In The Interest Of Fairness

They say there are two sides to every story. In the case of the War in Iraq I have come to believe we are looking at the wrong two sides.

I know I myself seem to expend a hell of alot of energy being pissed of at Leftists Movements who negate the efforts of those actually brave enough to fight for their country. They simper and whine at every percieved injustice to the Iraqi people, while I am willing to bet they actually have no idea of what those injustices are. I am often left wondering how many Iraqi people these imbeciles actually have contact with, or how much of their carry on is simply words regurgitated verbatem from script writers and those looking to further political or personal causes.

No, today, right now I am convinced there are only 2 sides who have the right to be heard here. The Iraqi People and those who fight for them. And right now, I feel that even if the Iraqi people are not necessarily saying what we want to hear, they still have the right to be heard.

I still believe that a safer, democratic Iraq will prevail. The end result of all this fighting and bloodshed has to be peace by someones definition. I don't know that it will ever be the true freedom countries like Australia and America enjoy, but some semblance of that would be a good start for the innocent Iraqis, desperate to resume their lives.

The young of Iraq are losing their youth, their adolescence, their childhood and this saddens me no end. In Western Society we often debate the dangers of exposing our children and youth to violent video games and movies. I know where I stand on this and will not allow game consoles in my house at all. Movies I censor depending on the movie and age of the child (just to give you an idea of how strict I am I wont allow children under 8 to watch Harry Potter). So imagine your children being physically exposed to violence every day. Their view of the world tainted by the blood of loved ones as they die before their eyes.

Young Iraqi's are angry. The sad reality is that this anger could easily be used by the Insurgency to recruit the young to their cause. The Insurgency would have only to offer the promise of an end to the fighting and bloodshed as coercsion to the young to fight and die for them.

While Americans grow tired of the war and demand instant results, do they ever stop long enough to consider this war from the Iraqi point of view?? The sheer helplessness of watching a war waged on your very doorstep, of your life being restricted to personal and family homes, unable to attend schools or to socialise with friends. How will these problems be resolved if no one will fight for them??

To some in Iraq, the situation must seem so much more hopeless now than it did under Saddams rule. For those who were not targeted by his deadly regime there is perhaps a degree of understanding in their anti American sentiment. Those not directly affected had possibly become so adept at turning a blind eye to the suffering of other Religious and/or Cultural groups that they didn't realise just how bad Saddams regime was.

But to read their words now pains me. Young people in the prime of their lives being forced to endure the tragedy of war. Facing the threat of death squads, random mortar attacks, suicide bombings and the realities of displacement and sectarianism as well as the sheer hopelessness as their youth slips away from them is heartbreaking.

Here is an example...

Another terrifying day Yesterday was round 2 of mortar attacks on my neighbourhood. Over 20 mortar missiles fell on the neighbourhood and caused 30 deaths and injuries. Here is my side of the story: I was at my grandmah's house which happens to be next door to my house. Me and my cousin were at the back garden playing soccer and mocking each other. Suddenly we heard a very loud noise of mortar missile passing over us. I said "did you hear it?" and by the time he was saying "yes", a huge explosion took place. It was very close to us, we couldn't tell where it exactly fell as it was too close. We ran inside my grandmah's house and waited there for several minutes. Shortly after that, we heard screaming, shouting and people running in the street, we ran out to the street to see what happened. At first, I couldn't see as there was alot of dust and ashes in the air, then my vision cleared and I saw smoke clouds coming out from the roof of the house of my neighbour which is in front of my house. Instinctively I ran with the people to the inside of my neighbour's house to check for survivers. There were women all over the place shouting and screaming "help him, help him, he is at the roof", meanwhile mortar missiles were falling here and there very close to us. Me and several people ran to the roof of the house, and there was my neighbour lying on the floor with his legs got cut due to the explosion and he was severly bleeding and there was blood stains all over him. I was completely shocked, scared and terrified, I stood there and didn't know what to do. A man who was standing next to me shouted on me "come on!, grab him with me, lets take him to the hospital." I ran to him and carried my neighbour with him, we went down to the street carrying my neighbour where a kind man stopped his car and took us with him to the hospital. Although I tied his cut off legs and squeezed on it trying to stop the bleeding, but by the time we arrived to the hospital, he was already gone, as he was bleeding severely. In the hospital they didn't do anything to him, because he was already dead, they took him to the bodies refrigerator.shortly after his son (my neighbour's son) arrived to the hospital, he was shouting and crying "where is he? I wanna see him." We went to the bodies refrigerator, and it wasn't actually a refrigerator, bodies were lying on the floor, as there were too many bodies and there weren't enough rooms for them in the frig. The view of the bodies lying on the floor was very disgusting and sad, most of the bodies were victims of the mortar attacks. Anyway, my neighbour relatives came to the hospital and brought a coffin for their dead relative, we took the body and headed back to my neighbour house, so that his wife and kids can see him for the last time before they bury him. I told them not to take him to his parents, because it would be very painful for his kids to see their father dead and his legs cut off. Anyway, his son insisted on taking him back home. We took him back to his house, and there was his wife and kids waiting for him and by that time they didn't know whether their father was dead or not. By the time they saw the coffin they started screaming, shouting and crying. I was very touched seeing the tears of his little kids crying with so much pain. Shortly after that, his son said "lets take him to the cemetery, I want him to be buried before it gets dark". so they took him to the cemetery right away. they considerd him as a martyr.(In islam the martyr should be buried right away, with his blood and with his clothes he was wearing when he died). Anyway, we went to the cemetery, and the handlers started to bury him. I was standing with my cousin, near them watching them, before they were done closing his grave, another round of mortar attacks took place very very close to the cemetery, people just started to run and left his grave not completely closed, Me and my cousin closed his grave and ran to the car and headed back home. When me and my cousin went back, my neighbours told us that another mortar missile fell on my grandmah's house but it didn't explode. Thank god it didn't explode because my grandmah was alone in the house. Thats what happened yesterday. God knows what more can happen. Link

I think these young people have earned the right to be heard and I can only pray that they find the patience to allow this war it's due course. I strongly believe that there will be a better life for them at the end, if only they can endure the present with strength and faith.

And I hope they know there are people around the world wishing them the best and praying for them that their lives may be able to resume with some degree of normality as soon as possible.

A_C