Triumph of the Martyrs: The Fall of Iraq

Traditionally, picking up a book was a means to escape into a fantasy world, a world detached from the horrors of the reality around us, big or small. However, in these trying times of warped news agencies offering the public a fabrication of reality, Nir Rosen's In the Belly of the Green Bird brings us back to our senses, and back into the war zone that is the global political sphere. Enter Iraq, April 2003 and the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime; the end of an era of darkness. Or so that was what the American government tried in vain to have us believe. The book is a re-telling of the author's daily experiences in post-Saddam Iraq and its descent into lawlessness. It analyses the nihilistic society and the deterioration of the justice system whereby the local militias take over and assert the law in any way they see fit. It sheds light on some of the questionable American abuses of not just prisoners but civilians in Iraq. At one point it describes the notorious Fourth Infantry division tying a man's hands and sending him off a bridge to drown. The feigned infrastructure the Americans provided is also looked at, as they look at ways to control the population. The American army even sent a team to Israel to study methods for suppressing an anti-occupation insurgency (ie. house demolitions).

The book makes no attempt at analysing the political debate between the US and the UN or any lone country. Instead, it offers a perspective of the people of Iraq, the civilians, the militia-men, government workers and even American soldiers. It is a refreshing and insightful look at the real issue on the ground and not the contorted issue in the media. It definitely is worth reading. Instead of being like the other analytical dissections in hard cover form that populate the politcal science / terrorism section at your local Chapters-Indigo stores, this is more a personal diary of what is seen, heard and experienced in a crumbling society. Buy it, get it from the library, just read it.

It's worth the $35.00

No ties to Zarqawi

Amidst the bloodshed and insurgencies that continously plague Iraq today, the US intelligence committee has submitted an unclassified report detailing Iraq's post-war assessment and ties to terrorists organizations. Though we all know that the case for levelling Iraq was a pack of lies designed to mislead the American public, this report picks up on an interesting point. Mr. Bush has always stated, even after he was told that he was making false statements, that deposed leader Saddam Hussein and his regime were attacked because he harboured and supported terrorists organizations, the largest one in Iraq being led by the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian leader of the Tawhid and Jihad movements in Iraq (Al-Qaeda). What I find interesting, something unknown to me before now, was that Saddam Hussein had actually tried to capture Zarqawi, and put an end to his operation. This is not like how American troops said half-heartedly that they wanted Zarqawi out, but could care less. Saddam had actually tried to, though unsuccessfully, remove the man who was a threat to his regime. For anyone who would like to read or have a copy of the report, I have uploaded it here.

On a more humorous note, Al-Jazeera has reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is attempting to ban the sale of cats and dogs as pets, because it breeds Western ideas and distracts people from their other duties. It has become a fashion statement in Jeddah. What surprises me is that Saudi Arabia is actually having open dialogue on this issue of whether it's right to enforce such a law and are actively debating it.


In their attempts to make the Kingdom the haven for Islam and the "perfect" society, they are fogetting their other obligations - like the billions of dollars in outstanding aid they promised to the Palestinians to help rebuild the country. This pledge was made more that 6 years ago and has yet to come into affect. No wonder the muslims are so easily demonized in their respective countries, other muslims who have the money and the means, are too busy exploring the religious values of keeping a pet. They even invoke the words of the Prophet to support their claims. Excuse my language, but what kind of retarded government has taken over the reigns of this "kingdom". Help your fellow muslims and stop invoking the Prophet's name to give substance to your petty arguments.

The new British PM: "Tony Blair"

It has recently been announced that Prime Minister Tony Blair will resign this week as head of the British Government. His resignation from the Labour party has come after an enormous amount of public pressure from the media and private sector. But what does this entail on the international scene? Blair is regarded by some as a tyrant, a two-faced politician. On the public front, he opposes all the war in the Middle East (as he’s required to), but his government still provides Israel with the components and the means to protect themselves from the poor, malnutritioned, homeless threat to Israel’s safety. Handing over the reigns to a successor has very little hope of changing any sort of political stance on the war in the Middle East. This has been seen in the countless times of Israel’s own revolving government. Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and now Mr. Olmert all three are acclaimed has heroes, even though all three have committed war crimes against the Palestinians, Lebanese and even other Jews.

The issue here is not that a new Prime Minister will bring a new face and a new outlook. It depends on who the new person is. The last election campaign in the United States demonstrated this, with Kerry vs. Bush. Kerry, a war-vet was seen has the beacon of hope to a corrupt government. But if we dissected his platform on the international level, there isn’t much difference as to what he offered against what Bush was implementing at the time. Kerry was, simply put, not George Bush. The same thing will happen in the British parliament unless it’s someone with real values, with real concerns, and not a suppressed racist hatred that some of the politicians have. Recently, I’ve been following the activities and statements of George Galloway a British MP. He has done a tremendous amount of work centered around bringing the truth out about the atrocities being committed in the Arab/Muslim world and has been critical about many of the Blair Government’s actions to preserve a stable Middle East. Many say that he’s just as bad as Blair, just wants the spotlight. Maybe, but he does have a strong message and always speaks the truth with an array of hard evidence to back it up. Why not give this guy a run in office? Couldn’t hurt to have a person who may actually give a damn about the issue making British foreign policy. Heck it may even save a few lives. Whomever is elected to replace Blair, let’s hope the foreign policy will not follow in the footsteps of the previous leader, or it will become a second chance to make the same mistake.