Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Iraqi war. Actually today marks the day where the massive statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in central Baghdad as US troops captured the city. Most probably people that planned the invasion of Iraq (and Afghanistan) would have never envisioned a situation where by they are caught in a quagmire. Militarily the US and other allied forces to the US are failing to eliminate Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan, and they are still facing a staunch resistance in Iraq from different factions. Economically, the US has spent so far approximately 1 trillion US dollars financing both the wars, increasing the rate of the current (inevitable) economic crisis. And finally politically, the US and its allies have less control in the politics of the invaded countries especially Iraq where countries such as Iran, Syria, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have much more influence and control of the political process as compared to the US and its allies.
US a Superpower:
On top of all that, the status of the US as a superpower where no one dares to stand up to it has been slowly dwindling. Those in the Middle East that have stood by its policies and obeyed the orders of the US during the Bush era have now all moved back to their natural roles and are constantly trying to rebuild relations with countries that have been severely targeted by the Bush administration (for example Syria). Even the untamed dog of the Middle East (Israel) has been refusing to accept and obey the policies of the current Obama administration, escalating tensions between the two 'strategic' allies described by the Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren, as the worst in the past 35 years. In addition, so far the US has been unable to enact most of its international policies that Obama has stated prior to ascending to presidency. Most notably the US has been unable so far to start a "peace process" in the Middle East, neither have they been able to deter the Iranians from their nuclear program or even enforce more stringent international sanctions against Iran. The most notable achievement so far at an international stage has been the signing of a new START treaty, and that, technically, has nothing to do with the Middle East.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Putting in the effort
Its been a packed couple of months and its amazing how time flies by, and how any persons' life moves through various transitions and phases without even noticing it has. We all go through the childhood phase, teenage phase, slightly mature and mature phase without noticing the difference unless we actually think about it; its natural, things develop and people move on. But sometimes when you sit all alone and remember how things were in the past you start to think how good things were "back then" and how you miss the "good old days" when it was "back then" you were probably thinking "when the hell will this end!!?"
Nikos Kazantzakis (I'm dying to read his books, unfortunately I live in an isolated bubble, i.e. Syria) puts it "While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it we do suddenly realize — sometimes with astonishment — how happy we had been".
As you grow you start to see your first dreams die off, and a person starts to become more 'realistic'. You leave your dreams of being an astronaut, an astronomer, a president and go for that realistic stuff; accounting, finance, engineering or even the military. Some of us will grow and accomplish our childhood dreams, others won't. Sometimes I wonder how come I didn't end up doing what I always wanted to do, and why right now I'm doing something completely different.
But I think I figured it out, and that it all comes down to one thing: Effort. In order to accomplish what you want you have to do something about it. Nothing comes without effort. This reminds me of the story of Maryam (Mary) in the Quran where it says:
"And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: she cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" (23) But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; (24) "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.(25)"
How many of us have shaken a palm tree before and dates fell from it? It is very difficult especially if it is a women giving birth as well. Although God is more than capable of making those dates fall from the tree without Mary having to shake the tree, God almighty is trying to show us here that without any sort of effort, even if you are thinking of doing the right thing, nothing will happen. If you sit around praying to God for things to happen, and then do nothing about it, believe it or not, nothing will happen.
Which reminds me of the shiekh/imam at my local mosque. I've heard people (non-muslim) talk about this before, how imams at mosques pray for the destruction/humiliation/suffering of other people (non-muslims) and pray that God makes the muslims victorious over their enemies, and then we wonder why non-muslims think muslims are all terrorists.
I want to show two points here, 1) that shiekh is doing exactly what I was talking about earlier, he stands at the minbar (pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons) praying/supplicating for things to happen, and then he goes back home and sleeps, or what ever he does.
2) That when people at the time of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to come up to the prophet and tell him to pray for the defeat and destruction of the enemies of Islam, the prophet would pray that they are guided to Islam and not for them to be destroyed. Why does that Imam, and many others, don't follow the sunnah (teachings derived from the actions and sayings of the Prophet) of the Prophet? Why do they do what the prophet didn't do?
We are a frustrated people, us Arabs and muslims, from the years of injustice and persecution that has been placed upon us, and our inability to defend ourselves, but will more talk and no action ever do us any good; has it ever done any good?
Nikos Kazantzakis (I'm dying to read his books, unfortunately I live in an isolated bubble, i.e. Syria) puts it "While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it we do suddenly realize — sometimes with astonishment — how happy we had been".
As you grow you start to see your first dreams die off, and a person starts to become more 'realistic'. You leave your dreams of being an astronaut, an astronomer, a president and go for that realistic stuff; accounting, finance, engineering or even the military. Some of us will grow and accomplish our childhood dreams, others won't. Sometimes I wonder how come I didn't end up doing what I always wanted to do, and why right now I'm doing something completely different.
But I think I figured it out, and that it all comes down to one thing: Effort. In order to accomplish what you want you have to do something about it. Nothing comes without effort. This reminds me of the story of Maryam (Mary) in the Quran where it says:
"And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: she cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" (23) But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; (24) "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.(25)"
How many of us have shaken a palm tree before and dates fell from it? It is very difficult especially if it is a women giving birth as well. Although God is more than capable of making those dates fall from the tree without Mary having to shake the tree, God almighty is trying to show us here that without any sort of effort, even if you are thinking of doing the right thing, nothing will happen. If you sit around praying to God for things to happen, and then do nothing about it, believe it or not, nothing will happen.
Which reminds me of the shiekh/imam at my local mosque. I've heard people (non-muslim) talk about this before, how imams at mosques pray for the destruction/humiliation/suffering of other people (non-muslims) and pray that God makes the muslims victorious over their enemies, and then we wonder why non-muslims think muslims are all terrorists.
I want to show two points here, 1) that shiekh is doing exactly what I was talking about earlier, he stands at the minbar (pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons) praying/supplicating for things to happen, and then he goes back home and sleeps, or what ever he does.
2) That when people at the time of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to come up to the prophet and tell him to pray for the defeat and destruction of the enemies of Islam, the prophet would pray that they are guided to Islam and not for them to be destroyed. Why does that Imam, and many others, don't follow the sunnah (teachings derived from the actions and sayings of the Prophet) of the Prophet? Why do they do what the prophet didn't do?
We are a frustrated people, us Arabs and muslims, from the years of injustice and persecution that has been placed upon us, and our inability to defend ourselves, but will more talk and no action ever do us any good; has it ever done any good?
If you don't write...
I once heard someone say, "if you don't write, you don't learn". It feels like its been ages since I last wrote anything substantial, and it really does actually feel strange. I hope I get back to the habit of writing more frequently, because I know that there are a couple of you out there who really miss my thorough, complex and enlightened analysis of world politics, my splendid humour and just at times simply miss me...... ???
So I once heard someone say, if you don't write, you don't learn. And I agree.
I think when a person starts to write about anything they start to learn more about not only what they are writing about but also about themselves; It is that search for thoughts, for words, that describes what you feel and believe in that makes you know yourself a bit more. It is that process of trying to articulate the thoughts in a way that is not only understandable to you but also to those that will eventually read what you are writing, that makes things clearer to you.
I think the more a person writes the more they discover themselves. In contrast reading only injects foreign ideas, it is the act of writing that confirms your thoughts and opinions and makes them permanent, but not unchangeable. Some people have told me before that they find it hard to find the right words to describe their opinions and ideas when they write, but as everything else, there is a learning curve, the more you write the easier it becomes, and the more you learn about yourself.
So I once heard someone say, if you don't write, you don't learn. And I agree.
I think when a person starts to write about anything they start to learn more about not only what they are writing about but also about themselves; It is that search for thoughts, for words, that describes what you feel and believe in that makes you know yourself a bit more. It is that process of trying to articulate the thoughts in a way that is not only understandable to you but also to those that will eventually read what you are writing, that makes things clearer to you.
I think the more a person writes the more they discover themselves. In contrast reading only injects foreign ideas, it is the act of writing that confirms your thoughts and opinions and makes them permanent, but not unchangeable. Some people have told me before that they find it hard to find the right words to describe their opinions and ideas when they write, but as everything else, there is a learning curve, the more you write the easier it becomes, and the more you learn about yourself.
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