Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

This week marks the beginning of the Iraqi Civil War. The American mission in Iraq is over. We can either stay and fight everyone, pick sides, or leave. No choice open to America now will improve the situation on the ground.

The events kicked off by the Samarra bombing have now been book-ended by the attack on the mosque in Baghdad. We have entered the fray in a big way with the attack on the mosque. Images of the dead lying in a prayer room in the mosque and reports that the 80-year-old imam of the mosque has also been killed are being beamed continuously to everyone with a TV and electricity in Iraq. The American military’s protestations that the mosque was not entered will fall on deaf ears. We have no credibility there - not only because we are not trusted, but also because we have been unable or unwilling to stop the bloodletting there.

The ingredient missing from Iraq’s slide into civil war was mainstream outrage and anger and an embracing of the sectarian militias as the only guarantors of security. We have, perhaps unwittingly, provided the last piece of the puzzle and now the civil war picture is complete.

As sectarian violence spins out of control in Iraq, today The Washington Post reports that Moqtada al-Sadr’s compound was struck with two mortars. He was inside and survived injury.

 After the attack, al-Sadr released a statement with the obligatory call for calm. As translated by The Associated Press:

 "I call upon all brothers to stay calm and I call upon the Iraqi army to protect the pilgrims as the Nawasib (militants) are aiming to attack Shiites everyday," the statement said, according to the Associated Press. 

Or did he? The Post article points out:

 In the past two months, attacks on two Shiite targets — a Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra, and Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood, a stronghold of Sadr support — have unleashed the greatest sectarian bloodletting since U.S. forces overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003. Sadr issued similar appeals for calm after both attacks.

 However, Sadr’s thousands-strong Mahdi Army militia is accused by many U.S. officials and others in the violent retaliation to the mosque bombing and Sadr City attack.

 Al-Sadr uses the word "Nawasib" in his statement. It is a very loaded word and is code for inciting violence in otherwise benign statements. "Nawasib" is understood by the Shiite to mean "those who declared hostility against the household of the Prophet". It is an insult used to refer to Sunnis. It is not a word you would use when you are interested in reconciliation. It is a word you would use to incite hate and violence. To make the comparison more immediate, consider that there are similar words that racists use in the United States (and I will not repeat them here) when they are interested in hatemongering.

 The radicals use our ignorance of their culture against us. They are very adept at playing the Bush Administration for full advantage, on the one hand, getting material support as the "good" guys in the Green Zone, and on the other hand, using that "material support" to kill innocents while we are patting ourselves on the back for teaching these people about democracy.

 Hate always has many names. In Iraq, Hate sometimes likes to call itself "Nawasib".

Every Muslim in the world recognizes the title of this post. Those words begin every chapter (surah) but one of The Koran.  The Arabic words Rahman (most gracious) and Rahim (most merciful) are considered to be two of the ninety-nine attributes of Allah. Grace and Mercy are the foundation of the religion of Islam. The word Koran itself is generally translated to mean, "Read". This is the first word in The Koran - "Read". Ignorance is not consistent with being a Muslim.

We live in a world where much killing is committed in the name of religion. And, much killing today is being committed in the name of Islam, in the name of Allah. I recognize that the reader may now want to point out that much killing has been and is being committed in the name of other religions also. Why do I single Islam out today? The simple answer is that I am a Muslim. I am not ready to cast stones at others without taking down the glass in my own house.

The New York Times gives us today a glimpse into hell. The Times article gives us chilling commentary on evil manifested. I argued in an earlier post about the danger in Iraq from the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade; but the Times article brings into the mainstream the atrocities these groups are committing in Iraq. They are not committing your run of the mill killings; they are using creative tools of the torture trade like electric drills. What kind of animal do you have to be to drill a man’s head for brutal pleasure?

They are committing these atrocities, the systematic killing of Sunni Muslims, with ruthless efficiency and in the name of Islam. I say to them: Read. I say to them that I have seen your faces before. You have killed in other places and at other times in the name of some cause or other. I have watched you kill mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and I have seen you kill children. I have watched you from a child’s hiding place as you nearly beat a man to death in search of my own father. I have seen your coward’s eyes behind the hot muzzle of your weapon. I have seen the blood on your hands.

Madness has been unleashed in Iraq and we have all been its enablers. I grieve for the ordinary citizen of Iraq. I say to you that this too shall pass. Reason lies at the end of this meat grinder. But I fear a lot of killing is left to be done before reason returns.