Living with Iraq's violence
This report from an Iraqi member of the BBC staff sums up a lot of the thinking behind why I disagreed with the Iraq war. We have all debated back and forth about the political decisions that were made to trigger this war and whether or not these decisions had any moral authority but when all is said and done and you break things down to the day to day reality of living in Iraq all that becomes immaterial.
The reality is that Saddam Hussein and his sons were morally corrupt tyrants who ruled with an iron fist. Many freedoms were curtailed under the Saddam reign such as freedom of the press or the right to express dissent, and infringements were punished severely. Many ethnic groups were also persecuted by Saddam and his armies. The average Iraqi however could walk the streets in the knowledge that a strict public order was constantly being maintained and while we all like to wish we could do something about all the less fortunate people of the world the human reality is that first and foremost we need to take care of ourselves on a daily basis and this means being able to work, earn money, buy food and move about without the constant threat of physical harm.
While the US has recently made a certain amount of progress in working with the new Iraqi institutions to claw back a certain amount of stability in the region the sad reality is that for the majority of Iraqis death, destruction, grief and loss are an everyday reality that they now have to deal with. The media don't dedicate as much air time to it anymore but car bombs and suicide attacks are still a regular occurrence - imagine life in New York, London, Paris or Dublin if there were suicide attacks and car bombs every couple of days.
As I have already said, the reality of day to day life in Baghdad has nothing to do with playing the blame game...they find themselves in this situation now and have to make the best lives possible for themselves. Supporters of the war will argue that Saddam's reign may have incurred just as many tragic deaths had it been allowed to persist for long enough and who knows maybe it would have but the fact is a society where once it was safe to walk down the street and go to work is now one of the most dangerous places on the planet.
This is not a denial of the progress being made in Iraq, it is just an assessment of reality.
This report from an Iraqi member of the BBC staff sums up a lot of the thinking behind why I disagreed with the Iraq war. We have all debated back and forth about the political decisions that were made to trigger this war and whether or not these decisions had any moral authority but when all is said and done and you break things down to the day to day reality of living in Iraq all that becomes immaterial.
The reality is that Saddam Hussein and his sons were morally corrupt tyrants who ruled with an iron fist. Many freedoms were curtailed under the Saddam reign such as freedom of the press or the right to express dissent, and infringements were punished severely. Many ethnic groups were also persecuted by Saddam and his armies. The average Iraqi however could walk the streets in the knowledge that a strict public order was constantly being maintained and while we all like to wish we could do something about all the less fortunate people of the world the human reality is that first and foremost we need to take care of ourselves on a daily basis and this means being able to work, earn money, buy food and move about without the constant threat of physical harm.
While the US has recently made a certain amount of progress in working with the new Iraqi institutions to claw back a certain amount of stability in the region the sad reality is that for the majority of Iraqis death, destruction, grief and loss are an everyday reality that they now have to deal with. The media don't dedicate as much air time to it anymore but car bombs and suicide attacks are still a regular occurrence - imagine life in New York, London, Paris or Dublin if there were suicide attacks and car bombs every couple of days.
As I have already said, the reality of day to day life in Baghdad has nothing to do with playing the blame game...they find themselves in this situation now and have to make the best lives possible for themselves. Supporters of the war will argue that Saddam's reign may have incurred just as many tragic deaths had it been allowed to persist for long enough and who knows maybe it would have but the fact is a society where once it was safe to walk down the street and go to work is now one of the most dangerous places on the planet.
This is not a denial of the progress being made in Iraq, it is just an assessment of reality.
Last edited by Braddock (2008-08-15 03:27:00)
