"Give Iraqis more power"
Well-reasoned and well-written -- a proposal to maintain our necessary temporary military presence in Iraq while at the same time empowering the very people who should be running the country.
Excerpt:
Nassir Al-Salam, 43, had been a lieutenant colonel in Saddam's army. When the war started, he told me, he heard an American radio broadcast telling Iraqi soldiers to surrender if they wanted to help free their country. He looked for the Americans and surrendered. He wanted to join the fight against Saddam, but U.S. forces had other plans. This was America's war, he found out, not his. ...
People like Al-Salam welcomed Saddam's fall. They long to have a free country. Now they should be allowed to defend their nation against those who again would take away their freedom. Inspiration and reassurance about a better future also should have an Iraqi accent, from local leaders who long have dreamed of freedom but now often feel that their views are unwanted or barely considered.
Excerpt:
Nassir Al-Salam, 43, had been a lieutenant colonel in Saddam's army. When the war started, he told me, he heard an American radio broadcast telling Iraqi soldiers to surrender if they wanted to help free their country. He looked for the Americans and surrendered. He wanted to join the fight against Saddam, but U.S. forces had other plans. This was America's war, he found out, not his. ...
People like Al-Salam welcomed Saddam's fall. They long to have a free country. Now they should be allowed to defend their nation against those who again would take away their freedom. Inspiration and reassurance about a better future also should have an Iraqi accent, from local leaders who long have dreamed of freedom but now often feel that their views are unwanted or barely considered.
// 12/17/2003 
