The word “mistake” seems to me a big understatement in terms of U.S. policy in Iraq. Nonetheless, lately there has been above coverage on the issue of top leaders admitting mistakes have been made in Iraq. Now…really? Isn’t that quite obviously that the U.S. strategy has not been working for years now.

In the past Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has admitted that there are things that should have been handled differently. Recently in an interview, she stated “As to whether the United States has made mistakes: Of course, I’m sure we have. “You can’t be involved in something as big as the liberation of a country like Iraq and all that has happened since, and I’m sure there are things that we could have done differently.” She left it at that and later told an Arabic news program that she will say more in her future books after she leaves office.

In addition, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a Nov 6th memo that “In my view it is time for a major adjustment… Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.”
Delusional President Bush said earlier this year that “I think the biggest mistake that’s happened so far, at least from our country’s involvement in Iraq, is Abu Ghraib. We’ve been paying for that for a long period of time.” I am not sure much further a President of the U.S. can be from the truth when one only has to read or turn on the papers to see the mounting evidence that has been present for years that Iraq is in civil war and that the U.S. strategy is fundamentally flawed.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Are you aware that the President of Iran has sent a letter to every citizen of the U.S.? Well, in case you missed that letter here it is in full text. I just love to get mail, especially from presidents.

Excerpt:

You have heard that the US administration is kidnapping its presumed opponents from across the globe and arbitrarily holding them without trial or any international supervision in horrendous prisons that it has established in various parts of the world. God knows who these detainees actually are, and what terrible fate awaits them.

You have certainly heard the sad stories of the Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib prisons. The US administration attempts to justify them through its proclaimed “war on terror.” But every one knows that such behavior, in fact, offends global public opinion, exacerbates resentment and thereby spreads terrorism, and tarnishes the US image and its credibility among nations.

The US administration’s illegal and immoral behavior is not even confined to outside its borders. You are witnessing daily that under the pretext of “the war on terror,” civil liberties in the United States are being increasingly curtailed. Even the privacy of individuals is fast losing its meaning. Judicial due process and fundamental rights are trampled upon. Private phones are tapped, suspects are arbitrarily arrested, sometimes beaten in the streets, or even shot to death.

With nearly 3000 American troops killed in Iraq, I thought it would be helpful to discuss the ongoing sectarian violence that is taking place each day. Many of us, including myself do not understand the difference between the two branches of Islam. So I decided to do a bit of research and compel some of the difference between the two.

There is Sunni Islam and Shia or Shiite Islam. Let’s start off with discussing the Sunni branch.

Sunni Islam

• Largest branch of Islam (85-90%).
• The word Sunni comes from the Arabic word “Sunna” which means the “Prophet of Islam.”
• The Muslims that are within the Sunni branch believe that Muhammad intended that Muslims choose a successor (caliphate) to lead them.
• The period of the first four caliphs are of great importance to this branch.
• Thus, after the caliphate was loss due to WWI, this branch tried to emerge and co-exists with European culture that was brought to the middle east through colonialism.

Shiite Islam

• The Muslims that are within this branch believe the the Prophet himself had designated his son-in-law, Ali, as both his temporal and spiritual successor. Therefore, only Ali’s descendants are legitimate claimants to the caliphate (successor).
• Shiite Muslims believe that beneath the explicit and literal meaning of the Qur’an are other levels of meaning, which are known only to the imam (imam are the descendents of Ali).
• Shiite Muslims pay a tax called the zakat to their leaders as opposed to state officials. As a result some leaders within this branch have immense wealth.

Source: Rahman, Fazlur, M.A., Ph.D., Late Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor Of Islamic Thought, University of Chicago. Author of Islam and Modernity.

The increasing violence in Iraq is putting a strain on U.S. and international troops along with the civilian population. The civilian population is faced with daily instances of walking passed dead bodies that have been tortured and dumped along side the road or being faced with the fear of being blown up by bombs. The sectarian attacks which are on the rise left 3,700 people dead last month according to a U.N. study.

The government plan that was initiated on June 14th, 2006 , which was aimed at addressing the increased level of violence and growing criminality has not been working. The U.N. reports that since the Samarra attack on February 2006, 200,000 individuals have been displaced. The reconstruction, development and humanitarian assistance that was promised by the U.S. can be summed up as an utter failure. Today, Iraq is faced with an acute crisis in terms of its human and humanitarian crisis. The law of order is not run by the Iraqi government or the U.S. but rather the growing power of the militias who show their power through indiscriminate killings and targeted attacks. In addition, kidnappings and torture continue unabated in many parts of the country where U.S. forces claim to have control.

The U.S. has made Iraq a haven for terrorist and one of the most unstable and dangerous places in the world. A strategy must come forth from the U.S. and international community that enables a framework for reconciliation and peace that takes into account the lack of security and numerous human rights violations.

As the United States occupation of Iraq continues, many of us continue to watch the news of the endless battles that the American troops are fighting against. One town named Fallujah is right in the heartland of the bloodshed as hundreds of thousands of civilians are caught between two sides. We rarely encounter documentaries on how civilians in Fallujah are expected to survive once the fighting is over. Unfortunately, the fighting is still not over and these civilians trapped inside Fallujah must struggle to keep their families alive.

Mark Manning, an independent filmmaker shows us the other side of the story that the mainstream American media often does not show. He lived with the citizens of Fallujah un-embedded and experienced life from their perspectives after their city was completely destroyed in an operation known as “Phantom Fury.”
So with fulfilling Mark’s promise on sharing his story to the rest of the word, you can watch the two part mini documentary on the aftermath of “Phantom Fury.”

Watch Part One

Watch Part Two

Never have I heard of a man speak with such integrity and eloquently speak of President Bush like this. Please watch the full video right here. Excerpt from video: The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had ’something to do’ with 9/11 is “lying by implication.” The impolite phrase is “impeachable offense.”

Hello once again to everyone! Today I will be talking about a very controversial topic. I wanted to talk about September 11th before the actual end of September. So with that said, lets begin.

September 11th was a horrible day for this country. But as Americans do we have the full facts as to what really happened that day? Have we researched extensively the events and unanswered questions that we have regarding that fateful day? The U.S. government loves it when we do not pay close attention (i.e. by not voting) to the daily events that play out. The average American has a short attention span when it comes to government issues, which leads us to be less defiant when we hear political leaders and watch the news. The Bush administration is like a deadly bacteria. We must look at events that are happening around the world and here at home to see what if any hidden agendas might be uncovered.I believe that most Americans think this government is a law-abiding government that follows international law and is the perfect representation of human rights. Well I am here to tell you everyone to wake up from that delusion. Does the U.S. government have any right to lecture China on human rights issues when our government needs a lesson or two on how to treat prisoners of war humanely? As I said earlier, if we do are research we will find atrocities that this government has committed. If we as Americans know the facts that happen in the past and that are happening right now it would certainly not be tolerated. We as Americans must not believe the propaganda that our current government is telling us regarding the ongoing war on terror. The theme of the Bush Administration using violence as a last resort and that it must be for the common good of all is a propaganda slogan that has been echoed by horrible leaders in the past. We as the citizens of our country have the duty to uncover the wrongdoings of our government and to promote and demand global peace from power hungry imperialist governments. Future blogs will be devoted to sharing some of the horrible acts that the American government has done to its citizens and the ongoing terror of war.

So we that little outburst , I am going to help my readers by encouraging you to watch Loose Change. What is Loose Change? It is a film that “shows direct connection between the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the United States government. Evidence is derived from news footage, scientific fact, and most important, Americans who suffered through that tragic day.” Yes, I will say it again, a direct connection between the the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the United States government. These are remarkable findings! I had to watch it three times to let all the information seek in. This video has been translated into many different languages, including French, Spanish and German. The video is 1h30mins approximately and can be watched online! Watch it today!

Click here to watch it NOW!

As always, these are my opinions and I encourage everyone to share their thoughts on this issue with me through the comment bottom below! You have the option of being anonymous if you choose.