In 2003, American occupiers marched into Baghdad, and forcefully changed the Iraqi regime. United States officials proclaimed they took this action in the name of democracy. When, on April 9, the statue of the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein fell, American President George W. Bush [or the Navy] announced, "Mission Accomplished." The war was a success. At present, we cannot be certain who postulated the theory. The Administration tells us the Navy was responsible for this assertion. The maritime services say the White House made the banner famously seen in the background while President acknowledged a United States victory. Although, we do not know who avowed our triumph, we recall who contended the Iraq war was in its last throes.
Nevertheless, Mister Bush, and his Cabinet decisively declared, Iraqis hold dear the principles that serve Americans well. With the fall of the dictatorial leader, freedom is theirs. The American public was told, from that day forward, Iraqi individuals, would have the right to participate in their government. All the citizens of Iraq could, would, and do vote for their representatives. Indeed, the Iraq government is now of, by, and for the people, the American people.
With thanks to citizens of the United States social equality exists throughout this Middle Eastern country, even if it was imposed irreverently and ineffectually.
In 2007, on this the anniversary of the fall, in a country deeply divided, tens of thousands of people joined together. Iraqis' stepped on the national pennant of their oppressors. These religious and secular factions correctly believe Americans and allied forces marched on their national banner. Thus, the Iraqi's show their distain, reciting, 'One "good" turn deserves another.'
The demonstration, which has remained peaceful, was being held at the urging of militant Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. He exhorted Iraqi security forces on Sunday to unite with his militiamen against the American military in Diwaniya, an embattled southern city in Iraq where fighting has raged for four days.While the American Mainstream Media criticizes the intent of Mister Sadr, and negates his credibility, it is interesting to observe the power of this man or this mission. The people of Iraq are truly speaking for themselves. They want the oppressors out! This ever-growing group of Iraqi soldiers and civilians, formerly fighting amongst themselves and with each other, is united in one cause, a “call for liberation.” These tired men and women, children too, wear tattered clothing. Their spirits are torn. Yet, they have the strength and the will to protest, peacefully.Mr. Sadr’s statement did not explicitly call for armed struggle against the Americans, but it still represented his most forceful condemnation of the American-led occupation since he went underground after the start of an intensified Baghdad security crackdown nearly two months ago.
The demonstrators marched to Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, from neighboring Kufa, with two cordons of Iraqi police lining the route. Some at the rally waved small Iraqi flags; others hoisted a giant flag 10 yards long, the Associated Press reported. Leaflets fluttered through the breeze reading: “Yes, Yes to Iraq” and “Yes, Yes to Moktada. Occupiers should leave Iraq.”Ironically, that is what President Bush and Vice President Cheney said to the American public; they wanted to provide freedom for the people of Iraq. However, they are as they were, unwilling to do this. Their words did not reveal the truer plan. This war would be protracted. We intend to stay, to protect our oil interests, and to maintain bases in the Middle East.“The enemy that is occupying our country is now targeting the dignity of the Iraqi people,” said lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, head of Mr. Sadr’s bloc in parliament, as he marched, according to the A.P. “After four years of occupation, we have hundreds of thousands of people dead and wounded.”
A senior official in Mr. Sadr’s organization in Najaf, Salah al-Obaydi, called the rally a “call for liberation,” the A.P. reported. “We’re hoping that by next year’s anniversary, we will be an independent and liberated Iraq with full sovereignty.”
Upon reflection, this was and is obvious. When one country, or its Commander-In-Chief, in this case America and the Bush-Cheney Cabinet, concludes that they are privileged merely because they have military and monetary power, they often act as emperors. Pompous leaders propagate evil, while seeing it elsewhere. A superpower frequently exerts force against all that they declare an enemy. Much ill is wrought in the name of "justice." Sadly, wars are fought in a futile attempt to promote peace.
Americans, or their influential Administrators, with little information, believing they are right, fight for the freedom of those that they know nothing about. Lies are promoted facilitating the conquest. Thus, we have the Iraq conflict.
Certainly, it is a challenge to watch a dictator execute thousands of his own people. However, to enter a country and slay thousands more in defense of your belief is not a solution. To claim that "you," the United States of America have the right to dictate policy, or to chose governance, simply because you are saintly or sanctimonious, does not honor peace for all people. A punitive practice such as that Americans allowed is counter productive.
Mister Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz, Missus Rice, please understand to justify "your" own reactive behavior, asserting that the other is evil or has done wrong, is infantile. I was a toddler when I learned "Two wrongs do not make a right." When will you ever learn? When will you give Iraq back to the Iraqi people. They are begging, pleading, for the right to be free.
The Iraqi dissenters are demonstrating as Americans might if our territory was taken over. They are assembling and speaking out against an autocrat who assumes authority against the wishes of the people.
“This is the right to assemble, the right to free speech — they didn’t have that under the former regime,” [Colonel Steven Boylan, an American military spokesman and aide to the commander of all American forces in Iraq] said. “This is progress, there’s no two ways about it.”After four plus years of violence, the citizens of Iraq feel they can take no more. There is aggression on the fields, in the streets, and in people's homes. Hearts are hurt. Individuals are lashing out. Hostility is everywhere; it is worsening. Forlornly, Iraqis are fighting their brethren. Thus, a call for change.
Mr. Sadr’s call for resistance came as the American military announced the deaths of 10 soldiers in five attacks over the weekend, the highest two-day total for American fatalities since the new security plan began Feb. 14. Five soldiers were wounded. Violence against Iraqis continued unabated on Sunday, with at least 43 people killed or found dead. Seventeen were killed and 26 wounded in a car bombing near a hospital and mosque in the insurgent enclave of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad.Moktada al-Sadr realizes "United we stand; divided we fall." This organizer knowingly offers insight, stating the invaders that reside in our region under the guise of "liberator" are the terrorists. Mister Sadr may be helping the Iraq people find the will and the way to settle the sectarian disagreements among the people of Iraq. Moktada al-Sadr says 'We need to take our country back." In other words, Moktada al-Sadr offers the oft-heard expression, 'Power to the People.' I, for one, wish him, more precisely, the people of Iraq success. My hope is that citizens in every nation will take the power back peacefully.Mr. Sadr’s statement on Sunday indicated he might be ready to resume steering his militia, the Mahdi Army, toward more open confrontation with the American military.
The Mahdi Army has generally been lying low during the Baghdad security plan, but intense fighting broke out in Diwaniya on Friday between militiamen and American-led forces. The battles erupted when American and Iraqi soldiers isolated neighborhoods in Diwaniya to search for militiamen. Fighter jets hit militia positions on Saturday, and one police official said at least seven Iraqis had been killed and 15 wounded in the fighting. Residents reported American soldiers scampering across rooftops on Saturday evening.
The battles in Diwaniya have been the most violent in months between the Mahdi Army and the Americans, and could portend violence in other strongholds of the Sadr militia. Mahdi Army fighters began moving to Diwaniya and other southern cities when the Baghdad crackdown began.
“The strife that is taking place in Diwaniya was planned by the occupier to drag down the brothers and make them quarrel, fight and even kill each other,” Mr. Sadr said in a written statement. “Oh my brothers in the Mahdi Army and my brothers in the security forces, stop fighting and killing because that is what our enemy and your enemy and even God’s enemy hope for.”
Mr. Sadr added: “God ordered you to be patient and to unite your efforts against the enemy and not against the sons of Iraq. They want to drag you into a war that ends Shiitism and Islam, but they cannot.”
4 Years OF War...A Look Back..Metal Mashup..Blackened Waters
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