To say that I don’t understand Ashura would be an understatement. Flagellating myself has never been an attractive idea, and I certainly wouldn’t want to lacerate my own head with a knife. But hey, that’s a choice for free people to make, and Iraqis are working on becoming a free people, at least relative to what they lived under during the reign of madman and mass murderer Saddam “Insane” Hussein. Progress is progress.
Iraq yesterday proved it is making progress. It proved that all the whiners, naysayers and doom and gloom prophets are just unnecessary baggage that should be dumped in the landfill of people and ideas forgotten by history.
Yesterday in Iraq, U.S. trained Iraqi security forces composed of both Sunnis and Shiites guarded their fellow citizens successfully despite all the loudmouthed failure monkeys back home who have been doing everything in their power to ensure the world will give up on Iraq.
Headline: Islamic holy day attacks kill 35
What is significant about the headline is what’s not there – the words “in Iraq.” These attacks took place in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Is that because there is no sectarian strife between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq? Nope. It’s because Iraq has mobilized competent and aggressive security forces who have clamped down on the idiots behind such violence. Yesterday, one rocket was fired. No one got hurt or injured and the Iraqis responsible for firing the rocket were captured. Last year, 200+ people died in violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Certainly, there is a long way to go. Generations will live and die before Iraq will really get over the legacy of Saddam. Generations of Iraqis will have to decide that it’s more important to be Iraqi than it is to be Sunni or Shiite before Iraq can become a truly peaceful prosperous and pleasant place to live. But there is progress happening. Anyone who says otherwise has a hidden agenda.
Don’t be fooled by bamboozlers who try to tell you that what is happening in the Middle East, good or bad, won’t ripple everywhere else where Muslims live. There are Shia and Sunni all over the globe.
Roundup of news coverage on Ashura in Iraq:
2 million Iraqi Shi’ites march in Ashura ceremony
Million Shiites mark Ashura in Iraq in safety