A frightening report
That report is frigthening
It's not the first time that assassinations of former Baathists are succeeding. But the report seems to indicate they are on the rise.
Last week, after several the carbombing killed many Shiites celebrating Ashura, I was impressed by their calm, by the fact that they were stoically refusing to enter in a spiral of violence, that they weren't responding to the provocation.
But may be it was too early to rejoyce : the report states that the Badr militiae are responsible of these assassinations, taking part in Shiites stronghold. Are things going out of hand ?
Just giving it a try
I've been reading political blogs since at least two years now, that is since the US invasion of Iraq. I found myself so angered at US warmongers and at their bad faith, that I tried to share my indignation through the comment section of these blogs. I never thought the US was there only out of the love for democracy. This illegitimate war, which the US tried to justify by lies (the WMD, the Al-Quaeda connection..), only highlights how the US is trying to impose her power over the rest of the world. Did US become the only uncompeted military superpower since the fall of the former USSR ? Managed by a bunch of rightwing hawks, she is behaving like an imperial power since more than two years now. But is she really the superpower she pretends ? or is she giving off her last shines, before the supremacy of Asia follows up ? Will the world become a multipolar and peaceful world, like I hope ? or will the US remain that super military rogue and arrogant power ?
Saddam was a harsh and pityless dictator, making it difficult to criticize the US aggression. If you dared disagree, you were immediately assimilated to a supporter of Saddam. This dilemna is the main reason why I begun to read Iraqi blogs : I wanted to understand how they felt about the invasion, what the main concerned people thought about it. I wanted to hear something else than the embedded journalists and the US medias. I became quickly addicted to the following blogs :
Iraqi blogs :
Salam Pax was among the first Iraqi bloggers to report on how the Iraqis lived through the runup to the war and what they endured during the invasion. His touch of chilling irony and humour attracted the attention of west journalists and his diaries are now published.
Riverbend begun to blog after the invasion. She is a great talented writer. She reports about what it means for a woman and for Iraqis to live in the actual Baghdad. Each fo her pieces are jewels of precise observation and all are full of irony and humour.
Later, after Salam Pax got tired of blogging, Faiza and the Jarrars emerged.
She tries to graps with the chaotic reality in Baghdad, to understand who benefits from it. She calls for peace in
and of two other blogs of ME specialists :
Juan Cole, specialized in Middle East history delivers his informed comments daily. His knowledge of the Shiites' history is a great help understanding what succeeds now in Iraq. He never hesitates to criticize the way the postwar has been managed by the Bushies, but he can be quite ambivalent on the decision to go to war and to topple Saddam, or on when the US should withdraw her troops.
I find myself more in agreement with Helena Cobban who writes "Justworld News" and thinks that one can't expect anything good from a war. Especially not from a war waged by the actual hawks in the White House. Her defense of humanitary laws and of the peaceful resolution of conflicts, her deep knowledge of the Middle East make her comments very valuable.
I finally decided to start my own blog because I didn't want to hijack the comments of other blogs in order to voice my feelings on the situation. I write it in English because I feel the need to talk to the US people, those who can have an influence ont the US politic.
