The last few days have been eerily quiet here in the Green Zone. An injection of American troops coupled with Operation Swarmer to our north seem to have changed the routines quite drastically. Things are happening behind the scenes too, as negotiations continue on shaping the government. It has been slightly more than three months since the elections in which Iraqis voted in much higher number than we do back home in the U.S. The media continues to try and give the impresssion that Iraq is embroiled in a full scale civil war, doing Iraqis and the coalition a great disservice.
There is nothing like the American Civil War happening in Iraq. Instead, what is happening is that a centuries old conflict between two different brands of Islam, Shia and Sunni, is being reawakened by external and internal agitators. These agitators are people who would not benefit from a stable and prosperous Iraq. Iraqis are not a stupid people though – they can see through the violence and they have things like this to say:
Finally I would like to say to all our friends in the West and America in particular, this: have no fear; the battle is far from being lost. The land of Sumeria, Akad, Babylon, Ur, Nimrod and Ashur will never die. The land where the Old Testament was written and the Aramaic of Jesus Christ was spoken cannot become extinct. The Capital of Harun Al-Rashid and the Arabian nights cannot die. Land of Abraham and the prophets, Mesopotamia is indestructible. Seven thousand years of turbulent history attest to this. Only this land will remain tortured and cannot rest or calm down until it achieves greatness again. This is a germ that has been genetic in this mystic land from the beginning of history. This same history will credit the U.S.A. in years to come to have been the one to arouse this long dormant genie.
There are dedicated people cleaning up the mess. You can help us by supporting our mission, and resigning yourself to the fact that we might need to be here a long time. Good people like Alla are counting on us to stay the course. The lives and futures of 26 million people are at stake here. When you hear the talking heads who are against the war yapping, bear in mind that none of them have any better viable solution to the problems here than the ones already being tried. Throwing up our hands and walking away from something just because it’s messy would send the world a very clear message the we take the easy way out and that we don’t follow through on promises.