The tide in Iraq has definitely turned: American casualties are plummeting. Bloodshed by Iraqis against other Iraqis, however, is soaring, with new reports of mayhem every day. I’m trying to imagine what it’s like living in a city where this sort of story is an everyday occurrence, but I can’t.
Gunmen killed a Shiite man and three of his relatives at their home in southern Baghdad, police said Monday. The men lined up a brother, two sisters, and their uncle against the wall in their home in Dora and shot each of them late Sunday, police Lt. Maithem Abdel-Razzaq said. The father of the family, a grocery shop owner, had been killed six months earlier by gunmen, he said. The mother was out visiting relatives at the time of the attack, police said.
Sectarian violence has inflamed the capital, where execution-style killings have become common and hundreds of bodies have been found in the weeks since a Shiite shrine was bombed on Feb. 22.
Also in Dora, one of Baghdad’s most dangerous neighborhoods, drive-by shooters killed a police captain outside his home late Sunday, police said.
Early Monday, a car bomb exploded in the central district of Karradah, wounding two civilians, police said.
All within 24 hours.
A telltale sign of just how grim it is can be found over at Iraq the Model, once seen as the ultimate pro-Bush, pro-invasion voice coming ou of Iraq. In recent weeks it has turned increasingly pessimistic, at times bordering on fatalistic.
Clerics are gathering and charging their followers with hatred to prepare them for a war; hatred towards anything that does not belong to their old school and this may also include provoking these followers against moderate politicians who will be denounced as cowards and betrayers of the faith.
Naturally most politicians do not want this land to be their grave but it won’t be easy for them to resist the pressure or stay away from the fire. I really think that clerics are leading us to a real disaster and it is time for Iraqis with brains and influence to put an end for this madness of the clerics. I don’t expect this to be an easy task but just as the religious succeeded in uniting themselves, the liberals must do better to overcome their differences and show more efforts to rescue their country from an imminent disaster.
You can tell he’s desperate to find some rays of hope, something, anything to be optimistic about, but to little avail. I mean, does he or anyone else really believe that “the liberals” in Iraq have anything even approaching the clout of the Sadr’s and the clerics? Just look at the entire region and its history. When do the liberals ever prevail against the clerics? Look at Iran. Look at Afghanistan, where the people march in the street to demand the death of a convert to Christianity. I feel really bad for Iraq the Model and other Iraqis who believed what Bush spoon-fed them. These people had a dream, and a noble one, too. Only it was founded on a false promise, that regime change would also bring with it cultural change. The other false promise was that the US knew what it was doing, and actually had a blueprint for success, backed up by the military muscle to maintain oprder and supply essential services during Iraq’s most critical moment. We failed, and now a lot of decent people, innocent people, will pay the terrible price for our folly.
1
By Angry Chinese Blogger
“When do the liberals ever prevail against the clerics?”
When the liberals in the population hold more power than the conservatives.
The clerics are gaining the upper hand because thet are appealing to people’s emotions and their desire for a firm government that can bring stability.
The liberals are however loosing ground because they have a divided message that looks very chaotic by comparison.
In comparison, the clerics are gaining power and support now for similar reasons to why US coservatives wit a strong message on security won a lot of support after 9/11.
“Look at Iran”
Out of interest, what is your opinon on the situation in Iran where by, when there were elections, the people semi-democratically voted the more conservative of the two main candidates, even though there were more liberal alternatives, and did so without being threatened and without the use of vote rigging.?
April 3, 2006 @ 4:57 am | Comment
2
By Angry Chinese Blogger
“When do the liberals ever prevail against the clerics?”
When the liberals in the population hold more power than the conservatives.
The clerics are gaining the upper hand because thet are appealing to people’s emotions and their desire for a firm government that can bring stability.
The liberals are however loosing ground because they have a divided message that looks very chaotic by comparison.
In comparison, the clerics are gaining power and support now for similar reasons to why US coservatives wit a strong message on security won a lot of support after 9/11.
“Look at Iran”
Out of interest, what is your opinon on the situation in Iran where by, when there were elections, the people semi-democratically voted the more conservative of the two main candidates, even though there were more liberal alternatives, and did so without being threatened and without the use of vote rigging.?
April 3, 2006 @ 4:58 am | Comment
3
By Angry Chinese Blogger
“When do the liberals ever prevail against the clerics?”
When the liberals in the population hold more power than the conservatives.
The clerics are gaining the upper hand because thet are appealing to people’s emotions and their desire for a firm government that can bring stability.
The liberals are however loosing ground because they have a divided message that looks very chaotic by comparison.
In comparison, the clerics are gaining power and support now for similar reasons to why US coservatives wit a strong message on security won a lot of support after 9/11.
“Look at Iran”
Out of interest, what is your opinon on the situation in Iran where by, when there were elections, the people semi-democratically voted the more conservative of the two main candidates, even though there were more liberal alternatives, and did so without being threatened and without the use of vote rigging.?
April 3, 2006 @ 4:59 am | Comment
4
By Angry Chinese Blogger
“When do the liberals ever prevail against the clerics?”
When the liberals in the population hold more power than the conservatives.
The clerics are gaining the upper hand because thet are appealing to people’s emotions and their desire for a firm government that can bring stability.
The liberals are however loosing ground because they have a divided message that looks very chaotic by comparison.
In comparison, the clerics are gaining power and support now for similar reasons to why US coservatives wit a strong message on security won a lot of support after 9/11.
“Look at Iran”
Out of interest, what is your opinon on the situation in Iran where by, when there were elections, the people semi-democratically voted the more conservative of the two main candidates, even though there were more liberal alternatives, and did so without being threatened and without the use of vote rigging.?
April 3, 2006 @ 5:00 am | Comment
5
By richard
Maybe there was a misunderstanding; you are talking about “conservatives and liberals” as though this is about the US. It’s about Iraq, where the two words carry different baggage. Maybe I should have phrased my question: When do the liberals ever win against the clerics – in the Middle East? (I presumed it was clear we were talking about the middle East.) Absolutely never.
As for your question about iran… All of Iran’s candidates have to be pre-approved by the clerics before the election is held. So it is a pseudo-election, not a semi-election. Only hard-line theocrats are permitted to run. It’s a sham. However, even if the elections were totally free and fair, the people would most likely elect a hard-line theocrat. (Anyone who has studied Iran knows this, just as I said many months ago that Iraq would be voting in Iran-sympathetic theocrats. This just goes with the territory.) Democracy is no magic solution, and it can indeed bring the very worst to power.
April 3, 2006 @ 5:21 am | Comment
6
By Zhuanjia
I always thought Iraq the Model was one of those fake news sites set up by the likes of the Lincoln Foundation to spread “good news” from Iraq. It reads like it is written by a neocon who tries to pass himself off as Arabic by the use of occasional bad spelling or grammar. But “Omar” seems to have an extraordinary command of American colloquialisms and comes across like Michelle Malkins older brother. The last time I looked this “Baghdad dentist” seemed preoccupied with tackling Iran rather than the mayhem on his own doorstep. Try Riverbend if you want to know what’s really happening from a real Iraqi.
April 4, 2006 @ 12:43 am | Comment
7
By richard
Exactly, Zhuanjia! That is exactly what Iraq the model has been – up to now. Now, it’s full of gloom and disppointment. Riverbend has always been full of gloom and disappointment, justifiably. The amazing thing is that the neocons like iraq the model are admitting their disllusionment and their fear the war was done all wrong.
April 4, 2006 @ 12:56 am | Comment