Listening To Muslims

Instead perhaps of listening to George Bush or Michael Moore, we might be better served to listen to Muslims...

NPR had a great little radio segment today reporting on the hand over of sovereignty a few days early. First they spoke with the US military commanders who felt it was a wise strategic move to avoid spectatular attacks by Al Zarqawi and crew on the actual turnover date. A smart PR move to steal some positive headlines before any acts of terror could grab negative headlines (which are generally more popular and more widely reported).

In the second part, they spoke to a couple of Iraqi's who were happy to be symbolically and practically in control of their own country. One man wisely said, Iraqi's have been around for 8000 years. One year under occupation is not such a big deal. He was happy to be out from under it.

The third part intervied a couple of folks in Pakistan. One Pakistani computer programmer pointed out that there were two forces fighting in Iraq: the Jihadi's and the Americans. Who did she prefer to win? The Jihadi's.

There is something very smart about her statement that seems to be forgotten or unknown by most Americans - the definition of who is fighting. Notice how she refers to the sides - it's not America vs. Iraqi's but rather America vs. Jihadi's. The difference is of course, Jihadi's are religious fighters, foreign fighters from all around the Muslim world and led by Zarqawi, a Jordanian pretending to be fighting a Civil War. There is no Civil War. There is no widespread Iraqi resistance. The fighters are old Baathists trying to regrab power and foreign fighters disinterested in a stable Iraq. This is where the money and manpower and ideology comes from.

Regular Joe Iraqi's, while not fans of Bush, or of the occupation, I think are less fans of foreign fighters and Jihadi's. And that's why there training to become policemen and opening businesses, instead of fighting the occupation which no longer exists.

There seems to be more intellectual resistence to the American presense in Iraq from outside Iraq than within Iraq.