Friday, April 11, 2003
The End of the Beginning
Well. The last entry was a while, and a few events ago.
From Zaid at Live from Kuwait!, a quote from The Economist which goes right to the heart of things:
I'm afraid most Iraqis fail to see what will be brought about by an american "invasion" correctly. It should be seen as a catalyst for change. We have to do the hard work ourselves, change has to come from within, it is no use to sit and wait for others to solve our problems, and iraq will be ruled by foreigners if iraqis don't take an active part in whatever will happen. The problem is that years of being told what to do has turned us into a bunch fatalists who see whatever happens to us as "maktub" - written by the hand of god, and submit to it, like all good faithfull people should.funfact of the day: when was the last time the iraqi "man-in-the-street" had the right to express an honest and free opinion about the government's policies?
Answer: 1962 - that is forty years ago. I can only hope that our american friends don't forget to bring extra copies of "Democracy for Dummies" and "Make a Decision: it's not as hard as it sounds" books with them.
Zaid comments, “ what I really like about the article is that it reads like a (how iraqis feel today) guide, it's all here the bitterness brought on by years of sanctions and poverty:
The effect of years and years of propaganda (and believe me it works, you will not disscus something that became a "fact" after having it hammered into your head time after time. you don't think. you have learned all the answers by heart without even knowing it)
No, I don't imagine it will be easy for *us fellow Americans* to grasp, much less begin to grok with fullness what is going on in the mind of any Iraqi. It will benefit us greatly to make the effort. NB Date approx.
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