posted on June 8, 2004 04:36:34 AM new
taken from this mornings WSJ
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Iraqi Gratitude
The new government is thanking America and Bush.
Why are the media silent?
Tuesday, June 8, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT
A myth has developed that Iraqis aren't grateful for their liberation from Saddam. So it's worth noting that the leaders of Iraq's new interim government have been explicit and gracious in their thanks, not that you've heard this from the U.S. media.
First in Arabic and then in English, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said in his inaugural address to the Iraqi people last Tuesday that "I would like to record our profound gratitude and appreciation to the U.S.-led international coalition, which has made great sacrifices for the liberation of Iraq."
In his own remarks, President Ghazi al-Yawer said: "Before I end my speech, I would like us to remember our martyrs who fell in defense of freedom and honor, as well as our friends who fell in the battle for the liberation of Iraq."
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the U.N. Security Council much the same thing last Thursday: "We Iraqis are grateful to the coalition who helped liberate us from the persecution of Saddam Hussein's regime. We thank President Bush and Prime Minister Blair for their dedication and commitment."
posted on June 8, 2004 07:34:23 AM new
And perhaps they were also sick of Saddam's rule.
If a conservative gives a liberal a cold glass of reality, they will pour it out and fill it with oil. Then ask why you offered the oil to them.
In Christ,
Rick
Genesis 1:1
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I do not accept His claim to be God." That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic....or else he would be the devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
C.S. Lewis: "Mere Christianity"
posted on June 8, 2004 08:01:15 AM new
There is no question that the Iraqi people are happy to be rid of Saddam but they are also anxious for the oppotunity to start dealing with the affaris of their country and for the american soldiers to leave. It's hard to feel free when their are armed invaders patroling your streets.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on June 8, 2004 08:27:48 AM new
I did read about the thanks that were given and it was on several different news sites. But it's not so much what the leaders think, it's what the people think and that's true of any country.
Christopher Allbritton, former AP and NY Daily News reporter who also writes for Time Magazine and others went to Iraq in 2002 and now lives in Baghdad and reports on life as he experiences it there.
"The Iraqis will naturally hate an occupying army. And soldiers will naturally grow to hate a people they think they came to liberate but who continue trying to kill them."
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"I wish I could see more of the goodness in Iraqis that I know is there. And likewise, I wish they could see the goodness in Americans. But people here, the Iraqis, the CPA, the military and even some journalists have become blinded to each other's concerns and qualities. Those of us here, all of us, we're not all bad people, I don't believe. And I say we, because no matter our nationality, this place hammers us into a collective body. The Iraqi selling me delicious juice concoctions, the American soldiers at the checkpoints missing his wife, the employee who truly believed the Bush rhetoric, we are all in this together now."
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"I write this not as a plea for pity or understanding. I don't understand this country myself, so that may be impossible. And I know I have written things that will anger people: I am ashamed of many of the emotions I feel these days. But I care about the truth as best as I can see and tell it. I once believed that telling the truth, or a small part of it, could help the world. It could help people understand things better and thus make the world better. But this war defies comprehension. It's so stupid and there seems to be no point to anything that happens here. People die on a daily basis in random, terrifying attacks. And for what? Freedom? Stability? Peace? There is none of that here and it's likely there won't be after the Americans leave. Iraq has spiraled into a dark place, much worse than where it was a year ago during the war. There is no freedom from the fear that is stoked by mutual hatred, cynicism and an apprehension about the future. So what if one side has superior firepower? Every bullet fired helps kill souls on both sides of this war, whether it hits flesh or lands harmlessly.
We, Iraqis and the Americans here, are caged by fear, and we are all conquered people now."
posted on June 8, 2004 08:50:16 AM new
We keep seeing media focus on jerks like Sean Penn making a fool of himself and bad-mouthing his country. You never hear of the MANY celebs who put their butts on the line in support of the guys over there and the time and energies they devote.
I saw an interview with Gary Sinese. He co-heads an organization operationiraqichildren.org. He has been to Iraq many times and saw the tremendous efforts to get old schools fixed and new ones built. The problem was the buildings were new but didn't have any supplies. He had supplies flown in and hooked up with others to make it continue.
Quite a bit more difference than Penn's mouth ever made.
