Permanent woe continues

It seems these blogs are becoming more and more fruitless. No-one appears to be reading them, or if they are they continue to ignore my requests to leave a comment. I should focus on why I started the blog in the first place - to fill in the long hours of nothingness that I have pretty much every day. Having people read it is just a bonus, so I better stop feeling disappointed by the lack of interest.

Looking back at my blogs, it's been over a month since I last typed about current affairs or politics. For one reason or the other, most of the blogs have been about personal or religious issues and of course my holiday. Perhaps it's time to type about some current affairs.

Since 2003, current affairs wouldn't be current affairs without some news about Iraq. That country has been a central pivotal point in world affairs practically since time began. From ancient times when it possessed one of the ancient wonders of the world, to the Byzantine Empire through to the time of Alexander the Great and then towards British rule before World War II (skipping a few generations in between). It was after WWII when many of the problems began for the country.

Its borders were redefined, although rule was handed over by the British, they appointed a king from another Arab nation to govern the country, made sure they had control of the billions of gallons of oil in the northern territories, thus preventing the creation of a nation for the Kurds as previously promised, and attempted to control the country. This was then overthrown leading eventually to the dictatorship of Saddam Hussain. At no point in time have the people of Iraq been able to govern their own country in a democratic way.

The current invasion of Iraq was meant to change all that. It was meant to get rid of Saddam and create a democratic government that would allow the population to vote and govern themselves. Such high hopes, make the current failings even more galling. Current estimates of civilian deaths seem to range from 100,000 to 655,000; either figure is a shocking statistic. Sure the situation was atrocious under Saddam Hussain, but is the current situation any better?

With casualties continuing to grow, more and more damage to the UK and US armed forces and insurgent groups continuing to cause death and destruction across the country, words fail me when attempting to describe how dire the situation is in the country. The point of the invasion seems to be long forgotten. Apparently Saddam had WMDs which were a threat to world peace and was causing mass casualties in his country. He had to be taken care of - 'regime change' was the catchphrase at one point.

People say it’s far too simplistic to say it's all because of the oil, but is it? There are other dictatorships across the globe, Zimbabwe, N. Korea, even China to some extent, but nothing is ever done about them. All the recent fur ore surround nuclear tests in N. Korea seems to have died down, no action is being enforced. It's in the pipeline, but no nation seems to pushing for it. If it's not oil then what is the reason for all this devastation? There are no WMDs; it has clearly been proved that Saddam was not a threat to world peace. He was a threat to his own country, but not the rest of the world. Sanctions imposed at the end of the first Gulf War had severely crippled him already.

The situation in Iraq continues to get bleaker and bleaker. Current news has been all about the Iraq Study Group (ISG). Before I go on, I think the ISG is quite an amusing name. It reminds me of the revision sessions I used to have at uni. I can just imagine a group of people in a quiet corner in the library studying the situation in Iraq, being told to keep the noise down!

The Iraq Study Group was formed at the request of the US Congress. Led by ex-Secretary of State, James Baker, the group gave suggestions regarding a phased withdrawal from Iraq and discussions with Iran and Syria with regard to attempting to maintain the peace in Iraq - if you can call it that!

No sooner was this idea bought forward, it was dismissed by George Bush. Whilst Iran continues to develop nuclear energy, and Syria interferes with Lebanon, talks would not be held. So basically the main suggestion of the ISG was squashed from the outset. Talk about a pointless exercise. Was it purely done for the sake of showing something is being done? Giving it a fancy name and appointing prominent people gave it some status, but to then dismiss their conclusions seems ridiculous. (Stop laughing Miss G2S!)

The state of affairs in Iraq gets worse day by day. There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Innocent civilians continue to lose their lives for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't even imagine how it must feel knowing that just walking outside to get some bread and milk, may spell death from the local suicide bomber. News reports seem to indicate the presences of a suicide bomber at every corner! On top of that, the casualties in the armed forces continue to rise day by day. These are people sent by the government to do their dirty work and losing their lives for what?

It really frustrates me as I'm sure it does for others. All the reports of casualties have become so normal that we've become indifferent towards it. It's not just numbers being reported, but actual people being killed. The sheer arrogance of Tony Blair and George Bush is overwhelming. They are responsible for the death of upto 655,000 people in Iraq and they manage to convince themselves and then try to convince others that it's for world peace! If this is peace, what would war be like?

Yet again, I find myself walking down the same path. What can we do? What can I do? At the moment, apart from me typing about it from time to time, the answer seems to be not much! Nothing changes and I guess I will continue to type about the situation for the foreseeable future. Sometimes I wonder if the state of Iraq will be resolved in my lifetime. I'm not optimistic at all.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?