Boston Marathon
Blasts and Bombs in Iraq ... No Comparison (Kitabat,
Iraq)
"With all
due respect to the human soul, which is sacred wherever it is found, one cannot
compare what happened in Boston to the explosions and shelling my people have had
to endure, without knowing where they come from or when they will end. All they
know is that from time to time, there will be piles of corpses. ... The
explosions in Iraq yesterday ... have struck most corners of my country without
anyone making speeches about the plight of the Iraqi people and the hell of
random killing they must endure."
Yesterday, after becoming addicted to monitoring political
news, following events on television, and trying to fathom the twists and turns
of media strategies, I stopped my channel hopping and stayed with one the
Arabic channels. It was broadcasting news of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.
Americans had been preparing to participate in this annual race - only this
time, the rules of the race were different: After the marathon was turned into
a fireball, instead of trying to reach the finish line, they were using all the
energy they had to find an escape route and come out alive. Athletes, police
and ambulances all competed to get out of Boston's main square as unscathed as
possible, and rescue what they could, all the while fearing that there could be
another series of explosions or that this might be the start of a larger
attack, especially as the nightmares of the World Trade Center attacks still
haunt the American psyche.
I do not wish to go into exhaustive detail about the fallout
of the marathon bombings, nor how the attack was planned or what it meant. Every
political interpretation, dissection and analysis, center on whether: the act
was planned in advance by enemies of the American regime - of which there are
thankfully many, even if most have no power at all; whether it was a message
from the North Korean boy that should be considered with care by the U.S.
Congress; it was a statement by international forces or entities that have been
negatively affected by U.S. policies that create instability for nations and
peoples; or whether it was something masterminded behind closed doors at the
White House to be used as an excuse to achieve objectives to satisfy the agenda
of the American eagle - a scenario that would reprise the events of 9-11 and
their impact on the global stage.
I shall restrain myself from going into greater detail. What
caught my attention was that among American citizens and on a government level,
there was a mood reminiscent of a call to arms, moment-by-moment coverage of
the effects of the attack, accompanied by statement after statement from
officials allaying the fears of Americans on one hand, and clarifying matters
on the other. They didn't accuse anyone, nor did they claim to have caught the
perpetrators or know who is behind the bombings. They neither deceived their
people nor criticized the work of the intelligence services.
All this is by way of introducing the point I want to make,
which I hope will be of interest to those in Baghdad. Obama appeared in front
of the American people to explain the truth of what happened to them,
indicating that those responsible for the Boston attack would be found as
quickly as possible, even if the number of fatalities didn't exceed three. With
all due respect to the human soul, which is sacred wherever it is found, one
cannot compare what happened in Boston to the explosions and shelling my people
have had to endure, without knowing where they come from or when they will end.
All they know is that from time to time, there will be piles of corpses.
The explosions in Iraq yesterday, which have struck most
corners of my country without anyone making speeches about the plight of the
Iraqi people and the hell of random killing they must endure, clearly illustrates
the truth of what has happened and is happening … For anyone who feared that
chaos would result with the release of information on the identities of those
responsible for bombings in Iraq, your fears were confirmed. Chaos on the
streets of Iraq was indeed created - even before the issue reached the Iraqi National
Assembly.
[Editor's Note: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki has threatened
his political opponents with “dangerous revelations against them.” In an
interview with the state-funded Al-Iraqiya Channel, he explained his refusal to respond to
demands for a National Assembly hearing on recent security violations. He said,
“If I attend the hearing, I will turn things upside down. I will reveal the
files and names of the members of the National Assembly who were implicated in
terrorist acts. I will point fingers at each and every one of them for this
bombing and that.”]
