Today was very quiet again in the International Zone. I normally hear more sounds of Baghdad flowing in from across the river. Not today. The curfew has quieted things down a lot. Very little gunfire punctuated the day, which is very unusual.
Tonight I went and worked out at the gym here. My iPod and Tracy Chapman kept me company on the low impact running machine as I pulled a 5K run out of my old bones. Then I hit the weights for a while.
As I was leaving the gym and taking off my earphones, I heard BOOM in the distance. 30 seconds later – BOOM followed by BOOM and another BOOM. I think it was mortars being fired, a highly unusual sound to hear after dark in Baghdad. The land of the two rivers has a troubled soul.
I know that many good people are working for peace here but there are also cunning, ruthless killers working for their own agendas without regard for the human toll. Luckily the good guys have all the best tools. The bad guys have an advantage too though – it’s easy to stir up trouble among people with no jobs, no education and a seemingly bleak future. This is why, as I said earlier, Iraq needs merchants of hope.
Hope is hard to muster when pieces of your city are blown up every day and people around you just disappear. The Iraqi government needs to weed out the thugs, but how do you do that when your nation has a tradition of thugs that predates anyone alive? It’s a big job that will take time, and sadly, more human lives. Iraq needs to take a long hard look at some of its so called leaders and hold them accountable for allowing and tacitly encouraging atrocities. The impression I get is that some of Iraq’s powerful men are negotiating at tables or sermonizing on television about peace while their underlings murder people at their behest.
In the mean time, everyone seems to take pleasure in blaming the coalition for every misdeed and horror Iraq is facing. Sometimes I wonder if maybe we should just plop Saddam back into one of his palaces and leave. That’s a juvenile fantasy of course. Staying the course is our only choice. An Iraq governed by all Iraqis is the only outcome that fits the 21st century.