Iraq Roundup
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UPDATE
Considering Khalid's note that his parents have always been major political leftists, it is interesting to note Daniel Pipes' entry on the emerging merging of the political left and radical Islamists.
Getting Back to the Iraqi Bloggers who are nominally the subject of this blog:
Khalid
The most interesting recent blog entry at the moment is by Khalid. He takes on Iraqi Bloggers Central.
This entry is full of good stuff. He provides some (alledged) family history. He says his parents were leftists and involved in leftist causes. He denies the Jarrars were ever Baathists or Baathist supporters:
Still, it is difficult to rectify Khalid's claimed open defiance of the government by his family
WITH
their relative affluence, freedom of travel, and government contracts under Saddam (according to their blogs). Especially considering what G in Bagdhad said about life under Saddam:
Why did the Jarrars lead such a charmed existence? I don't know enough to say that what Khalid says is not true. But there's more to this story. Care to elaborate, Khalid?
The same post is added to the Family In Baghdad blog with the warning:
Whatever. From what I have seen so far, Faiza can handle herself just fine.
Actually this entry is pretty interesting and has lots of substance. Wow! Imagine. He even puts us onto an UPFRONT Baathist blog.
Faiza
In Faiza's most recent entry, she offers (uniquely) genuine sorrow for those executed by Zarqawi: no qualifications...no tie-ins that this is really Bush's fault. She lays the blame soley with the perpetrators. She speaks of these terrorists as the enemy of her country. Amen, Faiza. Raed and Riverbend, pay attention.
Unfortunately, she doesn't maintain that stance. I'm not talking about her complaints about getting around town in traffic because of the Coalition convoys. I'm mean, it wouldn't be Faiza if she didn't complain. Anyway, this complaint is almost American in nature. Americans are extraordinary whiners. We complain about the traffic when a new highway is going up, we complain about having to wait 30 seconds for a page to download on a dial-up connection to the Internet...we have almost nothing to whine about but we still do. So when Faiza complains about having to clear the road for a miliary convoy, I can understand perfectly. True, it would be a perfect terrorist ploy to have a car slow down the convoy and take pot shots at them with RPGs and automatic rifles...I know that. But it inconvenienced Faiza and it's very American for her to complain about it.
Nor am I not talking about her repeating a rumor about a man who was minding his own business in his car and the Coaltion shot him dead and then went on without looking back. No, I don't believe it, either. After all, if they shot him, they would want to know who he was working for, right? They would want to know his name, right? Well, unless you believe the soldiers shot him for fun. Sorry, I'm not buying that either. Someone should collect all these anti-Coalition urban legends in a book.
Nope. I'm talking about where she declares her sympathy with the insurgents. The insurgents who are making the soldiers have to be so careful, so suspicious, so much more difficult to live with. The ones blowing up cars in the streets. The ones blowing up power plants. The ones who are shielding Zarqawi. The ones who are kidnapping people building up the Iraqi infrastructure:
Faiza, do you really think there is a hair's-breadth of distance between Zarqawi and the supposed "Iraqi resistance". You don't think the Iraqi resistance knows where exactly in Fallujeh he is holed up? You strike me as a "woman of the world". I simply do not believe you are that naive.
[Edited to add] If I were to take seriously what you say here, Faiza, I would relinquish all pity for non-combatant Iraqis injured during shoot-outs between the Coalition and the insurgents. You suggest there are no non-combatants. There may be a degree of truth to this in Falujeh. If only there were a way to distinguish between bystanders like Faiza and truely innocent bystanders. Note, Faiza, that if you had slowed that convoy, and insurgents had fired a RPG at them, you would have smiled and driven away. So would the troops in the convoy have been imprudent to shoot you first and ask questions later??
Stay out of the way, Khalid. You might get hurt. This is between your mother and me.
Riverbend
She says that the new Iraqi Government is nothing but "puppets" of the Coalition. How does she know they're puppets? BECAUSE THEY DON'T HATE THE COALITION. Perhaps the truth is that Riverbend is a puppet of THE RETURN.
She says her friends are leaving Iraq in advance of the handover. I'm presuming these are more of her Baathist friends who did so well under Saddam. Good-bye. Good Luck. Good Riddance.
Raed
Raed says he feels "ashamed and disgusted" by the recent beheadings. Why should Raed feel ashamed? According to him, the Coalition is to blame. That's right!!
Actually Raed, bin Laden was an anti-american nut-case during the war against the Soviet Union. I once saw an interview with a documentary film-maker working in Afghanistan during that time. He said he passed Osama's tent but was warned by his Afghani fighter/guide to stay away from there because "that guy is crazy" and his group would kill any American they met. Osama was a small part of the Mujahadeen forces at that time -- by no means "America's Man". Note how Raed has worked things around so that the Moslem fighters against foreign occupation by the Soviet Union are now monsters created by the United States. Raed's hate for America seems to have a lot in common with Osama's: if the U.S. did it, it must be a bad thing.
Crazier still, Raed says that HAMAS was created by the Israelis!!! This is positively funny because it echos the Saudi government claim that Al-Qaida is a Zionist plot. HA HA HA!
But then Raed gives the supposed strategy credit:
(You can say that again, Raed. No, I'll say it. Thank god you're not) But then he suggests that the administrations who were supposed to come up with this plan would not have done what Bush has done. He doesn't say what they would have done instead. Raed goes on...
Nope. The Iraqi government and the Coalition say that Al Sadr has to give up his militia. He said he would, he has not. That's why his militia is being systematically separated from the world of the living. Interesting that Raed has declared Al Sadr undefeatable just as his movement (read something scatological here) is on the verge of collapse. Look for Raed to declare Zarqawi to be undefeatable any day now.
It took him a while (just as it did with Riverbend), but Raed has finally figured out a way to see the new Iraqi government as a bad thing. I always believed in you, Raed.
Americans have only really been at war for TWO AND A HALF years, Raed.
Which is sooooo worse than the government Raed used to have. Sheesh! Raed, if you don't like the new heads of your goverment, 1) go home, 2) register to vote, and 3) try to vote them out!! What an onerous responisibility democracy is.
Raed and the Irani
These two are currently in a quandry about what to post until they can figure out how the U.S. is to blame for Iran seeking to become a nuclear power and for Al-Qaida's war in Saudi Arabia (and whether they should be glad about it or not).
Majid
Majid's latest consists of his anxiety due to his upcoming emmigration to Jordan (he's gone now, I understand). This entry is for Jarrar-watchers only...not much interest for Iraq-watchers.
UPDATE
Zarqawi's insurgents (who are working in accordance with the brave nationally proud Iraqi resistance ~ thank you Faiza) kill over 100 Iraqis in an attempt to disrupt Iraq before the hand over of national sovereignty:
UPDATE
Considering Khalid's note that his parents have always been major political leftists, it is interesting to note Daniel Pipes' entry on the emerging merging of the political left and radical Islamists.
- Baathist insurgents (known as The Return) and Zarqawi brigades are working together to murder and disrupt Iraq in advance of the hand-over of sovereignty.
- More on the network of The Return.
- Video of Children Playing Islamist Beheading
- What was Abu Ghraib like under Saddam? At this page like you can download the video. Warning it is quite graphic. Note that these aren't wayward interrogations. This is Standard Operating Procedures. In the cause of being upfront, the videos do not show WHY the prisoners are being punished in this way. However, this is the regime that removed peoples hands for making calls asking about the price of the US dollar (because Saddam wanted to secure the currency trade market for members of his family).
- The Coalition claims victory over Al-Sadr and explains how they did it.
- Blogger Chrenkoff offers a summation of why civilization is winning in Iraq.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Getting Back to the Iraqi Bloggers who are nominally the subject of this blog:
Khalid
The most interesting recent blog entry at the moment is by Khalid. He takes on Iraqi Bloggers Central.
This entry is full of good stuff. He provides some (alledged) family history. He says his parents were leftists and involved in leftist causes. He denies the Jarrars were ever Baathists or Baathist supporters:
Sympathizing with the Baath? haha, hahahaha, people who know us were always worried that we will all be killed one day cause we criticize Baathist in front of strangers
Still, it is difficult to rectify Khalid's claimed open defiance of the government by his family
WITH
their relative affluence, freedom of travel, and government contracts under Saddam (according to their blogs). Especially considering what G in Bagdhad said about life under Saddam:
I wasn't tortured by the mukhabarat, nor did any of my family vanish, but the culture of fear was ubiquitous. I was afraid even of dreaming of a revolution; the secret police in my own brain started the torture before the real one began.
Why did the Jarrars lead such a charmed existence? I don't know enough to say that what Khalid says is not true. But there's more to this story. Care to elaborate, Khalid?
The same post is added to the Family In Baghdad blog with the warning:
You mess with her, you mess with me.
Whatever. From what I have seen so far, Faiza can handle herself just fine.
Actually this entry is pretty interesting and has lots of substance. Wow! Imagine. He even puts us onto an UPFRONT Baathist blog.
Faiza
In Faiza's most recent entry, she offers (uniquely) genuine sorrow for those executed by Zarqawi: no qualifications...no tie-ins that this is really Bush's fault. She lays the blame soley with the perpetrators. She speaks of these terrorists as the enemy of her country. Amen, Faiza. Raed and Riverbend, pay attention.
Unfortunately, she doesn't maintain that stance. I'm not talking about her complaints about getting around town in traffic because of the Coalition convoys. I'm mean, it wouldn't be Faiza if she didn't complain. Anyway, this complaint is almost American in nature. Americans are extraordinary whiners. We complain about the traffic when a new highway is going up, we complain about having to wait 30 seconds for a page to download on a dial-up connection to the Internet...we have almost nothing to whine about but we still do. So when Faiza complains about having to clear the road for a miliary convoy, I can understand perfectly. True, it would be a perfect terrorist ploy to have a car slow down the convoy and take pot shots at them with RPGs and automatic rifles...I know that. But it inconvenienced Faiza and it's very American for her to complain about it.
Nor am I not talking about her repeating a rumor about a man who was minding his own business in his car and the Coaltion shot him dead and then went on without looking back. No, I don't believe it, either. After all, if they shot him, they would want to know who he was working for, right? They would want to know his name, right? Well, unless you believe the soldiers shot him for fun. Sorry, I'm not buying that either. Someone should collect all these anti-Coalition urban legends in a book.
Nope. I'm talking about where she declares her sympathy with the insurgents. The insurgents who are making the soldiers have to be so careful, so suspicious, so much more difficult to live with. The ones blowing up cars in the streets. The ones blowing up power plants. The ones who are shielding Zarqawi. The ones who are kidnapping people building up the Iraqi infrastructure:
And these are the reason we sympathize with the Iraqi resistance that fire R.B.J. missiles in front of our eyes, on an American convoy, then the Iraqi would withdraw, and disappear, while the people smile…
The foolish, aggressive conducts of the occupation soldiers alone escalates the violence against them…and this is a normal reaction… so, no one should blame…
Faiza, do you really think there is a hair's-breadth of distance between Zarqawi and the supposed "Iraqi resistance". You don't think the Iraqi resistance knows where exactly in Fallujeh he is holed up? You strike me as a "woman of the world". I simply do not believe you are that naive.
[Edited to add] If I were to take seriously what you say here, Faiza, I would relinquish all pity for non-combatant Iraqis injured during shoot-outs between the Coalition and the insurgents. You suggest there are no non-combatants. There may be a degree of truth to this in Falujeh. If only there were a way to distinguish between bystanders like Faiza and truely innocent bystanders. Note, Faiza, that if you had slowed that convoy, and insurgents had fired a RPG at them, you would have smiled and driven away. So would the troops in the convoy have been imprudent to shoot you first and ask questions later??
Stay out of the way, Khalid. You might get hurt. This is between your mother and me.
Riverbend
She says that the new Iraqi Government is nothing but "puppets" of the Coalition. How does she know they're puppets? BECAUSE THEY DON'T HATE THE COALITION. Perhaps the truth is that Riverbend is a puppet of THE RETURN.
She says her friends are leaving Iraq in advance of the handover. I'm presuming these are more of her Baathist friends who did so well under Saddam. Good-bye. Good Luck. Good Riddance.
Raed
Raed says he feels "ashamed and disgusted" by the recent beheadings. Why should Raed feel ashamed? According to him, the Coalition is to blame. That's right!!
...the American policy makers decided to create a small monster called bin ladin to open another front against the former USSR, just like how the Israeli policy makers created, or at least facilitated, the creation of Hamas in the 80s to add another crack in the body of the PLO.
Actually Raed, bin Laden was an anti-american nut-case during the war against the Soviet Union. I once saw an interview with a documentary film-maker working in Afghanistan during that time. He said he passed Osama's tent but was warned by his Afghani fighter/guide to stay away from there because "that guy is crazy" and his group would kill any American they met. Osama was a small part of the Mujahadeen forces at that time -- by no means "America's Man". Note how Raed has worked things around so that the Moslem fighters against foreign occupation by the Soviet Union are now monsters created by the United States. Raed's hate for America seems to have a lot in common with Osama's: if the U.S. did it, it must be a bad thing.
Crazier still, Raed says that HAMAS was created by the Israelis!!! This is positively funny because it echos the Saudi government claim that Al-Qaida is a Zionist plot. HA HA HA!
But then Raed gives the supposed strategy credit:
It is smart though, I don’t blame the American decision makers, and maybe I’ll adopt the same strategies if I was in their place. (thank god I’m not)
(You can say that again, Raed. No, I'll say it. Thank god you're not) But then he suggests that the administrations who were supposed to come up with this plan would not have done what Bush has done. He doesn't say what they would have done instead. Raed goes on...
I didn’t see that attacking clerics like As Sadr would be the right answer, because he is strong enough to fight back, and he will become a national hero, and that happened. As Sadr is a national hero who is planning to join the next elections, after defeating the American army (he didn’t surrender, he is still having his army, right?)
Nope. The Iraqi government and the Coalition say that Al Sadr has to give up his militia. He said he would, he has not. That's why his militia is being systematically separated from the world of the living. Interesting that Raed has declared Al Sadr undefeatable just as his movement (read something scatological here) is on the verge of collapse. Look for Raed to declare Zarqawi to be undefeatable any day now.
It took him a while (just as it did with Riverbend), but Raed has finally figured out a way to see the new Iraqi government as a bad thing. I always believed in you, Raed.
What are we gaining?
We, Americans and Arabs, what did we gain after all of those years of the war on terror?
Americans have only really been at war for TWO AND A HALF years, Raed.
What did we, Iraqis, gain after months of occupation and destruction?
A silly selected government? With a CIA agent as our PM and a Sheikh of a tribe as our president? Our fat Sheikh speaks English in his conferences… What a great president…
Which is sooooo worse than the government Raed used to have. Sheesh! Raed, if you don't like the new heads of your goverment, 1) go home, 2) register to vote, and 3) try to vote them out!! What an onerous responisibility democracy is.
Raed and the Irani
These two are currently in a quandry about what to post until they can figure out how the U.S. is to blame for Iran seeking to become a nuclear power and for Al-Qaida's war in Saudi Arabia (and whether they should be glad about it or not).
Majid
Majid's latest consists of his anxiety due to his upcoming emmigration to Jordan (he's gone now, I understand). This entry is for Jarrar-watchers only...not much interest for Iraq-watchers.
UPDATE
Zarqawi's insurgents (who are working in accordance with the brave nationally proud Iraqi resistance ~ thank you Faiza) kill over 100 Iraqis in an attempt to disrupt Iraq before the hand over of national sovereignty:
But the worst bloodshed came in Mosul, the country's northern metropolis often touted as a success story in restoring order in Iraq, where four car bombs killed 62 people, including a U.S. soldier, and wounded more than 220, according to the U.S. military.
posted by CMAR II at
7:31 AM
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