What would you die for?
This was the question posed by my history teacher at the beginning of our course. I looked at her dumbly and replied the usual family, friends etc. I supposed for most people this is the standard response, and certainly these are noble things to die for. However, it amazes me how people my own age across the globe are dying for a cause? a belief, an emotion so strong that they feel compelled to take their own life along with others for the rest of the world to understand their message. Of course I?m referring to suicide bombers.
After September 11 and the shock that ensued, I remember having many conversations with friends about exactly how the terrorists, as humans, could possibly do what they did while being aware of the consequences of their actions. How they could kill so many people along with themselves astounded me. I used to think about the people who hijacked the plane and the psychological preparation they must undertake? driven by the belief that they were justified in their actions.
Right now I?m disgusted with myself. Suicide bombing is almost a daily occurrence in Iraq and I no longer feel shocked by it. I?m sickened by the fact that the world has reached such an appalling state that a person can actually become acclimatized to such an outrageous occurrence. Society has come to such a condition that human life has become nothing more then worrying statistics that sympathetic looking newsreaders broadcast before moving on to the?lighter side of news.?
I sometimes think it such a pity that God decided to make us the dominating species on this planet. We have abused his trust and polluted his gift with nasty chemicals and ill will. I think this so called?higher order thinking? is every bit a curse as it is a blessing. It?s a blessing because we can appreciate wonderful things such as art, literature, humor and religion, but it is a curse as our?intelligence? allows us to discriminate, bear grudges and have the ability to declare full scale war to get our desires.
As humans, we can never seem to learn from our mistakes. Sure, advances in medicine and technology are awe-inspiring, our knowledge the body and solar system is deep and we continually make progress in other fields of research, but we never seem to learn from the past.
A revolution? a 360 degree rotation? a circle to be explored over and over and over again.
We seem to be trapped in this circle without means to escape. As we congratulate ourselves on new scientific discoveries, we must acknowledge that human nature has not changed. We always want and desire change, but this desire is nothing new, it has been there for centuries. I suppose by following the Marxist model, it seems change should lead to an ideal communist utopia, but clearly this has yet to happen. I have studied French history? focusing on the revolution of 1789. It is worrying how many parallels can be established by comparing the situation in Iraq now and the situation in France 200 years ago.
In France: The oppressive ancien regime was toppled after centuries of social turbulence
In Iraq: The hated Hussain dictatorship was forced to an end.
In France: The people finally had the opportunity to decide the way in which they wanted to be governed.
In Iraq: The people finally have a chance to experience democracy
In France: Disagreements arose between different social groups -> between monarchists and republicans. This led to civil war.
In Iraq: Disagreements between powerful extremist Muslims and the general population has left Iraq on the brink of civil war.
I believe what happened to France after this stage can be a rough indication as to what may happen to Iraq if things continue the way they are.
In France: France declared war on Austria. Austria who was trying to defend the sister of their king, Marie Antoinette. Antoinette was much despised in France, as she was a symbol of greed and lust; consequently, the people of France united in their hatred of Austria, fought as a solid mass against their invaders. Problem is, this war lasted for 9 years and resulted in the death of approximately 1.4 million Frenchmen.
What may happen In Iraq: By refusing to withdraw US and their allied troops, the soldiers are becoming increasingly restless. Now there are cases of unprovoked US attacks and some allegations of rape. This is merely fuelling the already high anti American sentiments of many extremist Iraqis. Extremist muslims are united in their hatred of Americans, and war if to break out again, it is possible that it would last for a considerable while, resulting in many deaths.
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