Alex
13-05-04, 12:54 PM
I?m surprised that it hasn?t been mentioned yet, but I?m sure that it would have come up somewhere. This topic may cause unintentional offence but it is not written for this purpose. It is not a dig at any race, religion or culture. I just want to express my personal feeling about a part of today?s political and economical environment with respect to Iraq. This has been my opinion for quite a while now however until now I haven?t articulated it openly. I have written this as a kind of release for all of my pent up feelings. If any admin think this post in inappropriate please feel free to delete it (although this did take me a very long time to write!).
Where should I start? Before the start of Gulf war II I think the vast majority of people in the world agreed that Saddam was an evil tyrant. He killed people on a mass scale simply because they were from a different race of people. This is called genocide and there is no excuse for it. In my opinion he should have been removed from power after the first gulf war but then again it is easy to say now.
A lot of people believe that America had a hidden agenda when going into Iraq. This may well be true. I think that they did although I?m not really sure what it really was. I was actually asked this question at a certain interview and what my opinion about it was. I cannot say what interview but I?m sure you can guess! The fact is that Saddam?s dictatorship had to be ended in one way or another. He was keeping himself in power by killing all opposition which is clearly wrong. He has killed thousands of people. Removing him however is obviously not a quick, simple task. There were people who supported Saddam, but we must remember that the majority were forced to support him.
When the coalition came into Iraq it appeared that they were welcomed by most people in the street with open arms. Whether this was genuine or whether people just went with it I am not sure. The attitude towards the coalition has changed dramatically over the months. I believe this is from both propaganda from Saddam?s loyal supporters and also from the attitude and treatment that some coalition soldiers have taken towards the people of Iraq. I also believe that it is the frustration of the Iraqis for not being able to get back to a normal life which is quite understandable.
Now I am going to diverse a bit. A lot of people are bringing religion into this topic. I really can?t fully understand why. I believe that people do hide behind their religion at times. In fact I think all major wars have had differences in religion involved. I personally have no religion but I would stand up and fight for peoples? rights to believe in whatever they want within reason. I say within reason as a belief in something that brings harm to others or the forcing your belief onto others is wrong. You should also respect other peoples? beliefs. I personally agree with many of the ?rules? that have been laid down by different religions on how to lead life. I do not however believe that religious writings should be taken word for word. The reason for this is that they are very old and have been passed down and translated many, many times. Also have you ever seen a car accident and heard from both sides on what happened? The accounts will be very different. Now multiply that thousands of times in many different languages! Therefore I believe that most of these are as a whole a good guide on how to live your life. I especially like Buddhists love of all things living.
So then back on subject why has religion been brought into removing an evil dictator from Iraq? I am not really sure on this and I may be wrong but I believe that it is because people see a nation of a different/multiple religions going after an individual of one religion and they take this as an act of persecution against their religion. I honestly think people are blinded by their religion at times and forget what their religion stands for. This can be clearly seen when Hitler was persecuting the Jews. He thought (although was disillusioned) that he was protecting his nation and religion by doing what he did. However does it not say in the teachings of the bible that firstly ?Thou shalt not kill?, ?Love thy neighbour? and that you should respect other peoples beliefs? He was breaking his own religions rules by his acts. This is most certainly wrong. This is on a very large scale but can be applied elsewhere, especially in the modern Middle East.
I find religion very interesting and have spoken to friends of different religions. I have learnt a lot about Islam in particular recently and have agreed that as a whole it is a peace loving religion. However as always you do have in almost every religion people who use it for their own purposes. Look at N Ireland and Hitler which are examples of ?extremist Christians? before classing all followers of Islam as ?extremist Muslims?.
In a culture where it is perfectly legal to walk down the street with an AK-47 in your hand, firing into the air you have to expect there to be more violence than somewhere where guns are outlawed. The coalition?s soldiers are not used to this and so are understandably nervous around a lot of Iraqis. This however does not warrant rash actions and decisions.
I believe that the media have played a very important role in this war. I blame them for a lot of the actions taken during this ?war? and also afterwards. I believe that Eastern television channels can be seen to encourage racial hatred against the West and are very bias. However I also think a channel like CNN is almost, if not just as bad. The number of processes that a story goes through before it is viewed means that when it is presented many facts are hidden or blown out of proportion. Media has become a way in which opposing sides can communicate. If the media wasn?t involved so much I believe that kidnappings and beheadings would be vastly reduced. However if it wasn?t for the media we wouldn?t have found out about the appalling treatment of Iraqi prisoners by the Americans. Once again though people have used this and have created fake pictures to use as propaganda. The media highlights the ?bad people? on both sides which does encourage racial hatred on a large scale.
The recent beheading of a US person has led me to look into the extremists? views and justifications of an action like this. I was on an extremist website last night and the main factor that was being discussed as to whether it was justified was who employed the man. Was he a civilian contractor or military contractor? Quite frankly in my opinion this has NOTHING to do with whether this can be justified. At the end of the day he was there to help to set up communication antennae which are part of the rebuilding Iraq. I?m not really sure what they hope to achieve. If they simply want the coalition forces in the country to leave then acts like that are just keeping the forces there for longer. Are they fighting against the creation of a democracy? What do they want instead? Their true objectives are not really very clear. I can fully understand that they want coalition troops out of the country but then what? However we must not mix up opinions of extremists with the opinions of normal Iraqi people even though on certain topics opinions may be the same.
In my personal opinion I think the whole issue in the Middle East is the intolerance of other peoples? cultures and traditions on many sides. Many of people have died due to this stupid reason. This makes me sick. I may however be completely wrong. Who knows?
I welcome anyone else?s opinions on this topic or any criticisms/answers to any I have stated. Or you can just leave this topic blank and just let it drop down. Like I said at the top, I wrote this for me.
If you read all that you have far too much time on your hands (I obviously do to write the bugger lol)
Where should I start? Before the start of Gulf war II I think the vast majority of people in the world agreed that Saddam was an evil tyrant. He killed people on a mass scale simply because they were from a different race of people. This is called genocide and there is no excuse for it. In my opinion he should have been removed from power after the first gulf war but then again it is easy to say now.
A lot of people believe that America had a hidden agenda when going into Iraq. This may well be true. I think that they did although I?m not really sure what it really was. I was actually asked this question at a certain interview and what my opinion about it was. I cannot say what interview but I?m sure you can guess! The fact is that Saddam?s dictatorship had to be ended in one way or another. He was keeping himself in power by killing all opposition which is clearly wrong. He has killed thousands of people. Removing him however is obviously not a quick, simple task. There were people who supported Saddam, but we must remember that the majority were forced to support him.
When the coalition came into Iraq it appeared that they were welcomed by most people in the street with open arms. Whether this was genuine or whether people just went with it I am not sure. The attitude towards the coalition has changed dramatically over the months. I believe this is from both propaganda from Saddam?s loyal supporters and also from the attitude and treatment that some coalition soldiers have taken towards the people of Iraq. I also believe that it is the frustration of the Iraqis for not being able to get back to a normal life which is quite understandable.
Now I am going to diverse a bit. A lot of people are bringing religion into this topic. I really can?t fully understand why. I believe that people do hide behind their religion at times. In fact I think all major wars have had differences in religion involved. I personally have no religion but I would stand up and fight for peoples? rights to believe in whatever they want within reason. I say within reason as a belief in something that brings harm to others or the forcing your belief onto others is wrong. You should also respect other peoples? beliefs. I personally agree with many of the ?rules? that have been laid down by different religions on how to lead life. I do not however believe that religious writings should be taken word for word. The reason for this is that they are very old and have been passed down and translated many, many times. Also have you ever seen a car accident and heard from both sides on what happened? The accounts will be very different. Now multiply that thousands of times in many different languages! Therefore I believe that most of these are as a whole a good guide on how to live your life. I especially like Buddhists love of all things living.
So then back on subject why has religion been brought into removing an evil dictator from Iraq? I am not really sure on this and I may be wrong but I believe that it is because people see a nation of a different/multiple religions going after an individual of one religion and they take this as an act of persecution against their religion. I honestly think people are blinded by their religion at times and forget what their religion stands for. This can be clearly seen when Hitler was persecuting the Jews. He thought (although was disillusioned) that he was protecting his nation and religion by doing what he did. However does it not say in the teachings of the bible that firstly ?Thou shalt not kill?, ?Love thy neighbour? and that you should respect other peoples beliefs? He was breaking his own religions rules by his acts. This is most certainly wrong. This is on a very large scale but can be applied elsewhere, especially in the modern Middle East.
I find religion very interesting and have spoken to friends of different religions. I have learnt a lot about Islam in particular recently and have agreed that as a whole it is a peace loving religion. However as always you do have in almost every religion people who use it for their own purposes. Look at N Ireland and Hitler which are examples of ?extremist Christians? before classing all followers of Islam as ?extremist Muslims?.
In a culture where it is perfectly legal to walk down the street with an AK-47 in your hand, firing into the air you have to expect there to be more violence than somewhere where guns are outlawed. The coalition?s soldiers are not used to this and so are understandably nervous around a lot of Iraqis. This however does not warrant rash actions and decisions.
I believe that the media have played a very important role in this war. I blame them for a lot of the actions taken during this ?war? and also afterwards. I believe that Eastern television channels can be seen to encourage racial hatred against the West and are very bias. However I also think a channel like CNN is almost, if not just as bad. The number of processes that a story goes through before it is viewed means that when it is presented many facts are hidden or blown out of proportion. Media has become a way in which opposing sides can communicate. If the media wasn?t involved so much I believe that kidnappings and beheadings would be vastly reduced. However if it wasn?t for the media we wouldn?t have found out about the appalling treatment of Iraqi prisoners by the Americans. Once again though people have used this and have created fake pictures to use as propaganda. The media highlights the ?bad people? on both sides which does encourage racial hatred on a large scale.
The recent beheading of a US person has led me to look into the extremists? views and justifications of an action like this. I was on an extremist website last night and the main factor that was being discussed as to whether it was justified was who employed the man. Was he a civilian contractor or military contractor? Quite frankly in my opinion this has NOTHING to do with whether this can be justified. At the end of the day he was there to help to set up communication antennae which are part of the rebuilding Iraq. I?m not really sure what they hope to achieve. If they simply want the coalition forces in the country to leave then acts like that are just keeping the forces there for longer. Are they fighting against the creation of a democracy? What do they want instead? Their true objectives are not really very clear. I can fully understand that they want coalition troops out of the country but then what? However we must not mix up opinions of extremists with the opinions of normal Iraqi people even though on certain topics opinions may be the same.
In my personal opinion I think the whole issue in the Middle East is the intolerance of other peoples? cultures and traditions on many sides. Many of people have died due to this stupid reason. This makes me sick. I may however be completely wrong. Who knows?
I welcome anyone else?s opinions on this topic or any criticisms/answers to any I have stated. Or you can just leave this topic blank and just let it drop down. Like I said at the top, I wrote this for me.
If you read all that you have far too much time on your hands (I obviously do to write the bugger lol)