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Post Info TOPIC: Assignment #15: Gandhi in Iraq
mre


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Assignment #15: Gandhi in Iraq


 
}Imagine you are Mohandas Gandhi and you are alive today in 2008, in the prime of your activism.  You have been asked by activists in Iraq to come to the country to help find a way out of the violence, war, poverty, and despair that is there.  Using the strategies from Gandhis life (and the examples of activists in the Force More Powerful series, determine a plan of action.  Who do you meet?  What do you say?  What do you do?  Who do you organize?  What are your goals?  What are your methods?  How do you know when you are successful?  Brainstorm your answer in a journal entry in Gandhis (your) own words.


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As i have mentioned to Mr. Everett, If I were Gandhi, i wouldn't even atempt to "stop" the war and violence in Iraq. Iraq is ultimatly divided into three religious sects, the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kurds. These three groups are branches of the Muslim faith. The main differences is that the Sunnis(majority of Iraq) follow the succesors of the Phrophet Muhammad and decided by Muhammad. The Shiites believe that Imam Ali and his family should have succeeded the Prophet. and the Kurds are a less religious branch of the Sunnies and they are non-Arabic. They have always fought and they always will fight. No matter what, the violence won't end and they will never be united. This situation is similar to the Isreali and Palistinian conflict. When religion is the main reson for a war, it will very hard to reach a solution/ compromise (as seen in the Isreal/Palestine documentary). In addition to religious conflict there are insurgents, terrorist people that are extremist who kill other in the name of Allah.(or so i have heard). they are the main reason for the American casulties in Iraq. They work maily with road side bombs and car bombs. They are hard to fight beacasue they operate spread out, without any central location to target.

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mre


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sagitta620lyc wrote:

As i have mentioned to Mr. Everett, If I were Gandhi, i wouldn't even atempt to "stop" the war and violence in Iraq. Iraq is ultimatly divided into three religious sects, the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kurds. These three groups are branches of the Muslim faith. The main differences is that the Sunnis(majority of Iraq) follow the succesors of the Phrophet Muhammad and decided by Muhammad. The Shiites believe that Imam Ali and his family should have succeeded the Prophet. and the Kurds are a less religious branch of the Sunnies and they are non-Arabic. They have always fought and they always will fight. No matter what, the violence won't end and they will never be united. This situation is similar to the Isreali and Palistinian conflict. When religion is the main reson for a war, it will very hard to reach a solution/ compromise (as seen in the Isreal/Palestine documentary). In addition to religious conflict there are insurgents, terrorist people that are extremist who kill other in the name of Allah.(or so i have heard). they are the main reason for the American casulties in Iraq. They work maily with road side bombs and car bombs. They are hard to fight beacasue they operate spread out, without any central location to target.



Gandhi did not believe that non-violent direct action was a solution to war.  It is an alternative to war.  Gandhi believed in finding common ground in giving the people of India an alternative to their hate in order to create religious unity.  He also began to address not the symptoms of violence but their causes directly.  This is the reason why he believed that an eye for an eye would leave the world blind.  We simply can't react to violence, nor can we condemn others for weaknesses we all share: we must transcend the old ways. If the Shiites or the Sunnis used peaceful protest against the US occupation, there is no way US forces could stay.  The same can be said for terrorists.  India had their own share of terrorists during Gandhi's day as well.  Mobilizing a nation takes away the support that terrorists need in order to effect policy changes.  You do so by using all of the methods available to all of the movements in Chile, Poland, South Africa, Denmark and more. 

Iraq is not unsolvable.  It is not an impossible struggle.  Conflict is a choice; it is not inevitable in the Middle East or in India or anywhere in the world. 

Of course, it is understandable that many people believe that because nothing has been done in this direction, then perhaps no solution exists.  We have to also admit that in many cases, war isn't meant to be avoide.  It is actively sought and supported.  If we are to think honestly about the power of peace or the power of non-violent direct action, then we must make those who are blind (because of an eye for an eye) see something new.  Gandhi found the solution in India.  We cannot dismiss his accomplishments just because modern issues seem beyond our power. 



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well i would meet the leaders and talk to them about the problem then we would figure out ways to deal with come up with a plan to deal with the other side. i would tell everyone that violence isnt the answer and if that don't work and try to make a peace with them by asking what they want and they need so i can make it better for them. As ganhi i would not fast couse its bad for u to do that, and i would try atleast to make peace with everyone before i try to change anything

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Liliana x]



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If i were Ganhdi in iraq today i would meet with leaders and tryo to come up with a non violent way to solve the war. I would talk to the president of the US. also about pulling troops out of iraq and coming to a non violent agreement.
I would hold speeches and agtherings promoting peace and unity.
 I honestly dont think that this would help at all because the conflict within iraq dates way back and the damage is pretty much done and i dont think there is any way of changing that. i would at least try to find common ground.



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cheyanne mello


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mre wrote:

}Imagine you are Mohandas Gandhi and you are alive today in 2008, in the prime of your activism.  You have been asked by activists in Iraq to come to the country to help find a way out of the violence, war, poverty, and despair that is there.  Using the strategies from Gandhis life (and the examples of activists in the Force More Powerful series, determine a plan of action.  Who do you meet?  What do you say?  What do you do?  Who do you organize?  What are your goals?  What are your methods?  How do you know when you are successful?  Brainstorm your answer in a journal entry in Gandhis (your) own words.


In the shoes of Gandhi, it would be more difficult to do peaceful decisions like he did back in the early 1900's. Nowadays, technology has evolved greatly, and many other countries have no problem using military with big force (threatening with nuclear, air strikes, etc). I believe every country have nuclear weapons, so they can defend their own country from any type of threat. Gandhi in this case although, would probably not get much peace done. A lot of the peaceful ways right now in Iraq that Gandhi would apply would most likely not work due to people of Iraq being very violent. Violent like, bombings, shootings, and other type of violence. Although it may somehow work, but since he is also Muslim and the such, it may help. His reputation would help also. But it is unfortunate that this war in Iraq is about political and the people of Iraq just use religion as a reason to fight, and most of it is political anyway. Iraq is very religious, so Gandhi may be able to help out in that area.

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i would meet american and iraqian leaders. i would talk to them about settling this dispute. also help the figure out ways to come to an arguement. i would organizie both sides to come together peacefully. i would help rebuild the country and help them get back on track!

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I would meet with the Iraqi and American governments to explain my theories of non-violence to them. I would give them examples of how non-violent actions have worked politically in the past (Danish, Polish, Chilean and South African) in addition to my success in India. I would travel across Iraq speaking to others, promoting my ideas. Eventually I would organize a peaceful united group of Iraqis and Americans who want to stop the violence against the different groups of the country. I will know when we achieve peace, that I have been successful.

-- Mohandas Gandhi

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Where were you? I'll repeat the question...what took you so long?


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The first thing I must do is meet with the most respected religious leaders in the country. I must speak with them about the current state of the country and appeal to their humanity. I must remind them that this conflict has gone on for centuries and will continue to do so if they do not start the process of change. I must make them realize that the conflict will pull their families into it. The conflict may one day take the lives of their children. Do they really wish to see their children be forced to kill and risk death for their own intolerance and stubborn ideals? Those are the things I must ask them. If I can convince them to meet each other and discuss peace, then I can move on to the next step.

The next step is to convince them to have their own people meet. All of these people worship Islam. The only thing dividing them is the small differences in the belief of who they should follow. If these leaders agree to try worshipping together, perhaps they can convince others to do the same. The prayers and ceremonies could be ones that each branch has in common. The goal behind this is to remind them of how their religion unites them, not how it divides them.

Peaceful demonstrations of unity would be needed to show the extremists that the people of Islam no longer support their violence. Shi'ite, Sunni, and Kurd would walk together.

The only way to know that the movement has been successful is when the suicide bombings and other violent attacks become rare occurrences or disappear completely, the government is capable of standing on its own feet without foreign occupation or assistance, and we can watch children walk through the marketplaces with their parents without any fear.

-- Mohandas Ghandi

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I will be meeting leaders and interested people of Iraq, and I will suggest that they use non-violence to settle any disputes.  My goals would be to organize people to follow my plan and have it be successful.  It is successful when the violence stops.



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I would meet leaders of Iraq and with there help we could brainstorm ways to settle problems in a non-violent way. One thing I would do like Gandi is elminate different classes and make everyone equal. I would also try to get people together in public places and tell them how to go about being non-violent because you can't just send people out expecting them to know how to behave. Another thing I would do is teach people to ignore U.S. troops because if the troops don't feel threated or aren't in any type of danger, than there is no reason for them to harm anyone. Those are a few things i would to solve problems in Iraq

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I would meet people form both countries and hear their opinions about whats going on. Id explain how the other people feel to each side, and I try to work things out between both sides. Id try to organize peaceful support between people in both countries. My goals are to not necessarily end the war, but to end a lot of the hate and ignorance. Ill be successful when a lot the hatred between both side ends.

 



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If I were in Ghandis sandals todays day in age my journal entry would look like this

 

The war in Iraq is a terrible situation that will indeed be difficult to make it peaceful. But there is a solution, I need to speak to the leaders of both the U.S. as well as Iraq. I will need to convince President Bush that it is time to pull allied troops out of Iraq there is no need for them to be there, nobody is benefiting from it. Iraq will need to find out the life they really want to live, clearly the 3 groups there have problems getting together so they would need to be put into 3 separate parts of the country, but also need to have their own governments. My goal is peace in Iraq, the only time I know itll be occurring is when so many people stop dieing.

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Imagine you are Mohandas Gandhi and you are alive today in 2008, in the prime of your activism.  You have been asked by activists in Iraq to come to the country to help find a way out of the violence, war, poverty, and despair that is there.  Using the strategies from Gandhis life (and the examples of activists in the Force More Powerful series, determine a plan of action.  Who do you meet?  What do you say?  What do you do?  Who do you organize?  What are your goals?  What are your methods?  How do you know when you are successful?  Brainstorm your answer in a journal entry in Gandhis (your) own words.

If I was Ghandi, I would do many different things to try and solve the Iraqi problems.  The main thing I would do however is spiit the country in thirds.  I would do this because Iraq violence occurs due to three sections of the Muslim religion.  The three sections are Northern Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiite.  I would give each these factions a section of land and allow them to govern themselves with help provided when needed.  These sections would make periodic checks to the U.N. 


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mre wrote:

}Imagine you are Mohandas Gandhi and you are alive today in 2008, in the prime of your activism.  You have been asked by activists in Iraq to come to the country to help find a way out of the violence, war, poverty, and despair that is there.  Using the strategies from Gandhis life (and the examples of activists in the Force More Powerful series, determine a plan of action.  Who do you meet?  What do you say?  What do you do?  Who do you organize?  What are your goals?  What are your methods?  How do you know when you are successful?  Brainstorm your answer in a journal entry in Gandhis (your) own words.


If i was Gandhi i would split up all the fueding sides and give them their own land. The Kurds, Sunnis and the Shiites would all be seperated which would probably help stop them all from fighting so much



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mre


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grades updated 3.31.08

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Well if I was Gandhi and I was living in 2008, I would basically be skin and bones.. and dust... 100+ years takes it's toll on a man.

Anyway yea I honestly can't see what I would do if I was seriously Gandhi. Not only is the country divided within itself but with America presence I don't see much that can be done. America leaves and you got a completly torn country, they continue fighting. Even if all violence ceases, then the hate just bubbles up and everyone is walking on eggshells. One wrong step and right back at square one.

ANyway my solution is... ABOSOLUTE GENOCIDE.... if you can't solve a problem then eradicate everything so there isn't a problem at all. Though techincally that is solving the problem

-- Edited by Tyrell at 20:24, 2008-04-01

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If I was Gandi, I would do nothing about Iraq. Only because Iraq is such a different society then India or America. To lead a revolution against Terrorists would be closee to impossible. We would not be fighting the English or a Prejudice American Government, but a country without leaders, without control, without democracy or what we would concider human rights.

Who ever is to fix the problem in Iraq along with other Middle East Countries, You have my blessings.

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Jonathan Carreiro

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