Riverbend - The Weather Vane
Riverbend, a young Sunni Iraqi woman, writes a strongly anti-American blog. She has been so from the beginning and has always recommended that the Americans should “just go.” (May 7 2004 excerpt below)
She explicitly accuses the Americans of setting up the bombing of the Shiite Askari mosque in Samarra last month, we having “the most to gain” when “Iraqis are abducting and killing each other.” That’s her view. (Mar 17 2006 excerpt below)
Today, I will make a prediction and a recommendation.
Prediction - Within 90 days, Riverbend will be insisting that the Americans stay to protect her. Something like “Now we have Shiite Death squads, creatures of Bush’s own policy. Well, he stirred up all this internal conflict, now he has to fix it.”
Recommendation - That’s when we will know it’s time to leave.
For three years now, Sunnis like Riverbend have rejected the changes in Iraq, some with violence, others with lying, hate-filled blogs. During that time, the Shiites held back, following the counsel of al-Sistani and other leaders. Now, many Shiites have had enough and are beginning to exact a terrible retribution.
For three years, America has tried, and not succeeded, in putting down the insurgency. At times, our tactics were deemed (to put it mildly) harsh and indiscriminate. Oh? Is that so? We are just beginning to see “harsh and indiscriminate” in Iraq. The Shiites are going to kill as many Sunnis (guilty and innocent) as they need to until the terrorists are destroyed. Soon Riverbend and other Sunnis will not only be willing to tolerate an American occupation, but will be demanding it.
And then we will know that it is time to go.
Riverbend excerpts below:
People are seething with anger- the pictures of Abu Ghraib and the Brits in Basrah are everywhere. Every newspaper you pick up in Baghdad has pictures of some American or British atrocity or another. It’s like a nightmare that has come to life.
I sometimes get emails asking me to propose solutions or make suggestions. Fine. Today’s lesson: don’t rape, don’t torture, don’t kill and get out while you can - while it still looks like you have a choice… Chaos? Civil war? Bloodshed? We’ll take our chances - just take your Puppets, your tanks, your smart weapons, your dumb politicians, your lies, your empty promises, your rapists, your sadistic torturers and go.
I’m especially worried about the Arba’eeniya this year. I’m worried we’ll see more of what happened to the Askari mosque in Samarra. Most Iraqis seem to agree that the whole thing was set up by those who had most to gain by driving Iraqis apart.
The thing most worrisome about the situation now, is that discrimination based on sect has become so commonplace. For the average educated Iraqi in Baghdad, there is still scorn for all the Sunni/Shia talk. Sadly though, people are being pushed into claiming to be this or that because political parties are promoting it with every speech and every newspaper - the whole ‘us’ / ‘them’. We read constantly about how ‘We Sunnis should unite with our Shia brothers.’ or how ‘We Shia should forgive our Sunni brothers.’ (note how us Sunni and Shia sisters don’t really fit into either equation at this point). Politicians and religious figures seem to forget at the end of the day that we’re all simply Iraqis.
And what role are the occupiers playing in all of this? It’s very convenient for them, I believe. It’s all very good if Iraqis are abducting and killing each other - then they can be the neutral foreign party trying to promote peace and understanding between people who, up until the occupation, were very peaceful and understanding.
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