April 09, 2003
Invaders or liberators?
Remember how before the war, American opinion was split as to whether the U.S. would be seen by Iraqis as invaders or liberators? Well, it looks like both sides were right. We are invading a Muslim nation, and have killed hundreds if not thousands of civilians. Yet, we have also liberated most of the Iraqi people from Saddam's regime in 21 days. Hopefully, in the long run as well as the short term, the latter will outweigh the former in the eyes of the Iraqi population. It looks like the joy of freedom from Saddam is outweighing dislike for Americans on their soil, for the time being, from what I can tell. The Arab journalists in Iraq seem to be much more upset at the invasion than many of the people being invaded. The Iraqi Minister of Information did not show up for work today, but Arab media outletes seem to be doing their best to fill in for him, and the rest of the disintegrated Ba'ath party system. They are not even covering the celebrations, instead focusing on looting, disorder, and the American tank that shelled the Palestine Hotel. As long as this outpouring of emotion by Iraqis is not redirected in anger at the U.S. due to short-sighted policy decisions, my hope is that positive U.S.-Iraqi relations can be built. In return, this could give us a powerful ally in the region, and powerful agent for encouraging positive, democratic change in the Mideast. I think that Senator Edwards said it best back in February:
Posted by Mike at April 9, 2003 09:02 AM | TrackBack
The world is watching us. They know we are strong, they know we are powerful - now they want to know if we care, not only about our peace and our prosperity, but about theirs. And so I say to every American family: your family is safer in a world where America is looked up to and respected, not in a world where America is hated.