Wild, wild, [middle] East

The secular Shia presidential candidate, Ayad Allawi, won a contested election and the results were announced today.  Apparently, many were pleased; hence the celebratory gunfire - Calamity Jane Style - and subsequent falling-bullet calamities.  And, likewise, some were not - hence the non-accidental bombings and the IED blasts which brought a score to our ER tonight, and killed hundreds throughout the country. I will report on the details of this when the dust settles.

You cannot win over here.  The Sunni win, the Shia bomb.  The Shia win the Sunni bomb.  I have no interest in making an opinion as to the rightful heir of the caliphate from the Prophet; I simply do not know the history well enough to gather a guess.  The blood shed after this schism in Islam, however, cannot be within the designs of the Great Prophet.  Likely, this is no different than saying blood shed between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics cannot be part of Jesus' plan to love thy neighbor.  Shit happens.


But celebratory fire?  In the States, this may imply a yule log, or sparklers on the Fourth of July.  Here, well, it is the Wild, Wild East, and we scream and point our AK-47s to the air for jollies.  From the door of the hospital, you could hear the gunfire from outside the wire.  I stayed inside (under the mortar shield).