"An honorable death is better than a dishonorable life."
This quote here is from the Classical age and was written by Tacitus. Although it was written ages ago it couldn't ring any more true today. The US adventure in Iraq seems to baffle many an American by it's complicated political nuances, tribal divisions, religion and culture. A land so dominated by violence and hatred that it seems that even the battle hardened US military is having a difficult time making any sense of it. Well lucky for you my fellow citizens of the world you have me to break it all down for you in nice little digestible tid-bits. This will be the first instalement of a series of posts in which I will seek to explain the situation in Iraq to the best of my ability.
The quote I opened with does much to explain that which is hard for westerners to grasp about South-West Asia in general. The people who are willing to go on kamikaze missions aren't all sexually repressed young men tricked into giving up their lives in return for lots of virgins in the next life, that is a racist and ignorant take on a much deeper situation. Honor and respect are huge, I repeat, HUGE themes in Arab Culture. It is such a big deal that any self respecting Arab Muslim would far rather have an honorable death than a dishonorable life. These people aren't necessarily fanatically religious, they are just desperate and enraged. Imagine if you will having your family murdered in cold blood simply for being of a certain ethnicity or religion. Then understand that the situation in Iraq makes any sort of legal justice utterly impossible. What would you do, no family, no justice, no hope of starting over in such a sanguinary place. Looks pretty bleak don't it. Well their is one faint hope, that perhaps Allah will give you the justice and peace you looked for in this life in the next. All you got to do is strap on some explosives, go into a area populated by whatever group victimized your family and BOOM! You not only get back at the bastards and retrieve your honor, but you get a place in heaven where your family should be waiting patiently for you, Allah Akbar.
3 comments:
hmmmm, however its interesting to note that some countries, like Israel are trying to take the honor out of suicide deaths by exterminating all direct relatives and descedents of suicide terrorist, thus replacing honorable motives with the branded dishonor of being responsible for the massacre of one's family. This may shift the burden to which is more strongly valued, the life of your family or your own religious intergrity.
dude, actually delete my post b/c i dont want to be associated with this site . . . peace.
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