BASRA

It has not been easy for the British to take over Basra and it has been two weeks now. Over a million civilians are held hostage and there is nothing the British and the other coalition forces can do - short of bombing and firing and killing thousands of civilians. In this case the forces opposing the British are embedded everywhere. There is no water and food is in short supply. War is not easy and the tactics that we thought would be easy have gone astray. Sadam Hussein was supposed to give a speech today - it was a ploy that most of the people fell for. Most probably Sadam Hussein is already in some safe haven - Syria or some hide out outside Iraq. In the next couple of days our forces from the United States, Britain, Australia and the other coalition forces will attack Baghdad - the Awe and Shock that we were talking about has been shelved. Now, if chemical weapons are used for the first time and if our forces are put in harm way - this war we turn for the worse. Never in the history of the world will we see what we will see. In an enclosed area in a matter of hours the Iraqi Republican Guard can carry out orders in which they will die for sure - but what is more they will put our Service men and women in harms way. The citizens of Basra have been told by their spiritual leaders NOT to side with anyone till the dust settles. We must remember that over 50,000 and more were killed the last time the Shiites arose to topple Saddam Hussein at the request of the Elder George Bush - who did not keep his promise. This time around the Awe and Shock philosophy has shown the world that the human spirit can overcome any technology. That includes indiscriminate bombing bordering on barbarism in a land which the home of all civilization. It is a shame how certain members of the media have been using lies and vain propaganda to make this war seem like a piece of cake. There is nothing wholesome about war. There was nothing wholesome about 9/11 and yet the media has not learned anything about sordid devastation. The media keeps showing live photographs of Baghdad and we see normal traffic flowing even as many statues of Saddam Hussein stand in the City of Baghdad. As I have said many times, I and many others detest Saddam Hussein, his sons and his machine. We could have got rid of this despot another way but the way we went away will come to haunt us for a long, long time. No one in their right mind is talking about the long-term affects of the raining bombs and the chemicals that have polluted the air, the water, and the land. We have no right to decimate innocent people and we have no right whatsoever to pollute the land. The Muslim religion unlike the Christian religion is polls apart and many Americans will take decades to understand the underlying glue that keeps the Muslims together. After the war the many Muslim religious leaders will tell the people what to do - and as if nothing has happened the people will take orders from the Mullahs and the Ayatollahs! So much for Awe and Shock. We Americans will have to rewrite our manuals about psychological warfare - we are still using ancient tactics, which have failed. To date we do have personnel who can speak and understand the Bedouin Tribes, we have fewer still who can win the trust of the people of Iraq who make up of so many tribes and people. It is not a black and white issue but rather full of many shades of gray. The story of Basra will lead to Baghdad but the stories will be poles apart. This war the mother of all wars will Shock and Awe those who thought they had it in their failed plans - but will learn that they have much to learn about it. Life is for the living not the living dead, which is what this war is all about. Greed and Oil is something fleeting - if WE remember well our founding fathers had other objectives and one of them was attacking any Nation as we have done with Iraq. Killing innocent children, women and men with ulterior motives is plain wrong - it does not matter what language one use to reveal the motives.

top - back