Daily Lessons from Life 23 July 2012 - 91 killed in Iraq's deadliest day in two years

"91 killed in Iraq's deadliest day in two years - AFP Jul 23, 2012

BAGHDAD - A wave of attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital killed 91 people in Iraq's deadliest day in more than two years after Al-Qaeda warned it would mount new attacks and sought to retake territory.


Officials said at least 172 people were wounded as a result of 21 different attacks mounted in 13 cities, shattering a relative calm which held in the lead-up to the start on Saturday of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

An AFP reporter at the scene said a row of houses were completely destroyed, and residents were rummaging through the rubble in search of victims and their belongings.


The latest violence comes after the country suffered a spike in unrest in June when at least 282 people were killed, according to an AFP tally, although government figures said 131 Iraqis died.

Although those figures are markedly lower than during the peak of Iraq's communal bloodshed from 2006 to 2008, attacks remain common.


Al-Qaeda in Iraq is regarded by Iraqi officials as significantly weaker than at the peak of its strength in 2006 and 2007, but it is still capable of launching spectacular mass-casualty attacks."

Why am I highlighting this news? Simple. The Americans and the so-called Allied DID NOT help the Iraq people to find the peace they yawn despite having being there for many years and 'invested' or 'wasted' or 'enriched certain defence industry players' (?) in Iraq!

Lessons for me are:

1. you cannot win a war without winning the hearts of the people who occupied the land you are warring in!;

2. when there are interested parties to keep the wars going it will be very hard to stop wars when weapons are freely available!;

3. ultimately it is up to the people of Iraq to decide what type of country they want. Ultimately they have to find a way to live in peace so that they can focus their energy and effort in creating prosperity or whatever that motivate the majority of the Iraq people. Hopefully it is peace and prosperity.

Will the people of Iraq welcome a Al-Qaeda's state? Probably not. But if the majority of them do. Then the minority just has to accept or leave to countries that are prepared to take them in - by the millions maybe!