www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Listen to Iraqis

It would seem that the majority of Iraqis are looking forward to elections but the lack of intelligence on our part and the Iraqi's interim government's push to re-Baathify may do a great deal of damage to their and our hopes. Read a full insider article on the subject.

http://www.meforum.org/article/667

Dan L

Yes, by all means, let's listen to Iraqi's.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

In case someone is not familiar with the Middle East Forum, it is a think tank which promotes strong ties with Isreal and promotes hard-line Isreali policies. Obviously it's not exactly an unbiased source.

Here's more balanced information about Iraq.

http://www.juancole.com/

Jennifer,

I thought you didn't like blogs.

My observation about how to discern biases remains the same. Truth wins out over source every time. When the virtue of the source is in question one should take the word of people who are and have been familiar with the situation over those who have not.

The ME Forum article is very balanced. If one reads it one will note that most of the article is a criticism of the interim government's policies toward the Shia and of our own naivete.

Dan L

Food for thought:

Iraq the Model [iraqthemodel.blogspot.com] - an Iraqi blog. Also contains links to other blogs (most of which are pro-freedom for Iraq).

A weblog by Lance Frizzell, a 2nd L...eam, currently serving in Northern Iraq. [iraq.billhobbs.com] Very interesting and worth reading daily.

How Iraqi�s feel about terrorists. [story.news.yahoo.com]

Iraq the Model has generated some suspicion as its opinions do not reflect those of most Iraqis. There have been allegations that it is a 'front.'
Juan Cole [juancole.com] Iraq the Model

Yes, I have read about the allegations. There is no doubt that the people who blog at Iraq the Model are supporters of the American effort to free Iraq. But this does not mean that what they post should be dismissed. Those who have accused this blog of being a front seem hysterically opposed to the war. I do not lend great credibility to those who are hysterical about anything.

Juan Cole, however, is one of the better left-leaning blogs. As usual, it is best to read all viewpoints (Iraqi, American, conservative, liberal, pro-war and anti-war) and then judge for yourself. Those who don�t like �Iraq the Model� can follow many of the links to other Iraqi blogs and judge for themselves. All of them cannot be fronts and some of them are very positive. As for American blogs, certainly Lance Frizzel�s blog is worth reading; in that it gives an American-on-the-spot diary (he is generally supportive of the effort but refreshingly free from the day to day American politics regarding the war).

I believe that an accurate assessment of the situation is that the Iraqi people want freedom, are thankful that Hussein is gone, and want the terrorists gone so that the Americans can leave and they can build new lives in a more free society. There are both good and bad things going on in Iraq, more good than bad (although if one watched only the American and European media you�d come away believing that only bad things are happening and that America is a pretty evil country).

Democracy is just taking root in Iraq. It will be generation or more before Iraqi society approaches something that we in the West would consider as stable. There is very strong interest in voter registration, which is a good sign for successful elections at the end of the month. [And the anti-American BBC even reported this so it must have some credibility!] And yes, the elections will probably be marred by violence by the Islamists, who oppose freedom and democracy. But so was our own election of 1864, in which the people in the South did not participate because of the War.

Ok, Jennifer, I succumb to your superior knowledge of the subject. I can see now that most Iraqi's really would love to have a dictator again, with justification hate America and all Republicans and most Democrats, and want nothing more than to have hundreds of thousands of their countrymen butchered. I also surrender to your superior knowledge of blogs. According to your wisdom all blogs are bad except for the ones that you prefer. Please forgive me for ever doubting your unresearched opinions.

Dan Lauffer

Dan, you always throw these little hissy fits. I said no such thing but this bizarre interpretation of what I've written is consistent with the sources you often cite here. A lot of hyperbole. The blame game. Sarcasm. <yawn>

Yawn to you as well. Time to go to bed.

Dan L