Iraqi bloggers are reporting on the post mosque bombing situation from their perspective. Events are playing out in rapid fashion here. From Zayed at Healing Iraq:
Fierce streetfighting at my doorstep for the last 3 hours. Rumor in the neighbourhood is that men in black are trying to enter the area. Some armed kids defending the local mosque three blocks away are splattering bullets at everything that moves, and someone in the street was shouting for people to prepare for defending themselves.
There’s supposed to be a curfew, but it doesn’t look like it. My net connection is erratic, so I’ll try to update again if possible. The news from other areas in Baghdad are horrible. I don’t think it’s being reported anywhere.
The news media are pushing doom and gloom as always:
But in their sermons and public statements, both Sunni and Shiite political and clerical leaders also betrayed an ominous polarization of attitudes about who was at fault for the outbreak of violence, along with an increased hostility to the American role in Iraq. Iraqi leaders and American officials seemed acutely aware that the conflict, which began Wednesday in Samarra after a bomb shattered the dome at one of Iraq’s most sacred Shiite shrines, could still push Iraq into a catastrophic civil war, with implications for the entire region.
And as usual, the Iraqis who just want to be left alone to live out their lives are stuck in the middle of this centuries old legacy of hatred and self-destructive memes. There are three kinds of Iraqis right now – those working on rebuilding Iraq, people in the middle who just want jobs, and what I think of as the Martyrs of the Old Ways. The Martyrs of the Old Ways want to destroy Iraq. Their ideas don’t work, have never worked and won’t suddenly start working. But some of them haven’t learned that yet. Like the IRS in the United States, they are dinosaurs and will become extinct. The only question is when.
Are we winning hearts and minds? I’m not sure we’re fighting that battle with the right resources, or with enough seriousness. When I read Iraqis blogging stuff like this it concerns me:
The one who did this, entered the mosque comfortably carrying explosions, he had all the time to study the construction of the building and find the perfect angles to set the explosions in a way that only the dome will be destroyed.
This is a professional, controlled demolition and the bombs set by demolition experts.
If you read the whole entry, and it was the only information you had available about Iraq, you would think the coalition was for some unfathomable reason orchestrating recent events in Iraq. Of course, that isn’t true, but perception is reality. If the coalition’s intentions aren’t properly perceived by Baghdad Dweller, how many of the neighbors on his block have a similar attitude or outlook? How many Iraqis really understand all the players in this war, and their varied agendas? I’m sure most Americans don’t have a clue and that bothers me too.
The Iraqis I’ve talked to recently are mostly tired and jaded. From what I gather, life in Baghdad is tough for them right now, and that might be an understatement. The situation is fluid and the rules change as they move from one neighborhood to another. Everything is politically charged in this city and death is all too often a fact of life. In the U.S., we have the luxury of being able to ignore politics and politicians if we want too (although it’s not a good idea). In Baghdad (and the rest of Iraq too I would guess) being ignorant of local politics is a good way to get yourself killed.
I hope that by the time I am twice as old as I am today, Iraq will no longer be a place where Shiites and Sunnis have to worry about being killed just for being one or the other. If you want real perspective on just how deep the divide between Shia and Sunnis is, the closest thing we have to compare it to in the United States is the legacy of slavery. The comparison isn’t perfect, but it’s the closest thing I can think of.
Iraqis, please listen to the calls for peace. More bloodshed does nothing to speed up the coalition’s departure. It does nothing to ensure jobs for your young men. It does nothing to ensure your children have better lives than you do. When you learn to stop thinking in terms of Shiite and Sunni, then Iraq will begin to grow and prosper. The coalition is less and less a part of the daily affairs of your nation. You may love us or hate us, but ultimately, what Iraq becomes is up to you, the Iraqi.