IBN_ALRAFIDAIN: Rambling Post (1)

IBN_ALRAFIDAIN: Rambling Post (1)



Friday, January 07, 2005

Rambling Post (1)

Now, continuing what is said in the previous post, scrutinizing your comments, one can deduce:



1. People saying these comments reflect intellectual way of thinking.

2. These people live in communities dominated by law.

3. They are aware of their duties & rights.

4. They know what the means of implementing law are and how to use them.

5. They did not live for more than forty years under oppression which hindered the community resulting in a twisted way of thinking here in Iraq.

6. There are notable cultural differences in perceiving certain concepts.



Now, I can understand all the comments you have made and I agree with most of them. But once again I say that we, the Iraqis, need educational rehabilitation to start moving toward civilized values. One of my favorite visitors to my blog, Papa Ray, directed me to a blog interview with Steven Vincent on Chrenkoff . Vincent toured in Iraq for four months as a freelance and wrote a book about his journey "In the Red Zone: A journey into the soul of Iraq". He says describing the Iraqi society:





"… Imagine children whose father physically and emotionally

abused them for

years. Now imagine that the authorities jail the father and

tell the children

they're free to live their own lives. Theoretically, they

are free, but the

traumas of their past will still haunt them, limiting and

afflicting their

freedom. That's the condition of most Iraqis. As if that

weren't bad enough, add

in the regressive pull of tribalism and reactionary

Islam…"





Good way to describe the aftermath society in Iraq. I think that many Mideast societies resemble the Iraqi. The question is "Should the 'civilized' world break up with such societies and seclude itself?" and if this hypothetical decision was made, would these retrogressive societies leave the 'civilized' world alone? The answer could be found in what Chrenkoff says in his post Steve Vincent goes "In The Red Zone":





"…it was the September 11 attack, which Vincent watched

unfolding from the roof

of his apartment, that destroyed his comfortable old

certainties, alerted him to

a new danger facing the West and awakened inside

him the need to learn more

about it."







Now back to your comments, Vincent is a westerner and to avoid making preconception, he came to Iraq trying to understand what's going on. I can say, for sure, that most of you can not visit Iraq nowadays. So let me try to do my best to put you closer to the Iraqi society, though I know it is not easy to understand certain issues because of the cultural differences.



Iraq with its nowadays geographical area did not exist till the year 1920. The modern state introduced to the Iraqis, and many of the Middle East peoples, by the British. Till then, Mesopotamia was part of the Ottoman Empire and the tribal system was the dominating way of life.



A book entitled (A Study in The Society of Iraq) by Dr. Ali Wardi (an Iraqi sociologist 1913-96), in which he made a very good effort to develop a hypothesis which says that the Iraqi society is very influenced by the Bedouin culture. He believes that the pivot point of the Bedouin culture is (unfair competition); I can not find the exact translation for the Arabic word.

The Bedouin has three major Cultural Complexes, according to Dr. Wardi, which are:



1. Tribal sectarianism: consists of strict adherence to the tribe, chieftain(ism), revenge, succor, lineage boast, protecting woman…etc.

2. Incursion(ism): consists of boasting about power & bravery, fighting & booty, sense of honor, frankness, disdain, to contempt work…etc.

3. Magnanimity & generosity: consists of boasting about hospitality & generosity; helping aliens, neighbors, comrades, allies, and every weak person asking for help.



These three cultural complexes require that a Bedouin should have a powerful tribe which can invade other tribes. He can participate in its raids on other tribes.

A Bedouin should prove his bravery through booty quantity he can gain. And to prove his generosity, he should surpass others through granting as much as he can from the booty. For that the Bedouin is described as (plunderous-granter or donator).



After emerging as a new state, Iraq made a notable progress toward modernization till the year 1958 in which a military coup took place. After that coup, Iraqi society started to slow down in its movement toward being civilized one. And since the year 1979, in which Saddam seized power, the Iraqi society witnessed a significant relapse into tribal values.



To be continued…