[Dean's World] Dave Schuler: The Carnival of the Liberated

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Posted by Dave Schuler:
The Carnival of the Liberated
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1143560441.shtml


   Welcome to the Carnival of the Liberated, a sampler of some of the
   best posts of the week from Iraqi and Afghani bloggers. It's been a
   very violent week and this week's posts are full of violence. This
   week first-hand reporting of violence, the raid on the Al-Mostafa
   mosque, leaving Iraq, and much, much more.

   [1]Afghan Warrior reports that there's a new wave of insurgency going
   on in the south of Afghanistan.

   [2]24 Steps to Liberty paints a picture of a street in Baghdad as
   being "a perfect example of the traditional image of Hell we have in
   our minds". He concludes:

     The insurgents control the western side of the capital. The rest of
     Baghdad is controlled by armed militias. This is a fact!

     The western part of Iraq is controlled by insurgents. The rest of
     Iraq is controlled by militias. This is a fact!

     The Iraqi politicians are fighting over power. It is always the
     case with Iraqi politicians since Iraq existed. This is a fact.

     The Iraqis are waiting for this to end and have a normal life. It
     will not be soon. This is a fact.

   Check out the gripping first-hand reporting of the violence in Baghdad
   from [3]Treasure of Baghdad.

   [4]An Iraqi Tear reports ethnic (actually sectarian) cleansing going
   on outside Madaen. Madaen is about 25 miles south-west of Baghdad. She
   refers to it as "coercive displacement". More on the "coercive
   displacement" from [5]The Great Iraq!.

   Riverbend's book, largely composed of her posts from the period
   following the invasion (starting in September, 2003), [6]has been
   nominated for the Samuel Johnson Award, Britain's most prestigious
   award for non-fiction writing. [7]Truth About Iraqis comments.

   [8]Hammorabi, as best as I can tell a devout Shi'a Arab Iraqi, gives
   the Shi'a version of the raid carried out the other day by Iraqi and
   American forces on the Al-Mostafa mosque in the Ur district of
   Baghdad. He's pretty upset. Zeyad of [9]Healing Iraq reports it a
   little differently:

     American forces clashed with Mahdi army militiamen at the Ur
     district (Hayy Ur), west of Sadr city in Baghdad. It seems an
     American force attempted to raid a husseiniya in the area and was
     resisted by militiamen inside.

     Between 18 and 21 militiamen have been killed, and the Al-Mustafa
     Husseiniya was reported to be badly damaged in the ensuing
     firefight.

   The situation illustrates a terrible conundrum for the United States:
   so long as the U. S. military was, effectively, allied with the Shi'a
   we could rely on the support of the Shi'a. But a decent civil society
   won't just spontaneously emerge in Iraq with the sectarian militias
   assuming increasing power. Omar of [10]Iraq the Model has a lot more
   and says the facts don't seem to support the story spreading among the
   Shi'a.

   [11]Ibn Al-Rafidain comments on flagging U. S. domestic political
   support for our military presence in Iraq. He goes on to call for what
   he calls "educational rehabilitation" of Iraqis:

     ...Iraqis need to be taught more about modern state, justice, and
     liberty.

   I found this post about a bus ride that he shared with a little girl
   with Down Syndrome and her mother from [12]In Iraq, Sex is Like Snow
   pretty interesting.

   Omar of [13]Iraq the Model has details of the progress towards forming
   a government.

   [14]neurotic iraqi wife says that she and Hubby are resigning their
   jobs and leaving Iraq. They're discouraged.

     I hope that one day, when we do come back there wont be any Twalls,
     there wont be checkpoints, there wont be explosions and
     deaths...there wont be bloodshed....there will be one Iraq, one
     nation unified for their own country...One Nation that says Iraq
     first and nothing else....Iraq, my country....Iraq, the
     Martyr.....The Martyr of Good and Bad....

   It will have to happen without them.

   [15]Pearls of Iraq laments the situation with Abdul Rahman, the
   Afghani convert to Christianity who was released recently due to a
   lack of evidence:

     The Quran does not given any orders for punishment in this world.
     This is up for God to decide, and it is based on many factors,
     including recognizing the People of the Book. This man does not
     threaten or belittle Islam so it would not fall under any other
     category. Furthermore the man has until judgment day to return to
     Islam and this issue is private, between him and Allah. It is not
     for humans to condemn, now or ever, for they do not have access to
     the Absolute Truth and the inner soul of this man, Abdul Rahman. It
     is said, if he reverts back, they will forgive him, it is not
     between him and them, it is between him and God.

     They are not God and to make this judgment, is in fact, committing
     shirk, saying that they are associates of Allah and know the
     Absolute Truth and have all power to issue this decision and/or
     forgive. It is saying they know the future and what this man=E2s
     faith, deeds, iman and fate is 20 years from now. How can they know
     this? They can not. Finally, any decisions have ranking of order:
     Allah, God is always first, the Al Quran, the Sunnah, Hadiths.

   She follows with a long list of quotations from the Qu'ran that come
   up to one thing: God will judge.

   I'd known that Dr. Hanoudi of The Hanoudi Letter's son had suffered a
   serious brain injury. I hadn't [16]known the details until now. This
   post is must reading. Are there any milbloggers out there who can
   comment on getting the military's side of this story?

   Dave Schuler posts regularly to his own weblog, [17]The Glittering
   Eye. The Carnival was originally conceived by Ryan Boots.

References

   1. http://afghanwarrior.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-wave-of-insurgency-in-s=
outh.html
   2. http://twentyfourstepstoliberty.blogspot.com/2006/03/rehearsing-hell-=
in-baghdad-street-it.html
   3. http://baghdadtreasure.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-gun-is-my-law.html
   4. http://thewomaniwasblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/appeal-for-helpsectarian=
-cleansing-and.html
   5. http://greatiraq.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_greatiraq_archive.html#11434=
6174321995263
   6. http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/news/article353842.ece
   7. http://truth-about-iraqis.blogspot.com/2006/03/riverbend-in-yet-anoth=
er-grand-prize_26.html
   8. http://hammorabi.blogspot.com/2006/03/american-forces-crime-against.h=
tml
   9. http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/archives/2006_03_01_healingiraq_archi=
ve.html#114339887205844683
  10. http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/03/following-yesterdays-raid.ht=
ml
  11. http://ibnalrafidain.blogspot.com/2006/03/confusion-leads-to-suspicio=
n-iii.html
  12. http://pentra.blogspot.com/2006/03/birthday-in-road.html
  13. http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/03/entering-stage-three.html
  14. http://neurotic-iraqi-wife.blogspot.com/2006/03/martyr-of-good-and-ba=
d.html
  15. http://pearlsofiraq.blogspot.com/2006/03/afghan-christian-convert.html
  16. http://www.thehanoudiletter.com/content/view/64/1/
  17. http://www.theglitteringeye.com/