Fighting God's Will...

We were briefed about fatalism as a part of the Iraqi culture before we deployed, and it sounded exactly like the fatalistic aspect of the cultures of other neighboring countries that I have visited over the course of my time in the military.  One of the greatest challenges that we face in training the New Iraqi Army is overcoming that sense of fatalism and replacing it with detailed planning and the use of explicit instructions to subordinates.  Getting a group of Colonels that have been doing things "their way" for the last 20-30 years is always a challenge, but when so much of what we believe to be personal  action and resposibility is attributed to The Almighty, it can be so much the worse.  As an adviser, I have no command authority.  I teach, advise, coach and mentor.  I am not authorized to force my Iraqi counterparts to do anything.  When I do make suggestions, I get one of three outcomes depending on the Iraqi:

1. They blow me off and do it their own way or do nothing at all.
2. They pay me lipservice as to what a great idea that is and then blow me off and do it their own way or nothing at all.
3. They say what a great idea it is or that they will give it a try and execute, doing better than they had previously.

I was explaining this to an Iraqi Major a few weeks ago when he asked me why I had chuckled when a Colonel in the room had answered one of my ideas with "inshallah." - "God Willing."  He asked me if I knew what it meant.  I replied that I did know what it meant both literally and figuratively, and that I hoped I had not offended him.  He stated that he would know whether or not he should be offended when I explained why I chuckled.  I proceeded to explain to him that I knew the expression well, and had seen many people use it as a precursor to passive inactivity.  It is common in the culture here to invoke the name of God frequently in normal conversation, and many people use it as a courteous and social way of invoking God's blessing on their hopes and endeavors. 

I used an example of an instance where I had discussed planning an operation with another Colonel.  He had said that the plan would work "inshallah."  I had told him that I believe that God helps those that help themselves, and that the plan would work if he developed a good plan."  He laughed, but I had made my point. 

I further explained to the Major that many times when encouraged to do something to improve their situation, people have said "inshallah" and done nothing.  They then attributed the lack of improvement to God's will.  I told him that people do the same thing in America, but they don't blame God.  They blame the government, corporations or "the man."   He smiled, telling me that he was not offended and that I understood Iraqis very well.  At this point we both laughed out loud and raise our glasses of tea again.

I try to spend my time focusing on the officers that react in the third way I listed above, so that I can make two steps forward every day.  The officers that react in the first two ways will aways provide for a step back.  Two steps forward, one step back....inshallah.

Comments

[Ruth]

Major K
A whole different culture!
You did give me a chuckle though. I know it must be fustrating. It would be easier to teach children.

[Yankee PaPa]

..At least you haven't lost your sense of humor or tenacity..If you want to use an example in a humorus way..find a copy of "Full Metal Jacket"..Gy/Sgt Hartman.."God..along with a few Marines...."..I watch this film from time to time because I've been there..I laugh myself to tears during boot camp training..but I don't watch the rest..The battle of Que City..Not funny in any sense..I was there also..But R. Lee Ermy just flat cracks me up as he portrays Drill Instuctor Gy/Sgt Hartman..Being a real life Marine Drill Instucter himself in another life.."God Willing"..Semper Fi..

[Edward]

MajK,

You recognize and have described exactly what has stood in the way of progress in that region for the last 1000 years. Yes, it is the passive "blaming" God/Allah for failure or non-improvement that excuses inaction or personal responsibilty.

But your example, and that of all the American forces, plants the seed that truly "God helps those who help themselves." Don't let the weak ones divert or discourage you. The strong ones who learn are worth the candle!

[Don Cox]

Vicar (leaning over gate and looking at a beautiful garden): Isn't it wonderful what we get when God and Man work together?

Gardener: You should have seen it after God had it to himself for a while.

Perhaps if the saying "God helps those who help themselves" could be spread thoughout Iraq, it would improve attitudes.

[eLarson]

I wonder how it would look to them if part of the plan explicitly stated "Then we sit around, do nothing and wait for a miracle".

[JJ]

This reminds me of a book I had to read in college while taking an upper-division class on Middle Eastern Politics. The books is titled "Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Westerners." The professor was Iraqi and I took the class during the Gulf War, which added interesting context to the class.

One of the points made was that Arabs rely heavily on and live according to ideas and beliefs which have little basis in demonstrable truth much more so than Westerners. The point was that Western culture discards faith in the non-demonstrable to its detriment and Arabs rely too heavily on it to theirs.

I can't imagine how frustrating it is to have the job of bridging that gap and getting Iraqis to be more pragmatic.

[alecthemad]

This article recalls a paper called "Spotting the Losers: Seven Signs of Non-Competitive States" which has a discussion of why some countries never seem to be able to get their act together.

I also recall when I took arabic for my language requirement. The professor talked about IBM being important in arabic. It is an IBM society. Not that it is well-organized and runs like a computer. On the contrary, IBM stands for "Inshallah," "bokra," and "malesh"-Arabic for "Allah willing," "tomorrow," and "never mind."

(I could not remember the actual words so I took the last sentence from http://pr.utk.edu/alumnus/spring97/alabroad.html)

[Jon]

Before the fall of the Shah of Iran, the aerospace company I worked for was a key supplier of electronic systems. For part of these activities, we were to be housed in a new laboratory building. Unfortunately the construction schedule fell way behind leaving millions of dollars of sensitive electronics sitting outside waiting the building's completion.

It seems that the builders forgot to include the necessary plumbing.

As explained to me at the time, the Iranians were somewhat adverse to forward planning. This was because planning was seen as an attempt by man to second guess Allah's plans, a heresy.

[Lucy K]

I grew up hearing the phrase "si Dios quiere" as just another everyday expression,even more common than "ojala". In fact, my recollections are of the phrase being used by fairly secular people. If I stopped to think of the literal translation it would've shocked me to realize that every time this phrase was used God was being invoked. The contextual meaning was never anything more than "hopefully".

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