Healing Iraq Blog:
Anti-terrorism demonstrations
I wish to elaborate on this topic which I mentioned two days ago. I didn't go into much details at that time because I had not prepared an entry, so I wrote it on the fly.
First, I have to explain to some western idealists that public demonstrations is an alien idea to the majority of Iraqis. We have been forced to demonstrate in favour of Saddam, the Ba'ath, Palestine, and Arab nationalism for 3 decades. Just to give you an idea on how that was like for us; party members would surround colleges, schools, and govt. offices. They block all outlets and shove people into buses which head to wherever the demonstrations are to be held. You simply cannot refuse to demonstrate. I remember hiding in the toilet back in high school whenever the buses came into the park to herd us to the demos. It wasn't a pleasant experience I can tell you. Once I got stuck and had to shout anti-imperialist slogans at one of these rallies just two years ago. You don't have the slightest idea of what it is like to live your life daily in fear.
Now today, we are facing terrorist and violent threats against our nurseries, schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics, oil pipelines, power stations, water purification systems, and other civilian facilities. If you think that a peaceful demonstration would deter those criminals from doing harm to us, then you are 100% wrong. Do you think the Syrians/Saudis/Iranians/Yemenis/Sudanese would simply say 'Oh look, the Iraqis don't want us there, lets go home and leave the Americans and Iraqis work it out'? Or if you think we should go out and face the dangers just to prove to you -paranoid Americans sitting in your ivory towers watching tv- that we do not support the terrorists, then you are wrong again.
You see a handful of teenagers dancing in front of the camera celebrating dead Americans, and you judge an entire people, you start whining about pulling the troops out of Iraq and giving the Iraqis what they deserve. Are you people really so close-minded? It is the fault of your news agencies that show you what they want, its certainly not ours. If you want us to go out and cry for your dead soldiers and wave American flags, then don't count on it either. We are losing way too many innocent Iraqis daily to be grieving over dead soldiers who have actually made a decision to come here. What about the thousands of dead Iraqis who were not as lucky to have a choice? Did you cry for them?
According to a poll by an Iraqi agency, only 3% of Iraqis want Saddam back and less than 40% want the Americans to leave immediately. Did you even hear about these results?
If you think that Iraqis aren't doing enough, then you're being mislead by your media. Thousands of people are applying to be members of IP, FPS, and the civil defense force. They are begging for the security to be in their hands. We know how to handle those scum. The Americans are more interested in being nice and all about human rights and free speech and stuff. We have our own Law and court systems which we can use but the CPA won't allow us to. They are being too lenient and forgiving on our expence. If you think that is what is required to build a successful democracy then you're too deluded. You don't know the first thing about the Iraqi society.
Iraqis are providing intelligence to the CPA hourly. Just ask the soldiers here. Iraqis are cooperating in every way they can. They're losing their lives for it goddammit. If you aren't seeing it on tv, it isn't my fucking problem.
Imagine yourself living in a neighbourhood with a large number of ex-Baathists/Wahhabis/extremists like I do. Would you go out and denounce the Jihadis/Ba'athists openly for everyone to see, and then get back from work one day to find your brother kidnapped or a threat letter hanging on your door? A friend of mine was standing in front of his house with his kids when a car drove by and emptied a magazine of bullets into them. You know why? Because he was working with the CPA in reconstructing Baghdad Airport. What do you think he did? He stubbornly refused to quit his job and bravely returned to work after spending a week in hospital. Would you do the same? Of course not. We expected most of the IP would simply leave their jobs after last weeks bombing, well they didn't. In fact there were thousands of parents volunteering to carry arms and protect the schools which their kids attend to allow the IP to do their real job.
Let me be honest. Look at what 9/11 did to you. It shocked you, and you can't get over it to this day. Well let me invite you to Iraq where 9/11 is an everyday reality. How would you live your life? Stop comparing your 'perfect' society with mine. It isn't the same. People don't think the same. We don't put flags and stickers on our cars to show how patriotic we are. We don't go out in a 'dentists against terrorism' demonstration. We still don't have your free-speech and other social niceties yet.
Another thing I'm sure you haven't seen in your news. There are paintings on the walls all over Baghdad warning Arab foreigners from a bloody revenge if they keep messing with our affairs. Iraqis are openly calling the GC to quit the Arab League.
And to the guy who was being sarcastic about me sitting in an internet cafe and blogging or playing games instead of going out and organizing a demonstration. Well maybe you are right. I'm sick of people who don't appreciate my efforts. I'm wasting many hours a day and half my salary just to maintain this blog. I have a job, patients, a family, and friends, in other words I have a life. Maybe I will at one point do as you say and diss this whole stupid blog idea.
# posted by zeyad : 1:40 PM
comments (132)
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
The mindset of ME conspiracy theorists
This is a vital and important issue that I feel I should explain to anyone who seeks to understand the way many people in the ME think. Hadi sent me this article written in Arabic about Arab conspiracy theorists defending Saddam and his actions during the last three decades. I have spent a couple of hours translating it and I will try to give you the gist of the article along with a few observations of my own. It may not be a perfect translation but I think its understandable. Arabic to English isn't easy. Here goes.
-The practice of blaming 'the other' in our societies is not a recent one. It has been engraved deeply in our minds for centuries, for various reasons. A person usually denies his own mistakes in front of his peers, and attempts to blame them on 'the other'. Who is this 'other'?. Sometimes it could be embodied, sometimes it could be invisible. This is the basis of all conspiracy theories, to acquit ones self from all responsibilities for its mistakes. We all remember as young schoolboys how we used to attribute our poor grades to the 'bad teacher'.
Everytime Saddam Hussein was asked about the reasons he waged war on Iran and Kuwait, he would answer coldly: It is always 'the other' who conspires against the great achievements of Al-Thawra (the revolution).
When we condemned Bin Laden and Hussein for all their atrocities against humanity, the conspiracy theorists would rush to us and correct us that 'the US are the ones to blame. After all they were who made Bin Laden and Saddam, weren't they?'. As if Saddam was just an innocent child or a pure angel before he established contact with the US. Or as if the US was the only power in the world who provided him any support or assistance. Also these people incorrectly assume that Islamic extremism was born today, or that it was the US that caused it to exist. Some even go far to try to convince us that these terrorist acts are the direct response to American policies in the region.
Just like they are trying to convince us today that the horrendous actions against Iraqi civilians today by militants/resistance/mujahedeen/terrorists are due to the American presence or occupation in Iraq. They forget that this sickened ideal would readily target other secularists/infidels/kafirs/reformists or any other creed that is different to theirs in the absence of an enemy such as the US in their way.
When we expressed our joy for the fall of Saddam, the conspiracy theorists would poke their noses and explain to us that 'it is America that has removed this tyrant, why rejoice to that?'.
Our intellectual disaster is that our children, old ladies, peasants,.etc voice the same political opinions of our educated conspiracy theorists. Not because they are repeating them, but due to the fact that their opinions are based on the same beliefs that are inspired from popular mythology, heritage, cultural roots, religious misconceptions, and folklore deep seated in the region.
How are we supposed to have a dialogue with someone who believes the coalition forces presence in Iraq is part of a larger conspiracy or design against Iraq and the Arab/Muslim world?
How are we supposed to reason with someone who still believes that Saddam was working for the Americans?
Does that imply that every tyrant or dictator in the world that the US has not acted against is somehow related to the US? I have no idea what political language I can use to communicate with such people.
Why don't they point to the massive support Saddam recieved from the Soviet Union, France, China, and other countries of the Warsaw pact during the seventies, eighties, nineties, up to the last moment the fascist regime was in power? Why don't they mention the fact that all the other Arab regimes were behind him when he was commiting genocide against the Kurds?
We can't underestimate the effect of the conspiracy theory on the collective consciousness of the Arab people. The Arab mind is apt to grasp this theory because as we mentioned it is already present in its subconscious for centuries. It has adapted Arabs to be more tolerant and forgiving of their respective regimes, and would push people to support them against any foreign influence especially if that influence was the US which would endanger these regimes. See how Arab regimes in general are still shedding crocodile tears for Saddam and the poor occupied Iraqi people. Where were they the last 30 years?
Conspiracy theorists view the US in a narrowed eye. They are absolutists. They refuse any American political or military action which might benefit our people. Because they believe that any such benefit would not be out of concern for Iraqis or Arabs. Even if the US has vital interests in the area it does not mean we should refuse the positive outcome to our people or countries. If our interests coincide we cooperate with each other. And this is not Machiavellianism as someone naively suggested. This is Pragmatism.
In other words they do not differ greatly from the various Arab news channels in their coverage of the current situation in Iraq. Focusing on the negative in everything without even a hint to the huge progress in the country within the last few months. And just like these stations readily accuse the coalition for anything negative, the conspiracy theorists repeat the distorted facts blindly.
Our conspiracy theorists are very much like soccer team fans who shout and scream and try to give the impression that they are more skilled than the football player when he performs poorly. Of course the spectators aren't the same as those in the field, they don't understand the psychology of the player, the stress, and the technical requirements of the game. If their team loses, the crowd will simply say 'oh the referee was bribed', 'the goalkeeper sided with the opponents', 'the field was muddy', 'the grass wasn't mowed properly', 'the floor was slippery'..etc.
To blame the US for the war is easy. But to blame Saddam is a crime. After all he was just peacefully building his palaces, and cooperating with UN investigators. America was just being bloodthirsty and craving for war.
We ask the theorists, couldn't Saddam accept the offers for exile just like Iddi Amin or Taylor more recently? Couldn't he simply take the money and leave to avoid the war? Couldn't he have agreed to the inspections a long time ago? Isn't it his idiocy that was responsible for the war? Why did he give the US a justification for war? Or you think he should have stood to face the 'imperialist zionist design' against the region? Well I am the first to welcome this blessed design if it meant a better future and would change the rotten face of the area.
Of course these people contradict themselves, at one point they oppose the dictatorial regime, at another they defend his crimes when it comes to the US. They remind us of the UN sanctions and try to convince us -who have experienced the two wars and the embargo- that the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths were the result of these sanctions. It seems they choose to believe Tariq Aziz and Al-Sahaf and to disbelieve the fact that Saddams ruthless actions against the Iraqi people were responsible. Are they aware that Saddam did not import enough food and medicine for Iraqis? Are they aware that Saddam used billions of dollars from the Oil-For-Food program to construct hundreds of palaces, presidential resorts, and great mosques? Do they know that Saddam refused to maintain the damaged electric power infrastructure for the whole country while able to do so? Do they know that the regime imported the latest medical equipment from France the next day after the failed assasination of Uday? Why didn't he import them for other Iraqis? Why did they have to die? Why did he say they were prohibited by economic sanctions? How can someone defend such a regime just to prove a point? How can some Iraqis say today that they want Saddam back? Are they suffering from amnesia? or self-delusion?
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