Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shi'a people, and the Iraq war.
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The tides of time and change follow the dictates of no one man or country. What we're witnessing in Najaf and elsewhere in Iraq is the birth of something that is beyond the control of George Bush, Nouri al-Maliki or Osama Bin Laden. Neither US Military Power nor Al Qaeda terrorism can stem or control the flow of what is washing over Iraq. The Shi'a people, after having suffered oppression and betrayal at the hands of Saddam Hussein and the U.S., are rising above all others to take the reigns of sovereignty in their tortured and holy land.
The movement and moment that is swirling around Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers is not about the destiny of one man but the destiny of a people. Like all powerful leaders throughout history, Al-Sadr knows that it often takes one man to see and seize the moment when time and tide are right for a people to rise to the occasion of the fulfillment of their dreams of freedom. This 'Freedom' is not a freedom that comes from the mind and words of an occupier or outsider. This 'Freedom' comes from a longing in the hearts of a people inside their own community. It is a freedom that only they can understand, for only they can know what their hearts long for.
Muqtada senses that the time is right for the Shi'a people to regain their rightful place in the land of their birth and the home of their faith. He believes that there is nothing the U.S., the Iraqi government or Al Qaeda can do to prevent this from occurring. For If they all truly believe in 'Freedom' and the 'Will of God,' they will finally step aside and allow 'Allah' to manifest 'His Will' and bring 'His Freedom' to the people of Najaf and thus all of the Shi'a people of the world.
When the Golden Mosque was attacked, it was the beginning of a civil war that has meant a horrible blood-letting that will not end until a Shi'a governing body is, if necessary, forcefully installed in Najaf, and the U.S. and others are driven out of Shi'a holy sites and off of Shi'a land. Ultimately, this will mean freedom for the Shi'a people of Iraq, but, in the mean time, it is a disaster for the Iraqi people as a whole.
Jim Bush is a 61 year old, Vietnam-era veteran, currently living in Katy,Texas. He was raised in a military family. His father received the Silver Star for directing troops while under air attack at Clark Field in the Phillipines, survived the Bataan Death March, and spent three and a half years in a Japanese POW camp. He also received the Purple Heart for wounds received while a POW. Jim served as an army photographer in Okinawa and Korea. In 1987 he traveled to the war zones of Nicaragua with a veteran's group dedicated to stopping the Contra War.
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