Half way through this post , my ranting ends and the real reporting begins.
Never mind that we got rid of a madman of a dictator. Never mind that we are trying to help them rebuild their country. Forget that he had broken the UN treaties put in place. Oh, and who cares that he had us shot at 1500 times and murdered and terrorized thousands of his own people before we invaded.
I know that conditions in Iraq have been terrible as it is always the case with a war, as well as when people have to manage new found freedom. But I have hope for Iraq and for her people; however, we need to finish our job by helping them stabilize their country. This is not somethings that happens quickly. Don't get me wrong--I wish more than ever that we wouldn't have to be involved in any war--but we are. To leave them in dire conditions would be a grave mistake. Germany was left in a quandary post WWI. Has history taught us nothing?
I asked Alexandra, my Polish friend and landlord's wife, to tell me what it was really like growing in a communist country. She said that she had to be honest with me and said that she was happy. She had what she needed and she was content. If she needed health care or dental work, it was free. The part of her life she like the least was that she couldn't earn more money if she worked harder, and thus could not improve her station in life. The more we talked the more she revealed about the downside to communism. For example, religious family members had to worship in secret because they could loose their jobs if they went to church. Buying a car was practically impossible. She never drove a car until she moved to Germany five years ago (she is 50 now). I asked her if she would go back now that she has experienced freedom. Her answer was a resounding no.
Freedom is a peculiar thing. Once you have it, you don't want to lose it and you wish for others to have it. People who don't have it, sometimes can't understand it until they have experienced it in the best form possible. I have loosely observed that societies that are suddenly given freedom don't know what to do with it and a power vacuum is created. If that power vacuum is not filled properly, then criminal elements take over and chaos is likely to ensue. I also think that it can be difficult for the individual to adjust the new responsibilities that this new found freedom affords. It's a struggle to survive for some.
If Iraq can become a stable nation on her own, I believe the majority of the people will look back and appreciate the new freedoms they have.
Now to the whole reason I am posting today. A friend of ours who is deployed to Iraq, published an interesting post on his family blog. It's a positive perspective and gives me hope for the future of Iraq--no matter what the media tells us.
When I read his post, I was relieved to hear another side. I hope that you too, can see another point of view, regardless of your feelings on the war.
Straight from an Iraqi's mouth...
While stationed here in Iraq, we had an amazing opportunity to transport the Iraqi Deputy Defense Minister in our C130. Our best guess is that this is basically equivalent to the Undersecretary of Defense in the states. Although we had to sensor ourselves a little, we did get to ask him some questions about his feelings on the war, current conditions, and future plans.
First of all, the Minister was extremely grateful that Saddam was taken out. He said he met Saddam on a few occasions, and described him as an "F$%*ing A$$ hole" (excuse the bad language.) He assured us that collectively, the Iraqis are very happy he is gone, and even though things are bad, they still prefer this over his rule. Freedom, obviously, has been difficult for them to figure out, but the Minister seemed extremely optimistic that the problems will be resolved in time.
Currently, he also talked about how much progress has been made, especially over the past year with the surge and with the continued improvement to Iraqi military and police forces. Apparently, part of his job is to report to the Prime Minister about the number of violent attacks, terrorist beheadings, kidnappings and other such incidences on a daily basis. A little over a year ago he said that a normal day consisted of around 150 such events. Now, they are around 1 to 3, and sometimes none at all. He also used to travel with extremely high security details of at least 10 body guards. Now, he said, he recently walked the streets of Bagdad with an American Colonel unescorted, something that would have been suicide only a few short months ago.
As for the future, he acknowledges the fact that there's a lot of room for improvement, and interestingly enough, he thoroughly disagrees with Obamas timetable and doesn't believe 18 months is even remotely possible considering how much equipment and personnel are in the country. Furthermore, the fear that some groups have (such as the northern Kurds) that civil war will break out is only amplified when Americans start talking about abandoning their country. The Iraqi's do want independence, but they also need us their to make the transition possible.
Another interesting point he made: most of the terrorist attacks happening are not from Iraqi's but rather from Iranians - and for an interesting reason. They aren't killing us (and by "us" I mean American soldiers and Iraqi citizens) for some ideological hatred (although I'm sure that's part of it), but rather because unrest in Iraq means that Americans attention will not turn towards Iran. According to him, the Iranians fear we will invade Iran next, so keeping Iraq unstable will make that impossible - or at least delay it.
The point of all of this, however, is because I fear that Obama and his Liberal pals will take credit for the sacrifices and efforts made by American soldiers and, most importantly, President Bush and the Republican party. These changes have not been made quickly, and certainly not within the last 6 weeks. To give ANY credit to Obama would be as ridiculous as to blame Bush for 9/11. Unfortunately, I believe Obama understands this, and it's no surprise that he's already extended his timetable for us to leave - he knows that the current plan IS working, and changing it would be a mistake. If he just continues with the same program, he'll steal the credit and Bush will only look like the man "who got us into this mess" instead of the man who pulled us through it.
Brock
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing, and I thought it was nice to hear an insiders views instead of the media. The media seems to twist the news so much, it is hard to tell what it truth. Thank you.
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