and what we did to their country and its citizens. I have kept track of several, and they show in-depth understanding of a country that harmed them so much.
One wrote with relief about the 2006 election and our winning more congressional seats.
Iraqi blogger on US election: "The beginning of the end of a mad era?"I wasn't particularly jubilant earlier today! I didn't even follow the election results as closely as I should have: Bush was adamant to 'stay the course', the Democrats did not have a clear policy on Iraq. Some of them were even advocating the break-up of the country – a recipe for disaster...
But less than an hour ago this evening, and for the first time in more than a year, I listened carefully to what George Bush, the de-facto President of Iraq, had to say! It brought an unfamiliar warmth to my old heart to see that man, who brought so much death and destruction to my country, broken. He couldn't hide that. It was written all over him!
Can an Iraqi hope now? Perhaps a little.
Time for accountability? Dare we hope? Perhaps too soon for that.
The beginning of the end of a mad era? Perhaps too soon for that too.
To Americans I say: to see the man who has done so much damage to your country in that position in that press conference… I only have one word: Congratulations! Your democracy may have many illnesses; you have a long way yet to go… but tonight many of you have shown the rest of the world that It and you are not dead yet.
I got tears when I read that. The intelligence to know that many here were trying. The understanding that we would do what we could.
This next one was amazing to me. It was from 2005, and it had a strange and apt description of our country.
Behind the Image CurtainHe spoke of an iron curtain.
However, in America there is another curtain that is more difficult to demolish… because it is not ‘solid’.
Imagine a huge room full of light and noise, called the United States of America.
People in that room are free to come and go as they please. They are free to talk, to listen, to say yes or no. But they are not totally free to know.
The room is surrounded by huge, white velvet curtains. On those curtains are projected images of what goes on in America and in the rest of the world; a lively, noisy, entertaining world of images.
There are numerous screens projecting on those curtains. The numerous larger ones are all owned by only a few big corporations, and consequently follow the bidding of a handful of individuals. These screens project images of the real world and of reality that does not always reflect that reality truthfully. The images pass through a number of selective filters. There are many other, smaller screens, but few people bother to watch them. They strain the eye, are usually full of unpleasant images and are generally thought to be less reliable.
There also numerous holes in those curtains. Anybody in America is absolutely free to have a peek at the real world through those holes. But not more than 10% of adult Americans actually do: scholars, academics, the inquisitive and the discontented. Some of those choose to or are paid to retain the filters they are accustomed to when having a look. For the bulk of the population, those holes are not even visible from the living room couch.
People are also free to come and go across those curtains. Few people bother. Some of those who do, take little projections of the screens they are used to with them.
Those who venture out without their little screens or filters and have a good look at the real world, come back in disgust and start yelling like madmen… but no one listens to madmen in that bustling room. They, as well as the people on the other side of that image curtain… remain unheard.
Too much trouble for many Americans do find the holes in the curtains and look at the rest of the world as it really is. Beautiful and perceptive image.
Another favorite called Healing Iraq tells us stuff about how prisoners are classified to be let out of prisons there....or not.
Daily news and comments on the situation in post Saddam Iraq by an Iraqi dentistSaturday, December 06, 2008
"I'm not looking at whether they are guilty or innocent," said Air Force Maj. Jeff Ghiglieri, the president of the review board that convened in May. "We're trying to determine as best we can whether they will do bad things if we release them." Minutes later, the panel unanimously voted to detain Farkhan for another six months.
This proceeding is what has amounted to due process for many of the 100,000 prisoners who have passed through the American-run detention system in Iraq. Although the legal controversy over detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has attracted far more attention, 100 times as many prisoners have been held at Camp Bucca and other Iraqi sites with far fewer legal rights and no oversight by the American court system. The Iraqis are not charged with crimes, permitted to see the evidence against them or provided lawyers.
....Let's see whether Mr. Air Force Major's logic will be applied to the Blackwater scum who opened fire on fleeing Iraqi civilians and are being charged with "manslaughter". I would like to see a "review board" of Iraqis giving random sentences to Blackwater guards. I mean, who cares whether they are guilty or innocent.
To see us as others see us would be a great gift indeed. I think of the Bush years and their contempt of others and their arrogance toward human life.
I think the Iraqis show us more understanding that perhaps we deserve for what was done in our name.