Iraq After Saddam Hussein,
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From the Desk of George Barnard - August 21, 2003 Biding Their Time The legitimate owners of Iraq, those who have for centuries occupied these ancient lands, seem quite divided about the intrusion into their domain by western forces. However, what appears to be a great dissimilarity between Sunni and Shiite opinion is perhaps only skin deep. Just for now. There's nothing stopping the Sunnis in the north from claiming back their country, and with every insult to their independent ways by an occupying force that refuses to understand their culture, they will be angered into action. With every death in their families, clans and tribes, they will be taking their revenge on the 'Ali Baba', who is only interested in the oil under their dry desert sands. To these Sunnis of Baghdad and environs, the welfare or demise of Saddam is factually quite irrelevant. They can live with or without the dictator they both loved and feared. Undeniably, they see themselves as freedom fighters, hardly terrorists. Only the fear of a possible return of Saddam, or of renewed Sunni domination, is holding back the majority Shiites of the South. The death or imprisonment of Saddam would soon see them focus on the occupiers with a vengeance. As long as Hussein's whereabouts remain unknown they'll be leery about attacking the invaders en masse. Impoverished by the wholesale disruption in their country, it is only logical that they will resort to stealing the oil that is already theirs, and the copper electricity cables that allow them to obtain the cash to provide for their kin. Unlike the Sunnis, the Shiites are biding their time, but like a pair of non-identical twins belonging to the very same family, they will soon unite to fight a common foe. Once Saddam is found, and killed or brought before the courts. Non-Identical Twins Back in the 1950's, a few doors down from my home, there lived a pair of non-identical twins. Peter and John were an enterprising pair, great fishermen at a young age, and locally 'famous' for keeping a stolen piglet in their bedroom until the squeals, and more so the overpowering smell, gave away their unhygienic mini-farm enterprise. Unless you knew these two well, they were still hard to tell apart. They were very similar in looks, always together, the best of friends, rarely at loggerheads. When they did get into a fight, however, it was a no-holds-barred battle. I was visiting the two in their back yard, when one of the twins angered his sibling with a rather derogatory remark. Moments later, one had armed himself with a pitchfork; the other had grabbed hold of an ax. It looked like these two were going to do themselves some permanent damage. Quickly, I grabbed the pitchfork, and threw it over the backyard fence. Then I took the ax, and it swiftly followed the pitchfork to be out of harm's way. The emergency had passed. They could now fight it out with their fists, I thought, but in a flash they both turned on me. Some ten minutes later, I arrived back in my home, bleeding, bruised and looking utterly profitless. Frequent Reminders. As a mere primary school student, I now had some in-depth thinking to do. There was no doubt I had potentially saved one of the two, perhaps even both, from great harm. Either of them, individually, was no great match for me, their being some eighteen months my junior. Being tackled by both, however, was the reason for the bandages I now sported. They knew about the advantages of teamwork. The event had greatly impressed me, and over the ensuing years, I would often be reminded of it. Those reminders, at times, emanated from my long-time Celestial Friends, and they might well be clearly voiced, or made to intuitively surface in my mind. On countless occasions, the long-ago skirmish with Peter and John would be brought back to memory as I counseled the partners in a near-defunct marriage. Many were the times it was brought to my mind in negotiations with warring business associates. As a therapist, I asked only questions, and I needed to be cautious about offering advice no matter how tempting. The Midwayers' prompts were welcome intrusions into my thoughts at all those times. Midwayers' frequent references to Iran and Iraq as the countries also being 'typical of the non-identical twins' made little sense during the 1960 's and 1970's, but their 'voicings' prompted me to have an interest in those two countries - their culture, history, geography, and their religion. "It's Of The Future" To a large degree, the 'non-identical twins concept' about those two countries remained an enigma. Sure, they were Persians and Arabs, but they each valued the Koran. They were siblings of a kind, though not 'identical'. And yet, throughout my youth and adult life, there were to be too many other undeniable insights of future happenings for me to overlook any prompts, no matter how vague. Those prompts mostly resulted in minor insights that allowed me to develop a great respect for the scholar and prophet, Nostradamus, and his crystal clear insights, where I was constantly stumbling. With the advent of the Iran-Iraq war, I questioned if those battles related to the many years of frequent reminders, but I was told 'it' was yet to come. It was 'of the future'. For now, my thoughts have turned to the possibility that Hussein may be caught, and that may well result in the Shiites of Iraq's south turning their attention to freeing their country from those who will be seen as invaders and oppressors. And all parties will lose. Many of us have insights of future events that impact on our lives, our families, or our world. In the words of one of our Celestial Teachers, this "knowingness" may well originate on Divinington, the home of our Spirit Selves, where all events - past present and future - are intimately understood. © 11:11 Progress Group. |