[Paisleychick-lj] Death in Iraq

[Beatrice M's blog]

[Saddam is dead][1]. I feel like I should write something poignant, but I just don't have it in me right now. I cannot stop thinking about how his martyrdom is going to inflame the civil war. I feel like his death pours gas onto an already steady fire. His death comes two days before congressional elections in Iraq. Reading [riverbend's postings from Iraq][2] is heartbreaking.   
  
"Why make things worse by insisting on Saddam's execution now? Who gains if they hang Saddam? Iran, naturally, but who else? There is a real fear that this execution will be the final blow that will shatter Iraq. Some Sunni and Shia tribes have threatened to arm their members against the Americans if Saddam is executed. Iraqis in general are watching closely to see what happens next, and quietly preparing for the worst."  
[Source][3]  
  
"I’m more than a little worried. This is Bush’s final card. The elections came and went and a group of extremists and thieves were put into power (no, no- I meant in Baghdad, not Washington). The constitution which seems to have drowned in the river of Iraqi blood since its elections has been forgotten. It is only dug up when one of the Puppets wants to break apart the country. Reconstruction is an aspiration from another lifetime: I swear we no longer want buildings and bridges, security and an undivided Iraq are more than enough. Things must be deteriorating beyond imagination if Bush needs to use the ‘Execute the Dictator’ card."  
  
"A final note. I just read somewhere that some of the families of dead American soldiers are visiting the Iraqi north to see ‘what their sons and daughters died for’. If that’s the goal of the visit, then, “Ladies and gentlemen- to your right is the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, to your left is the Dawry refinery… Each of you get this, a gift bag containing a 3 by 3 color poster of Al Sayid Muqtada Al Sadr (Long May He Live And Prosper), an Ayatollah Sistani t-shirt and a map of Iran, to scale, redrawn with the Islamic Republic of South Iraq. Also… Hey you! You- the female in the back- is that a lock of hair I see? Cover it up or stay home.”  
  
And that is what they died for."  
[Source][4]

   [1]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6212633.stm
   [2]: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
   [3]: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_riverbendblog_archive.html
   [4]: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_riverbendblog_archive.html

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/281438.html