Christians of Iraq
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Christians of Iraq
Contact Links Historical articles Historical pictures Photos of Bombed Churches Home Only this link has access to all News articles
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Outside View: Condoleezza's Folly
by Ken JosephApril 4, 06
UPI Outside View Commentator Baghdad (UPI) Apr 04 - "I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them I'm sure," Condoleezza Rice told the audience at London's esteemed foreign policy institute, Chatham House.I do not know to whom she is referring by the "we," but as one who has been on the ground in Iraq since before the war I think it is high time to begin to first put the blame for Iraq where it clearly belongs. And second, to begin to put together a clear path for success.
Using the word "tactical" implies reference to the military, but I beg to differ. As I write, tears swell up in my eyes at the sight of young men and women giving their lives for the people of Iraq.
As an Assyrian Christian, the indigenous people of Iraq, I have nothing but deep appreciation and love for those very special people. Try as I might, I can never get them out of my mind.
Take the sweet, blonde girl who couldn't have been much over 20, leading a room full of Iraqis as they began to put together the beginnings of a non-profit sector.
Refusing to cover her hair and giving the women in the room equal treatment and standing up to a room full of "thugs," she was brilliant
Shouting them down when they tried to interrupt the meeting or when they demanded that the women sit down. She was brilliant!
I sat in the back of the room with tears rolling down my face as this nameless, young American woman turned the pages of history in newly liberated Iraq and stood up for what was right.
I also recall the exhausted eyes of a dust-covered young man after a long day slumped down in the bus next to me. "Why are you here," I asked.
His face lit up as he said: "Uh, sir, I am here so the Iraqis can have what we have. Just doing my job, sir."
The amazing part of it is that he meant it!
Another man, sitting on a white lawn chair under a tent on what must have been a 100 degree, was one of those special people who had come in on a classified mission before the war. He couldn't talk about the mission, but here he was manning a checkpoint in the center of Baghdad.
These are the true heroes of our day; tens of thousands of our brightest and best, who look at the world with uncomplicated valor. Without minds clouded by ideology, desire for fame and over-educated bias they sympathize and share the burden with the common people and have a faith that believes that all men are equal and that part of the responsibility of freedom is to expand its borders.
Then I turn to another group of people. Once again I cannot forget their eyes. The shifty eyes of the diplomat who when pressed as to why he refused to stand up to the thugs and on the side of take the people said, "Well the Iraqis, you know this is how they live. We have our system, they have theirs. We cannot impose ours on theirs."
Dr. Rice, how dare you even hint that Iraq is in this position because of some "tactical" mistakes of those precious young men and women? Iraq is in the present circumstances because these "simple" uneducated ones who understand more of the human condition, the yearning for freedom and the simplicity of right and wrong were shoved out of the way by the "experts" who systematically dismantled all the good those brave men and women had done.
I was there in the courtroom as an article 32 hearing was held for those who did terrible things at Abu Ghraib Prison. I was also there when my relative lifted up his shirt to show me the cigarette burns and slashes across his body from the same Abu Ghraib prison... under Saddam.
What he and others didn't understand was why the Americans were on trial for what they did at Abu Ghraib, while the Iraqis who tortured for Saddam got away ascot free.
No, Dr. Rice, Iraq is in the state it is today because of the so-called "experts," beginning with your State Department holding a completely different worldview than the rest of us. Is success in Iraq still possible? Yes it is.
What is happening in Iraq is a clash of two worldviews. The first is full of hope that believes in right and wrong and the equality of all men and women to whom God gave freedom; and the tired, old liberal view of relativity that cannot see anything of universal values or the triumph of good over evil.
Iraq can still be saved and can be the success it was meant to be if the United States and the other members of the free world will stop allowing the experts to dip their hands into the long suffering of the Iraqi people.
There is still time. First, replace the "experts" with professionals who will lay down the law and stand up for something instead of giving away the country to thugs.
Second, immediately remove, under threat of withdrawing all aid, all promulgated laws that are undemocratic, starting with the Iraqi Constitution.
This constitution, written much like the Afghanistan Constitution, which includes the chilling words "Islam is the official religion of the people," is the first step.
The original drafters of the Iraqi Constitution voted "There shall be no references to religion or ideology in the Constitution."
They were overruled by the "experts" who handed the Constitution to the thugs. I know, I was there!
Next, seal Iraq's borders, jam all Iranian TV and Radio into the country, launch a democratic TV Station and provide regional autonomy so the Assyrian Christians and other minorities can have a province of their own as provided in the Iraqi Constitution.
Can Iraq be saved? Yes it can!
Condoleezza, you owe us an apology! Clean up your house first. It is not too late!
Ken Joseph Jr. is a columnist and is currently completing a book on Iraq and is asking for individual stories from those who served in Iraq for inclusion in the book. He can be reached at ken@kenjoseph.com. United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.
Source: United Press International
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