Martyrdom for the goose....

This article I read had a couple of passages that struck me:

"(Muqtada) Al-Sadr said in an interview with an Italian newspaper published Friday that the crackdown had already begun and that 400 of his men had been arrested. La Repubblica also quoted him as saying he fears for his life and stays constantly on the move"

Fear for his life? Why should he, the most faithful and submissive servant to Islam, fear for his life. Why wouldn't he stand and welcome martyrdom? Why wouldn't he "fight until his last breath for the glory of Islam" (gotta love the rhetoric that these guys are able to improvise right off the cuff.) while awaiting his reward in paradise?

He goes on to say, "Let them kill us. For a true believer there is no better moment than this to die: Heaven is ensured...after Muharram, we'll see."

So you move to make sure you cannot be killed, yet you puff out your chest and spout this false bravado. What you really meant to say was, "Let them kill my men. They can rest assured they'll be going to heaven.....I think, I mean um, yes....they'll be in heaven."

He doesn't believe the things he preaches enough to face his enemy. Yet to the young men he brainwashes to fight for him, he assures eternal paradise. This is no different than Bush sending our young men and women over there to face the dangers of war. He is his enemy.

Islam has been twisted by these "holy men" and terrorists into something that is a reason for constant violence and hatred of fellow man. Islam was created out of both Judaism and Christianity. It is a religion of peace, and tolerance. These fundamentalists' cause has little to do with Islam, and everything to do with hatred, and envy. These men hate the western culture while at the same time envying it. The hypocrisy of the above statements, and the way they live their lives hiding and ducking the danger while sending young men into certain death with bombs strapped to them, will hopefully open those militiamen and hopeful martyrs eyes who believe they are fighting for a just cause. Make no mistake, most of the rank and file of these militias and organized militant groups believe they're fighting against injustice from America and the "other" Muslims (Shiite vs. Sunni). Others believe that they are fighting for their independence. They see themselves much in the same way early Americans saw themselves when they joined the minutemen during the American revolution.

Truth is, they are fighting for their "leaders" greed. The clerics want the power in Iraq, and they'll send in their followers as cannon fodder to get it. It's a fight that can't be won. These clerics will go on to blame America and the west.

And as far as the running and hiding, I guess they don't have proverbs in Arabic that equate to "Practice what you preach".

Now be nice to the "pursuit of happiness" guy.

This is in response to Renegade Eye's post about Chavez calling for a united socialist party in Venezuela (linky). Scares the shit out of me, but I'm a crazy democracy lover. I tried to leave a message on his blog, but I'm not sure if it posted because of this crazy new blogger/google baby (bloogler?). Anyway, if it didn't post, here it is again:

This is the first step towards communism. It won't end well, never does. I cannot stand two party politics, but if there's anything I dislike more, it's one party "politics".

I still can't understand how someone can support socialism in practice. If socialism worked the way it was intended, it'd be utopia. But we all know it can't work in it's purest form. Somewhere, someone is looking to get over and "beat the system", or to do as little as possible and still reap the benefits of others work, while someone else still looks to rise above the rest and hold the power. That is the ugly truth in everything from pure democracy to sharia.

The beautiful truth is that there are people who will rebel against being a "cog in the machine" no matter where you go. There are those with ambition and a desire to be the best at what they do that cannot sit back and watch their lives pass them by for the promise of the government taking care of their basic needs (and history shows that communist states usually fail at that to a large degree). Sometimes the artist needs to starve.

Happy New Year

2007. The year of the spy?? Maybe someone can put out a decent "Bond" film this year. Let me tell ya, it's been a long while since I've seen one I've liked. Then again , I haven't seen Casino Royale. Probably doesn't matter...



Anyway. Welcome to a new calendar. Hope you picked one you like.