Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 13:53:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Mario Goveia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Not justified? How about asking the Iraqi Shia and Kurds, who number over 80% of the Iraqi population? --- Oscar & Hazel Lobo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi Goanet We have read various views from goanetters on the War on Iraq many saying that the war was not justified. Have the Goanetters taken the view of the Goans living in Middle East?. The neighbours normally know more than the outsiders or relatives. Sometimes, in decision making, the heart has reasons that the reason does not know. *** RESPONSE *** Attacks on Christian churches in Iraq are symptomatic of the general insecurity that Christians (about three percent of the population, around 800,000 people) face in the post war occupied country. The interim constitution states "Islam is the official religion of the State and is to be considered a source of legislation" and while recognizing religious freedom "respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people." For some, Islamic identity means the imposition of Muslim morality. The irony here, of course, is that Saddam's Iraq was a secular state, (I mean really secular, not just namesake), ruled by the Baath Party. The Iraqi regime, although suspicious of and sometimes brutal towards the Shiite majority, protected Shiite and Sunni mosques, Assyrian and Chaldean Christian churches, and even the sparsely attended Baghdad synagogue, while forbidding proselytization in general. Saddam appointed Tariq Aziz, a Christian, to top posts; Christians had by far the most religious freedom until Saddam�s fall, throughout the middle east and similar to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. (It was believed Saddam�s food taster was a Christian). It is hard to imagine if American imposed democratic set-up under occupation in Iraq will be successful by power sharing by three major ethnic communities, belonging to three different sects of Islam. Pres. Bush accomplished second term, but for the remainder of his second term, he will be inclined to be more attentive to important personal goals before his term comes to an end. It is to be seen if the foreign policy that he initiated, would be continued. Already some countries are becoming bolder, have even test-fired missiles. Maurice D. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- * G * O * A * N * E * T *** C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Make your mother in Goa happy on Mothers' Day. http://www.goa-world.com/goa/expressions/mothersday/ Limited "Mother's Happiness" packages. First come, first serve. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
