"Iraqis Are People, Too"

The great activist Cindy Sheehan rails against the blaming of Iraqi people who are the only victims of this war:

The invasion/occupation of Iraq is a horror that was based on lies, deceptions and greed. The people of Iraq are suffering terribly in THEIR country while George Bush, Dick Cheney, and 99% of the American public do not have to sacrifice one iota of comfort or concern because of the terror that is being inflicted on a civilian population that have done nothing to be punished so harshly.

Another one of our fellow Americans had this to say about civilian casualties:

"You have to look at who's doing the killing," said Neal Crawford, a restaurant manager in Suttons Bay, Mich., who guessed that about 10,000 Iraqis had been killed. "If these people are dying because a roadside bomb goes off or if there's an insurgent attack in a marketplace, it's an unfortunate circumstance of war — people die."

This comment also ignores the fact that the occupation of Iraq is a war of choice that never should have been waged. No insurgency existed before American troops were forced to roll their tanks into a country that was filled with innocent people. Would Americans take such a cavalier attitude towards “unfortunate circumstances of war” if it were an equivalent amount of Americans being killed? I don’t think so, 3000 of us were tragically slaughtered on 9-11 and we have used this as a justification to destroy two countries that didn’t attack us and commit genocide on people who just want to be left alone. Now Bloody George has killed more Americans than Osama bin Ladin and many, many times more Iraqis.

A mother who has lost her son in Herr Bush's war feels and knows more than the fascist politicians in Washington for sure!

Too Cheesy

I'm editing the last sentence of the letter to Iraq's Justice Minister Hashim al-Shabli: "Because, Iraq needs your love." I think it is too cheesy. Anyway, I hope you've sent your letters. I think I am really into it because I believe it may suffice if all of us write to halt this illegal and immoral execution. Insha'Allah.

Story Background on Amnesty International Website

Bombard Iraq's Justice Minister With Protest Letters

This post is related to my last one. Please read it before continuing.

I urge all the readers to write protest letters to Iraq's Justice Minister Hashim al-Shabli. Emails (type all three in the mail address bar): minister@iraqi-justice.org, head-minister@iraqi-justice.org, deputy@iraqi-justice.org. Please forward this information to all your family and friends without delay, because we have a moral obligation toward the three Iraqi women (some reports claim there are four) who are to be hanged on March 3 for resisting the occupation. I have written my letter below for the benefit of those who don't have time though I advise it'll be better if you write your own protest letter. But a sample letter may serve as bombarding material to be forwarded by many people to many more people. If the pro-Israel lobby can have Barbara Plett removed from reporting on the occupied territories for the unforgivable crime of expressing humanity by dispatching lewd, abusive and calumnious messages to the BBC, I think we can reach a similar goal by making a well reasoned, compassionate call to those occupying the Plane of Judgement. I think we can reach this by expressing humanity. Anyway, use the "Your Excellency" salutation (cost benefit!) when you write. You may also wish to write to Prime-Minister Nuri al-Maliki (email: iraqigov@yahoo.com) and Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs (email: press@iraqmofa.net). And here's my sample email:

Your Excellency,

I write to you today to express my concern at the news of the execution of three women scheduled for March 3. Two of these women have small children, and one of whom is still nursing her baby. This execution, if it proceeds to its unjustifiable conclusion, will be the antithesis of Islamic teachings and a further bloody imprint on the battered corpse that Iraq has become. Women in Iraq are suffering the most, and I ask you in the name of Him before whom all of us will congregate on the Last Hour to spare the lives of these sisters. This execution will exemplify Saddam Hussein at his worst, and that is an ironic enigma that we in the international community don't support. If you have mercy on these sisters, it'll be a light at the end of the tunnel, even an inspiration for Iraq to greet mercy if not glory, and it is mercy that paves the way to peace. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said: "That man is nearest to God, who pardoneth, when he had in his power him who would have injured him." And I ask in the name of Allah, most Merciful, most Compassionate, to pardon the sisters and release them from prison.

Your sincerely,

Sindbad.

The Price to Pay: Women Freedom Fighters

And if you're a courageous Iraqi woman with a babe at your breast, the Iraqi puppet government still has all the right to execute you. Why? Because, you my dear sister had the decency and courage to take up arms against the occupation, which has made you suffer the death of several of your family members, your whole world has been turned upside down, your children are starved and your dignity is crushed. The information below was received in the mail list of World Tribunal on Iraq. Also added was a note that the execution is expected to take place on March 3.

The Supreme Iraqi Criminal Court sentenced to death by hanging of three women on charges of complicity in the murder of Iraqi police loyal to the occupation in Baghdad and participation in what the Court considered 'terrorism'. News from a source in the Iraqi Lawyers Union. The three women are:

Wassan Talib (31 years old). The charge is killing five police officers through the participation with gunmen in an attack on police.

Zainab Fadhil (25 years old). The charge is attacking a joint patrol of the Iraqi army and the the American army last September with her husband and her cousin in Baghdad.

Liqa Omar Muhammad (26 years old). The charge is the participation with her husband and her brother in the killing of an official from the Green Zone.

Walid Hayali, lawyer and member of The Iraqi Lawyers Union, said the Court issued a ruling under item (156) against the three women without allowing them to engage counsel from a lawyer. The lawyer asked the whole world to move to stop the execution of the three women and to condemn of the Court's ruling. He pointed out that "Liqa" gave birth to her daughter in prison a few months ago (still nursing), and "Wassen" has a three-year-old daughter. He explained that the three women are now in "Kazimiah prison" in the Kazimiyah region.

May Allah bless our Iraqi sisters, and grant them peace on earth and in heaven. They're caught between Muqtada Sadr's lunatic cabal with an ill-informed extraction of Islam steeped in Jahiliyah culture that is most vehement toward women, and the sectarian occupation that is disrespectful of Iraqi civilization and its people. We can only hope and pray that this mad government doesn't hang our three sisters, because it is exemplifying Saddam Hussein at his worst, and yet again supported by Uncle Sam. I'm sure all of you're familiar with American outrage against the treatment of women by the Taliban in the days leading up to the invasion of Afganistan. No sooner was the Taliban chucked out, the Northern Alliance made up of vicious warlords took over, described by some to be even worse than Taliban. An illustration of this is when thirty-five women and children jumped to their death into a river to elude a band of commanders who were on a rampage to rape them.

"Those Whacky Saudis!"

Imagine an ordinary Saudi citizen getting a whiff of the xenophobia and generalization fired up by the Neanderthal American Muslim movement called Progressive Islam or PMU. On the Progressive Islam blog, Laurie Silvers writes:

Nothing is more fun than listening to the US government try to deflect our attention away from the Saudis towards Iran as if Iran were the source of all that is scary. Not that the Saudis are the source of all that is scary, but dagnabit if they don't give it all they got! Those wacky Saudis. Watch this exquistely painful interview with the head of a British Muslim school that uses books saying that all other religions are worthless, etc....

At least once they disagree with Uncle Sam and that's not about anti-war mongering but an exchange of targets. What Laurie Silvers seems to say is that the US should rather attack Saudi Arabia for its religious intolerance than Iran. A reasonable person will never invoke the American govt., which is responsible for great crimes against humanity, but work to quell the propaganda in their country that anyone with a turban offshore is a threat to national security. Laurie Silvers doesn't say it, but I can already hear that oft-familiar: "Damn those Wahabbis!" (For the benefit of those unfamiliar with it, let me mention that the term "Wahabbi" is corrupted and a label to denigrate the so-called Wahabbis. The correct term is "Salafi"; and no, I don't fall for the line that all Salafis are crazy and creditworthy for the crisis of Muslims -- frequently trumpeted by some Muslim bloggers and media spokesmen).

When you look at Laury Silvers' statements, you'll find that it comes through a sanctimonious throne of self-pride, in this sense the US government, and indicates that just because you live in the most powerful empire on earth you have the right to dictate to others, ruefully absent from your discourse is both what you're trying to address and what you mean. For what may seem like an attempt at Muslim introspection by a non-Muslim reader, it is a delightful birdsong of a progressive, delighting in using words like "whacky" and "Saudis".

Laury Silvers has every right to call for tolerance and respect by Muslims for the demonized and vilified (with racist connotations) Christians and Jews in Saudi textbooks, it should be noted. And the Saudis indeed need to wake up and erase the hatred in their textbooks and those which they export to other countries. This intolerance and hatred is indeed a tragedy for the average Muslim, and action must be taken. But unfortunately, Laury Silvers squanders such an opportunity by invoking the US government to attack the country (doesn't the writer read of what occurs in Iraq every single day?). Let me add that Saudi Arabia is rightfully called one of most intolerant countries in the world. It is from what we gather, but I think while we are at it there isn't a need to bomb it. Isn't bombing and nuking supposed to a be a haraam violent terrorist act? And so the progressives shall find reasons to bomb everyone, do fox-trots around the White House, and ask: "Why do they hate us?" I didn't think I would have to say this, but all the Muslim Saudi-haters need to familiarize themselves with the unbearable fact that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a Saudi. And if any progressive is curious, no, I'm not a Saudi but I wouldn't mind. All people on this earth are beautiful. Unfortunately, that is an old-fashioned thought.

Check out PMUNA Debate, Dr Maxtor, Living Tradition and Progressive Muslims for more on the the so-called progressive movement. For a more tasteful and helpful overview of Saudi textbooks, visit the Wikipedia page.