April 11, 2004

CYCLE

In Albany, Ga., barber Marty Ford keeps the television in his shop tuned to Fox news so customers can get the latest from Iraq.

"Time," is a word he emphasizes.

"It's only been a year. We got rid of that government and things are on the mend. It just takes time," said Ford, 46.

I spoke Friday out of frustration. I'm still frustrated. I read all the reactions here about what we should do, and I feel every one of those reactions every day. My emotions are on a cycle, but my resolve is stalwart; we will see this through and we will succeed.

Florian quotes Riverbend, not one of the Iraqi blogs I read. No common ground. In response, I quote Healing Iraq:

It is the most foolish and selfish thing to say "pull the troops out", or "replace them with the UN or NATO". Someone has to see us through this mess to the end. Only a deluded utopian (or an idiot peace activist) would believe that Iraqis would all cosily sit down and settle down their endless disputes without AK-47's, RPG's, or mortars in the event of coalition troops abandoning Iraq. Please please don't get me wrong, I am not in the least saying that I enjoy being occupied by a foreign force, I am not a dreamer who believes that the USA is here for altruistic reasons, I am not saying that I am happy with what my bleeding country is going through, believe me when I say it tears my heart every day to witness all the bloodshed, it pains me immensely to see that we have no leaders whomsoever with the interest and well-being of Iraq as their primary goal, it kills me to see how blind and ignorant we have all become. Iraqis are dying inside every day, and we are committing suicide over and over and over. Some people call me a traitor or a collaborator for all the above and for speaking the truth as opposed to rhetorical, fiery speeches which have been our downfall.

Zeyad too is going through the cycle of reactions. No one wants to see people dead, but war is sometimes the only avenue to peace.

My instincts tell me that.


MORE TO GROK:

Re-reading what I wrote back in November helps too.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:53 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 388 words, total size 3 kb.

1 Didn't we bring your archives across? Uh, evidently not. Would you like to?

Posted by: Pixy Misa at April 11, 2004 05:36 PM (+S1Ft)

2 I know what you mean. While driving up to my parents' house on Saturday I was in tears and really down. Now it's Monday morning and I'm feeling better. Partly it's from time spent with my newphew, partly from getting better info about what's going on where Nerdstar is, and a lot of it has to do with her encouraging words.

Posted by: beth at April 12, 2004 01:49 PM (qyrnu)

3 Sarah, if you don't read Riverbend, how do you know you have no common ground? How can you quote someone "in response" to what you haven't read? It so happens that Riverbend's words from Iraq are not so different from the response you cited. She doesn't say "pull the troops out tomorrow" kind of things. And even the Healing I. that you cite charges that the US is in Iraq for its own benefit, not Iraq's. Is this your position, then? In terms of common ground, you and Riverbend are both young women with loved ones under threat in Iraq, as I said before. You both have personal reason to care what happens. That's a starting point right there, isn't it?

Posted by: florian at April 13, 2004 09:55 AM (v5x9Y)

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