Don't follow your leaders

I will readily concede that some of my notions are "idealistic" and may even be called "naive." So thank God I'm not in charge of the most powerful nation in the world! But, with all that is going on in the world today, I shudder at the thought that the ones leading this nation are more foolish than I...


SHIITES RALLY FOR HEZBOLLAH IN BAGHDAD

By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer

In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of Shiites, who make up about 12 percent of the predominantly Sunni country's population, have marched over the past three days in al-Qatif municipality in the Gulf coast region.

Under the watchful eyes of anti-riot police during a demonstration Thursday, protesters chanted: "No Sunni, no Shiites, only one Muslim unity" while others waved posters of Nasrallah chanting "Oh Nasrallah, oh beloved one, destroy destroy Tel Aviv."

Israel launched its military campaign after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid. Saudi rulers issued a statement chastising the group for "uncalculated adventures," and a popular Sunni cleric even issued a religious edict that Muslims disavow Hezbollah.

But with the death toll of Lebanese civilians now in the hundreds and some 1 million people displaced, the Saudi government has backpedaled on its stance, even allowing rare demonstrations in favor of Hezbollah.

Support for Hezbollah has spread among Sunnis, despite tensions between the sects over Iraq and the rise of Shiite-dominated Iran.

...More evidence proving the utter failure of "the West's" Middle East policy...

With all the grandiloquent, "visionary" rhetoric the Bush administration spews; with all the "big picture," "grand scheme" perspicacity Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accuses the media and liberals of not having; with all this "freedom" and "democracy" talk---you would think that the U.S. government would have some clue about the nuances of the Middle East. You would assume they would have incorporated vital bits of information, like the fact that most of "the people" in the nations we call our Muslim "allies" (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and soon-to-be Iraq) hate their governments, and this hatred is mainly because these governments are our allies, let alone because they are oppressive---you would assume that these "realities" are part of their "comprehensive," multi-tracked plan. And, you would assume, that every event which took place in the Middle East that required some sort of response by the U.S. government would be measured and weighed by its effect on "the people," who must be at the "heart" of any such "democratic" and "freedom-spreading" plan. Right? Isn't the opinion of the Muslim world worth a damn when you give them the right to vote and choose their own leaders? Isn't this "noble" goal the reason we went to IRAQ? HA!

[From the same article...]

...their numbers [number of protestors in other Muslim nations] were dwarfed by the huge Shiite turnout in Baghdad, organized by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Crowds of al-Sadr supporters from across Iraq's Shiite heartland converged on the capital's Sadr City district, chanting "Death to Israel, Death to America" in the biggest pro-Hezbollah rally since the conflict began July 12. Demonstrators, wearing white shrouds symbolizing willingness to die for Hezbollah, waved the guerrillas' banner and chanted slogans in support of their leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
"Allah, Allah, give victory to Hassan Nasrallah," the crowd chanted before burning Israeli and American flags.

In response to the protests, FOXNEWS' John Kasich asked: "Should America keep fighting for these people?" [emphasis mine]

This is an example of the stupidity of thinking you can make the people of a region love you by bombing them (what I call "my buddy" imperialism). It also shows the Bush administration's lack of understanding of the Middle East---its culture, its history, its people, and their will.

What do you expect the Muslim world to think when the U.S. supports Israel's destruction of a Muslim country?

The truth is, the Muslim world scoffed at the Bush administration's rhetorical justifications for war in Iraq (it was hard not to). The war plan was based on a foundation full of holes. And now, as the REAL issues the Bush administration did nothing to ameliorate (i.e. the Israeli-Palestinian/greater-Muslim-world conflict, which is the root of Muslim hatred toward the West)---as these festering problems begin to flare up again, neo-conservative ideologues find it hard to believe that the Muslim world is rooting for "the other guy," and they still think we were fighting "for" the Muslim world rather than for ourselves.

Talk about naieve and idealisitic foolishness.