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Al Jazeera (English)
    Baghdad Burning Blog (by Riverbend, an Iraqi civilian girl)
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                Imad Khadduri's blog "Free Iraq" (scroll down for English version)

Iraqi Civilian Deaths ... caused by Bush's unprovoked war

 

Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut
We celebrate the dawn of hope for the Iraqi people. We are delighted by the end of any tyranny. The scenes from Iraq are heartening in their depiction of the human love of freedom. It is one of the great days in history, even if it turns out to be only a day. Caution is warranted, even as we celebrate.

Governments are the most inept of all human institutions. While we celebrate the end of Hussein and the happiness of the Iraqi people, we must also keep in mind who it is that will be trying to win the peace and bring freedom to that country—politicians and bureaucrats. Can our political leaders and government servants rise above the inherent natures of their professions, and break the historical cycle of state incompetence? It hasn't worked in Afghanistan, and even if—against the odds—it does work in Iraq, that will not mean that it will also work in Syria, Libya, or Iran—the next targets on the list....
What then are we to make of today's success in Iraq? Winning a war and toppling tyrants is not the same thing as bringing peace and freedom. War is a competition of governments versus governments. In war, a less incompetent state will usually beat a more incompetent one. This proves little in terms of government efficiency. Peace and freedom, on the other hand, present different challenges from war. A government's fall does not ensure the dawn of peace. Where uniformed soldiers of the state lay down their arms, non-uniformed fanatics or disgruntled political gangsters may pick them up to employ as guerrillas....
The prospects for freedom face even greater obstacles. Governments may sometimes secure freedom, but they more often suppress it, even ours. This is our government attempting to do something that is alien to a government's nature. Governments are not about freedom. They are about force. We cannot impose freedom on the Shia, the Sunnis, and the Kurds. These groups must grasp freedom for themselves. And if their reach exceeds their grasp, we may get the blame—no matter how much the Iraqi people are cheering America today.

Finally, we must appreciate why our government proved less incompetent than that of Iraq. Our military and our weapons were better not because Americans are inherently superior to Iraqis, but because our greater freedom has made possible the wealth and technological innovations our government has just displayed on the battlefield. Our politicians created the enemies we now fight. They inspired the terrorism they are now using as an excuse to curtail our freedom. The war we have just fought, and the wars our leaders are promising to start, impose financial costs that will retard our economy and expand our national debt. Our own freedom must inevitably suffer. A broken clock is right twice a day, and sometimes a blind squirrel finds a nut. But if our government brings true freedom to Iraq, it will be against the trend of history, and will provide scant justification for continuing to overthrow tyrants in other countries and risking our freedom at home.

posted by Hal 10:26 AM