can still be, and in this case is, a terrible writer. And since that individual is trying to broadcast that opinion out, that person better make sure he/she doesn’t allienate the group of people who will, in the end, hold the most sway over the future of the nation complaints are being staged with.
Those of us who did make a stand still failed, however noble and dedicated our efforts. We have to learn from our failings in order to stop future wars; denying that we failed and thus must shoulder some blame for this would only lead to further stagnation. We didn’t present our case clearly, forcefully or effectively enough to sway a majority in America, and we have to recognize that other tragedies such as the war in Iraq will continue unless we become more effective, and we simply can’t risk failing more people.
I find Riverbend an effective writer in general. I think she does a good job at expressing her experiences in Iraq. Of course, I don’t have any attachment to the term American, so maybe that bias would make a difference, but I don’t see it as insulting because it’s clear from the whole body of her work that she differentiates between aware Americans and the government and its supporters.