The Legacy of Oppression and The Legitimacy of Resistance

The following remarks by Dr. Wasfi were given at the March and Rally For Peace held in Kennebunkport, Maine on Saturday, August 25th:

I speak to you today on behalf of relatives on my mother’s side-Ashkenazi Jews who fled their homeland of Austria during Hitler’s Anschluss. It is for them that we say “Never again.” I speak to you today on behalf of relatives on my father’s side who are not living, but dying, under the occupation of this administration’s deadly foray in Iraq. From the lack of security to the lack of basic supplies to the lack of electricity to the lack of potable water to the lack of jobs to the lack of reconstruction to the lack of education to the lack of healthcare to the lack of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they are much worse off now than before we invaded. “Never again” should apply to them, too.

There has been debate recently within the American peace movement on the issue of support for the Iraqi resistance. The argument has been made by some that we don’t support the resistance in Iraq because it’s different than it has been for other countries we’ve invaded. That “what is understood to be ‘the Iraqi resistance’ is a disaggregated and diverse set of largely unconnected factions…There is no unified leadership that can speak for ‘the resistance’…There is no unified program, either of what the fight is against or what it is for…(Bennis, 2007)”

Well - judge not lest we be judged, for this is an offensive display of the arrogance of empire.

We sit here 8000 miles away with our luxuries of electricity and water, while Iraqis suffer in the desert heat with no relief, and we tell them they are disorganized. This is fiddling while Iraq burns. People are dying; the question is moot.

We are not fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq; we are slaughtering people’s children. We went in to liberate Iraqis from a ruthless dictator we imposed upon them who allegedly killed 300,000 during his 30 year reign of terror. We’ve accomplished more than triple that in a fraction of the time.

If ever there were legitimate resistance to illegal occupation, it is in Iraq.

If ever there were a people struggling for democracy and independence, there are Iraqis.

If ever there were a people who have known suffering at the hands of bloodthirsty American imperialism, there are Iraqis.

Through the last 400 years, the European immigrants who landed on these shores have raped and pillaged millions in the name of empire. They followed the call to “Go West, young man,” slaughtering 95% of the indigenous population along the way. In the late 1800’s, sights were set on the Caribbean, and through the last 2 centuries, we have had a hand in creating colonies in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast and Western Asia. After all, what is the Middle East, but the Arab World and America’s colonial outpost Israel, according to their geographic position relative to Western powers?

But now there is a wedge in this imperial path, driving the American neo-conservative empire to a screeching halt. The Iraqi people - who are, in fact, the Iraqi resistance - are succeeding where we could not. What’s not to love?
We cannot start examining history from September 11^th, 2001. Since WWI, Arabs have been lied to, manipulated, and used by the U.S., Great Britain, and other colonial powers. Next year will mark the 60^th year of Al Nakba in Palestine-the Catastrophe. Iraqis have now seen that illegal occupation extended to include the Fertile Crescent, their land between two rivers, their Mesopotamia. Iraqis see the close to 6 million Palestinian refugees, illegally denied their right of return. Iraqis see the U.S. Army building walls to make impoverished ghettos, like the Nazis did, and like the Israelis are doing with their apartheid wall. Iraqis see the open-air prison that is Gaza, strangled and starving as we speak because of our political agenda. The crime of these prisoners? They were born Palestinian. Iraqis are living under occupation tactics such as daily house raids, uprooting of trees, looting of property, psy-ops death squads and the use of depleted uranium - all of which they know too well by watching our joint actions with Israel in Palestine.

And do you know what Iraqis are saying? I don’t speak Arabic, but I can translate for you. They’re saying, “Get out!” They’re saying, “NO way - you’re staying for 60 years.” They’re saying, “Get your oil the old-fashioned way - pay for it!” And why are they saying this? Because they have a dignity and self-respect rooted in 7000 years of civilization.
Iraq is the center of Arab nationalism. Actually, this is what my father says, and I would argue that my father is the center of Arab nationalism. Modern-day Iraqis are the descendents of ancients who devised the first system of writing, the 24-hour day, the bases of mathematics, law, science and medicine. Once corrupt American corporations, the U.S. military, and its death squads, prisons, and bombings are out of the picture, true reconstruction by Iraqis can and will begin.

Perhaps we don’t embrace the Iraqi resistance because its fighters are killing American soldiers. What other choice have we given them? From Vietnam to Lebanon to Somalia to Iraq, we have taught our victims around the world that the only way to effect a change in American foreign policy is to spill American blood.

Thousands died in Chile during the CIA led coup on Sept. 11^th, 1973. But we only remember 3000 Americans who died on the 28^th anniversary of that massacre. Grenadans in 1983 and Panamanians in 1989 were buried in mass graves by the thousands after the U.S. assaults, but the stories of these victims go untold. Between 1,000 and 10,000 Somalis were killed when our humanitarian mission in 1993 turned into military aggression. (We will never know the exact number of our innocent victims, again because of mass graves.) But we left Somalia because 19 Americans fell victim to their system and were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. Time and again, it doesn’t matter how many “others” die. The outrage comes when the victims are American.

Martin Luther King Jr. said “silence is betrayal.” In these times, remaining silent on our responsibility to the world and its future is criminal. And in light of our complicity in the supreme crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing violations of the U.N. Charter and international law, how dare any American criticize the actions of legitimate resistance to illegal occupation? How dare we condemn anyone else as “violent” or “disorganized?” Our so-called “enemies” in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, our other colonies around the world - and our inner cities here at home-are struggling against the oppressive hand of empire, demanding respect for their humanity. They are labeled “insurgents” or “terrorists” for resisting rape and pillage by the white establishment, but they are our brothers and sisters in the struggle for justice.

Last Sunday, my family’s luck ran out, and one of my cousins in Iraq was killed in the violence we have brought upon Iraqis and their children. He leaves behind a wife; a 2 year old son who keeps asking “Where’s Daddy?”; a heart-broken mother and brother; and an entire family devastated by grief for whom life will never be the same. If there are political differences, then whatever they may be, there’s nothing complicated about fighting for Iraqi women and children, who are the majority of the suffering population. And if we respect their humanity, can we not respect their grief as they lose their brothers, fathers, husbands and sons, the same way we mourn with and share the pain of American military families?

I close with the words of a man of peace, El Hajj Malik Al Shabazz, Malcolm X, vilified and ultimately assassinated because he spoke freely. Though condemned as violent, he lived for peace, and for love and brotherhood. I very humbly offer his wisdom.

We declare our right on this earth to be … a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.

***

Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it’s against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it’s against the oppressor. You don’t need anything else...

It’s been an honor to share this time with you.

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi is a speaker and activist. Born in the United States to an American Jewish mother and an Iraqi Muslim father, she lived in Iraq as a child, returning to the U.S. at age 5. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Biology in 1993 and earned her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. Dr. Wasfi has made two trips to Iraq since the 2003 “Shock and Awe” invasion to visit her extended family. She returned from a three month stay in Basrah in March 2006. On April 27, 2006, she testified at a Congressional Forum to provide her eyewitness account of life in Iraq. Based on her experiences, Dr. Wasfi is speaking out in support of immediate, unconditional withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and the need to end the occupation “from the Nile to the Euphrates.” Her website is www.liberatethis.com.

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33 Comments so far

NancyH August 30th, 2007 11:57 am

A humbling account of what I already knew. People speak out loudly to Congress. The people must keep the pressure on Congress and the White House — force them to leave Iraq. No more money for bullets and bombs — PERIOD. Call your Senators NOW. And Keep calling, and calling, and calling and calling and calling ——-

tj August 30th, 2007 12:22 pm

Brilliantly and perfectly said. Refreshing to actually hear truth about what this nation is and does, as a matter of habit — a murderous junkie taking down the world.

EveningLand August 30th, 2007 1:03 pm

Yes, doctor Wasfi, you are so very right.

There is just one point on which I beg to differ: the about 3000 people who died in the attacks on the eleventh of September, 2001, were not all citizens of the USA; there were many foreigners among them.

Vern August 30th, 2007 1:04 pm

Beautiful.

hazmat August 30th, 2007 2:38 pm

u.s. film audiences once cheered a b-grade action thriller called “red dawn,” in which a pre-”dirty dancing” patrick swayze takes up arms against the invading russo-cuban hordes. the reasonable inference would be that they approved of the idea of resistance to hostile force.

flash forward to today, however, and many of those same folks are angry and confused by the iraqi “insurgency,” as if they’d lost the ability to imagine themselves as underdog victims of a brutal occupation. possibly it’s the effects of marinating in propaganda which repeats like a lullabye “america doesn’t torture, we’re only here to help, have some nice democracy.”

Truthseeker58 August 30th, 2007 4:24 pm

Truth speaks. Every person in the United States should hear this talk. Maybe they’ll recognize truth for a change.

MarkMarshall August 30th, 2007 5:10 pm

Dr. Wasfi speaks the truth. I do not hate the US troops who are in Iraq. I don’t want them to be killed. I want them to leave Iraq immediately and go back to their loved ones. It is not a question of how we personally feel about the US/British/Australian troops in Iraq. It is a question of principle. The principle could be illustrated in the form of this question: If my country is invaded, would those of my compatriots who carry out armed resistance against the occupiers be worthy of support, or not? If the answer is “yes”, then the Iraqi resistance is worthy of support. If the answer is “no”, then the Iraqi resistance is not worthy of support. It is a decision for each one of us to make.

And for the US/British/Australian troops in Iraq: you do not have to be killed or wounded or paralyzed or disfigured. You do not have to be in Iraq. You can go home. All you have to do is refuse to fight. Refuse to leave your base. Refuse to get out of bed. You don’t have to make it an overt statement of defiance. You can pretend to be sick. You can pretend to be insane. You can refuse to put your pants on, saying that your pants are infested with the seed of Satan. You can start crying and not stop. You can curl up and say that you are an orange stuffed with peanut butter and oyster sauce for the centipedes to eat. You can suck your thumb. You can sing “Happy Birthday To You” all day. You might be court-martialled, but your chances of being executed for your defiance are far less than your chances of being killed, maimed, paralyzed, blinded or disfigured by the Iraqi resistance. When is the last time a US or UK or Australian serviceperson was executed for disobedience? When was the last time a US or UK or Australian serviceperson was executed for refusing to put his pants on or for sucking his thumb?

The point is: you don’t have to be in Iraq. You can go home. There are many ways to do it. Use your imaginations.

It is illegal for you to be in Iraq. If you refuse, history will absolve you.

Mark Marshall
Toronto

Michael4LOVE August 30th, 2007 6:11 pm

Dahlia, YOU represent the TRUE PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. Please continue to get your message out to America. Your passion is admired as is your dedication to PEACE. May WE ALL spread the TRUTH as you do to BE the CHANGE WE WISH to SEE in the WORLD!

LOVE, Michael

abuelito August 30th, 2007 7:10 pm

Thank you Dahlia. A very eloquent statement of the one thing about this mess no americans seem to be able to understand- “our troops” are invaders and occupiers of somebody else’s ccountry. So of course the people who get invaded resist. Then the invaders call them “insurgents” and then “the enemy”. The Iraqis trying to defend their country are not enemies of the united states. They are enemies no doubt of the bush junta. but then arn’t we all?

canuckchuck August 30th, 2007 7:29 pm

“American Interests Abroad” is the usually justification for Imperial Occupation and Murder.

Cee Miracles August 30th, 2007 7:57 pm

Let us here in the United States who are against this OCCUPATION by our country become resisters in every conceivable way short of physical or cruel psychological violence to another person or group of people.

Just as our soldiers in Iraq can resist continuing to serve a despicable, illegal cause by being imaginative as MARK MARSHALL [above] wrote:

“… And for the US/British/Australian troops in Iraq: you do not have to be killed or wounded or paralyzed or disfigured. You do not have to be in Iraq. You can go home. All you have to do is refuse to fight. Refuse to leave your base. Refuse to get out of bed. You don’t have to make it an overt statement of defiance. You can pretend to be sick. You can pretend to be insane. You can refuse to put your pants on, saying that your pants are infested with the seed of Satan. You can start crying and not stop. You can curl up and say that you are an orange stuffed with peanut butter and oyster sauce for the centipedes to eat. You can suck your thumb. You can sing “Happy Birthday To You” all day. You might be court-martialled, but your chances of being executed for your defiance are far less than your chances of being killed, maimed, paralyzed, blinded or disfigured by the Iraqi resistance. …”

let us imagine and then do what we can do to resist the current corporate-based/fascist administration’s ongoing insanities and destructive actions and continuing plans to RULE THE WORLD for their own selfish, greedy ends.

Among other things, I ride around in a beat-up car [it’s the one I’ve got] plastered with bumper stickers that include a stand-out yellow and black one that says IMPEACH. That may not sound like much, but I live in a rural, Republican, conservative, right-wing Christian area, and that always makes it a bit edgy.

However, I’ve had more than one person come up to me in the local super market parking lot where my rear bumper stickers visibly/blatantly face the exit door, and whisper something like, “I really like your bumper stickers” or timidly say, “I agree with you. This is a terrible time.” And then sometimes we talk, and a few others come around to join in …

I’m surprised sometimes about the depth of feeling and some folks are very informed, and yet this is a conservative community and there is a reluctance to show the hand one is holding or have other than a yellow ribbon or a Jesus Saves sign on the car. There is the danger of censure here and tar-and-feathers, as well I know from past experiences.

But it’s something that I can do. A small act
to be sure.

But from small actions … like singular,tiny drops of water that create and become the raging current and the powerful waterfall [ending of THE POWER OF ONE - film about Apartheid Africa … highly recommended], our somewhat standard actions [bumper stickers & conversations] to arrestingly imaginative actions taken by each one of us can not only redirect the current, but create the rapids and the waterfalls powerful enough to overturn the current Ship of State.

And that we have to do … “so history will absolve us,” but more importantly because it is right.

citizen1 August 30th, 2007 9:13 pm

Thanks for speaking the obvious truth.

Johnny36 August 30th, 2007 11:46 pm

What a marvelous statement from an Iraqi woman who really knows the score and can communicate with the West. Bless you for speaking truth to power, and the next time you visit Iraq be especially careful; there are evil American and Iraqi forces that would love to silence your brave voice. Stay safe.

papiowhisperer August 30th, 2007 11:52 pm

Thank you, Dahlia Wasfi. Keep
up the good work.

gyptian August 31st, 2007 12:47 am

We never called the French fighters in WW2 French Insurgents. We called them the French Resistance and ofcourse we romanticized them in Hollywood and in print. So why this double-standard. The Iraqi Resistance has done exceedingly well so far, literally bringing the most powerful army the world has ever known to its friggin knees. We need to support them in every way possible. And yeah, stuff that ‘patriotic’ gibberish where it really belongs.

gde August 31st, 2007 1:21 am

As a whole the Iraqi resistance has done a pretty lousy job, killing far more bystanders than legitimate targets. Their key to success, and they will succeed in the long run, is that they are forced to take high casualties whether they fight or not, so they may as well fight. US troops, on the other hand, are very averse to their own casualties, and it won’t take too many before they quit. In other words, they are too damn cowardly to perform the mission of stabilizing Iraq, so they just kill people instead and call that success.

Mark Abram August 31st, 2007 4:16 am

Bennis is right. The Iraqi resistance is not unified, does not have a single program, and appears to include some pretty unsupportable people.

But Wasfi is also right. We, especially here, should say without hesitation that we support the Iraqi people’s resistance, and call for their victory.

Supporting the Iraqi people in their heroic resistance struggle against the illegal aggression and occupation includes calling for the emergence of a united national resistance leadership and supporting the processes of indigenous democracy, national dialogue and self-determination. This will lead to exclusion of non-indigenous factions and those who have practiced mass terrorism not against the occupation but against the Iraqi people.

Bennis is correct in that the current Iraqi disunity and the horrors committed by al Qaeda and Shiite death squads has made it hard for opponents of the war to echo the sentiment of those a generation ago who could say without reservation, “Victory to the NLF” in Vietnam.

But we must say it anyway. Victory to the resistance! Victory to the People of Iraq!

deepa August 31st, 2007 6:49 am

This kind of demythologisation is necessary for those who live in delusion and love the US and the Western myths about their countries, leaders, values, soldiers….

Keep writing Wasfi, and keep reminding the people in this part of the world so that they may come out of their delusion about themselves and see the reality.

dougrambo August 31st, 2007 9:40 am

When I was a child I was told were the “good guys”. I took a pride in being an American.”The greatest country in the world”. A beacon of light and hope to a dark and dangerous world. maybe weve never been that country that I was told we were but I do know one thing. We have NEVER been so far from what the old red,white and blue is supposed to be! PRESIDENT BUSH TAKE YOUR FILTHY BLOODTHIRSTY HANDS OFF OUR COUNTRY!!!

bligh August 31st, 2007 10:15 am

The 150 Iraqi bodies a day (50,000+ year)dumped in Baghdad alone are not the work of the American troops, they are the result of sections of the “resistance” turning on there own countrymen in a bid for power. The fatal attacks on Iraqis by these groups far surpass the attacks on Americans, or by Americans. I am all for the the recall of American troops, but not all the resistance fighters , or even most of them, are fighting for “freedom and democracy”. They are fighting for power for their group. We should both pull out and try to leave the Iraqis in a situation where they don’t have to choose between American occupation on one hand, and repression by whomever turns out to be the strongest faction in the fighting on the other.

mr. d. August 31st, 2007 11:21 am

“we went in to liberate Iraquis from a ruthless dictator”? Please. Face the facts Americans. You have been fed so much bullshit about the “why” of the invasion that its no wonder you can accept an assertation like this without question. I don’t believe anybody outside the US truly believes this statement.

MarkMarshall August 31st, 2007 12:57 pm

Bligh: yes, many innocent Iraqis are being killed by other Iraqis. Those attacks do not constitute resistance against the occupation, and they are not worthy of support. But none of those horrors detract from the fact that it is legitimate for people in an occupied country to mount armed resistance against their occupiers. That is a general principle. It is not unique to Iraq. If the USA were invaded and occupied by China, and some people associated with the resistance are blowing up Evangelical churches in addition to attacking Chinese troops. The illegitimacy of their blowing up Evangelical churches would in no way detract from the legitimacy of their blowing up Chinese tanks. Surely we are capable of understanding that Iraqis have the right to attack US troops but they do not have the right to kill Iraqi children. Surely we are capable of holding those two principles in our brains at the same time.

Moreover, since the horrific internecine Iraqi violence you describe emerged as a consequence of the US invasion of that country, the USA – along with the other countries that participated in the invasion – is legally and morally responsible for it. So it behooves US-Americans to approach this matter with a great deal of humility.

As Robert H. Jackson, the chief US prosecutor at the trials of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, said: “To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”

http://www.kibush.co.il

Mark Marshall
Toronto

Chicago August 31st, 2007 3:04 pm

The truth will set us free, but only the truth will do it;
we need to face the truth NOW.

JConrad August 31st, 2007 4:36 pm

Dr. Wasif is writing from a depth of knowledge and suffering beyond the understanding of most Americans. We are still having trouble accepting that Columbus killed 250,000 Indians and North Americans later killed millions of natives all for material greed.

I read this article once and had to read it again not being sure of the initial impact. The second read sent shudders of grief through my body which is not an intellectual experience. The good doctor’s writing is the real thing.

Thought for today: All the comments thus far are valuable, but the main question of the article is why the “peace movement” will not step up to the plate ?

Unfortunately, the American “peace movement” has been ideologically compromised or possibly infiltrated. “Support The Troops” immediately became a slogan after “Shock and Awe” and was adopted by both warmongers and the 21st century peaceniks. I suspected the phrase came from a Pentagon think tank. Who knows. Some who preach peace and support the troops say the trick to ending the occupation is to express an interest in the difficulty our military faces and to bring the nice boys home. But any expression of support for American troops only muddies the water.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq cannot be seen as anything other than a on-going war crime. Supporting American troops in any way is indirectly supporting war crimes. However, it would be safe to say that many soldiers are naïve or indoctrinated and are merely working class slaves killing and dying for their masters. Those in power who created and direct this warfare are the true war criminals. But we should stay neutral on “supporting” them without falling into the Nam peace trap of condemning them outright. They deserve support when they lay down their rifles or come home with a change of heart and willing to speak out.

However, whether or not to offer unqualified support to the Iraqi resistance is a more complicated issue, especially for folks with non-violent ideals common in the peace ranks.

Yet, the Iraqi on Iraqi violence is probably difficult for anyone to understand and accept. I do realize that the mess is more complex than anyone outside Iraq can understand. Some of the Iraqi death squads may very well be American funded and ordered. That was Negroponte’s specialty in Central America. On the other hand some of the internal violence is probably against Iraqis who are working in collusion with the occupiers. Tough call. Some of it is perhaps pure destabilization of the system the Americans want to set up. And some is probably Sunni and Shiite revenge and power struggles. I am not judging what happens within the Iraq “community” as I do not know enough. But it is a messy picture for anyone on this side of the world.

From the viewpoint of human justice, those resisting the occupation are deserving of “support”. But another political technicality is that in the U.S. this is officially a legal war. It is very difficult for peace organizations to say they are supporting fighters who are killing Americans, even if it justified from an Iraqi perspective. So, I hope Dr. Wasif can consider the limitations the peace organizations face including their attempts to convert people in the middle of the road.

I think it is safe to say that peace activists and perhaps the majority of the American public are in favor of an Iraq for and by the Iraqi people rather than being a corporate oil colony occupied by American forces. Unfortunately the learning curve is a little slow as Bush in just now being exposed in the eyes of the majority. The problem now is whether or not the Demos will buck the corporate power structure.

In the end it may be the Iraqi “resistance” that will bring and end to the carnage by making it too expensive, in many ways, for the barbaric imperialists to occupy the cradle of civilization.

MarkMarshall August 31st, 2007 5:12 pm

JConrad: thank you for that thoughtful posting. Certainly it would be wrong for US anti-war demonstrators to take up the slogan “Death to our troops”. I think most people have enough common sense to understand that. A far more constructive approach would be to offer financial and legal support to those who refuse to fight, and to their families. Is there in fact a fund for such purposes? If so all CD readers should contribute to it. That would do a lot more good than a thousand demonstrations.

You say: “in the US this is officially a legal war”. Is that really true? I know the position of the Bush Administration is that it is a legal war. But that is always the position of governments that launch wars of aggression. During World War II the government of Germany took the position that the German invasion of Poland was a legal war.

But is it REALLY a legal war under US law? Isn’t the USA a signatory to the United Nations Charter? Doesn’t that make the UN Charter legally binding on the USA under the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution? Doesn’t the UN Charter explicitly ban aggressive war? Doesn’t the UN Charter even ban the mere THREAT of force in relations between states? Do not the US Constitution and other US laws have anything to say about how war is to be conducted? Does US law not say anything about a legal requirement for a formal declaration of war? Did the USA declare war on Iraq?

The war in Iraq may be legal under US law, but I very much doubt it. The onus is on those who claim it is legal to demonstrate that it is legal. Official government declarations of legality are not sufficient to establish legality in reality. When it comes to war the burden of proof that it is necessary is very, very heavy. I have not yet seen anything remotely approaching a satisfactory explanation of why the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq were necessary.

And even if this war is legal under US law, it is clearly illegal under international law, and in international relations international law takes precedence.

Mark Marshall
Toronto

JConrad August 31st, 2007 6:37 pm

Marshall:

As usual you comments are insightful. I almost went to Canada decades ago to escape the reality or nightmare here.

We are on the same page on the legality of the Iraq invasion and occupation. That is why I used the term “officially” a legal war. To the Washington officials who started it, the action is “legal”. Under any objective evaluation of international treaties and law, it must be seen as a war crime which is why I said, “The invasion and occupation of Iraq cannot be seen as anything other than a on-going war crime.” I am even sure it could be considered legal under U.S. law as the constitution requires Congress to honor international treaties. The sad history is that war criminals are only held accountable if their military is completely defeated and another power can put them on trial. Until then the best we can do is to create “resistance” in any and all forms. The Iraq outcome may just set the pace for the rest of the century, thus, I hope justice prevails.
Sorry about the “Bush is” typo in my post as I get on a spontaneous roll and miss the typos.

JConrad September 1st, 2007 12:39 pm

Marshall and Friends:

Opps, another typo. “I not am even sure it could be considered legal “ Although Bush gets all the attention, Congress is complicit.

And speaking of war crimes, Bush has been convicted by the Tokyo International Tribunal for War Crimes in Afghanistan in 2004. The problem remains how to place him under arrest.

The use of depleted uranium weapons is a relatively clear violation of international law. Many other aspects of the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions fall into the category war crimes, but the Tokyo action was centered on the use of radioactive weapons. The Japanese understand the hideous effects of lingering radiaion on humans. This url is worth the read and more can be Googled.

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/Afghanistan-Criminal-Tribunal10mar04.htm

Another war crime action is scheduled by the Pro Tem Committee for the Kuala Lumpur International War Crimes Tribunal to be held in 2008:

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2081.shtml

liberatethis September 1st, 2007 4:26 pm

My point was to end academic discussions about Iraqis and take actions to end the bloodshed perpetrated in our name.
Our obligation is the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Immediate and unconditional.

Support Iraq Veterans Against the War (www.ivaw.org)
Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight (www.couragetoresist.org)
Support Agustin Aguayo, a friend and an inspiration (www.aguayodefense.org)
With you in the struggle until justice is served,
Dahlia

JConrad September 1st, 2007 8:40 pm

Dahlia:

Thanks again for your beautiful and brutally honest writing. Your article is one of the most moving and true statements I have read on the Iraq war crimes. There should have been a thousand comments. You have clearly taken the discussion out of the “intellectual” domain into the realms of the heart. I believe that the spiritual strength of the Iraqi people will eventually prevail over injustice and ignorance.

We can only imagine what it has been like for nearly every family in Iraq to lose a loved one to the invasion. As a gesture of solidarity, I would like to offer you a poem I wrote for my father.

Hello my friend
how are you today
the paradigm of pain
teacher I love and hate
a reminder to value
each day and moment
be kind to others
realize they suffer too
a lifetime so short
mortality and illusion exposed
my memory wandering
father where are you now
I watched you die in agony
plastic crucifix on the wall
glazed eyes in a hospital bed
and no longer able to hear
words I did not say enough
that I still love you.

liberatethis September 1st, 2007 11:55 pm

Thank you so much for your kindness, compassion, and beautiful words. It is this humanity that will bring about a better world. I sincerely hope so, anyway.

JConrad September 2nd, 2007 2:52 pm

Dahlia:

Thanks again. I enjoy poetic expression, so how about Rumi For President ?

You have an inspired gift for truth telling in your writing. Some writers have technical skills and factual information at their disposal, but others go deeper into the spirit of things.

I would like to suggest you write more about the inherent racism of America’s imperialism from the perspective of Iraqis. You were quite right to bring Dr. King and Malcolm X into your essay. The subject of racism and the Iraq war crimes has not been addressed. This could be a powerful component in the war of ideas which is part of every human conflict.

What Americans are doing to Iraq would never be done to a European/white “race”. Did they torture and humiliate WWII Germans when they were captured, or kill German children by denying them the essentials of life ? Why is it that Americans morn their dead, but are largely indifferent to Iraqi deaths ?

And as they say, the pen is mightier than the sword, although some situations require that we resist “by any means necessary,” as Malcolm said. Perhaps when the combat has ended, there may be a day when Americans learn from Islam as Malcolm did in his pilgrimage to Mecca where his anger was transformed by kindness.

From: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letter_from_Malcolm_X

“ Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.”

Wars come and go, but ideas live forever.

arniec September 3rd, 2007 6:43 pm

Dahlia is one of the stongest, braveist people I know because she speaks the truth and is relentless in getting her message out.
It is the duty of all white privleged citizens to stop debating and start standing up to stop the genicide.

Dohn Joe February 14th, 2008 9:43 am

“Let us here in the United States who are against this OCCUPATION by our country become resisters in every conceivable way short of physical or cruel psychological violence to another person or group of people.” - Cee Miracles

What will happen when they consider us the new enemy? Force must be met in turn with force. However I agree, it needn’t be cruel.

I am an american, or let me say, I live and was born in america. I can safely say i do not know the truth. I am sheltered. I am afraid to leave my house. Someday I hope to wake up from this nightmare.

Or, I hope someday I have a direction. I feel the need to offer my help in whatever way I can give it. It would be an honor to become a human being.

grandmastertkoe@yahoo.com

NancyH August 30th, 2007 11:57 am

A humbling account of what I already knew. People speak out loudly to Congress. The people must keep the pressure on Congress and the White House — force them to leave Iraq. No more money for bullets and bombs — PERIOD. Call your Senators NOW. And Keep calling, and calling, and calling and calling and calling ——-
tj August 30th, 2007 12:22 pm

Brilliantly and perfectly said. Refreshing to actually hear truth about what this nation is and does, as a matter of habit — a murderous junkie taking down the world.
EveningLand August 30th, 2007 1:03 pm

Yes, doctor Wasfi, you are so very right.

There is just one point on which I beg to differ: the about 3000 people who died in the attacks on the eleventh of September, 2001, were not all citizens of the USA; there were many foreigners among them.
Vern August 30th, 2007 1:04 pm

Beautiful.
hazmat August 30th, 2007 2:38 pm

u.s. film audiences once cheered a b-grade action thriller called “red dawn,” in which a pre-”dirty dancing” patrick swayze takes up arms against the invading russo-cuban hordes. the reasonable inference would be that they approved of the idea of resistance to hostile force.

flash forward to today, however, and many of those same folks are angry and confused by the iraqi “insurgency,” as if they’d lost the ability to imagine themselves as underdog victims of a brutal occupation. possibly it’s the effects of marinating in propaganda which repeats like a lullabye “america doesn’t torture, we’re only here to help, have some nice democracy.”
Truthseeker58 August 30th, 2007 4:24 pm

Truth speaks. Every person in the United States should hear this talk. Maybe they’ll recognize truth for a change.
MarkMarshall August 30th, 2007 5:10 pm

Dr. Wasfi speaks the truth. I do not hate the US troops who are in Iraq. I don’t want them to be killed. I want them to leave Iraq immediately and go back to their loved ones. It is not a question of how we personally feel about the US/British/Australian troops in Iraq. It is a question of principle. The principle could be illustrated in the form of this question: If my country is invaded, would those of my compatriots who carry out armed resistance against the occupiers be worthy of support, or not? If the answer is “yes”, then the Iraqi resistance is worthy of support. If the answer is “no”, then the Iraqi resistance is not worthy of support. It is a decision for each one of us to make.

And for the US/British/Australian troops in Iraq: you do not have to be killed or wounded or paralyzed or disfigured. You do not have to be in Iraq. You can go home. All you have to do is refuse to fight. Refuse to leave your base. Refuse to get out of bed. You don’t have to make it an overt statement of defiance. You can pretend to be sick. You can pretend to be insane. You can refuse to put your pants on, saying that your pants are infested with the seed of Satan. You can start crying and not stop. You can curl up and say that you are an orange stuffed with peanut butter and oyster sauce for the centipedes to eat. You can suck your thumb. You can sing “Happy Birthday To You” all day. You might be court-martialled, but your chances of being executed for your defiance are far less than your chances of being killed, maimed, paralyzed, blinded or disfigured by the Iraqi resistance. When is the last time a US or UK or Australian serviceperson was executed for disobedience? When was the last time a US or UK or Australian serviceperson was executed for refusing to put his pants on or for sucking his thumb?

The point is: you don’t have to be in Iraq. You can go home. There are many ways to do it. Use your imaginations.

It is illegal for you to be in Iraq. If you refuse, history will absolve you.

Mark Marshall
Toronto
Michael4LOVE August 30th, 2007 6:11 pm

Dahlia, YOU represent the TRUE PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. Please continue to get your message out to America. Your passion is admired as is your dedication to PEACE. May WE ALL spread the TRUTH as you do to BE the CHANGE WE WISH to SEE in the WORLD!

LOVE, Michael
abuelito August 30th, 2007 7:10 pm

Thank you Dahlia. A very eloquent statement of the one thing about this mess no americans seem to be able to understand- “our troops” are invaders and occupiers of somebody else’s ccountry. So of course the people who get invaded resist. Then the invaders call them “insurgents” and then “the enemy”. The Iraqis trying to defend their country are not enemies of the united states. They are enemies no doubt of the bush junta. but then arn’t we all?
canuckchuck August 30th, 2007 7:29 pm

“American Interests Abroad” is the usually justification for Imperial Occupation and Murder.
Cee Miracles August 30th, 2007 7:57 pm

Let us here in the United States who are against this OCCUPATION by our country become resisters in every conceivable way short of physical or cruel psychological violence to another person or group of people.

Just as our soldiers in Iraq can resist continuing to serve a despicable, illegal cause by being imaginative as MARK MARSHALL [above] wrote:

“… And for the US/British/Australian troops in Iraq: you do not have to be killed or wounded or paralyzed or disfigured. You do not have to be in Iraq. You can go home. All you have to do is refuse to fight. Refuse to leave your base. Refuse to get out of bed. You don’t have to make it an overt statement of defiance. You can pretend to be sick. You can pretend to be insane. You can refuse to put your pants on, saying that your pants are infested with the seed of Satan. You can start crying and not stop. You can curl up and say that you are an orange stuffed with peanut butter and oyster sauce for the centipedes to eat. You can suck your thumb. You can sing “Happy Birthday To You” all day. You might be court-martialled, but your chances of being executed for your defiance are far less than your chances of being killed, maimed, paralyzed, blinded or disfigured by the Iraqi resistance. …”

let us imagine and then do what we can do to resist the current corporate-based/fascist administration’s ongoing insanities and destructive actions and continuing plans to RULE THE WORLD for their own selfish, greedy ends.

Among other things, I ride around in a beat-up car [it’s the one I’ve got] plastered with bumper stickers that include a stand-out yellow and black one that says IMPEACH. That may not sound like much, but I live in a rural, Republican, conservative, right-wing Christian area, and that always makes it a bit edgy.

However, I’ve had more than one person come up to me in the local super market parking lot where my rear bumper stickers visibly/blatantly face the exit door, and whisper something like, “I really like your bumper stickers” or timidly say, “I agree with you. This is a terrible time.” And then sometimes we talk, and a few others come around to join in …

I’m surprised sometimes about the depth of feeling and some folks are very informed, and yet this is a conservative community and there is a reluctance to show the hand one is holding or have other than a yellow ribbon or a Jesus Saves sign on the car. There is the danger of censure here and tar-and-feathers, as well I know from past experiences.

But it’s something that I can do. A small act
to be sure.

But from small actions … like singular,tiny drops of water that create and become the raging current and the powerful waterfall [ending of THE POWER OF ONE - film about Apartheid Africa … highly recommended], our somewhat standard actions [bumper stickers & conversations] to arrestingly imaginative actions taken by each one of us can not only redirect the current, but create the rapids and the waterfalls powerful enough to overturn the current Ship of State.

And that we have to do … “so history will absolve us,” but more importantly because it is right.
citizen1 August 30th, 2007 9:13 pm

Thanks for speaking the obvious truth.
Johnny36 August 30th, 2007 11:46 pm

What a marvelous statement from an Iraqi woman who really knows the score and can communicate with the West. Bless you for speaking truth to power, and the next time you visit Iraq be especially careful; there are evil American and Iraqi forces that would love to silence your brave voice. Stay safe.
papiowhisperer August 30th, 2007 11:52 pm

Thank you, Dahlia Wasfi. Keep
up the good work.
gyptian August 31st, 2007 12:47 am

We never called the French fighters in WW2 French Insurgents. We called them the French Resistance and ofcourse we romanticized them in Hollywood and in print. So why this double-standard. The Iraqi Resistance has done exceedingly well so far, literally bringing the most powerful army the world has ever known to its friggin knees. We need to support them in every way possible. And yeah, stuff that ‘patriotic’ gibberish where it really belongs.
gde August 31st, 2007 1:21 am

As a whole the Iraqi resistance has done a pretty lousy job, killing far more bystanders than legitimate targets. Their key to success, and they will succeed in the long run, is that they are forced to take high casualties whether they fight or not, so they may as well fight. US troops, on the other hand, are very averse to their own casualties, and it won’t take too many before they quit. In other words, they are too damn cowardly to perform the mission of stabilizing Iraq, so they just kill people instead and call that success.
Mark Abram August 31st, 2007 4:16 am

Bennis is right. The Iraqi resistance is not unified, does not have a single program, and appears to include some pretty unsupportable people.

But Wasfi is also right. We, especially here, should say without hesitation that we support the Iraqi people’s resistance, and call for their victory.

Supporting the Iraqi people in their heroic resistance struggle against the illegal aggression and occupation includes calling for the emergence of a united national resistance leadership and supporting the processes of indigenous democracy, national dialogue and self-determination. This will lead to exclusion of non-indigenous factions and those who have practiced mass terrorism not against the occupation but against the Iraqi people.

Bennis is correct in that the current Iraqi disunity and the horrors committed by al Qaeda and Shiite death squads has made it hard for opponents of the war to echo the sentiment of those a generation ago who could say without reservation, “Victory to the NLF” in Vietnam.

But we must say it anyway. Victory to the resistance! Victory to the People of Iraq!
deepa August 31st, 2007 6:49 am

This kind of demythologisation is necessary for those who live in delusion and love the US and the Western myths about their countries, leaders, values, soldiers….

Keep writing Wasfi, and keep reminding the people in this part of the world so that they may come out of their delusion about themselves and see the reality.
dougrambo August 31st, 2007 9:40 am

When I was a child I was told were the “good guys”. I took a pride in being an American.”The greatest country in the world”. A beacon of light and hope to a dark and dangerous world. maybe weve never been that country that I was told we were but I do know one thing. We have NEVER been so far from what the old red,white and blue is supposed to be! PRESIDENT BUSH TAKE YOUR FILTHY BLOODTHIRSTY HANDS OFF OUR COUNTRY!!!
bligh August 31st, 2007 10:15 am

The 150 Iraqi bodies a day (50,000+ year)dumped in Baghdad alone are not the work of the American troops, they are the result of sections of the “resistance” turning on there own countrymen in a bid for power. The fatal attacks on Iraqis by these groups far surpass the attacks on Americans, or by Americans. I am all for the the recall of American troops, but not all the resistance fighters , or even most of them, are fighting for “freedom and democracy”. They are fighting for power for their group. We should both pull out and try to leave the Iraqis in a situation where they don’t have to choose between American occupation on one hand, and repression by whomever turns out to be the strongest faction in the fighting on the other.
mr. d. August 31st, 2007 11:21 am

“we went in to liberate Iraquis from a ruthless dictator”? Please. Face the facts Americans. You have been fed so much bullshit about the “why” of the invasion that its no wonder you can accept an assertation like this without question. I don’t believe anybody outside the US truly believes this statement.
MarkMarshall August 31st, 2007 12:57 pm

Bligh: yes, many innocent Iraqis are being killed by other Iraqis. Those attacks do not constitute resistance against the occupation, and they are not worthy of support. But none of those horrors detract from the fact that it is legitimate for people in an occupied country to mount armed resistance against their occupiers. That is a general principle. It is not unique to Iraq. If the USA were invaded and occupied by China, and some people associated with the resistance are blowing up Evangelical churches in addition to attacking Chinese troops. The illegitimacy of their blowing up Evangelical churches would in no way detract from the legitimacy of their blowing up Chinese tanks. Surely we are capable of understanding that Iraqis have the right to attack US troops but they do not have the right to kill Iraqi children. Surely we are capable of holding those two principles in our brains at the same time.

Moreover, since the horrific internecine Iraqi violence you describe emerged as a consequence of the US invasion of that country, the USA – along with the other countries that participated in the invasion – is legally and morally responsible for it. So it behooves US-Americans to approach this matter with a great deal of humility.

As Robert H. Jackson, the chief US prosecutor at the trials of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, said: “To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”

http://www.kibush.co.il

Mark Marshall
Toronto
Chicago August 31st, 2007 3:04 pm

The truth will set us free, but only the truth will do it;
we need to face the truth NOW.
JConrad August 31st, 2007 4:36 pm

Dr. Wasif is writing from a depth of knowledge and suffering beyond the understanding of most Americans. We are still having trouble accepting that Columbus killed 250,000 Indians and North Americans later killed millions of natives all for material greed.

I read this article once and had to read it again not being sure of the initial impact. The second read sent shudders of grief through my body which is not an intellectual experience. The good doctor’s writing is the real thing.

Thought for today: All the comments thus far are valuable, but the main question of the article is why the “peace movement” will not step up to the plate ?

Unfortunately, the American “peace movement” has been ideologically compromised or possibly infiltrated. “Support The Troops” immediately became a slogan after “Shock and Awe” and was adopted by both warmongers and the 21st century peaceniks. I suspected the phrase came from a Pentagon think tank. Who knows. Some who preach peace and support the troops say the trick to ending the occupation is to express an interest in the difficulty our military faces and to bring the nice boys home. But any expression of support for American troops only muddies the water.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq cannot be seen as anything other than a on-going war crime. Supporting American troops in any way is indirectly supporting war crimes. However, it would be safe to say that many soldiers are naïve or indoctrinated and are merely working class slaves killing and dying for their masters. Those in power who created and direct this warfare are the true war criminals. But we should stay neutral on “supporting” them without falling into the Nam peace trap of condemning them outright. They deserve support when they lay down their rifles or come home with a change of heart and willing to speak out.

However, whether or not to offer unqualified support to the Iraqi resistance is a more complicated issue, especially for folks with non-violent ideals common in the peace ranks.

Yet, the Iraqi on Iraqi violence is probably difficult for anyone to understand and accept. I do realize that the mess is more complex than anyone outside Iraq can understand. Some of the Iraqi death squads may very well be American funded and ordered. That was Negroponte’s specialty in Central America. On the other hand some of the internal violence is probably against Iraqis who are working in collusion with the occupiers. Tough call. Some of it is perhaps pure destabilization of the system the Americans want to set up. And some is probably Sunni and Shiite revenge and power struggles. I am not judging what happens within the Iraq “community” as I do not know enough. But it is a messy picture for anyone on this side of the world.

From the viewpoint of human justice, those resisting the occupation are deserving of “support”. But another political technicality is that in the U.S. this is officially a legal war. It is very difficult for peace organizations to say they are supporting fighters who are killing Americans, even if it justified from an Iraqi perspective. So, I hope Dr. Wasif can consider the limitations the peace organizations face including their attempts to convert people in the middle of the road.

I think it is safe to say that peace activists and perhaps the majority of the American public are in favor of an Iraq for and by the Iraqi people rather than being a corporate oil colony occupied by American forces. Unfortunately the learning curve is a little slow as Bush in just now being exposed in the eyes of the majority. The problem now is whether or not the Demos will buck the corporate power structure.

In the end it may be the Iraqi “resistance” that will bring and end to the carnage by making it too expensive, in many ways, for the barbaric imperialists to occupy the cradle of civilization.
MarkMarshall August 31st, 2007 5:12 pm

JConrad: thank you for that thoughtful posting. Certainly it would be wrong for US anti-war demonstrators to take up the slogan “Death to our troops”. I think most people have enough common sense to understand that. A far more constructive approach would be to offer financial and legal support to those who refuse to fight, and to their families. Is there in fact a fund for such purposes? If so all CD readers should contribute to it. That would do a lot more good than a thousand demonstrations.

You say: “in the US this is officially a legal war”. Is that really true? I know the position of the Bush Administration is that it is a legal war. But that is always the position of governments that launch wars of aggression. During World War II the government of Germany took the position that the German invasion of Poland was a legal war.

But is it REALLY a legal war under US law? Isn’t the USA a signatory to the United Nations Charter? Doesn’t that make the UN Charter legally binding on the USA under the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution? Doesn’t the UN Charter explicitly ban aggressive war? Doesn’t the UN Charter even ban the mere THREAT of force in relations between states? Do not the US Constitution and other US laws have anything to say about how war is to be conducted? Does US law not say anything about a legal requirement for a formal declaration of war? Did the USA declare war on Iraq?

The war in Iraq may be legal under US law, but I very much doubt it. The onus is on those who claim it is legal to demonstrate that it is legal. Official government declarations of legality are not sufficient to establish legality in reality. When it comes to war the burden of proof that it is necessary is very, very heavy. I have not yet seen anything remotely approaching a satisfactory explanation of why the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq were necessary.

And even if this war is legal under US law, it is clearly illegal under international law, and in international relations international law takes precedence.

Mark Marshall
Toronto
JConrad August 31st, 2007 6:37 pm

Marshall:

As usual you comments are insightful. I almost went to Canada decades ago to escape the reality or nightmare here.

We are on the same page on the legality of the Iraq invasion and occupation. That is why I used the term “officially” a legal war. To the Washington officials who started it, the action is “legal”. Under any objective evaluation of international treaties and law, it must be seen as a war crime which is why I said, “The invasion and occupation of Iraq cannot be seen as anything other than a on-going war crime.” I am even sure it could be considered legal under U.S. law as the constitution requires Congress to honor international treaties. The sad history is that war criminals are only held accountable if their military is completely defeated and another power can put them on trial. Until then the best we can do is to create “resistance” in any and all forms. The Iraq outcome may just set the pace for the rest of the century, thus, I hope justice prevails.
Sorry about the “Bush is” typo in my post as I get on a spontaneous roll and miss the typos.
JConrad September 1st, 2007 12:39 pm

Marshall and Friends:

Opps, another typo. “I not am even sure it could be considered legal “ Although Bush gets all the attention, Congress is complicit.

And speaking of war crimes, Bush has been convicted by the Tokyo International Tribunal for War Crimes in Afghanistan in 2004. The problem remains how to place him under arrest.

The use of depleted uranium weapons is a relatively clear violation of international law. Many other aspects of the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions fall into the category war crimes, but the Tokyo action was centered on the use of radioactive weapons. The Japanese understand the hideous effects of lingering radiaion on humans. This url is worth the read and more can be Googled.

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/Afghanistan-Criminal-Tribunal10mar04.htm

Another war crime action is scheduled by the Pro Tem Committee for the Kuala Lumpur International War Crimes Tribunal to be held in 2008:

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2081.shtml
liberatethis September 1st, 2007 4:26 pm

My point was to end academic discussions about Iraqis and take actions to end the bloodshed perpetrated in our name.
Our obligation is the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Immediate and unconditional.

Support Iraq Veterans Against the War (www.ivaw.org)
Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight (www.couragetoresist.org)
Support Agustin Aguayo, a friend and an inspiration (www.aguayodefense.org)
With you in the struggle until justice is served,
Dahlia
JConrad September 1st, 2007 8:40 pm

Dahlia:

Thanks again for your beautiful and brutally honest writing. Your article is one of the most moving and true statements I have read on the Iraq war crimes. There should have been a thousand comments. You have clearly taken the discussion out of the “intellectual” domain into the realms of the heart. I believe that the spiritual strength of the Iraqi people will eventually prevail over injustice and ignorance.

We can only imagine what it has been like for nearly every family in Iraq to lose a loved one to the invasion. As a gesture of solidarity, I would like to offer you a poem I wrote for my father.

Hello my friend
how are you today
the paradigm of pain
teacher I love and hate
a reminder to value
each day and moment
be kind to others
realize they suffer too
a lifetime so short
mortality and illusion exposed
my memory wandering
father where are you now
I watched you die in agony
plastic crucifix on the wall
glazed eyes in a hospital bed
and no longer able to hear
words I did not say enough
that I still love you.
liberatethis September 1st, 2007 11:55 pm

Thank you so much for your kindness, compassion, and beautiful words. It is this humanity that will bring about a better world. I sincerely hope so, anyway.
JConrad September 2nd, 2007 2:52 pm

Dahlia:

Thanks again. I enjoy poetic expression, so how about Rumi For President ?

You have an inspired gift for truth telling in your writing. Some writers have technical skills and factual information at their disposal, but others go deeper into the spirit of things.

I would like to suggest you write more about the inherent racism of America’s imperialism from the perspective of Iraqis. You were quite right to bring Dr. King and Malcolm X into your essay. The subject of racism and the Iraq war crimes has not been addressed. This could be a powerful component in the war of ideas which is part of every human conflict.

What Americans are doing to Iraq would never be done to a European/white “race”. Did they torture and humiliate WWII Germans when they were captured, or kill German children by denying them the essentials of life ? Why is it that Americans morn their dead, but are largely indifferent to Iraqi deaths ?

And as they say, the pen is mightier than the sword, although some situations require that we resist “by any means necessary,” as Malcolm said. Perhaps when the combat has ended, there may be a day when Americans learn from Islam as Malcolm did in his pilgrimage to Mecca where his anger was transformed by kindness.

From: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letter_from_Malcolm_X

“ Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.”

Wars come and go, but ideas live forever.
arniec September 3rd, 2007 6:43 pm

Dahlia is one of the stongest, braveist people I know because she speaks the truth and is relentless in getting her message out.
It is the duty of all white privleged citizens to stop debating and start standing up to stop the genicide.
Dohn Joe February 14th, 2008 9:43 am

“Let us here in the United States who are against this OCCUPATION by our country become resisters in every conceivable way short of physical or cruel psychological violence to another person or group of people.” - Cee Miracles

What will happen when they consider us the new enemy? Force must be met in turn with force. However I agree, it needn’t be cruel.

I am an american, or let me say, I live and was born in america. I can safely say i do not know the truth. I am sheltered. I am afraid to leave my house. Someday I hope to wake up from this nightmare.

Or, I hope someday I have a direction. I feel the need to offer my help in whatever way I can give it. It would be an honor to become a human being.

grandmastertkoe@yahoo.com

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