WHY?

Why Iraq?

The Iraq situation, as a symptomatic example of the Islamic world's view of the human condition, is something that we as Christians and particularly we as Americans cannot and should not try to control. We certainly do not understand their culture or religion, but moreover we do not understand their philosophy about life, their community or family dynamic, nor their individual needs and aspirations. To assume that they desire the western world's values on these items is a gross error. To think that democracy is something that everyone wants is fallacious thinking.

We love our democracy because, as Americans, democracy promotes the conditions for living which most Americans value, i.e. freedom to pursue one's ambitions, opportunity to change ones life if it does not meet expectations. i.e. To have. Whether this is in one's personal life, community environment, or professional activity.

This freedom has not always resulted in the best outcome for everyone, but enough of the population has benefited that it is accepted as the norm, i.e. achieving "The American Dream". A house, a car, two kids and two weeks vacation at the beach in the summer. But the reaching of the American Dream has come at considerable expense in many cases. There are social illness as seen by such things as: the breakdown of nuclear family through divorce and separation, or worse simply dysfunctional households persisting in an illusion of tranquillity, and materialistic values being substituted for intrinsically human values to a point where there is a negative stigma attached to any person that does not have the latest electronic gadget or at least two of everything, whatever it is.

This model for life, which we call the American Dream, is not necessarily the model that people in other parts of the world want. Certainly some want it, but it is a mistake to think that everyone wants it.

For us, our culture says, "never stand when you can sit", "never walk when you can ride", "never wait for the other guy when you have the right of way". There are cultures that still believe that toil and suffering are essential ingredients in life and are actually necessary to gain happiness. There are cultures that still believe "it is better to have less than to want more". There are cultures in which the highest level of joy and satisfaction is in sharing human moments even if they are devoid of creature comforts.

How does this relate to Iraq? Only in this way. Our venture in Iraq was predicated on the belief that the people of Iraq did not want to live under Saddam. The people of Iraq really wanted to have what we in the USA have. The people of Iraq really wanted to dramatically change their lives, their country. Our mistake was to not test these assumptions to see if they were really true. Our continuing mistake is to think that our efforts there will be viewed as helping Iraq, while in fact our presence is viewed as the source of conflict.

In fairness, we did not have a really good way to test that at that time. A public opinion poll taken in Iraq in 2002 would probably have been distorted information. However today, with a constitutional government in Iraq, and the demonstrated will of a large number of people to actually vote in an election, maybe a poll could be taken that would be meaningful.

Maybe the way to resolve the dilemna in the USA about what to do in Iraq would be to ask the Iraqui people what they really want. Maybe the issue of whether to stay in Iraq or not should be a referendum in Iraq where the people give their vote. Stay or leave? We are visitors in Iraq, not people of Iraq. We should only be there if we are welcomed visitors by the population at large, not only be a ruling politic that wants our backing. The referendum should take a high fraction in favor of staying if we are to stay. Maybe more than a 2/3rd majority. If we do not have that status with the population we will never win the conflict.

It is my belief that the violent events in the country are persisting because a large part of the population is either actively supporting the insurgency, or quietly condoning it. Actions speak louder than words. Their actions tell me we really are not wanted. Should we stay someplace where we are not wanted?