Opinion Editorials, November 2004, To see today's opinion articles, click here: www.aljazeerah.info
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Why Are Iraqis Killing Other Iraqis?
By Hassan El-Najjar
Al-Jazeerah, November 22, 2004
Before I attempt to reply,* I'd like to state my wish for all Iraqis and Americans to be safe and saved from this terrible war.
There are two wars going on in Iraq at the same time. There is a US-Iraqi war, in which the US is trying to pacify Iraqis to accept its occupation of their country. Iraqis, particularly the Sunni Muslims among them are fighting back to rid themselves of the US occupation.
The second is a civil war between Iraqis who are fighting against the US occupation and Iraqis who are cooperating or collaborating with the US occupiers. These are more bitterly fought because they are perceived as traitors to their country.
Arabs are not the only ones in history who have been involved in devastating civil wars. The French revolution was a civil war, so was the devastating American civil war. Actually, about 600,000 Americans were killed in the four years of the Civil War in 1860-1864.
During World War II, the French Vichy government fought with the Nazi German occupiers against its own people, exactly like the situation of the Allawi government in Iraq now. The French resistance also fought against their fellow Frenchmen who worked for the Nazis. When Germany was defeated, a lot of bloodshed happened when the French resistance had the upper hand.
In Vietnam, there was a much more fierce civil war than what's going on in Iraq right now. There was no mercy from either the South or the North. The Viet Kong fighters would be executed in the streets by the South Vietnamese forces. The North Vietnamese had no mercy for the defeated southerners at the end.
If you still want more examples, you can read about Cambodia, Angola, Rwanda, Bosnia, Nicaragua ... etc.
Finally, even the concept of martyrdom, or sacrificing the self for the benefit of the group, is not limited to Arabs or Muslims. Japanese Kamikaze Pilots in World War II did exactly that when they would hit US ships with their planes, instead of just dropping their bombs on ships. In almost all wars, generals sacrifice some units as a tactic to serve their strategic goals. Individual soldiers volunteer to do some sacrificial act to rescue the rest of the unit.
War is the sin and the problem of the human civilization. Humans throughout history resisted foreign invaders and occupiers. Iraqis and Palestinians are no exception. We will do it in America if any foreign power invades our country. Won't we?
* This article was initially written in response to a letter from a reader.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04). | ||
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03). |