Free Iraqi opines that Iraqis are still thinking like Saddam:
The main problem is us, Iraqis whether we’re She’at, Sunni or Kurds. And the problem is also the American administration’s ignorance on many of the facts on the ground with the exception of the American embassy and namely Khalil Zada who I think is doing a great job, but unfortunately it seems like most of the influence is still in the hands of the military and some people in the white house who seem to still think that Sunnis are the enemy.
But I don’t want Iraqis and Americans to blame each other, as that’s not productive at all. Americans have been doing us a HUGE favor and we need each other and we need to trust each other and part of our cooperation is to tell each other when we’re wrong, and I believe some Americans are not seeing what’s happening in Iraq very clearly and many decisions were made based on this blurred vision.
I think we should all look at ourselves first and for me I think the major problem is that Saddam’s mentality is still running this country through people like Sadr, Al-Hakeem, Adnan Al-Dulaimi and Barzani. It’s those people who keep inflaming those already existing divisions for their own benifit, as they represnt nothing but ethnic and sectarian hatred and they feed this fear and hatred among their people so that they vote for them. We Iraqis need to see that and then Americans need to see that too. The solution is certainly not even visible now but I think it helps a lot to identify the problem first.
Read the whole thing. It’s worth your time. Especially if you’re in Iraq right now.