Poll on war...

[Blessed-one]

frankly i've no idea what this war is about unless i can get into the mind of Bush, so i won't even guess.

 

[Oliver]

"We have troops over there now, they are not raising the American flag above Iraqi buildings "

 

Actually, some of your soldiers did exactly this at the beginning of the war. This mistake has been quickly corrected, though, but I'm afraid that many other mistakes that we do not always hear about may be sending the wrong message to the Iraqi people...

 

[JillLars]

Oliver, I do realize that a few marines did this at the beginning of the war. They did this on their own instruction though, and luckily it was quickly corrected. They made a point to correct it for the express reason of making sure the Iraqi people know that it is still their country.

 

[nChrist]

3rd April 2003 at 04:07 AM Jutsuka said this in Post #19

Does anyone even make an attempt to understand my posts? I give up...

I read your post, and I understood it. Very few ever buy that conspiracy stuff, and neither do I.

 

[Oliver]

JillLars, I understand that it was an individual initiative, and that the US government want to make their intentions clear. Yet I'm afraid that other mistakes will be done and could result in more resent or hatred toward the US.
For example, declaring an official day of prayer for coallition's troops was IMO a very bad move: for many in the Shii minority, it sounds like a (Christian) Jihad. Saddam Hussein has been trying to gather support from the muslim world: this decision of the Congress just helps him turn this war into a religious war. In know that it was not the idea behind this decision, but it was still a bad move.

How can you convince the Iraqi that it's not a religious war when you officially ask for the help of God, or when british troops enter Basra with their "Crusaders" tanks?

 

[Jutsuka]

3rd April 2003 at 12:29 PM 357magnum said this in Post #24



I read your post, and I understood it. Very few ever buy that conspiracy stuff, and neither do I.

I is NOT a "conspiracy"... Sheesh...

 

[JillLars]

3rd April 2003 at 06:31 AM Oliver said this in Post #25

JillLars, I understand that it was an individual initiative, and that the US government want to make their intentions clear. Yet I'm afraid that other mistakes will be done and could result in more resent or hatred toward the US.
For example, declaring an official day of prayer for coallition's troops was IMO a very bad move: for many in the Shii minority, it sounds like a (Christian) Jihad. Saddam Hussein has been trying to gather support from the muslim world: this decision of the Congress just helps him turn this war into a religious war. In know that it was not the idea behind this decision, but it was still a bad move.

How can you convince the Iraqi that it's not a religious war when you officially ask for the help of God, or when british troops enter Basra with their "Crusaders" tanks?

I was unaware that there was a declaration of an official day of prayer for coalition troops, do you have a news source that has a story on it, cause I've been following the news pretty closely, but it could be possible that I missed it.  We can't really convince the Iraqi people of anything, especially not with Saddam's rhetoric being the only thing shown on tv over there, resentment may grow in the beginning, but I think its a risk worth taking to get rid of saddam.  We may have asked for God's help in protecting our soldiers, but in no way does that compare to saying that God has ordered us to kill them, to fight a jihad, like they are saying.

 

[Oliver]

We may have asked for God's help in protecting our soldiers, but in no way does that compare to saying that God has ordered us to kill them, to fight a jihad, like they are saying.

 

To the Iraqis, the difference may not be as obvious.

What's important is not really the intent of this national day of prayer, but the effect on the Iraqi population.

Any opportunity given to Saddam to convince more people of turning into martyrs means more bodybags will come back to the US and more civilians will die in Iraq.

We can't really convince the Iraqi people of anything, especially not with Saddam's rhetoric being the only thing shown on tv over there, resentment may grow in the beginning, but I think its a risk worth taking to get rid of saddam.

 

This is a very, very dangerous way of thinking: we cannot fully convince them, so let's just not care about the impact of what we say...

Everytime you make it look like there is a deep cultural conflict, you lessen the chance of achieving peace in Iraq, and in the middle east. Don't forget that the Iraqis are not the only ones involved: people in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordany, Turkey, Syria, Oman, Barein, aso... are carefully listening to what is said on both sides. If the US government is not careful enough in his speeches, in the message it delivers, it will feed the hatred towards the US, and it will have failed in its war against terrorism, because it will have paved the way for future generations of terrorists.

 

At some point, it may be necessary to take arms against clear threats. But even while doing so, it should never be forgotten that the ultimate battle against terrorism cannot be fought only with guns: it must also be fought with demontrations of one's good will.

 

You can find a reference to what I was alluding to here:

 National day of prayer