Please have a look at this [Feb 12 entry]:http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/2004_02_01_dear_raed_archive.html#107660057407559034 from Salam Pax.
Reading blog entries from Salam Pax brings me a lot closer to the plight of the Iraqi people, something which I don’t feel from leading newspapers and evening news. To politicians: please stop making Iraq a partisan issue. Stop focusing on what was screwed up. Everyone else: Perhaps we can focus on helping the situation? And if you are truly interested in sending a message to the government, lobby for change. Write your congressional representatives. Presidents are elected to follow the will of the people. Honestly, as a citizen, isn’t it a bit strange to put all of your political interest in a presidential election? The government functions day-to-day. The president isn’t a dictator. I can’t say that I identify strongly with either candidate, but it has become clear to me that if I cared about an issue, I need to do more than vote. Actually, I think voting for a presidential candidate is a pretty vague way of indicating how you think government should act. You vote for someone who you think is best for the job, but people are fallible. It seems to me that the things that happen in government happen because people have lobbied for their interests outside of elections.
Anyway. In an effort to be a more informed citizen about Iraq, please do take advantage of what the internet has to offer. Primary sources. News, information, from people who saw it first hand. From mainstream media, it sounds like Iraq is about to erupt in a civil war. Yet, positive things continue to happen there. Both Iraqis and foreigners are working hard to make things better. Bad things have happened, and they need to be resolved, but good things happen too.
Read a milblog or two. Biased as they might be, they are much less filtered than, say, a CNN broadcast. Try [this]:http://www.thegreenside.com/story.asp?ContentID=9136 and [this entry]:http://www.thegreenside.com/story.asp?ContentID=9172 from [The Green Side.]:http://www.thegreenside.com I listed more milblogs and blogs by Iraqis in this [blog entry.]:http://www.wilyness.com/blog/archives/2004/03/17/blogs_from_iraq.php But here’s another one ([Nabil’s blog]:http://nabilsblog.blogspot.com/ ) by a 17-year old in Baghdad. He blogs in Arabic occasionally because his friends complain that they don’t understand the English.
Anyway, I guess I’m just feeling a little political right now, and maybe just a little sick of reading so much negative news. Let’s all pray for some world peace, okay?
Wow, you are sounding a lot like Bill Clinton in his recent sound bytes. He is calling for dialogue and giving reasons for stances and for supporting certain courses of action, as opposed to others. Maybe you should write a memoir, too.