Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and to mark the occasion a poll was released outlining the opinions of Iraqis about the "regime change," to use the Bush administration phrase. A mere 39% say that life is better since Saddam Hussein's ouster. 50% say that life is worse. Considering Saddam's brutal tyranny, this is a terrible indictment of the way the transition has been handled and the toll exacted on ordinary citizens.I was one of millions who marched through the streets of cities around the world before this conflict began. We were living in Halifax at the time, and four of our family members took part on what turned out to be a series of very cold march days. I felt a bit foolish, a middle-aged man in the midst of a rather boisterous crowd of mainly university students. At intersections we walked past cars stopped to let the protesters by. It felt as though we were on display as some throwback to the 1960's. Or perhaps the first century.
We are a couple of weeks from Palm/Passion Sunday and the story of another protest march led by a peasant who was in Jerusalem for a religious festival. The expert and heavy hand of the Roman military was "keeping the peace."The empire of Jesus time took note of the procession on that Sunday and quickly silenced and executed him.
I'm angry about has happened in Iraq. I'm angry about the lies. I'm angry that nations which supposedly uphold Christians values and the principles of freedom have brought about such hardship and pain. When will we learn?
Of course we should be deeply concerned about the situation in Iraq. But it doesn't help that the coverage of this poll has been hopelessly one-sided - not to say misleading (Iraq poll coverage).
ReplyDeleteUnless the views of Iraqis are addressed as they really are, not as the unmitigated disaster we feel them to be, the latter view could very well become self-fulfilling.