Mommy, can I kill that one?
I don't have the webpage-building savvy that Zinga has, so bear with me through this post til Zinga comes and cleans it up - which may be a while as he is preparing to redeploy.
I recently ran across three articles that got me thinking. The first is an article that said that 45% of Iraqis back insurgent attacks on coalition forces.
Not surprising in a culture as violent as Iraq's. This morning the janitor who works in the palace, a likeable young man named Mazim, came into my office to mop the floor. I said, "Shukran" or "Thank you", and he said "You're welcome" in arabic. Then he said in English, "To praise God", to which I responded, "Allah Akbar". He got excited and said in English, "God is big" and to which I said, "Allah Igwaah". He propped the mop on the wall, spread his arms and said in English, "God is big. You understand? God is big and can kill every people in America." He seemed to immediately realize this was rude, and in usual hospitable Iraqi fashion, added, "And every people in Iraq." I say this to point out a cultural difference. When I was little, I was taught God's greatness in terms of love and strength. God can move mountains. God's love is endless. That kind of thing. I was almost startled by the spiteful, thuggish God Mazim portrayed, and nervously giggled in response.
So the affinity with violence didn't stun me. Besides, I am American, not Swiss. It's part of our culture. But what does stun me is that these insurgents that they are supporting kill approximately 500% more Iraqis each year than coalition forces (CF). Further, Iraqis are far more likely to die at the hands of insurgents than CF. I take this from an Iraqi, not American media-- American media doesn't run stories such as these. For those too lazy to click the link, I will give you the gist of it: Insurgents have killed a reported 4,308 Iraqis so far this year. That's just what's been reported. Frankly, I am surprised it is so low.
Here's something else I found in Iraqi media, describing an incident in which some Halliburton (KBR) employees were killed in Ad Diluiyah:
The scene described in reminicent of the murder of four Blackwater employees in Fallujah in 2004. In this case, their burnt bodies were strung up on an overpass, where they were battered like pinatas - by children.
Associated Press quoted Muslim clerics commenting on the disgraceful video footage of American soldiers burning Taliban bodies:
"Abu Ghraib ruined the reputation of the Americans in Iraq and to me this is even worse," Faiz Mohammed told The Associated Press from northern Kunduz province. "This is against Islam. Afghans will be shocked by this news. It is so humiliating. There will be very, very dangerous consequences from this."
I recently ran across three articles that got me thinking. The first is an article that said that 45% of Iraqis back insurgent attacks on coalition forces.
Not surprising in a culture as violent as Iraq's. This morning the janitor who works in the palace, a likeable young man named Mazim, came into my office to mop the floor. I said, "Shukran" or "Thank you", and he said "You're welcome" in arabic. Then he said in English, "To praise God", to which I responded, "Allah Akbar". He got excited and said in English, "God is big" and to which I said, "Allah Igwaah". He propped the mop on the wall, spread his arms and said in English, "God is big. You understand? God is big and can kill every people in America." He seemed to immediately realize this was rude, and in usual hospitable Iraqi fashion, added, "And every people in Iraq." I say this to point out a cultural difference. When I was little, I was taught God's greatness in terms of love and strength. God can move mountains. God's love is endless. That kind of thing. I was almost startled by the spiteful, thuggish God Mazim portrayed, and nervously giggled in response.
So the affinity with violence didn't stun me. Besides, I am American, not Swiss. It's part of our culture. But what does stun me is that these insurgents that they are supporting kill approximately 500% more Iraqis each year than coalition forces (CF). Further, Iraqis are far more likely to die at the hands of insurgents than CF. I take this from an Iraqi, not American media-- American media doesn't run stories such as these. For those too lazy to click the link, I will give you the gist of it: Insurgents have killed a reported 4,308 Iraqis so far this year. That's just what's been reported. Frankly, I am surprised it is so low.
Here's something else I found in Iraqi media, describing an incident in which some Halliburton (KBR) employees were killed in Ad Diluiyah:
"At least two of the men were dragged alive from their vehicle, which had been badly shot up, and forced to kneel in the road before being killed.... Killing one of the men with a rifle round fired into the back of his head, they doused the other with petrol and set him alight.... Barefoot children, yelping in delight, piled straw on to the screaming man's body to stoke the flames."
The scene described in reminicent of the murder of four Blackwater employees in Fallujah in 2004. In this case, their burnt bodies were strung up on an overpass, where they were battered like pinatas - by children.
Associated Press quoted Muslim clerics commenting on the disgraceful video footage of American soldiers burning Taliban bodies:
"Abu Ghraib ruined the reputation of the Americans in Iraq and to me this is even worse," Faiz Mohammed told The Associated Press from northern Kunduz province. "This is against Islam. Afghans will be shocked by this news. It is so humiliating. There will be very, very dangerous consequences from this."
"The burnings of these bodies is an offense against Muslims everywhere. Bodies are only burned in hell." - Said Mohammed Omar"
posted by Zinga at 7:49 PM
