:: Thursday, December 05, 2002 ::

I understand now why Diane doesn’t want to have a comments link on her blog
.First I thought that I would only put a link to L. Monkey’s post.She basically did what I wanted to do and for a moment I just felt like hiding behind her, some of these comment did scare me.
But a couple of hours later I decided I do want to shout back. And I am not putting a comments link this time.

Deoxy wrote a fine suggestionin the comments link below:

“Now SHUT THE F--- UP and learn to appreciate us a little!!!”

OK, let us all have 5 minutes of silence to do some appreciation.
I appreciate the dropping of tons of bombs on my country.
I appreciate the depleted uranium used in these bombs.
I appreciate the whole policy of dual containment which kept the region constantly on the boil because it was convenient for the US.
I appreciate the support the US government shows to all the oppressive governments in the region only to dump them after they have done what was needed of them.
I appreciate the US role in the sanctions committee.
I appreciate its effort in making me look for surgical gloves and anesthetic in the black market just to get a tooth pulled out, because these supplies are always being vetoed by the sanctions committee.
I appreciate the policies of a country which has spent a lot of time and effort to sustain economic sanctions that punished the Iraqi people while it had no effect on Saddam and his power base, turning us into hostages in a political deadlock between the Iraqi government and the US government.
I appreciate the role these sanctions had in making a country full of riches so poor.
I appreciate watching my professors having to sell their whole personal libraries to survive, and seeing their books being bought by UN staff who take home as souvenirs.
I have so much appreciation it is flowing out of my ears.

Back to Deoxy:

“FuCk us, huh? OK, rot under Hussein's rule - we don't have to help you. You are angry as though we OWE it to you - we don't. Be glad we help at all, EVER”.

Honey-bunny no one asked you to friggin’ come here. And no one asked for your help. It is your government that has been poking its nose in the region’s affairs. Why is it always forgotten that the US government supported the Islamic extremists during the cold war era as a way to keep Soviet influence at bay. Well I guess it backfired now, didn’t it? Just as the US support to Iraq has backfired.

“In his affidavit, Teicher writes that ‘CIA Director [William] Casey personally spearheaded the effort to ensure that Iraq had sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing the Iran–Iraq war.’ The United States supplied ‘the Iraqis with billions of dollars of credits,’ claims Teicher, and offered ‘military intelligence and advice to the Iraqis, and by closely monitoring third country arms sales to Iraq made sure that Iraq had the military weaponry required.’”

And guess who Reagan sent in 1983 as an emissary to give Saddam all sorts of military advice: Donald Rumsfeld. What I want to say is don’t stick your thingy in places where it doesn’t belong. It will get hurt. And I am definitely not asking for your help, your so called help has already done too much damage so keep out of my back yard PLEASE!

We give the stand to lanny now:

“If all your people got gut and stand up who could fuck you up, eh?”

Excuse me there but who do you think is getting broken bottles shoved up their ass? and who is getting his balls electrocuted? Don’t you ever call me a whiner. You don’t know what its like to have a member of your family taken away from you because he is suspected of anti-governmental activities, this suspicion being based on a couple of foreign friends he has. You don’t know what your life looks like after a family member has been executed because he spoke to the wrong people and expressed an honest opinion. If I may quote DEOXY here “SHUT THE F--- UP and learn to appreciate us a little!!!”. You stay where you are and let me deal with my shit.

About mike’s question:

“So, what would you do? Come on folks. Instapundit has brought us all here. Lots of people are reading. This is your chance to show everyone just how stupid George Bush is. Let’s hear your ideas that make his look so lame in comparison.”

I do believe that you are smart enough to know there is no answer to that question. And as lynn has said in her comment, We can't go back in time and undo what has already been done. What is coming is inevitable. Everybody seems so entrenched in their positions. Besides, the regime change plan has nothing to do with 9/11 and al-Qaida or the war on Terrorism. These events only brought everything to a head, or maybe even delayed that policy because the US had to deal with Afghanistan first. I quote from an open letter written on the 19th of February 1998 to William J. Clinton from the Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf:

“[….] Only a determined program to change the regime in Baghdad will bring the Iraqi crisis to a satisfactory conclusion. For years, the United States has tried to remove Saddam by encouraging coups and internal conspiracies. These attempts have all failed. Saddam is more wily, brutal and conspiratorial than any likely conspiracy the United States might mobilize against him. Saddam must be overpowered; he will not be brought down by a coup d'etat. But Saddam has an Achilles' heel: lacking popular support, he rules by terror. The same brutality which makes it unlikely that any coups or conspiracies can succeed, makes him hated by his own people and the rank and file of his military. Iraq today is ripe for a broad-based insurrection. We must exploit this opportunity.”

And you might also like to take a look at the people who have signed that open letter among them you will find Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (the same Rumsfeld who in 83 went to Baghdad to tell saddam that the US will give saddam’s use of chemical weapons in the war against Iran the blind eye), Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
The US moves in mysterious ways. So don’t expect any answers to your question.

Today is the last day of Ramadan. And tomorrow is Eid al-Fitr, so happy Eid to all of you. And may peace be upon us all. I am shutting up for the next couple of days.

:: salam pax 3:40 AM [+] ::
...

SAUDI ARABIA

Modern electro-shock stun weapons are fast becoming the torturers high-technology tool of choice, Amnesty International said today, as it called for the banning of exports to any country where electro-shock torture has been committed or where torture is persistent, and for an immediate suspension of their use for law enforcement.

Saudi Arabia Remains a Fertile Ground for Torture with Impunity

SYRIA

Although scores of political prisoners were released, dozens of people were arrested on political grounds. Torture continued to be used routinely against political prisoners.

JORDAN

hundreds of people, were arrested for political reasons and there were reports of torture or ill-treatment of detainees by members of the security services. Political prisoners continued to be tried before the State Security Court.

EGYPT

Torture is systematically practised in detention centres throughout Egypt, and victims of torture and their relatives continued to report harassment by security agents.

PALASTINE / ISRAEL

More than 460 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces, including 79 children and at least 32 individuals targeted for assassination. Palestinians armed groups killed 187 Israelis, including 154 civilians among them at least 36 children.

IRAQ

THE DOSSIER.

The whole region is a cesspool. dictatorships are all around the arab region. Turkey and Iran fair just as bad as the rest of the lot. But the benevolent western eye looks at Iraq only.
Thank you for your keen interest in the human rights situation in my country,
thank you turning a blind eye for thirty years,
thank you for providing the support for my government to send 2 million Iraqis to war with Iran and getting them killed,
thank you for not minding the development of chemical weapons by a nut case when you knew he was a nut case,
thank you for not minding that members of the Iraqi communist party get acid baths (you don't think that this was used for the first time in Kuwait do you?, the government used these baths since the late 70's),
thank you for ignoring all human rights organizations when it came to the plight of the Iraqi people,
thank you for keeping sanctions which you knew only weakened the people and had no effect on the government.
Thank you for knowing all this and not minding.
For all your efforts I salute you with a hearty FUCK YOU.

There isn't a single bit of information which is not old and has been rehashed by many human rights organizations before, so what makes you so worried about how I manage to live in this shit hole now?
Don't read it if you are faint hearted, that is except if your name was Raed, he has to because I say so.
Not a single line would raise an Iraqi eyebrow with amazement. This is how it is and how it has been. Everyone heard a thousand horror stories, others have witnessed them and still live here. Bite your tongue and move on. Don't ask.

I forgot to thank all the western construction companies who have built the mentioned prisons, and the eastern European countries who provided the training.

So now you care? I don't know whether I am angry, sad or scared. You had the reports all the time and you knew. What makes today different than a year ago?

"No one doubts the barbarism of Saddam Hussein. It dates back to the period when, under a Conservative government, the UK was willing to sell him arms-related equipment and to give him substantial financial credit so that he could afford to make purchases."

so while you're at it why don't you pull out the dossier about Syria? Or maybe Turkey? I am sure you are already layouting the Saudi dossier and making it look as nice as the Iraqi dossier, very good layouting don't you think so?

:: salam pax 2:55 AM [+] ::
...

Diane is blogging again. LETTER FROM GOTHAM is back.
did you know that "The greatest of Jewish Babylonian Hakhamim in recent times." was born in baghdad. Diane has a picture of him on her site. A while ago she promised that she would tell us about this as part of my on going discovery of jewish history in iraq, but she never did. I am sure she has a post about it stashed away somewhere, give it to me Now, you said you would.
I am happy she's back. and in case you were wondering, yes I am still telling her things I shouldn't.
:: salam pax 2:09 AM [+] ::
...

- how could GOD go out of style?
- easy. people tune him out. times change. shit happens.
- but he's god he's eternal! he goes on forever and ever!
- exactly. that's why people tune him out.