Thursday, May 10, 2007

Militias are bad and good

The word militia is interesting because usually it only means Shi’ite groups. It is a used as a bad term when labeling groups. The people usually talk about the militias as the Badr Brigades of SCIRI or the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr, two Shi’ite groups. Sometimes people say that the Kurdish Peshmerga also as a militia. What about the Sunni Arab militias? Well, I guess they don’t exist, because we never hear about them. This is interesting because the majority of the victims of sectarian violence have been Shi’a according to Talabani, who said that Shi’a are much more than 50% of the dead. Maybe militia means people from groups who were oppressed by Saddam and now have some guns and power.

Shi’a get killed in massive bombings and are killed on the streets or at fake checkpoints. I guess the people doing this aren’t labeled as militias, they are called insurgents or rebels or something like that. They are the pride of the Arabs and Sunnis worldwide, this is the resistance, noble unlike those filthy militias!

It is true that the Badr Brigades and Mahdi Army have been involved in killing civilians, Sunnis, targeting them for being Sunni and that is it. Do I need to say that this is criminal? Murdering innocents is criminal and that is certain. But also these groups in some places of Iraq have acted as security forces, protecting people who otherwise would be targeted by the Sunni terrorists. So there are people who would hate to see these militias shut down simply because the militias are the only thing that is between them and death. I can say it in one other way, if the only thing stopping you from being slaughtered is a bunch of bastards, then you will probably support those bastards. Unless there is an impartial security force that is there to protect Iraqis regardless of whether they are Shi’ite or Sunni or Arab or Kurd or pretty or ugly or anything else then people will have to depend on those who are providing them with security.

There are stories from people Baghdad about militias, especially the Mahdi Army. I have heard people say they are so grateful for the Mahdi Army because they provide protection to them and take brave steps against the Sunni terrorists. I know people who have had their family kidnapped by the Mahdi Army. I know people who have had the life of a friend saved by the Mahdi Army. One person was rescued by the Mahdi Army men who took a guy out of a car when the Sunni terrorists were taking him to be executed. Another guy I know tells about how the Iraqi police refused to help when some Mahdi Army men decided to kill a bunch of innocent Sunni civilians. All I am saying is that there are two sides to the militia story. It would be nice if there was a different situation and one side was good and one side was bad and that would be so easy and the good people could take the good side and sleep without worry. But in many cases in Iraq that isn’t how it is. Nothing is so easy especially in Iraq. Both sides are bad and this is the reality of life and death in Iraq.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't really have a comment, just some questions.

Can you offer any suggestions as to what could be done to end the bloodshed in Iraq?

Do you feel that the presense of the U.S. military is a good thing, or a bad thing?

Do you think that the U.S. military can bring an end to the "hell" that exists in Iraq now?

Do you think that the Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurds' will ever be able to exist together in one country?

programmer craig said...

What about the Sunni Arab militias?

Those are the people we are referring to when we say "insurgents" here in the US. Dunno about everyone else. Some people just call them terrorists, which is more accurate. I think "insurgent" is far too legitimate a name for them. But then, I think "militia" gives Al Sadr's thugs too much of an air of legitimacy, too.

Iraqi Mojo said...

Also, I don't think that Shia militias were mass murdering innocent Sunni Arabs during the first two years of the war, while Sunni extremists were blowing up Shia & Kurds. The Sunni Arabs and western media never called it 'sectarian violence' until innocent Sunni Arabs were attacked by Shia militias.

Anonymous said...

I was reading a post by Riverbend on "Baghdad Burning" in which she stated that when Saddam was in power people could live wherever they wanted and didn't know if their neighbors were Shi'ite, Sunni, or Kurd; is that true?

john said...

this is likely my last visit here. i have read with interest but have been saddened to see that you are only intersted in echo-chamber comments. (how very dictatorial of you). if i have this wrong let me know - but is it required to sycophantically agree with you to have comments posted? i will reserve commenting until (or if) you post this comment and respond.

Anonymous said...

Our Eyes Dream Acid Tears

One land, one people, all asleep
one dream in every mind
all see words of scripture, captive
in a vise of hatred, crushed
distorted words of God, acid
tears, his screaming lips, the captor
feels the kiss of Satan
on his heart.

Anonymous said...

good article, it gives a good insight.

Shaqawa said...

Hello John,

You can visit my home site if you want or not, that is up to you. It is unfair for you to call me dictatorial and that is a real insult.

I have posted every single comment I received and you should notice that because one person called me a pig and I posted it and also one person cheered for killing Shi'a and I posted it and two people wrote things I did not even understand and I posted it also, so please take a look.

Shaqawa said...

Hello George,

I said before that ending bloodshed would happen if Iraq had a real security service that was not sectarian but just did the job for Iraq and Iraqis. But that is difficult to make happen. The US presence is both good and bad but I think if the US left if would be a worse situation. Still, I am not thinking things will be great even though there is sometimes good news because in Baghdad it is hell and so many bad things have happened and people hate each other for them. And your last question, well I hope Iraq can be united a strong and for everyone, all of the Iraqis. You should know that there are Sunni Kurds (most of Kurds) and Shi'ite Kurds and also mixed families with parents from different sects of Islam and also different ethnicities, especially in Baghdad. I hope for the best for all of them.

Also George, Riverbend is lying like she usually does. Saddam killed and forced to move people just because of their ethnicity or religion and that is a fact. Some Shi'a were taken away of their Iraqi citizenship because the bastard Saddam said they were "Iranian origin". He drained marshes to ruin the lives of the marsh people and he kicked out non-Arabs from Kirkuk and made Christians who are not Arab call themselves Arab. Saddam "Hussein" (who really does not know who is father was because his mother was a whore) also killed and arrested and mistreated the most important Shi'ite leaders like Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qassim al-Khoei. Maybe her life was excellent back during Saddam time though!

Thank you for your visit and comments.

Shaqawa said...

Hello Jamal,

Thank you for visiting and for your comment.