The Pot and the Kettle of the Middle East: Will Patience Hold in Iraq?
"Iraq’s Shiites, counseled by their political and religious leaders and habituated to suffering by centuries as the region’s underclass, have refused to rise to the bait — for now. Instead, they have made a virtue of forbearance and have convinced their followers that they win by not responding with violence. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has brought once violent Shiite militiamen into the fold, while the Shiites’ spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has forbidden any sort of violent reprisals........” N Y Times
You wouldn’t know that is what is happening in Iraq from reading the Arab media, especially in the Persian Gulf states. It is actually like going back to 2005-2006: Sunni terrorists, many from neighboring Arab states, and funded by un-named elements in neighboring states. Except that someone knows the names of these un-named because most Arab states, nay almost all, are police states where hardly anything escapes official or quasi-official notice.They very likely know what one does, with whom, and to whom: Big Brother, eat your heart out.
Meanwhile the media in these Arab states is complaining about the Iraqi government, and how terrible it is because someone robbed a bank the other day. The neighbors also complain about shortages of electricity in Iraq. Now that is admirable, because I know that in some Gulf states this summer, as every summer, they have daily shortages of electricity that last hours, and days in some lower-class districts.
Oh, and the absolute monarchs and the life-long dictators, through their watermelon media, also complain that Iraq is not democratic enough for their tastes. Iraq is probably not democratic enough according to many people, but I don’t think these regimes have the right to complain. You know about the pot and the kettle…
Cheers
mhg
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