In this season of Iraq assessments, much of the comment in the mainstream media has been from above. Senior Iraqi and American politicians have weighed in with their opinions on the op-ed pages. Think-tank bodies from inside the Beltway who have never been to the country or who, if they have, stayed in the Green Zone and never ventured out without a heavy security detail have also been given the opportunity to pontificate for us. The view missing as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker meet Congress and the news replays the shots of Saddam's statue coming down is the view of ordinary Iraqis. So I thought I would share the comment below.
It is written by my friend Salam Islam (a shorter version is at Post Global). Salam is an Iraqi born in Kurdistan and a Muslim. He would say that we was a human being before he was any of those other labels but he is proud to be an Iraqi Kurd and devoted to his faith. His voice is the voice familiar to me from my reporting there ... I won't say it is the voice of the "ordinary" Iraqi because Salam is an extraordinary man. But his thoughts would be shared by many of his countrymen, even if they could not express them in English. I urge you to give them some thought. More important I would urge the candidates running for President to whom Salam speaks directly to give them some thought. (You can also hear more thoughts from the street here
-- Michael Goldfarb
From the street: An Iraqi's Anniversary Advice to the next Presidentby Salam Islam
In January 2003, as war approached, I wrote an article for an Iraqi opposition newspaper in my hometown of Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. It said that the overthrow of Saddam by the US will not be a wise step. It would be better if the Iraqi people could do it from inside. This did not prevent me feeling happiness when Saddam's statue was torn down on April 9th, 2003. But still, deep inside, I felt sadness that Iraqis were not even able to take down the statue of tyranny. We needed an American soldier to cover the statue's face with the US flag and an American tank to pull it over. We couldn't do it ourselves because we didn't have then a united, trusted leadership who could gather all Iraqis and move them toward change.
Today, five years later we still don't have this leadership. I have been a democracy advocate since the 1990s, working with students and youth in particular, trying to spread awareness of democratic principles so we can raise a generation that believes, acts and participates in building a democratic society in Iraq.
We need to work this way, even if it takes time for the younger generation to mature, because the existing political parties in Iraq have failed at their own internal democratic reforms in this new era. Iraqi political parties are seeing everything from their very selfish, narrow, individual interests. Sometimes, it is the interest of one family, or even one person. They are corrupted and politicians are doing very good business. They will not let free media breathe. They are occupying everything. Inevitably, people's trust in political parties is disappearing.
In this environment, if there is any chance to build democratic institutions, values and practices, it has to be through civil society organizations. These groups are the bridge between politicians and ordinary people. Iraqi civil society is very new yet it has huge potential to act the role of sparking, inspiring, mobilizing and organizing the society towards a real democracy. Iraqi civil society organizations are doing very well in fighting extremist ideas and building the concept of citizenship and coexistence in the mosaic that is Iraqi society.
These anniversary thoughts have come as I finally realize a great dream and visit America. It has opened my eyes to how the war in my country is perceived. Over the last six weeks I met many people from different perspectives and backgrounds and many of them were anti the U.S. presence in Iraq. I totally understand this view and I feel sorry for all the blood and money spent there for the military operations. But the U.S. had no plan for the after-Saddam era. This created a mess and that obligates the U.S. to stay on but with a new strategy starting with: no more military solution.
If the next American president would read my words, I would tell him or her:
Reduce your military forces gradually from Iraq and especially reduce patrolling on the streets in hot spots. Let the Iraqi army take the responsibility and face its own challenges. Train them well and keep an eye on the financial corruption in both sides.Enhance the U.S. political and diplomatic presence in Iraq. It is the only guarantee for my country not to enter the tunnel of civil war. This means pay more attention politically to violations against human rights done by the main Iraqi political parties and Iraqi government. This can be achieved by being more open to all Iraqi political and civil society groups, not only the familiar faces. The familiar faces are losing their credibility because of corruption and the US government is accused of supporting corrupted people.
Have a sincere will towards supporting democracies in Iraq and the region. Focus on that more than seeking after your own financial and strategic interests. People still have faith in your support to help them for more political freedoms and defending human rights, do not lose this trust.
The next president should also work at educating Americans about the society they are trying to help change. Have a plan to make both sides understand each other. Perhaps use your influence to encourage Hollywood to skip over the stereotype picture of Muslims. Even the non-committed person will be provoked if he sees something bad about his culture. We are fragile societies in the Muslim Middle East and this kind of critique drives people crazy. People like Bin Laden use these issues and emotions to lead people towards disasters.
Five years after the overthrow of Saddam, in spite of the violence and bloodshed, a democratic future is still possible for my country. So much in Iraq has changed and much of it has not been for the good. But one thing that hasn't changed is that it would be better for Iraqis to build their country themselves. But we still need your help because building democracy is not easy. We need your help because people have to overcome their fear of day to day life. Violence has touched everyone.
My father in law, a newspaper editor in Mosul, was murdered shortly after the overthrow of Saddam. On the first anniversary of the dictator's statue coming down an American journalist asked my wife was it worth getting rid of Saddam, even if you lost your father? After a while of silent thinking she answered: "Yes, I think it was worth it."
Five years after the democratization process began in Iraq, I stlll say it was worth it but his martyrdom will only have meaning when Iraqis come together, take responsibility, embrace democratic principles, return freedom to Iraqi citizens and build a humane state.
Salam Islam is a grass roots political activist who has lectured on building a democratic society all over Iraq.
Work for Peace
Preemptive war is murder, which carries over into an open season on Iraqis like wild animals in the forest. Democracy means electrical outages and a lack of potable water. The Americans can not cope with Arabs as human beings who bleed and feel sorrow for fallen loved ones.
It occurs to me that now, when the right-wing Republicans are talking about attacking Iran, would be a very good time to hear from Iranians, of all types. Maybe if Bush and McCain can think of the Iranians as people, and not just targets, they will be less inclined to kill them.
I"M not sure the United States has a sincere will and we know that the interests of companies like Halliburton, etc have only financial interests. It seems that they want what we want.... the right to govern themselves.
Americans are the most ignorant and arrogant people in the world about the lives and daily challenges of people outside this country. I look forward to the days when I get old and will be living in another country and can forget the nonsense we think is important in the US. All people care about in this country are stupid TV shows and whether Wal-Mart is having a sale on lawn crap.
Not Duped By Bush
I can only dovetail Salam's point of view with the fact that in Afghanistan, even though we were preparing for a full scale military war, the Taliban fell with providing just American air support to the Northern Alliance. There was a fear of genocide, ethnic cleansing and other mishaps that never took place once Northern Alliance routed the Taliban. Northern Alliance had a lot to lose in terms of external support if they didn't toe the western line and hemmed in their aggression. So they did.
Same could have happened with the Kurds in Iraq. They could have been the proxy force to uproot Saddam. But the military refused this solution. This issue merits a closer look. It begs the question: In conduct of the Iraq war, was the administration in charge of the military or vice versa? If the latter, then we have serious breach in our constitutional framework that needs to be addressed and corrected.
The state of affairs in Afghanistan cannot be viewed in a 7 year term window. From 1980 forward, which is when the Soviets invaded that country, Afghanistan has been in a state of fluctuating crisis.
Although, since the fall of Taliban many improvements have been made, many areas of concern still exist. The country is moving in the right direction albeit not fast enough for many who are watching and assessing the situation there.
I can't imagine anyone arguing for Taliban's continued rule in Afghanistan. So the state of affairs today is a direct result of all the choices that have been since Taliban fell. It is really a topic that is not germane to this post but it definitely merits discussion.
the fact is that pro-israeli neocons planned all this escapes him and on top of that listening to the hearings of Petraus/ ambassador and of the senators'/congressmens' arguments along the line of "Iraqis need to pay for things bec of windfall profits....given the high gas prices and how they are in a surplus and are not spending... .while the US is in debt and US taxpayers shouldn't be footing the bill any more" etc just shows the degree of contempt and blatant racist hatred of the Iraqi people --- hell we don't even care to count the hundreds of thousands killed in this latest genocide and prefer not even to use the more credible estimates of the 650000+ killed -- they're all towel headed, primitives anyway right? who cares
i say this country OWES BIG the complete rebuilding of Iraq given the US military destroyed it and pay reparations to all those affected by this inflicted massacre of choice over lies
how dare you think that THEY should be the ones that pay for the destruction and death the US military has unleashed on that society! that - before the 1990 war on them - was the among the most educated and cultured in the ME? you have heard of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you have you not?
if the chinese came to this country and destroyed your home because our government was not to their liking, (never mind Iraq was NEVER a threat) you would expect them to pay reparations would you not? and what of the families that have lost sons, daughters, mothers and fathers? have you no conscience? how much
I'll always continue believing this natural ignorance comes from an inherent ultra-patriotism/ultra-nationalism. This is the belief instilled in every American, from birth to death, that there can be no greater citizen, no greater country, and no greater way of life than America.
This criminal Bush "administration" has deviously and immorally used patriotic propaganda to manipulate public perception into supporting its illegal aggressions, to strip away the civil liberties and rights of Americans. When someone speaks against these fascist policies, they're labeled unpatrotic.
You want to end this war? Start by consistently showing the American public the daily effects of it on the Iraqi population. Without censure. Show the blown-up bodies. Show the dead and wounded children. Show the grieving families. Anyone who criticizes this as blatantly indecent, should question the decency of what America has forced upon Iraq.
If the American public was truly exposed to the realities of what their government and politicians subject the peoples of other nations to, they would not be so quick to send their sons and daughters off to war, and they would think twice about the decency of their own morals and "Christian values".
The American mainstream media is complicit to this unnecessary war. They have failed both the innocent citizens of America and Iraq.