Wednesday, April 16, 2003
My Favourite Pic So Far
A soldier enjoying a Camel in the new millennium. NB Date approx.
Cognative Dissonance
It must be extremely unsettling to realize that something that has inspired extreme fear and utter revulsion for a significant amount of time could simply . . . evaporate. The strength projected by the Ba’athist regime must have felt like a constant – something reliably *there*. For years it was a power with which every country in the area had to contend; vis Kuwait. And no matter how it is created, strength is respected.
Suddenly, within the space of weeks, nothing. Gone. All that remains is a swirl of rumors, denials, video tapes from unknown sources, and pieces of paper detailing horrors beyond imagination and pettiness beyond comprehension. Smoke rises from the ruins of secrets.
What a jolt.
Not to say any of these ideas are insubstantial, but I can surely see how they must appeal to anyone who had become accustomed to looking toward Iraq and seeing solidity.
As Beirut Calling’s Michael Young wrote in The Daily Star:
The most disheartening scenes last Wednesday, when Saddam Hussein’s regime collapsed, occurred in Arab living rooms. It was there that satellite stations tried wretchedly to come to grips with the collapse of a tyranny they had somehow associated with Arab pride. And when no explanation came, some stations ignored the event altogether.
Next the conspiracy theories begin. Something all societies grasp when all understanding fails and the mind boggles. Yet, the hopeful in me sees the possibility that the Iraqi people were so fed up with the horror that they took the chance on the Coalition Forces’ sincerity and simply went back home. A few “dead enders” or true believers stayed and are still fighting. But the Shia community in the south of the country seem to believe strongly enough that they are free of Saddam to be protesting in the streets.
Good on ‘em.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
It also occurs to me . . .
...that herein (see above) (uh, below) is suggested a truly *new* art form. The blog-as-fiction could be like a soap opera and a novel combined.
Have I just spent too much time under a digital rock out here in the country? Is this already an up and going thing? Let me know, eh?
(see? Hope and Lemonade… Perhaps I should re-title.)
No Art is Forever
I found myself unaccountably sad yesterday evening after reading of the possible suicide of the Iraqi Minister of Information, or as Shep Smith named him, Baghdad Bob. I don’t know why I was so drawn to that man, but apparently I am not alone.
Then I read USSClueless's piece (20030415.2307) concerning the validity and possible derivation of Salaam Pax.
I guess it is the bucket of cold water on the flame of hope feeling I am feeling just now, but this has saddened me, too. Perhaps it was the thought that, since the postings had stopped just about the time the phone and electricity were reported to have gone out in Baghdad, once everything was restored, the postings would resume. And everything would be allright again . . .
I have oft been accused of being too cynical. I guess what that belies is the ever-present desire to believe – to hope for the best. I am a great audience member because I want to suspend my disbelief.
Call me naďve. Call me Pollyanna. Just don’t call me late for the happy ending. Sheesh.
NB Date approx.Sunday, April 13, 2003
Shades of grey ...and puce
Part of me would like to say, “Welcome to Moron Central,” but I find I can’t wholeheartedly. I must admit that I respect the courage of someone who, no matter how naďve or misguided their thinking, would willingly put their life on the line to enact their beliefs. I have a similar feeling about the men and women in uniform, although I have a much easier time seeing, and agreeing, with their thinking.But (you knew that was coming, didn’t you) search as I may, I cannot find any reports of human shields killed in the line of duty. Or injured. I read many reports deploring the carnage of war, decrying collateral damage, describing in loving detail the injuries and sorrows they see. I hear nothing of their own injuries or losses of their comrades. And I must think that they would not fail to report such injuries. Rather I think we would be hearing of nothing but. They’d buy ads. On Fox.
So I can conclude none other than that they are deserving of the white feather.
(filed on 2.3.2K3) Almost all of the first British "human shields" to go to Iraq were on their way home last night after deciding that their much-heralded task was now too dangerous. …Nine of the original 11 activists decided to pull out after being given an ultimatum by Iraqi officials to station themselves at targets likely to be bombed in a war or leave the country.…Iraqi officials said there was little point in guarding what they considered to be low-risk targets.
…Iraq's decision to force the pace was welcomed by some of the 20 Britons remaining in Baghdad. "It's only fair," said Uzma Bashir, 32, a college lecturer who is one of the team leaders. "We've come here as shields to defend sites and now the Iraqis are asking us to make our choice."
Ok. I geddit. The courage of their convictions, literally, failed them. But what of those twenty who stayed? Where are they?
It seems that they found a way to keep from taking their share of the collateral damage so they could live to trauma-drama another day. Now they are getting what they sought: that sweet/sick rush they get off of others’ sorrow, others’ loss. That right-to-whine-by-proxy without actually suffering any losses of their own.
Perhaps it comes from not actually having the courage to stay home and experience one’s own life, one’s own challenges and losses. Perhaps there is the misperception that someone else’s life and troubles are, somehow, more valid or more real than one’s own. And in trying to ‘champion’ for someone else, these people find the validity they lack within.
yecch. vampires.
Friday, April 11, 2003
The End of the Beginning
Well. The last entry was a while, and a few events ago.
From Zaid at Live from Kuwait!, a quote from The Economist which goes right to the heart of things:
I'm afraid most Iraqis fail to see what will be brought about by an american "invasion" correctly. It should be seen as a catalyst for change. We have to do the hard work ourselves, change has to come from within, it is no use to sit and wait for others to solve our problems, and iraq will be ruled by foreigners if iraqis don't take an active part in whatever will happen. The problem is that years of being told what to do has turned us into a bunch fatalists who see whatever happens to us as "maktub" - written by the hand of god, and submit to it, like all good faithfull people should.funfact of the day: when was the last time the iraqi "man-in-the-street" had the right to express an honest and free opinion about the government's policies?
Answer: 1962 - that is forty years ago. I can only hope that our american friends don't forget to bring extra copies of "Democracy for Dummies" and "Make a Decision: it's not as hard as it sounds" books with them.
Zaid comments, “ what I really like about the article is that it reads like a (how iraqis feel today) guide, it's all here the bitterness brought on by years of sanctions and poverty:
The effect of years and years of propaganda (and believe me it works, you will not disscus something that became a "fact" after having it hammered into your head time after time. you don't think. you have learned all the answers by heart without even knowing it)
No, I don't imagine it will be easy for *us fellow Americans* to grasp, much less begin to grok with fullness what is going on in the mind of any Iraqi. It will benefit us greatly to make the effort. NB Date approx.
Statistics
This page has been viewed 18188506 times
Total Entries: 5718
Total Comments: 4193
Total Trackbacks: 714
Most Recent Entry: 06/14/2011 06:44 am
Most Recent Comment on: 11/27/2011 05:18 pm
{/if}
