The growing mess that is Iraq

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It is indeed complicated to follow these threads of war but I continue to try ...
my thoughts so far lean towards agreement with the voices of AHMED and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard expressed in this Tuesday, 24 June 2014 Democracy Now transcript exerpt

"Baghdad Is a Frightened City": As ISIS Gains Ground, Iraqi Capital Gripped by Fear and Uncertainty

AMY GOODMAN: Let’s turn to voices of Baghdad residents. Ahmed is opposed to U.S. military intervention in Iraq.

AHMED: [translated] It cannot be solved through military intervention. It has to be solved through diplomatic and political channels. This is our message to Obama. We say to him that we do not want him to send reinforcements or an aircraft carrier. This cannot help us. The situation in Iraq is very critical, and it needs quick solutions.

QASSIM HASHIM: [translated] We hoped for such a stand. It is the American forces’ duty to protect the Iraqi people and its institutions, as stipulated in the Strategic Framework Agreement.

AMY GOODMAN: And I want to turn to comments made in protests in the United States. There have been protests against any kind of U.S. intervention in Iraq. This is antiwar protesters gathering outside the White House this weekend. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard was one of them.

MARA VERHEYDEN-HILLIARD: We’re here today to stand in opposition to any new war in Iraq. The U.S. government, the Obama administration, has said that they are sending 300 advisers into Iraq. He said that he will consider bombing as he determines whether there are appropriate targets. And the simple fact is, what we’re seeing in Iraq today is purely the result of U.S. militarism and U.S. intervention. This is a country that before the shock-and-awe invasion, the people of Iraq were not divided along sectarian or religious lines.

AMY GOODMAN: Another group of protesters stood next to the antiwar protesters holding Iraqi flags. Some of them called on U.S. President Obama to intervene in the crisis unfolding in Iraq, like David Barrows.​
 
If ISIS does bombing, is it a war? Is it a new war? If they do one bombing, then another, are they different wars? If it is an IUD? An IED? An AED? A punch? An insult?

So complicated, this continued proxy war between Saudi Arabia & Iran...
(sound of a black hole sucking...)
Don't get involved, one is involved. Get involved, one is involved.

"man, these poppies are great schtuff"

--thomas jefferson, terrorist, to the DEA
 
its sad (ironic?) that what the ewe ess eh got involved in Iraq for to try to mitigate has come to happen

and i find it funny to read aboot certain people being upset along tribal lines at some republicans calling for the impeachment of Obama

for good insight into the mentality of jihadists, do check out Scott Atran's book Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood and the (un)Making of Terrorists
 
Here is an article by an Arab man, who works for al-Arabiya news, in Washington, DC. He admits that "I give up." It is that confusing, even to people in the area. It tried the link button, in case it does not work, here it is: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2014/06/28/When-things-fall-apart-in-Iraq-and-the-Levant-.html

I give up.

I can no longer claim that I can make sense of the world I grew up in, cared for and been trying for 35 years to explain its complexities, yearnings, dreams and phobias to a perplexed America. Now I confess that I need a guide for me as the perplexed. Rational discourse cannot explain a world rapidly melting away. A world were countries like Iraq and Syria are both imploding and exploding simultaneously, crumbling into competing regions, warring religious sects and tribes, invoking atavistic notions of self and others and fusing primitive means of ancient warfare such as siege and starvation, crucifying and decapitating prisoners, with the weapons of modern warfare such as Scud missiles, chemical weapons, barrel bombs, and fighter jets.​
 
The hyper link is there, if you mouse over "article by Arab man", but it does not show in a different colour, so no one would know it was there. Is this a tech issue? Should I report it?
 
I need to look at hyperlink styles. Thanks for reminding me. I agree that an underline (or something) would be more clear.

Edit: How about now?
 
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"What we don't understand about religion might just kill us"
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/06/god_and_the_ivory_tower?page=full

"Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict"
Abstract: "Religion, in promoting outlandish beliefs and costly rituals, increases ingroup trust but also may increase mistrust and conflict with outgroups. Moralizing gods emerged over the last few millennia, enabling large-scale cooperation, and sociopolitical conquest even without war. Whether for cooperation or conflict, sacred values, like devotion to God or a collective cause, signal group identity and operate as moral imperatives that inspire nonrational exertions independent of likely outcomes. In conflict situations, otherwise mundane sociopolitical preferences may become sacred values, acquiring immunity to material incentives. Sacred values sustain intractable conflicts that defy “business-like” negotiation, but also provide surprising opportunities for resolution."
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/atran_ginges_science_article_on_religion_onflict.pdf

"Sacred Values & Cultural Conflict"
Abstract: "
Th is chapter reviews a body of research on sacred values and cultural confl ict.
Research conducted in the West Bank, Iran, Indonesia, and India reveals
that when people transform a resource, idea, or activity into a sacred value,
normative approaches to dispute resolution may fail. In a series of experiments,
the authors fi nd that off ering material incentives to encourage people to
compromise over a sacred value will often “backfi re” leading to heightened
opposition to such compromise. In contrast, culturally sensitive attempts to
off er powerful symbolic gestures—such as a painful apology or sacrifi ce over
one’s own sacred values—often increase fl exibility towards compromise. Th e
chapter also discusses a direction of future research focusing on the way people
manage sacred values over time."
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/michelejgelfand_ch06_copy_2.pdf

"How the hyperkinetic media is breeding a new generation of terrorists"
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/the-k...rorists-become-radicalized/?playlist_id=87651

Lastly

kitt'ns and pupp'ns


 
sheesh

now there's an individual claiming to be the caliph

Putin is talking aboot invading Iraq (my russianukranian friend gives me a tip: Putin & russians right now are talking aboot a strong russia -- not like our concept of doing things because its right or good or practical, but because its them throwing their weight around, going 'look at all the chaos i can cause because we are strong')

ISIS vows to conquer MECCA and destroy the meteorite bit that some muslims worship (the Kaaba) -- personally, I do hope to see the same people who were vehemently against America being involved in Iraq and for certain cartoons being published and certain books being burned to be as vehemently angry at these

man, this global human spring/new Axial Age/Cosmic Christ thing is tough...i'm still not sure i'm not reading some technothriller...so...gripping...
 
ISIS providing stability for those without hope, views of alien cultures, the amazing cavalcade of empires and the power of shame and the lowest of the low

 
"Id greetings from the land of the Caliphate"

an islamofascist call to all muslims to emigrate to their Islamic State for their ultimate goal to take over the world

(want to know what ISIS is up to from their mouth? check out that site...chock full of stuff)

US planes have started bombing the islamofascists

ISIS' 5-year-plan

Kurds have so far saved around 5,000 Yazidi whom ISIS is trying to genocide through starvation & exposure --I've mentioned the Yazidi before -- they have a neet religion...they worship Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel

In Boston, Jaeprovince, Ms Tuddlesquire the Fifteenth finally figured out the secret of the bright red dot. Then proceeded to preen @ninjafaery vs. BastWiFi

Cute-Kitten-kittens-12930610-1024-768.jpg

Ms. T. the Fifteenth, realizing The Truth
 
They are professionals at creating and arming their enemies. Most of these groups should be sending Christmas cards to the State Department and the CIA, except for the whole "death to Christians" thing.
 
UnDefinitive said:
Posted on Aug 11, 2014 READ MORE
Click to expand...

Yuppers, so many different things go into making a human being...we aren't innately evil and are responsible for our own actions, but our behaviours (which are finite in a potentially infinite set) are 'due' to a whole lot of different factors, from such different things as our upbringing, any physical/psychic insults, what we learn, our culture, our genetics, our language, our biological sex, etc. So many different things 'make us who we are' and, thus, make us live in different worlds...

Just like a candle flame doesn't exist in and of itself, but, rather, needs gravity, oxygen above a certain concentration, a wick and a candle...

You should really, if you haven't already, check out Scott Atran & his home page. One of my favourite vids is where he puts Sam Harris in his place for being so ignorant...:3
 
btw, some brave and fortunate souls have actually been able to produce a show that is a very good insight into how states operate

do check out 'House of Cards'

stuff like this can be produced now, blessed be, thanks to the internet and the changes that are happening in economics -- people can now make & market products to a real audience to give real value, as opposed to the old model (which applies to such things as newspapers, news outlets, magazines, movies, publishing) where the product had to be made for an abstract, non-existent 'average audience' (that's why there is, ferinstance, a lot of Hollywood movies are pap)

no wonder states and governments are quaking! bless America for releasing this medium for free...the great human burgeoning continues!
 
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