Fractured Arab Lands well worth the time to read
- Thread starter cye
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One thing I find flawed about some analysis of the Middle East is the assumption that there is such a thing as the "Arab World". Arab culture is very diverse politically and has traditionally been based around a clan structure, not a national identity. Ever since the Ottoman overlords lost sway, all of the Arab nationalist movements have been simply one clan or another using nationalism as an excuse to grab power for themselves.
You are correct. I mistakenly added Arab to fractured lands. One thing the author makes clear is the west will never understand the Middle East without understanding the intricate relationships that have very little to do with national identities.
The personal stories of a wide cross section followed since before the Iraq invasion makes this very clear.
The personal stories of a wide cross section followed since before the Iraq invasion makes this very clear.
Definitely not concise but a glimpse into the lives of people trapped in a nightmare with no end in sight. The section on the Kurdish Doctor and the implications for the future are very sobering.
You want a simple world it doesn't exist.
“I’ve never trusted the Arabs, but as strange as it sounds, I trusted Daesh,” Azar explained, using a common term for ISIS. “In the past, the Arabs always lied — ‘Oh, you Kurds have nothing to fear from us’ — and then they attacked us. But Daesh was absolutely clear what they were going to do. They wanted to take this part of the world back to the caliphate. They wanted to eliminate everyone who was not their kind — the Christians and the Kurds and the Shia — and they were absolutely open about it. After their June offensive, I had no doubt they were coming for us next.” The doctor even pinpointed where they would strike first. “Any fool looking at a map could know. It was going to be the Yazidis. It was going to be Sinjar.”
Hearing such testimonials has further hardened Azar Mirkhan’s beliefs about what needs to be done if the Kurds are ever to find safety. In his view, ISIS was only the latest in a long line of implacable Arab enemies. “If this was the first time, then maybe you could say, ‘Oh, it’s this horrible group of terrorists.’ But this has been going on for our entire history. I can promise you that when we retake Sinjar, we will go there and we will find that the Arabs stayed with ISIS,” Azar said. “O.K., some are here in the camps, but many more stayed. So that is why I say our enemy is not just ISIS; it’s all Arabs.”
Majd spoke frequently of his intention to return to Syria; an intention that partly explained why he asked for his face not to be shown in his portrait. That afternoon I asked if he could foresee a time when such a return would be possible. He thought for a long time. “Minimum, 10 years from now,” he said. “We have a saying in Syria: ‘Blood brings blood.’ Now everyone will want to take revenge for what has been done to them these past years, so it will just go on and on. Blood brings blood. I don’t think it will end until everyone who has taken up a gun in this war is dead. Even if the killing speeds up, that will still take at least 10 years.”
The best thing would be for the West just to get the hell out of there.
Stop trying to meddle in their affairs, stop trying influence governments, stop everything.
The only thing they have is oil and frankly, there is more than enough oil outside the ME to supply the West quite nicely thanks. It would be great for Canada, the US and Russia. The Middle East can take care of the Middle East.
Just wash our hands of the insanity and let them duke it out.
Stop trying to meddle in their affairs, stop trying influence governments, stop everything.
The only thing they have is oil and frankly, there is more than enough oil outside the ME to supply the West quite nicely thanks. It would be great for Canada, the US and Russia. The Middle East can take care of the Middle East.
Just wash our hands of the insanity and let them duke it out.
“That’s why we haven’t told the Iraqis about the guys in here,” explained the Asayish official. “If we did, they would demand we hand them over, since most of their crimes were committed on Iraqi territory. Then they would either kill these guys outright or, if some of them are high enough up in the Daesh leadership to arrange a bribe, let them go. We just can’t trust the Iraqis at all.” In light of that, the Asayish plan is to keep Wakaz under wraps and to use him to identify other ISIS fighters they capture and with whom he might have served in the field. Once his usefulness to Asayish comes to an end — and that may not be until after the retaking of Mosul and the trove of ISIS fighters expected to surrender there — Wakaz will be handed over to the Iraqi authorities. At that point, his future will be short and preordained.
“He thinks his life will be saved because we have him, and he knows we don’t execute,” the Asayish officer said. “But Iraq does. The Iraqis will try him in their courts, and they will give him a death sentence. Then they will transfer him to a prison in Iraq to be hanged
“He thinks his life will be saved because we have him, and he knows we don’t execute,” the Asayish officer said. “But Iraq does. The Iraqis will try him in their courts, and they will give him a death sentence. Then they will transfer him to a prison in Iraq to be hanged
There is no walking away because Europe will face a never ending stream of refugees and migrants
“They’re on the high ground? How was that allowed?” Azar stared darkly at the farmhouses for a moment, seething at the Arab encroachment, then slowly turned his gaze to the village center. No residents were visible, but here and there old cars were parked in the shadow of walls.
“You see? Until two weeks ago, Daesh controlled this village, and the people living here had no problem with them, they stayed throughout. We lost four pesh merga here.” Azar turned to me with his lopsided, grim smile. “You know what I would do? I would go to an Arab and ask to borrow his bulldozer. Then I’d bring in an Israeli adviser — they’re very good at this sort of thing — and in two or three days, I would erase this place
“You see? Until two weeks ago, Daesh controlled this village, and the people living here had no problem with them, they stayed throughout. We lost four pesh merga here.” Azar turned to me with his lopsided, grim smile. “You know what I would do? I would go to an Arab and ask to borrow his bulldozer. Then I’d bring in an Israeli adviser — they’re very good at this sort of thing — and in two or three days, I would erase this place
Returning to the center of Sinjar, Azar strode briskly into the town hall, one of the few downtown structures still habitable, and motioned for a senior official to follow him out to the terrace. For the next hour, the two men huddled in deep conversation, waving away any pesh merga underlings who thought to approach. Afterward, Azar apologized to me for having taken so long.
“I told him that he needed to destroy all the Arab homes here,” he recounted, “but he was hesitant. He thinks it’s better to give them to the Yazidis who return, but I said, ‘No; eventually some of those Arabs will come back with their titles and deeds and try to reclaim the houses, so better to just destroy them, leave nothing for them to come back to and start over again.’ He understands that now.”
When I asked if he thought the official would actually follow through with the plan, Azar nodded. “He promised me. I made him promise
“I told him that he needed to destroy all the Arab homes here,” he recounted, “but he was hesitant. He thinks it’s better to give them to the Yazidis who return, but I said, ‘No; eventually some of those Arabs will come back with their titles and deeds and try to reclaim the houses, so better to just destroy them, leave nothing for them to come back to and start over again.’ He understands that now.”
When I asked if he thought the official would actually follow through with the plan, Azar nodded. “He promised me. I made him promise
Your posts get more and more and more ridiculous. I guess understanding and discussing the topic is too much for you so you have to try and make it another discussion of Israel.
I have never denied there are a Palestinian people. They are a modern ethnic group created by the events of the past 70 years. Before that there was nothing distinguishing them from Syrians, Jordanians, or Lebanese as they were all part of the same Ottoman province. I have repeatedly said there has not been a Palestinian state which is a historically accurate fact. And whether you want to discuss it or not, the social structure in the Arab world has been and is still significantly based on clan structure.
I agree with you there.
We'll be on oil for a while yet, but you can see the end of fossil fuels as the primary energy source for the planet coming.
There is no need to keep fighting for it.
It's not that simple Captain. There's a lot of western blood and money invested into that region over the years. Walking away will just completely destabilize it - as witnessed by Obama's withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2011.
Who cares if it destabilizes. That's my point. Let it destabilize. The west keeps trying to remove or mitigate the place, but it's inhabited by people who neither want or understand or care about all that secular democracy means.
And too bad for those Western investors who poured their money into the middle east. That's the risk you take.
The west should completely abandon ship on the ME and let it find its own equilibrium. Let them duke it out till they've had enough of killing each other. Only the unmitigated horrors of war will get them to stop.
Western secular culture is completely at odds with Islamo Fascism. We should do our thing and they can do their thing. After oil, I think the largest export from the middle east is dates. I dont care if I can't eat dates anymore.
It was US intervention that destabilized Iraq in the first place.
And since then their record there certainly isn't something to brag about.
The Americans ecouraged and facilitated the "Arab Spring" which was a total flop. AS soon as you oust a dictator the fundamentalist jihadists take over and unending civil war complete with terrorist bombings galore ensues..
