Iraq: What will happen? (Iraqi bloggers continue the conversation)

[beachmom]

Just when I think the place is going to descend into civil war, I read the thoughts and feelings of Iraqis, and wonder if there is still hope. This isn't about us -- the Americans -- we all know * is an incompetent inept idiot who has done everything possible to botch the post-war planning, occupation, reconstruction, and "training" of Iraqi troops that seems to go more backwards than forwards. But, when we look at the future of Iraq, it depends on decisions made by the Iraqi people -- do they want to live in peace together or succumb to endless war divided? At the moment, my favorite blogger Zeyad (www.healingiraq.blogspot.com) is very pessimistic, even though he is pro-democracy and glad Saddam Hussein is gone. But then I followed a link to this guy - Iraqi Konfused Kollege Kid, and I just have to say, I was struck by his passion.

http://ejectiraqikkk.blogspot.com/

Sunday, February 26, 2006
frustrated
DAY 3.5

WARNING : I am pissed off, so I may say things I do not mean.
Things have quieted down noticably today, more promising subtitles
abound in all major TV stations...

i have a singlemost frustration which I couldn't keep until a
further post, many many people started beating their chests and
calling it a Civil War from day one, to all these people, and
some of them are some of my best friends, I have the following to
say :

Fuck you.

That's right, Fuck you Zeyad, Fuck you Anarki13, fuck you my
sectarain grandmother, fuck anyone who's done anything to wallow
in the misery of Iraq and incite more hatred, fear and death
amongst the masses, either intentionally or not.
Those blogger friends who have taken to recluse in digging up any
horrible stories and passing them off to anyone who can hear,
glorifiying any negative news they can find, please ignore these
sorry fools, they are just that way...they gravitate to the dark -
thinking it's cool, naturally, that's my stance by default, but I find this highly inappropriate regarding the circumstance.

For example, Zeyad, a friend of mine and arguably the best Iraqi
blogger out there, has been continously adding oil to the pan by
translating to the world at large gloomy news from a decidedly
miserable website, that website almost specializies in Shiite acts
of massacre against Sunni and its neutrality and objectivity is
highly disputed, all the news Zeyad's been passing are all about
doom and gloom, stop glorifiying the death, Z!...true, shit
happens, but for all I care, all that happened is predicatble and
can be transcended easily. and you should do something about the
name of your blog 'Healing Iraq?', fast.
I'm not saying you should remain calm, but you have a tendency to
exaggerate greatly...

snip

I love my country. Shit, I never knew I cared so much.

Sorry about all the fucks dude....don't mean it...just pissed off..

I have to say, this is just great blog writing, comparable to any of the rants here or anywhere else on the blogosphere. Damn, if there are a lot of folks out there like the Kid and Zeyad, maybe the Iraqis can keep their country together. I know, I know -- it's a long shot. But there's a lot of spirit over there -- you gotta admit that.

[babylonsister]

1. I read a bit of this tonight and thought of you, beachmom,

you could be on to something!


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x526806

[beachmom]

2. I just wanted to issue my own warnings about some Iraqi blogs

I really delved into them yesterday and there is some great stuff out there -- the Kid which I referenced above is actually pretty funny and so is another college age friend of his, 13. I had no idea about the Iraqi sense of humor amidst utter chaos and tragedy.

Having said all of that, there are some disturbing things about the Iraqi blogs:

First and foremost, don't read the comment sections -- they are utterly frightening and go nowhere. It is literally the war on terror by keyboard. You have RW Bushbots who think "freedom is on the march" chiming in, almost blaming an Iraqi blogger for being shot at by an American soldier for seemingly no reason (he came out of it okay, but had to replace the windshield in his car). On the other extreme come a host of anti-American zealots who spew their hatred of us (not just right wingers, ALL of us), and say "long live the resistance in Iraq" (aka the insurgency, who regularly blow up American soldiers, Iraqi soldiers, and men, women, and children). They use some of the reasoning of the lefty freeper types, but then add some anti-semitism, anti-Israel rhetoric, and just full out anti-Americanism. It makes me want to take a shower to wash all of the hatred away.

Secondly, I do think it's important to get multiple viewpoints. I was happy to get links from that DUer you referenced above, but all three he linked to are anti-American, anti-occupation; this does not represent all Iraqis. Many were indeed happy that we got rid of Saddam Hussein, but have become disillusioned with the unrest and endless occupation of U.S. forces. Some, like Iraq the Model, are unabashed supporters of the new Iraqi government and want the U.S. forces to stay until there is more stability. Many lefties insinuated that Omar (of Iraq the Model) must be working for the CIA (a flat out lie), simply because they couldn't BELIEVE that an Iraqi had that viewpoint. I think it's just better to acknowledge, that like in America, there are all kinds of viewpoints out there.

Anyway, you can ignore my warnings, but I am a little upset this afternoon, because I made the mistake of subjecting myself to really hate filled commenting on one of the blogs, and would like to save all of you from making the same mistake (or at least, if you do decide to read comments, you do so knowing what will pop up on your screen).

And by the way . . . there is still a chance that a full scale civil war will NOT happen. It is not a foregoned conclusion.

[sandnsea]

3. "wallow in the misery"

Boy isn't that just a mouthful. Some people really do some to revel in it, the more misery the better. It seems to some, being right about predicting gloom and doom is preferable to peace and joy. Certainly we have to have as clear a view as possible about what is happening in Iraq, but damn, those who seem to be gleeful about saying "I told you so" can't be objective enough to have a clear view themselves.

[beachmom]

4. You say it better than me, Sandnsea!

That's what I accused Armando of a year ago (but I was MUCH less diplomatic) after the January election, and boy was he hateful to me. I avoided dKos for a long time after. Now I'll read it, but stay far away from Armando if I comment. In general, every time I think I must be "right" about Iraq, I'll think about how it will affect ordinary Iraqis. That always stops me short. I mean, at the worst for us, our troops come home in humiliation, another American defeat. But the Iraqi people are stuck, and will have to pick up the pieces which could include ethnic cleansing and genocide, and endless terrorism. I really do feel bad for what is happening to them . . .

[TayTay]

5. Oh Gawd, I hope they avoid a full-on civil war

I was thinking about this today at odd moments (you know, driving home, cooking dinner, that kind of time when you are sort of doing something, but you have 'thinking time' as well.) The actions last week were designed to set off the factions in a spiral that would make the breaches between the parties irreparable and war inevitable. I hope that the leaders of Iraq can pull the country back from the brink. I did think of that Georgetown speech from last Oct and I think this part is still true:

"Our strategy must achieve a political solution that deprives the Sunni-dominated insurgency of support by giving the Sunnis a stake in the future of their country. The Constitution, opposed by more than two thirds of Sunnis, has postponed and even exacerbated the fundamental crisis of Iraq. The Sunnis want a strong secular national government that fairly distributes oil revenues. Shiites want to control their own region and resources in a loosely united Islamic state. And Kurds simply want to be left alone. Until sufficient compromise is hammered out, a Sunni base can not be created that isolates the hard core Baathists and jihaadists and defuses the insurgency."

That's all still true. I think that ordinary Iraqi's do want to control their own country and kick the foreign insurgents out. I also think the best hope for Iraq is still the people their realizing that they have nothing to gain from a civil war but misery. Times like this make me feel the loss of '04 all over again and I really do long for someone in this country who genuinely understands foreign policy and who understands the use of diplomacy to press a situation. What makes me so depressed about Iraq is the fact that the Bush regime puts policy first then does everything backwards in order to back up what they have already done or decided. They can't change, they can't adapt to current circumstances and they can't negotiate. The objective for them is set and all roads simply must lead to it. It's so ass-backwards. I wish we had grown-ups again in foreign policy. Sigh!