I have heard a few things from the Iraqis here that I sure found interesting over the past few weeks. I have listed the paraphrasing of these statements here merely to get an anecdotal perspective. I do not necessarily think they are representative of all Iraqis, but I have heard each one often enough from different people (many non-military) that I think they may not be rare attitudes. (I in no way endorse or support these attitudes by posting them here. I merely put them here to offer the perspective of a different culture.)
On the trial of Saddam Hussein:
-Just execute him already. Everyone knows he is guilty. Why are we keeping him alive for this unnecessary trial? The insurgency will be greatly reduced once he is dead. We should handle him like the Romanians handled Nikolai Ceausescu.
On the secret Ministry of the Interior detention facility where several detainees showed marks from being tortured:
-What is the big deal? That place was not nearly as bad as what happened under Saddam.
On the kidnapping of 4 western activists from the Christian Peacemaker Teams organization:
-They went to meet with Harith al Dhari at the Mother of All Battles Mosque and did not bring bodyguards or some other form of protection? They were asking for it.
I have to agree with their assessment of the Chriatian Peacemaker Teams, if thay had been so intent on pushing for peace in that area why were they not there when Saddam was killing millions of his own people? Seems that they received exactly what they were looking for, 15 minutes of fame for their terrorists.
I wonder if they are related to your previous poster Christians For Cheap Oil?
Posted by: David | December 05, 2005 at 05:06 PM
Imagine that, so practical and common sense.
Posted by: Laurie | December 05, 2005 at 06:01 PM
The Iraqis can be very blunt and pragmtic when the mood suits them....
Posted by: armynurseboy | December 05, 2005 at 07:33 PM
Yes, I should have put a wink after my comment. I was being rather facetious.
Posted by: Laurie | December 05, 2005 at 07:58 PM
Yeah. My thoughts exactly! It's nice to talk to pragmatic people.
Posted by: Alison | December 05, 2005 at 10:09 PM
Simple and direct..just the way I like it!
Posted by: Pamela | December 06, 2005 at 01:30 AM
Regarding the Saddam trial I would think it´s a pretty good idea not to start off a new democracy with a lynching.
They could change the judge in the trial though. Saddam is stepping all over this one.
Posted by: apa666 | December 06, 2005 at 02:28 AM
Gotta love blunt and direct! Thanks Major K, hope all is well with you...you are in my prayers.
Posted by: Gypsy | December 06, 2005 at 05:18 AM
And what they say is wrong somehow? I think I posted something close about the "Peace Activists" this past week. As for the others makes sense to me.
Posted by: toni | December 06, 2005 at 06:00 AM
The Iraqis are quite blithe about horror and suffering, as they have had enough experience to either tolerate oppression or fight and die under it.
This puts a hole in their soul for sure, but it also makes them a force to be reckoned with once the damage has been repaired and given new purpose.
This vibrancy of character, this ruthlessness of design, is lacking in America in most parts. But what we have that the Iraqis almost never had before, was stability. And we have kept our stability without destroying American ingenuity, but we have lost the Arts and Literature. Iraq is still such a chaotic place, that their Arts and Literature speak truer of the human soul.
Posted by: Ymarsakar | December 07, 2005 at 05:50 PM
I don't think that westerners can appreciate the level of posturing/theatrics that are a requirement of being an Arab man. Watch a couple of them talk and you'd think they were fighting. Fun stuff.
Posted by: The Fastest Squirrel | December 07, 2005 at 09:41 PM
direct and to the point.I appreciate that.Pamela you were right about the judge they have over this case now,he needs to be dumped pronto.He's an incompetent boob.
Posted by: Lisa Gilliam | December 09, 2005 at 12:56 AM