We all know about the bad news from Baghdad and various locales. But rarely do we see or hear about the flip side.
There are two Iraqs at the moment, both equally real and consequential. The Iraq of never-ending strife–the insurgency, terrorism, crime and all-too-slow reconstruction makes for interesting news stories and exciting footage. The Iraq of steady recovery, returning normalcy and a dash of hope rarely does.
Read the article in its entirety.
Could that be because the flip side barely exists? Of course people are trying to do good things over there. We humans have a way of making the best of a bad situation.
Even bad situations don’t last forever.
Despite the Islamist/terrorist insurgency, a good number of Iraqis are hoping for and working toward the best.
There is a flip side, and it does exist. The media, by and large, chooses to ignore it, as the conflicts outweigh the rebuilding efforts in terms of impact.
History has shown that free nations forged from totalitarian regimes take years to arrive to a point of stability and peace. Iraq is no exception.
There is no history of this happening in the Middle East, except for Isreal. I’m not so hopeful. I can see the Iraqis, out of traditonalism and just going with what they know, electing a Shiite theocracy. Question is, will we stop nosing around over there if that is what government the people democratically elect, or are we going to waste more taxpayer money by saying “nope, guys, that’s not what we wanted you to do.” The “America knows best” attitude just doesn’t site well with me, and I know about a half a dozen people who have spent an extended amount of time on the front and in the rear that will attest that the bad far outweighs the good. Theocracies have been running the Middle East for thousands of years, and I don’t expect that to change any time soon, and definitely not peacefully. Enter the insurgency and the Iraqi distrust of coalition officials, in addition to Allawi himself. Are they grateful Saddam is gone? Of course. Are they grateful that two outside, overwhelming forces are telling them how to run their country. I doubt it. Neither you nor I would either. It’s human nature to reject unsolicited advice. We both know that.
Read this. With that, don’t think I want to change your mind, just not to be dismissed as fringe or crazy somehow and to give you and your readers a basic understanding of the feelings of those who oppose this senseless war.