Chasing Shadows! A DreamWritten by Arthur Zulu
I feel earth under my feet shake, and explosions deafen my ears. Day change to night as thick dark smoke obscures visibility for hours. And I begin to see death with my naked eyes. But after all shootings and bombings, smoke clears at last. And we expect to see seven dead devils: Hatred, Oppression, Frustration, Injustice, Mistrust, Fear, and Enmity. But there they are—laughing and falling over themselves. And kings, Sunrise and Sunset, are full of wonderment. What sight is this? they ask. Did not winged-man in white say to wipe out these devils? Or are these not weapons that destroy spirits? What are they to do now with all their bombs, missiles, and bullets expended? When seven spirits finish their laughters and free falls, Hatred, their leader, comes to address kings. First, he says that kings have used wrong weapons. For neither guns nor bombs can kill seven deadly spirits. Second, he tells them that these seven deadly spirits that they are trying to destroy live in their various lands. And they are dangerous parents of Inferno, terrorist. So he wonders why they had spent time and money looking for their son, Inferno, while he is right in their midst. He then turns it into a question- and- answer section, and demands that both kings reply him. "Do you not hate, oppress, and frustrate each other?" he asks. "We do," reply kings. "Do you not cause injustice, and mistrust, and fear each other?" he further asks. "We do," kings answer again. "Are you not in enmity with each other?" is next question by Hatred to two kings. And they answer: "We are." The vexed Hatred, King of seven deadly spirits, now asks, "Do you know meaning of word hypocrisy?" The kings look at each other again in confusion, and I remember my dictionary a second time. As to this question, there is no answer. The questions and answers now end, and Hatred makes a long speech beginning with a question: "Why do you then make war at us with your guns and bombs? You should instead have proceeded to eradicate political, economic, social, religious, health, and environmental problems that are bedeviling world. People are fighting for political freedom, some are sick and hungry, and there is racial and class discrimination, religious strife, including land, sea, and air pollution in your lands.
| | Saddham Hussein: Not Yet UhuruWritten by Arthur Zulu
So Saddham Hussein--the "sadman of Iraq," murderer, and possessor of weapons of mass destruction--is finally caught like a rat. He was hiding in a "spider hole," in a farm near his hometown of Tikrit, not far from one of palatial palaces that he had built for himself by River Tigris. And everyone is raising a high five and slapping each other's back with misguided belief that they have begun to see light at end of tunnel. They say that road to Jerusalem and in fact to world peace, starts from Baghdad. And now that erstwhile leader of "evil regime" has been nabbed, should they not roll out ukulele and begin to celebrate end of terrorism, weapons of mass murder, and mass graves? But no--not yet "uhuru," a East African word for freedom. And not yet eureka. Because worst is still to come. This is message that I am sending out to powers that be with my controversial book, "CHASING SHADOWS!" (A book that reveals terrorists' master plan to finally set world on fire!) So 9/11 may well be a picnic at beach--a tip of iceberg. Because those very factors that cause terrorism--the political, economic, social, religious, health, and environmental problems bedeviling world--are still present, and there has not been any conscious effort to address them. We are, therefore, chasing shadows--fighting effect instead of cause, symptom and not disease. According to American thinker, George Santayana, "those who cannot remember past are condemned to repeat it." The fact is that man is short sighted. Neither Saddham Hussein nor Osama bin Laden, is originator of terrorism. This evil has been around for some 6,000 years, and world conditions have been getting worse with passing of day. Dictators have existed throughout history. From industrialized Europe to impoverished Latin Americas. From "Banana" republics of Asia to "failed states" of Africa. Some have passed on and others have clung on to power for decades. And new ones will emerge. Let us reason this together. Despite fact that criminals such as murderers, rapists, and robbers have been jailed or given death penalty, records show that violence has been on increase. In United States alone, a serious crime is committed on average about every second. That means at end of 6 minutes that it would take you to read this, about 360 persons may have either been robbed, raped, or murdered. Saddening.
|