Come Home
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-11-13 12:01:08
LTC Stephen Michael at St. John’s. LTC Michael told me today that when al Qaeda came to Dora they began harassing Christians first charging them “rent.” It was the local Muslims according to LTC Michael who first came to him for help to protect the Christians in his area. That’s right. LTC Michael told me more than once that the Muslims reached out to him to protect the Christians from al Qaeda. Real Muslims here are quick to say that al Qaeda members are not true Muslims. From charging “rent,” al Qaeda’s harassment escalated to killing Christians and also Muslims. Untold thousands of Christians and Muslims fled Baghdad in the wake of the darkness of civil war. Most of the Christians are gone now; having fled to Syria. Jordan or northern Iraq.
I talked with some of the Iraqi boys between the ages of about 7 and 14. A 9-year-old—at least. I think he was 9—told me he likes to read. When I asked what he likes to read he said. “Superman.” And then he told me how Superman wears a mask. Ice and I said that Superman does not wear a mask. I pointed to the Indian Head patch on an American soldier’s arm and said Superman wears that patch. Everyone laughed. But we thought he was talking about Batman but then he said no it was not Batman. We figured maybe it was Zorro and he asked if Zorro is from America and I said something like no. I think he is from Mexico. But then an American photographer named Chris Hondros said he thought Zorro was from Spain and shortly after that the boy smacked another boy behind the head and laughed saying you told me Zorro is from America! All the boys cracked up. Nobody mentioned the Lone Ranger or Captain Marvel or Spider-Man or any of the other myriad masked men in the pantheon of comic book superheroes. When I asked a 14-year-old boy if he liked school. I cautioned him to be careful about his answers because the video was running and his teacher might see it. I won’t publish what he said because many Iraqis read this site and he could get into trouble at school. All the world round boys are boys.
A truce in the battle of pigtails had been declared or a cease fire enforced. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen any fighting. I can’t remember my last shootout: it’s been months. The nightmare is ending. Al Qaeda is being crushed. The Sunni tribes are awakening all across Iraq and forswearing violence for negotiation. Many of the Shia are ready to stop the fighting that undermines their ability to forge and manage a new government. This is a complex and still delicate denouement and the war may not be over yet. But the Muslims are saying it’s time to come home. And the Christians are saying it’s time to come home. They are weary and there is much work to be done.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/come-home.htm
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