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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JD who wrote (49135)	9/23/2005 12:46:27 AM
From: JD	Respond to of 50167

--------------------------------------------- Hope in Iraq by Ron St. John Spring 2004 issue This whole exercise in helping people, after decades of tyranny, to have more participation in their government and economy is not about the U.S. or our “Western values.” We held a staff meeting shortly after the suicide bombing at the Assassin’s Gate entry into the Green Zone. That blast killed more than 40 Iraqis working with the Coalition. Countless others were injured. I told the staff that they faced a grave risk working with us. They would be viewed as collaborators and targeted by the old regime and other terrorist elements. Their unanimous reply to me was that they were always targets under the old regime, this was nothing new and they saw democracy as worth risking their lives for. As I write this, I’ve been in Iraq for two months. I am working with a dozen young Iraqis in a Baghdad office. They work 10-to-12 hour days because they want to make sure this experiment works. Many have quit higher paying jobs at the Coalition Provisional Authority because they want to work more directly with their fellow citizens. Some have to be ordered to go home and others spend the night in the office. Popping up like mushrooms During my time in Iraq, I have found a vibrant civil society already popping up like mushrooms after a rain. My Iraqi staff and I have met with more than 150 political parties, movements, foundations, and institutes all over the country, and we’ve just begun. I’ve met with ordinary people and opinion leaders in Hillah, Babel, Diwaniya, Kirkuk, and Mosul. I’ve found, at least among the people I’ve met, a strong desire to take back their government. They want democracy and they want a voice in decision-making. But they are impatient and want democracy now. For some, their version of democracy might be a bit skewed. One student at the University of Mosul told me that democracy meant you didn’t have to obey laws that you disagreed with. Not exactly. A commitment to democracy Many people view Arabic and Islamic societies as overwhelmingly oppressive and not adaptable to democracy. I’ve experienced the opposite. My meetings and talks with Iraqis have convinced me that they want to show the world that freedom can flourish in the Middle East. In a conference held in Hillah at the Women’s Rights Center, I saw Shi’ia women, dressed in their black chadors, chant “We Want Power.” These women were among the most oppressed people under the previous regime. Today, they want to play a full part in society and in democracy and want to learn and master the tools necessary to preserve and gain their rights as citizens. I left that meeting with such a rush as I saw women from different organizations embracing and exchanging business cards so they could build broad-based coalitions for human rights. They understand it is their responsibility that Iraq becomes the democracy they desire. Students at the Universities of Baghdad and Mosul have a strong interest in learning about democracy and how they can play a role. Despite both of those institutions’ chancellors’ desire to hinder any attempt to set up a student government, these students were willing to push for a say in campus affairs. In Mosul, the chancellor tried to keep me from speaking to the students. He prevented students from handing out leaflets about the meeting and asked the faculty to schedule examinations during my talk. As a final gesture, moments before he headed to Baghdad, he changed my venue to a locked room. Still, students waited and milled around outside the new lecture hall while I negotiated with the dean of students to open the door. After we were allowed in, the students asked many questions about how to organize a student government, how to have a say in reforming the educational system, and what they could do to make certain the new government was liberal and did not try to oppress and divide people. It was an exhilarating meeting. A tradition of conciliation This whole exercise in helping people, after decades of tyranny, to have more participation in their government and economy is not about the U.S. or our “Western values.” The first code of laws was written 4,000 years ago in Babylon by Hammurabi to bring some order to his kingdom rather than have it ruled by the capricious nature of men who would be rulers after him. There is a long history in Arabic tradition of handling disputes through consultations and consensus building. This proud history has been interrupted in the Arab world by the current despotic rulers who run their countries as private domains. The people in these countries remember old traditions that are democratic and want to put them back into place. They are ready for democracy to which the demonstrations not only in Iraq but in Iran testify. It’s a movement that I believe will sweep the Middle East once the first country readopts the ancient heritage of democratic Islam. For a better world Despite daily attacks by terrorists, democracy will function here because the vast majority of the people want it and will fight for it. They understand that this is their chance to create a government of their choosing. Yes, there is hope in Iraq and it rests in ordinary people. They ultimately will decide how the new government is formed. I met with Al-Sayid Farkad Al-Hussainy Al-Quizwini in his Mosque in Hillah. Al-Quizwini is a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed and one of the most prominent Shi’ia clerics in Hillah. Not only is Al-Quizwini a powerful religious leader, his mere presence evokes power — he must be near 6 and a half feet tall with his large turban. He presides over the Assembly of Shaikhs, Sayids, and Notables for an Independent Iraq with more than one million members in the rural areas of the country. Al-Quizwini told me his dream is that once Iraq is an established democracy, he wants to form a center to spread democratic ideas throughout the region. He says there is no conflict between democracy and the Koran, in fact the Koran embraces the peoples’ rule and the Arabic world quickly will turn away from their current despotic leaders once they see a free and independent Iraq. He sees this as a spark that will set off great changes for the better in the Arabic world.