Dear Keith, Thank you for the excellent history leasson. And once again thank you for hosting this listserv. Am I allowed to forward your article to my peers? Or cut and paste?
Phillip Wolfe --- Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1683/ > In These Times > November 12, 2004 > > Fallujah 101 > > A history lesson about the town we are currently > destroying. > > By Rashid Khalidi > > "The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia > into a trap from > which it will be hard to escape with dignity and > honor. They have > been tricked into it by a steady withholding of > information. The > Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, > incomplete. Things have > been far worse than we have been told, our > administration more bloody > and inefficient than the public knows. It is a > disgrace to our > imperial record and may soon be too inflamed for any > ordinary cure. > We are today not far from a disaster. Our > unfortunate troops, Indian > and British, under hard conditions of climate and > supply are policing > an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives > for the willfully > wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad > but the > responsibility, in this case, is not on the army > which has acted only > upon the request of the civil authorities." > > T.E. Lawrence, The Sunday Times, August 1920 > > There is a small City on one of the bends of the > Euphrates that > sticks out into the great Syrian Desert. It's on an > ancient trade > route linking the oasis towns of the Nejd province > of what is today > Saudi Arabia with the great cities of Aleppo and > Mosul to the north. > It also is on the desert highway between Baghdad and > Amman. This city > is a crossroads. > > For millennia people have been going up and down > that north-south > desert highway. The city is like a seaport on that > great desert, a > place that binds together people in what are today > Saudi Arabia, > Syria, Iraq and Jordan. People in the city are > linked by tribe, > family or marriage to people in all these places. > > The ideas that came out of the eastern part of Saudi > Arabia in the > late 18th Century, which today we call Wahhabi > ideas-those of a man > named Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab-took root in this > city more than > 200 years ago. In other words, it is a place where > what we would call > fundamentalist salafi, or Wahhabi ideas, have been > well implanted for > 10 generations. > > This town also is the place where in the spring of > 1920, before T. E. > Lawrence wrote the above passage, the British > discerned civil unrest. > > The British sent a renowned explorer and a senior > colonial officer > who had quelled unrest in the corners of their > empire, Lt. Col. > Gerald Leachman, to master this unruly corner of > Iraq. Leachman was > killed in an altercation with a local leader named > Shaykh Dhari. His > death sparked a war that ended up costing the lives > of 10,000 Iraqis > and more than 1,000 British and Indian troops. To > restore Iraq to > their control, the British used massive air power, > bombing > indiscriminately. That city is now called Fallujah. > > Shaykh Dhari's grandson, today a prominent Iraqi > cleric, helped to > broker the end of the U.S. Marine siege of Fallujah > in April of this > year. Fallujah thus embodies the interrelated > tribal, religious and > national aspects of Iraq's history. > > The Bush administration is not creating the world > anew in the Middle > East. It is waging a war in a place where history > really matters. > > A change for the worse > > The United States has been a major Middle Eastern > power since 1933, > when a group of U.S. oil companies signed an > exploration deal with > Saudi Arabia. The United States has been dominant in > the Middle East > since 1942, when American troops first landed in > North Africa and > Iran. American troops have not left the region > since. In other words, > they have been in different parts of the Middle East > for 62 years. > > The United States was once celebrated as a > non-colonial, sometimes > anti-colonial, power in the Middle East, renowned > for more than a > century for its educational, medical and charity > efforts. Since the > Cold War, however, the United States has intervened > increasingly in > the region's internal affairs and conflicts. Things > have changed > fundamentally for the worse with the invasion and > occupation of Iraq, > particularly with the revelation that the core > pretexts offered by > the administration for the invasion were false. And > particularly with > growing Iraqi dissatisfaction with the occupation > and with the images > of the hellish chaos broadcast regularly everywhere > in the world > except in the United States-thanks to the excellent > job done by the > media in keeping the real human costs of Iraq off > our television > screens. > > The United States is perceived as stepping into the > boots of Western > colonial occupiers, still bitterly remembered from > Morocco to Iran. > The Bush administration marched into Iraq > proclaiming the very best > of intentions while stubbornly refusing to > understand that in the > eyes of most Iraqis and most others in the Middle > East it is actions, > not proclaimed intentions, that count. It does not > matter what you > say you are doing in Fallujah, where U.S. troops > just launched an > attack after weeks of bombing. What matters is what > you are doing in > Fallujah-and what people see that you are doing. > > Fact-free and faith-based > > Most Middle East experts in the United States, both > inside and > outside the government, have drawn on their > knowledge of the > cultures, languages, history, politics of the Middle > East-and on > their experience-to conclude that most Bush > administration Middle > East policies, whether in Iraq or Palestine, are > harmful to the > interests of the United States and the peoples of > this region. A few > of these experts have had the temerity to say so, to > the outrage of > the Bush administration and its supporters, who are > committed to what > I would call a fact-free, faith-based approach to > Middle East > policymaking. > > These experts predicted that it would be difficult > to occupy a vast, > complex country like Iraq, that serious resistance > from a major part > of the population was likely, and that the invasion > and occupation > would complicate U.S. relations with other countries > in the region. > It is clear today that all of these fears were well > founded. > > After 20 months of occupation, the United States > continues to make > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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