Jahannum 1
"Iraq" as a "nation" is a fallacy imposed by the post World War I nation builders (British imperialists in their arrogance) upon a division of the Ottoman Khalifat in the region of mesopotamia.
Iraq was a geographic term used by arabs to signify "The Orient"- 'Iraq" signifies the dawning place, in Arabic.
An Iraqi in the traditional Arab designation is one who hails from the region of Mesopotamia, which to one from Damascus is to the East of is the Orient and the dawning place of the sun. Just like Egypt is al-Misri and the Occident al-Mughrib, is the area of Morocco and al-Andalus (Spain). But these are not nations in the sense of the American and European concept.
The nation we deal with is al-Islam, the people of the Quran. That is how they see themselves.
The shia and sunni battles over an ascendancy which emerged after the death of Muhammad - when the Generals Umar, Uthman and Abu Bakr seized the Khalifate over the designated heir, Ali, the son-in -law of Muhammad. This conflict has been an internal struggle from the beginning of Islam.
Consequently there has been no legitimate interpreter of Islam since the occultation of the Imam Mahdi who is hiding in a well somewhere and is expected to return and establish the reign of Islam on the earth. This is the apocalyptic vision that drives Iran and Ahmedinejad. This apocalyptic vision has been ascendant in Iran over 200 years now and this civil war which we have unleashed is just the most recent manifestation. 19th century Iranian history is replete with civil war instigated by Mahdi claimants. Lots of beheadings etc. But they did not have nuclear capability then. What will happen when the Jahannum 1 nuclear missile is fired for the first time? (Jahannum is the arabic cognate for gehenna, you get the point).
So this fight is going nowhere anytime soon and Americans are foolish to believe that a sectarian democracy is possible in that mess we have created by removing the only stability in that region Saddam and the Baath party. There is no nation of Iraq apart from Baath just as there was no Soviet Union apart from the Communist party, and there is no hope for a secular democracy in a population dominated by shia and sunni religious zealotry.
We have caught the Tiger by the nape of the neck, but now that we have it in hand, what do we do with it? It will not be tamed, turned loose it will only devour us. The only solution is to cage it or kill it.
Iraq was a geographic term used by arabs to signify "The Orient"- 'Iraq" signifies the dawning place, in Arabic.
An Iraqi in the traditional Arab designation is one who hails from the region of Mesopotamia, which to one from Damascus is to the East of is the Orient and the dawning place of the sun. Just like Egypt is al-Misri and the Occident al-Mughrib, is the area of Morocco and al-Andalus (Spain). But these are not nations in the sense of the American and European concept.
The nation we deal with is al-Islam, the people of the Quran. That is how they see themselves.
The shia and sunni battles over an ascendancy which emerged after the death of Muhammad - when the Generals Umar, Uthman and Abu Bakr seized the Khalifate over the designated heir, Ali, the son-in -law of Muhammad. This conflict has been an internal struggle from the beginning of Islam.
Consequently there has been no legitimate interpreter of Islam since the occultation of the Imam Mahdi who is hiding in a well somewhere and is expected to return and establish the reign of Islam on the earth. This is the apocalyptic vision that drives Iran and Ahmedinejad. This apocalyptic vision has been ascendant in Iran over 200 years now and this civil war which we have unleashed is just the most recent manifestation. 19th century Iranian history is replete with civil war instigated by Mahdi claimants. Lots of beheadings etc. But they did not have nuclear capability then. What will happen when the Jahannum 1 nuclear missile is fired for the first time? (Jahannum is the arabic cognate for gehenna, you get the point).
So this fight is going nowhere anytime soon and Americans are foolish to believe that a sectarian democracy is possible in that mess we have created by removing the only stability in that region Saddam and the Baath party. There is no nation of Iraq apart from Baath just as there was no Soviet Union apart from the Communist party, and there is no hope for a secular democracy in a population dominated by shia and sunni religious zealotry.
We have caught the Tiger by the nape of the neck, but now that we have it in hand, what do we do with it? It will not be tamed, turned loose it will only devour us. The only solution is to cage it or kill it.
posted by Corvus | 4:06 PM
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