|
Reader's
Comments:
As
I write this from Baghdad International Airport my thoughts
drift to an upcoming 4th of July. A time when American Muslims
feel that sense of duality a little stronger than usual. An
appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy coupled with a longing
for the lands of our heritage. Proud of our advancements on
these shores and bemoaning the inability of our homelands to
re-visit the more glorious days of our past.
It
is easy in our skepticism to look at cursory reports from the
media and dismiss the events now unfolding in Iraq as either
just another example of American imperialism or a catastrophic
mess in the making. Yet doing so does no justice to the nation
being reborn before my eyes. Every day more and more decent and
hardworking Iraqis are standing up for themselves, learning
through tumultuous and exhaustive formations of neighborhood
advisory councils that as one Iraqi teacher lamented, “for
every 6 steps forward we take 5 more back.”
Now
is the time for the American Muslim community to build bridges
and tell the Iraqis that they will not be forgotten. You can
help build a nation at a time where formative voices are being
nurtured and listened to by Iraqis, Muslims, Arabs, and
Americans. You can help nurture a sense of ownership that the
Iraqis have lost after years of being degraded. So that the next
time a traffic jam occurs a soldier doesn’t have to lead an
Iraqi police officer by the arm to take action and get things
moving. So the next time a new procedure is required during
surgery on a child an Iraqi doctor will not worry if he has
written permission to cover him. American Muslims are in a
unique position to couple their education and knowledge to help
Iraqis help themselves. You can act as liaisons between groups,
advocates for rights, and fundraisers for needs no one else has
yet to identify. For every one American NGO there should be ten
more American Muslim NGOs here working with Iraqis.
If
I could think of one force that has ruined and stagnated the
Muslim and Arab world it would be fear. Fear that some new
revolution will come through keeps people from investing in
themselves and their communities. Fear that superpowers will use
their leaders as pawns keeps many Muslims from demanding even
the most basic of rights, resigning themselves to a sense of
fatalism and taking the most outlandish of rumors as fact. This
does no justice to the legacies and advances of our past. For
the first time Iraqis are awakening to the possibility they no
longer have to live in fear.
While
your skepticism given America’s foreign policy record in this
part of the world may be warranted, on the one to one
inter-personal level over and over again I see the US military
treating Iraqis with respect. I see commanders ask myself and
other American Muslims for advice on how to deal with religious
and cultural sensitivities and taking very seriously any real or
perceived abuses by troops that conduct themselves
professionally. I see Iraqis risk their safety and the safety of
their families to inform on rogue elements, many of whom “have
blood on their hands.” I see soldiers who’ve never left
places like Kansas City understand and use the word inshAllah.
I’ve seen a food distribution that was slow and methodical
take time because the soldiers there wanted to make sure the
older mothers got what they needed first. Afterwards community
leaders and elders who normally would have cursed these
foreigners thank them for treating their people with dignity.
While stories of imams issuing illegitimate fatwas gobble up the
headlines, countless more imams and pastors are working to
organize communities both with and without coalition help. In
one case an imam who previously voiced his objection to
Coalition assistance instructed those in his town to sign
de-Ba`thification statements and work with the Coalition with
the only caveat being that all those signing should add next to
their name “I sign for the good of Iraq.”
Recently
3 US soldiers lost their lives when their chopper crashed as
they rescued a little Iraqi girl. A mother of one of the
surviving soldiers said, “I hope she turns out to be an
outstanding woman. The cost of her life was high. Three men died
to save her.”
There
is an Arab proverb that says a thousand days of tyranny is
better than one day of anarchy. Its time we kick that proverb to
the curb. I ask how tyranny is acceptable when it fosters some
of the same negative consequences and destructiveness that Arabs
and Muslims fear from Western intervention.
So
this 4th of July when you see rockets illuminate the night sky
ponder the possibility that Iraqis will build a strong and just
society that will radiate not in cannon fire but competition.
Thunder not with the impact of rounds but chant of a peaceful
protest and the term collateral damage will be used to describe
fair and free election results.
“Inspirations
of all kind flood the mind. Seize the time.” - Rumi
Omar
Amin
Specialist, US Army
Baghdad, Republic of Iraq
omar_786_amin@yahoo.com
Reply:
American
Muslims should feel no sense of duality at being Muslims
and Americans at the same time. Islam encourages one to love
one's nation as long as one worships Allah and fulfills one's
religious duties. Thus, Muslim Americans should be fully proud
of the positive achievements of their country. However, on the
other hand, Muslims and non-Muslims, as well, are against the
unjust policies of the US government. Let us remind you
that before the Iraq war millions of non-Muslims, alongside
Muslims, all over the world took to the streets protesting
against the war.
You
are against considering what is going on in Iraq as
“American imperialism” or a “catastrophic mess in the
making.” The fact remains that, according to international
law, the US is nothing but an occupying power, even if it calls
itself a “liberating power.” The 1907 Hague Convention says:
“Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed
under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends
only to the territory where such authority has been established
and can be exercised.” The Red Cross – the guardian of the
Geneva Conventions – says that the US is an occupying power in
all the areas over which it has “effective control.” International
law makes no mention of a so-called “liberating force.”
Throughout history, imperialists have justified occupying other
countries by contending that they are liberators who lead
the occupied country to progress and prosperity.
A
“catastrophic mess” is, truly, “in the making.” This is
a reality, and not merely “cursory reports from the
media.” Everything in Iraq is – until now – being looted,
from governmental buildings to hospitals and even museums. As an
occupying power, the US has not fulfilled its
obligations. The Hague Convention obliges the occupier to
“restore and ensure, as far as possible, public order and
safety.”
The
US reconstruction plans in Iraq by no means justify the
occupation. The US is making decisions about which companies are
to be awarded Iraq reconstruction contracts. Iraqis, who are
supposed to be free now, have no say in this regard, as if they
are strangers in their own land.
We
agree with you that, in some cases, on the one to one
inter-personal level, some US soldiers treat Iraqis with
respect. However, this is not always the case. If 3 US soldiers
lost their lives trying to save an Iraqi girl, it is worth
mentioning that an investigation carried out by the Associated
Press news agency (AP) reveals that 3240 Iraqi civilians have
lost their lives since the beginning of the US-led war on Iraq
– let alone the research conducted by Iraq
Body Count which concludes that a minimum of 6052 Iraqi
civilians have died since the war. It is
doubtful that at least 3240 dead Iraqis are “Ba`thists,”
“Saddam loyalists” or “terrorists.” Sadly, a
considerable portion of the dead Iraqis are reportedly women and
children.
If
some Iraqis consider their co-operation with the US military to
be “for the good of Iraq,” thousands of Iraqis march daily
throughout the country chanting “No Bush, No Saddam.” They
have every right to demonstrate against the occupation of their
country, even if the US brands them “Ba`thists” and
“terrorists.” Those who attack the US troops in Iraq
using force are branded as “attackers” although it has been
universally accepted that the occupied has every right to resist
occupation. In the General Assembly 20th session in 1965, “the
legitimacy of struggle by the people under colonial rules to
exercise their rights to self-determination and independence”
was recognized.
Ironically,
while the US argues that it has been bringing freedom and
democracy to the Iraqis, its forces shoot anti-occupation
demonstrators. The town of Falluja, for example, has witnessed
several incidents in which civilian demonstrators were shot dead
by US forces. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have
called for investigations to be conducted regarding the killing
of Iraqi civilians by US troops in Falluja.
Saddam’s
tyranny was not acceptable. Anarchy is not acceptable. The
occupation of Iraq is not acceptable either.
|
