Democracy in Iraq: Class Discussion

After listening to three Turks and a Spaniard tell their opinions about why the United States' war with Iraq is a disaster, President Bush is crazy, the motivation behind the war is purely economical, and how the states should pull out troops immediately, this is what I said.

Nobody has access to the truth. You see one thing in the Turkish Media, you see another thing in the Spanish Media, I see something else in the American Media. The fact is, unless we see it with our own eyes, we can't determine exactly what is happening. We can't know for sure how many people died today, who started what fight with who, or what the good consequences of the American presence in Iraq are. All media is biased. There is no way of knowing the actual truth.

Democracy is the only way to peace in the Arab world. I am not saying that America should or is even able to transpose our own ideas of democracy and put them onto a people whose culture, religion, and lifestyle is completely different from our own. The fact is, without a democracy, you will end up with another dictator like Saddam Hussein, who kills his own people for the mere fact of their race, or religion. Democracy is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, multi-partisan politics, a free-market economy, safety, governmental protection - democracy means that the person who gets elected doesn't have enough power to screw everything up. Democracy recognizes the basic rights of humankind. Every culture, every people, every country need democracy.

Thousands of more people have died since the beginning of the war in Iraq than were ever killed during Saddam's regime, but I would rather that millions die fighting for democracy than one person die because of somebody else's unlawful dictatorial rule. I would die for democracy, I would kill for democracy.

It may not be pointless to argue over whether or not the American presence is justified in Iraq, but it is much MORE important to discuss "What do we do now?" It's the same thing in Israel; yeah, sure, we can complain all day long about how the UN resolution of 1948 was unlawful and unjust, but you can't send three-four generations of Palestinians who have lived their whole lives as refugees in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan (although technically the "refugees" of Jordan have Jordanian citizenship, making them not real refugees in the true sense of the word) back to Israel; there is a whole country there! It's not a question of kicking out the Israelis anymore, it's a question of, 'Where do we go from here?" or "What do we do now?"

So what do we do now in Iraq? I am not saying that I agree with the way the American occupation is working. I think the structure is not good. In a perfect world, the Americans would be there to protect the people, so the people themselves could form their own NGO's, schools, and ESPECIALLY their own democratic governmental system. Unfortunately, this is impossible with the increasing violence, car bombing, and radification of political thought amongst the general public.

I think the main problem lies with a general misunderstanding on both sides. The Americans can't expect a country to just sprout a flourishing democracy. The non-Iraqi Arabs, and the REST of the world can't expect that the United States will just let country like Iraq alone. I am not saying that the United States has the right to be the world's policeman, but I am definitely saying that without the largest world power's financial, military, and intellectual help, Iraq will inevitably fall into the hands of another Saddam, and then another, and another.

We need to focus on what to do NOW. I think Tony Blair is making a mistake by pulling out troops. I think it's a cunning political move, but it will not be beneficial to the Iraqi's in the long run. I think President Bush was right to have increased the troops in Iraq. I think that it's fairly obvious that if the United States pulls out of Iraq now, it will be a gigantic bloody disaster.

At this point, everybody in the class exploded into accusations, arguments, and lost of Arabic vocabulary I didn't understand.

At one point in the conversation, one of the Turkish girls said that the United States is the cause of all of the problems in the Middle East, and I said, "I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you." She said, "Well, everybody has the right to their own opinion!" I said, "That's the main idea of democracy!" "Then why are you shouting at me?" Because...I'm...stupid," I said, and then burst into tears. That made the class turn into a, "Kate, don't cry!" party, which made me feel even more stupid.

I believe in the reasons that I came to Jordan with all my heart. I know that learning the language, culture, and religion is the ONLY way that real progress can be made towards a peace process. My country is tied up in this part of the world, and this place NEEDS my country's resources and power. If we can't even speak the same language, how can we get anywhere?