Bloodshed in the Lands of Little Rains

The societies of the Middle East are probably the first human groups organized in states, with all the advantages and disadvantages that this type of organization offers. In fact, approximately 5,000 years ago they had already been living in organized communities in the Nile River Valley, and the plains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. They were fertile areas with a lot of sunshine but lacking rain and moisture in the soil. However, the presence of three large rivers, allowed to provide water to potentially agricultural lands and develop high productivity crops. To get water to large areas by building dams and digging canals, it was necessary to join the efforts of many communities that had to be coordinated by a central authority. This was the beginning of the Sumerian states of Mesopotamia and Pharaohs of Egypt.

 Once the first states appeared, this social organizational modality was extended and deepened. New states were created that expanded and conquered their neighbors to better exploit their resources and work. They began to develop kingdoms and empires. Periodically the subordinate peoples rebelled and confronted their rulers, and on many occasions they developed their own kingdoms and empires.

Since then the history of the Middle East is a succession of imperial and monarchical states that imposed their rule through war and military force.

At the same time that the states appeared, religions were developed that facilitated the control of the populations without the use of force. The first religions that in many cases emphasized divinities related to land and fertility, often female, were changed by others that glorified war and triumphant aggressiveness. Frequently the state authorities were confused with the religious authorities. The king was the supreme priest. Even the king or emperor was attributed a divine character.

The struggles for power and resources began to use religious arguments. Each society had its own gods or its own interpretations of religious histories and traditions.

To the religions that ascribed a divine or magical character to the elements of nature, there were others that reduced the world and the universe to the power of a single god. This facilitated the control of the minds. Thus arose monotheistic religions that would constitute the religious and spiritual context for many millennia and up to the present.

The wars, the conquests and the oppression continued but it was tried to dress the economic interests, of power and protagónicos, of a religious and spiritual clothes.

 Wars are cruel and always were

 Many methods were used to control the people, but the most common was war and domination by force.

The objective of the war is to cause damage to the enemy to defeat him. This requires, kill, destroy, if possible, annihilate the opposing forces and their main strongholds.

In the 5,000-year history of the Middle East there were hundreds of wars, tens of thousands of battles, hundreds of millions of deaths, innumerable human works destroyed, entire societies eliminated, excluded cultures, mass emigrations, ethnic cleansing, slavery, systematic torture.

Do not consider that the societies of the Middle East are worse than other societies that exist in the world. They are only older, and therefore had more time to develop state expansionism and imperialism, expressed in its many forms.

Nor should we forget that for a long time and on multiple occasions, the societies of the Middle East were victims of expansionism and imperialism of external powers. In the last centuries these aggressions were very frequent. The powers of Western Europe, Czarist and later Soviet Russia, the United States, began to intervene in the Middle East in order to seize their resources. For this they took advantage of the internal dissensions, which already existed for their own benefit. They promoted sectarian struggles, Christians against Muslims, Muslims against Jews, Shiites against Sunnis. The wars of Afghanistan and Iraq in the first decade of the 21st century (which still continue) and the war in Syria, unleashed by the United States and its allies with various excuses, and from the existing contradictions, unleashed forces of hatred and aggression that led to killings and destruction in those countries. To this was added the political and military intervention of Russia that has its own interests in the Middle Eastern region. The external powers injected weapons, more and more deadly, that multiplied death and destruction.

The price is the blood shed by people who can no longer work, relate peacefully or live productive and harmonious lives. There is only death, destruction, emigration.
In short, in the lands of little rain bloodsheds are still going on.
Reproduced from "Lands of Few Rains and Much Blood", D.Antòn, Piriguazù Ediciones