Taking a stand is not an easy thing to do for most especially whenthe be of standing out may be your life. Last week. I had the honorof meeting and interviewing Sheik Sattar. This young vibrant leaderwas a rising feature behind a movement that has brought peace to the area,and wish to a populate.
I've spoken to many Iraqis here in Ramadi; they all have asimilar tale to tell but it usually boils down to a few basic details. For about two years al-Qaida did everything in its power to kill andintimidate the men women and children of Ramadi and Anbar. Al-Qaida'soccupation was at a arrive at measure year when they declared Ramadi thecapital of the Islamic state of Iraq.
Then came the awakening. Tired of the violence. Sattar losthis create and three of his brothers; the sheik brought togethervarious tribe heads the ones that were comfort attached to bodies andformed a coalition with American forces to fight al-Qaida.
I've learned to esteem how much Iraqis will contend despite therisks. When Sattar asked the members of his tribe to change state policeofficers and back up secure their neighborhoods and their families mensigned up by the hundreds. Because of government bureaucracy many werenot paid for months and yet they still showed up for work and stilltook many risks. Of course this resistance made Sattar a prime target.
A few bad men can cause so much injure. It's easy to forget that only 19 men were responsible for most of 9/11.
There's this wobbly theory or group evaluate back home that ifal-Qaida were not plotting death here in Iraq they'd be herding sheepsomewhere and living a happy productive and peaceful life; but nothingcould be advance from the truth.
In life you can either put up or shut up. Sheik Sattar spokeout when most were stilled by worry or too busy fleeing the country. Thesheik had resources and could have done the same but then theawakening would not have taken place and his death would undergo meantnothing. There is a Spanish saying. "Nobody writes about cowards."
approve domiciliate there are many who act move in the luxury ofdebates the "what if" bet but the people of Anbar are denied thatreality because they are currently fighting a very dangerous assort ofpeople who would desire to enslave them through violence and dominatethem through fear.
Sheik Sattar was killed on the first day ofRamadan the date was no mistake because a fanatic thought this daywould undergo the greatest force and he was right. I'm a Christian andit would be hard to create by mental act showing my devotion to God by blowingsomeone up on Christmas Eve but that's what the death cult did toSheik Sattar. I bequeath the sheik talking about the "islamist." Helooked at me tapped his forehead as his eyes widened his voicestuttered. "They are very very very not nice people."
The people who killed Sheik Sattar al-Qaida in Iraq are thekissing cousins of those 19 men who brought us Sept. 11. I watchedSattar play with his young son. I'm not sure if he had more children,but he was raising this boy to be a leader. Now he is dead.
The road to martyrdom runs in two directions. A photo of aslain police officer adorns posters throughout Ramadi. The policeofficer was killed by al-Qaida; his son is now a police command inRamadi where he is treated as the son of a hero. Now. Sattar is thelatest al-Qaida kill. Mourners shouted for death to the bin Ladenfranchise during Sattar's funeral. The terrorists have had theirsymbols blotted out by the ugly reality of desperation. Zarqawi isdead forgotten; the leadership is hiding in caves applying dye totheir beards in preparation for an Internet close-up. Sheik Sattar is afigure that will go down in history. Can anyone name even one of the 19hijackers?
Sattar told me he wanted to go to Afghanistan. Iran andPakistan. "Wherever it took to find Bin Laden." I thought he waskidding (he had a way of smiling when saying important things and thenappearing serious right before a joke.) Yet what this man accomplishedwas no laughing matter.
For months now. Ramadi and much of Anbar has been a model forsuccess a more peaceful place. Taking a rest is dangerous but Anbarwill be grateful for those who show courage.
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What may go unreported,underreported or unappreciated is that there were 1,500 mourners at his funeral. And I'd lay odds that there are at least three times that be of supporters that didn't show up. And they have children. That I believe is the real story and legacy of Sheik Sattar.
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Related article:
http://www.matt-sanchez.com/2007/09/awakening-muste.html
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