Editor:
Dave Uphoff
As Christmas draws near, everyone is busy buying gifts and having parties.
In a religious context it is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and to reflect on his teachings of love towards one another.
However, I fear that we pay only lip service to his teachings. It is my opinion that in a very American way we have
commercialized Christmas to an extent where the real meaning is lost.
The war in Iraq has cast a pall on Christmas. Many young men have lost their lives fighting to bring peace to the
people of Iraq. While many Iraqis appreciate the Americans, many also hate us because they look upon us as invaders.
The reason for this can be due to many reasons. However, I think our arrogance has a lot to do with it. One of the
main reasons we are having a difficult time in Iraq is because we think that everyone is like us. And if they aren't
like us, they should be.
The plan for the war in Iraq was based on a capitalistic model in which the grateful Iraqis will embrace democracy and
the free market system after Saddam Hussein is overthrown. We Americans would come in and set up a democratic,
free market system were everything would fall into place based on the dynamic forces of the law of supply and demand.
That's the way it works here, that's the way it should work in Iraq, right?
How wrong we were! Because we thought everything would fall into place as planned, we failed to provide enough troops
to establish some order and control in the country. I won't dwell on the things we did wrong, because most of it has
already been reported in the news media. The point is that American arrogance has created a lot of the problems we
have in world affairs simply because we assume that what works for us works for everyone else. We don't have enough
respect for other cultures to try to understand what will work for them.
|
No more better example of American arrogance is Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He is being called on to resign
by many of our legislators including Senator John McCain and other Republicans. His defiant attitude towards the press and
anyone else who dares question his motives is well known. Rumsfeld has bungled many things in his handling of the
war in Iraq. Unfortunately, now is not a good time to replace him because it would create too many disruptions
as the elections in Iraq draw closer.
In the spirit of Christmas I suggest that President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld take off their cowboy hats and start
being a little understanding of others. The majority of the Iraqi people are good people. There is an estimated
20,000 insurgents creating all the problems in Iraqi. I would think that the other 20 million people are scared to death and don't
know what to do or who to follow. They are blaming us, rightfully so, for not providing adequate security for
them from the insurgents and their dastardly activities.
We need to let the Iraqi people know that we respect them as people, that we respect their religion and their
culture. We need to let them know that they don't have to be like Americans but that we do want them to like us.
Everyone has noticed how religious most Islamic people appear to be. They engage in prayers at the local Mosque
several times a day. Religion plays an important part in their life. The fact that a small number of Muslims
are terrorists does not negate their religion.
I am sure that one of the reasons Americans are not liked is because of envy for our freedom and rich life style.
However, rather than rubbing that fact into the envious we should try to downplay it by being more acceptant of
other people and other cultures. The improvement in transporation and technology has resulted in the world becoming
inexorably united economically. With the advent of the internet and global communications, we will eventually be
united socially and culturally as well. It will not be in our life time, but when it happens world peace may then be possible.
There is a saying that if you can't beat them, join them. In this case, I think we should say if you can't
beat them, at least respect them and understand them and maybe we will be able to get them on our side against
the insurgents. In the meantime, world peace has been delayed for another year. Merry Christmas everyone.
|
To reply to this editorial please send your comments to
Your letter will be published in the email section. Viewers
are welcome to submit a guest editorial.
|
|