A Little More From the blogging Iraqi
I have a feeling that I'll be visiting the blog of Salam Pax fairly regularly. Whether you support the impending war or not, you have to recognize the human equation, and Salam Pax, I believe, is representative of the Iraqi human equation. This little bit, lifted from his comment section, got me to thinking (emphasis mine):
If you ask the people most of them just want to live thru this, no one wants to fight. but don't expect white flags, it will be more locked doors and peeping from holes to see who is walking in the street. everybody is cracking jokes about hiding american flags and drawing little flags with crayons just in case. NO ONE WANTS TO FIGHT, there is no "cause" why die? for whom? really everybody is just concerned with how to stay alive thru the comming madness.
the fedayeen? can't tell, i don't know anyone who is. again i can't see the motivation for them to die for anyone. they know they are going to be canon fodder.
if anyone had answers to all these questions it would be less frightning, you don't know what you should be afraid of.
If there is one single thing the UN should be proud of concerning the whole mess it has created in Iraq (smart sanctions? haha) it is the food distribution network that is supervised by the UN. the coupon cards and how they are checked and distributed is so efficient and well organized the Iraqi governmnent depends on it for proof of where you live and other info. the iraqi governmnet just had to keep a good system running after it was established and they only kept it running because it was an excellent way to keep everything in check. control is the word, and they love it.
there is no rational explanation why we are not leaving baghdad. this is our home and we are NOT going to spend the next 3 months in a tent somewhere or be dragged in or out of "fronts". i can tell you a million reason none of them will make any sense or explain why, but we are staying. leaving the country wasn't even discussed, we did have long talks about going to Karbala or to my father's relatives but after the first gulf war they didn't do much better than the people in baghdad. and staying together as a family (aunts,uncles,friends) was in the end more important, we will need each other.
It's amazing, really. Just 12 years ago, such an intimate glimpse into the world of an average Iraqi would have been almost impossible to imagine. Now, the world can just click a link and see how Pax is doing, and even leave a comment on his blog, and join in discussion. amazing. Simply amazing.
War is hell. Let us hope for a speedy and relatively bloodless one. And let's hope Pax makes it through.
Let's hope.
Posted by Ryan at March 14, 2003 01:46 PM
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