I heard the news about a reconciliation conference in JAPAN. Lawmakers from different political blocs in the Iraqi parliament went to the conference while they ignored the reconciliation conference in Baghdadalthough its much easier to attend such a conference in Baghdadthan Tokyo.
I didn’t ever read anything about a sectarian war in Japan and I still don’t know the religion of the Japanese emperor but I pray GOD that he is not Muslim because if he is a Muslim, I will need to know whether he is Shiite or Sunni and then I wouldn’t accept the result of the conference if it is not on the side of my sect.
I tried to find a political or even a social link between Japan and Iraq but I failed. The only links I found are our great love to the Japanese electronic equipment and cars in addition to my crazy impossible wish to visit Japan but these links have no relation with the Iraqi national reconciliation.
The problem of the reconciliation project is too simple and all the politicians know it. Its not the place, not the time and I’m sure the poors in Iraqi never fight to reconcile. Our politicians are the problem of the reconciliation project. They never have the real intention to reconcile. The price is always paid by the poors. The price will be always more innocent blood.
If the Iraqi leaders fail to reconcile, why the Iraqi people should? It's a great mystery to me whether the Iraqi Moslems want to reconcile at all, and whether the Kurds have any vested interest in reconciliation! Reconciliation will happen only if al-Maliki is replaced! al-Maliki, like Bin Laden, does not want reconciliation which would be a victory for the U.S.! al-Maliki wants the status quo to last for years, until the U.S. leaves Iraq in shame, by default! But that time, al-Maliki and his cronies will have billions stucked in foreign banks, and will have an army powerful enough to defeat the Sunnis and the Kurds! This will be a Moslem victory and Iran's victory: the defeat of the United States! Once al-Maliki achieves this victory, he will enslave the Sunnis, and will try to bully the Kurds, as did Saddam! Welcome to Iraq, its 8,000 years old civilization where history of domination keeps repeating itself!
Posted by: Bohdan Szejner, Rome, Italy | March 21, 2008 at 05:49 PM
Comment from Japanese citizen. I have never heard this news as to the reconciliation conference.
So just the comment on the current Japan's politics.
Current ruling party LDP(conservative) has dominant power over the hisitry after the WW2, and it is obviously along with the will of the USA.
Japan's gov never opposed US war policy, sent their forces to Afgan, iraq. They never shoot people at the front, for example they fuel the US battleship on the ocean.
Japan has a limitation for being an actor of war from its constitution, so that they are hiding from the surface.
So I guess this conference also a means of hide, but show they are at the US side..
Well, thanks for your blog.
Posted by: jun | March 20, 2008 at 11:56 PM
The Emperor is not the real power in Japan anymore, and has not been since World War Two. Japan has a Parliamentary Government, called the Diet in Japanese. The top position is the Prime Minister.
Japan is not a Muslim nation. It is primarily a religion Called Shinto, although a large portion of the Country is Buddist and many others are Christian. However, in general Japan is not a very religious country.
There probably is no powerful country that is more neutral in the distinction between Sunni and Shiite than Japan.
I think the leaders went to Japan because they wanted a safe place to sit down and discuss things. Sometimes it is safer and easier to get away from the problems. When you do, you get a perspective.
Posted by: Adam Young | March 20, 2008 at 09:42 AM