Questions and Answers

I wrote this post in response to few questions asked by one of the readers (he is a blogger too, Peter M)

He asked: "Sooni, what do I tell the liberals that say we should leave? Do the majority of Iraqis hate the Americans and want them out? Are they even aware or grateful of the sacrifices that the soldiers and their families have to endure?"

To answer these questions I need to go through some facts and assessments I hope you will be patient to read to the end.

Iraq consists of 18 provinces, 3 of them only (in the middle and west of Iraq) represent a safe haven for the insurgents (I will tell why), well I don’t think that 3 of 18 is a majority. The question remains who's making the attacks against the Americans and why?

In Saddam's time the Shia and the Kurds were suppressed (they both represent 80% of Iraq population) and most of them see the Americans as liberators, but they started to (blame) the Americans for the current situation in Iraq. The total weakness of the current government and the lack of security and general services made the situation very hard in Iraq and generated a (lack of trust) situation between the people and the government and thus the Americans since the common people still consider both are responsible. But all the (blame) and the (lack of trust) didn’t push the Kurds and the Shia to an armed confrontation with the government or the Americans and they always express there feelings in a peaceful way. And the only groups that don’t submit to this rule are (Muqtada Alsader group) from the Shia and (Ansar Alislam group) from the Kurds who have been violent with the government and the Americans.

Here we come to an important fact that the real responsible of the violence in Iraq are not the Iraqis themselves as (though there is a tangible amount of them have a vital role in it) we all know that Zarqawi is not Iraqi and most of the suicide attacks are executed by Arabs and Muslims coming from outside Iraq and we also know that there are countries funds those terrorists (buying cars, explosives, house renting and paying salaries to the Iraqis that provide the logistic support) and on the top of the list stands Syria who wish's that the delay of the Americans in Iraq will keep her files closed.
Tackling the Americans in Iraq hence the failure of the political process and the democratic model is seems to be the goal of too many powers and countries in the region and outside it and every one of them have his reasons and his means to make it happen.

Back to the Iraqis who have a role in this (battle) they are mostly from the 3 provinces I mentioned earlier and more they are one of these three parts:
People used to work with Saddam's regime like the republican guards and the intelligence.
The Sunni Islamic fanatics that can be easily deceived in the name of Islam's sake.
People who are ready to do anything for the money
The first and the last parts will vanish by time and the cut of the funding but the middle part is what really need a good attention because they are the seeds of terror.

Those who ask for the American withdraw from Iraq are (politically short sighted) because they can't see that Iraq is only step two (after Afghanistan) in the global war against terror and calling for a pull back is a call for ending the operation and a new chance for the terror to grow stronger again, in my opinion it is a (negative thinking) to wait for the terror to hit me again in my hometown and I think the Americans tried that once in the events of 9/11, do you really want to try it again?

Tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed in the terrorist acts but they burst in millions to the polling stations to defend their freedom and because most of them believe it’s the only way to gain the peace back, the freedom that was granted to the Iraqis by the Americans soldiers, and yes the Iraqis are fully aware of what the Americans have done to Iraq and they are really grateful and I wont be surprised if we built a statue for the brave American soldiers who fall in Iraq defending their country and people and Iraq and its people and the whole free world.

I hope what I said will answer your questions Peter.