Is This What We've Been Fighting for?

Are we uniting Shi'ites and Sunnis?

This past week up to one million Iraqi Shi'ites have marched in Baghdad burning American and Israeli flags. George Bush and Tony Blair were burned in effigy. These are the same people we rescued from Saddam Hussein. With almost 25,000 injuries and fatalities, American military members from all branches of service, have shed their own blood so that these "people" would have the freedom to march in protest. Under Saddam Hussein, they would have been killed for this act, but now they shout death to those who have freed them.

This shouldn't be much of a surprise. They do the same in Kuwait, a country we rescued from Saddam's grip. When Kuwait was being robbed of its riches and their woman being raped, it was America who led the charge to save them...not their Arab brothers.

Iraqis In Mass Protest Against U.S., Israel
Pro-Hezbollah Rally Called By Radical Cleric Attracts Thousands

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Thousands of Shiite Muslims marched though the Iraqi capital Friday in support of Hezbollah guerrillas battling Israeli forces in Lebanon, answering a call by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to rally to the cause of their fellow Shiites.

Throngs of Shiite men, most clad in white burial shrouds that symbolized their willingness to die, gathered in the northeast Baghdad slum known as Sadr City. Then they marched toward the center of the capital, chanting: "We will step over America. We are Hezbollah."

Other demonstrators waved the yellow flag of Hezbollah, the red-and-green flag of Lebanon and numerous banners, including one that read: "Death to America and Israel, the enemies of humanity." Occasionally, protesters stopped to desecrate the Israeli flag.

Are we just playing into Iran's ambitions by creating an Iran dominant southern Iraq?

Friday's demonstration was the latest sign that the fighting in Lebanon is sparking outrage across the Middle East, especially among Shiites. The large turnout, along with the absence of reported violence, also suggested that Sadr's ability to rally legions of followers remains strong at a time when factional militias dominate Baghdad.

"Today, we proved that there is no violence among our ranks and the Iraqis are fully in support of the Lebanese people," said Sahib al-Amiry, who heads a branch of Sadr's organization.

Are these people really worth losing American lives over? Are they worth the $400 billion that could have gone to research alternative energy sources or building new nuclear power stations? I think the best thing that could happen would be an all-out war between Shi'ites and Sunnis but it looks like our policies might be bringing these sides together.