Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
The Yezidis in Iraq: the government’s neglect is still ongoing By Zidan Ismail
Friday, May 20, 2022
Zidan Ismail
Robert Spencer : Representation in the Iraqi government is divided into sectarian
quotas. Minorities received small quotas, which primarily went to
Christians. The Yezidis have suffered politically in recent times,
although five representatives with a Yezidi religious background were
candidates in the most recent Iraqi parliamentary elections, but four of
them belonged to Kurdish political parties.
A member of parliament belongs to a Yezidi party that holds the
“quota” seats for Yezidis, although the Federal Court of Justice, the
highest judicial authority, has decided that the Yezidis’ quota, which
is determined by population, should give them at least five seats. This,
however, was immediately rejected by the major political parties, and
the Yezidis received only one seat, which clearly violates the judicial
decision.
The Iraqi journalist Riyad al-Hamdani observes that the big blocs
will not hesitate to control the minority seats in the Iraqi parliament
whenever the opportunity arises, and it is clear that the current quota
seats are also allocated in a certain political context, which means
that they’re controlled by the big political blocs, and that there is no
free representation of minorities in Parliament. Al-Hamdani considers
the Iraqi parliamentary election law to be unfair for religious
minorities, especially since it prevents diaspora Iraqis from voting,
and this means that, given the number of Iraqi immigrants, most of whom
are religious minorities, that the minority groups, particularly Yezidis
and Christians, are the most affected.
In addition, the Iraqi government did not pay attention to the full
rights of the Yezidis. Those who checked the political situation of the
Yezidis in Iraq would find that no Yezidi minister had been appointed
through the tenures of four governments, and Yezidi representation in
the Iraqi government was limited to the rank of diplomat or general
manager; this confirms the Iraqi government’s neglect of the Yezidis and
its sectarian and racist basis. The neglect has ranged from doing
nothing regarding the reconstruction of the destroyed Yezidi territories
in Sinjar. According to a press release of the Governor of Nineveh,
Najm al-Jubouri, we can look for more neglect, as he has stated that
there will be no reconstruction or rebuilding in Sinjar unless the
displaced people return there. But how can they, when the city is 75%
destroyed?
Political and armed conflicts, as well as the destruction and the
absence of justice, prevent Yezidis from returning to their homeland.
The Yezidi journalist Theyab Ghanem was surprised by the governor’s
statements: “We are used to such things after we allocated an amount of
money, and although the amount was small, namely $25 million, that is
nothing compared to the devastation in the Sinjar city, we were
surprised that the amount was canceled without notice.”
Ghanem asked the Iraqi government to pay more attention to the
Yezidis and their regions, and to keep them out of political conflicts,
because they are a psychologically and morally devastated society, and
are exposed to constant catastrophes due to the conflicts over Sinjar.
It is clear that Sinjar in the current period is outside the plan of the
Iraqi government, because the political situation in the country is
complex.
This neglect has led to differences and conflicts in the Yezidi
regions. There are Iraqi political attempts to change the world’s view
of the Yezidis and conceal their humanitarian needs. It is necessary for
the Yezidis to take serious steps to standardize their future plans, to
find a formula that serves their society, and to face the challenges
and difficulties which they will have in the future due to political and
regional conflicts. The resistance of the Yezidis against ISIS and its
predecessors was motivated by a desire to live in peace and ultimately
attain a better life, and those aspirations remain, but now what has
happened is the transformation of their cause by some political parties
into a political issue that is being manipulated by forces that do not
have the Yezidis’ best interests at heart.
