Whatever else you might say, Iraqis are quickly figuring out this freedom of speech thing. Muqtada Al-Sadr speaks out against Mr. Rumsfeld with a tone and outspokenness that he never would have survived under Saddam Hussein. Likewise, we have seen the Iraqi equivalent of Joe Six-Pack freely speaking out against all manner of things that, under Saddam, they would have simply endured in silence.
I have to wonder how we would feel about the current situation in Iraq if we had been able to listen for twelve years – or better the last 40 years – to the honest, open statements of the Iraqi Joe Six-Pack living under Saddam Hussein.
aloha
[posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: commentary, iraq, political