Sunday, November 30, 2003
Yet another act of atrocity. Japanese diplomats and the Spanish convoy the victims this time. I could accept deaths as an inevitable outcome in the rocky situation of a war-torn country. But, is the humiliation of bodies a necessary act? News of jubilant regime-supporters kicking at bodies of coalition casualty, throwing rocks at dying military personnel, severing their body parts are not uncommon as the Iraqi problem failed to dissolve into peace and democracy after liberation. Blame it all on illiteracy and lack of education.. but, can we? We are supposed to be civilized individuals, this basic building block of humanity is supposed to be inherent, with or without education. There is absolutely no reason for uncivilized incidents to be the result of the lack of academic development, the primary premise being uneducated people are not any more inhumane than anyone else.
Such a brutal act is punishable by death in most countries and yet people get away scot-free in Iraq because of their under-developed legal/policing system and more so, because the American military finds it beyond their power to restrain such random, spur-of-the-moment (maybe not, but civilized logic reads that organized violence can only be pinned down in the arrest of the masterminds behind, not in the capture of the manipulated puppet crowds who carried out the act) public expressions of anger. Anger directed at the coalition forces whom the Iraqis perceive had treaded upon their sovereignty, forced their leader to become a fugitive. Such is the anger that stems from idolistic fawning over Saddam fueled by Fear and propaganda during his rule.
Diplomacy and the whole 'civilized' talk is all about systematically managing displeasure and anger. Reason out of bad situations, think logically, make people understand win-win situations rather than start a babaric rampage of publicly-displayed anger that leads only to even more irrational angry bursts. What makes it difficult for Iraqis to realize this is that the realization must stem from oneself. Americans in military drab can't make them, neither can promises of humanitarian and reconstruction aid help. The self-realization must come like how Saddam had made them believe he was leading them on the road to greater Baghdad glory. They must be as strongly-convicted of their opinions as in their anti-American sentiments now. Only with that kind of self-realization will Iraq progress towards peace, rebuilding, societal and economic stability.
Likewise, perhaps we too are blinded by propanganda of the Western media - their portrayal of the Iraqi regime, the magnified crisis of the nuclear weapons, Saddam's supposedly-tyrannical rule, the presumed benefits of Iraqi liberalization and democracy. It is all about perceptions, or rather the manipulation of. Whichever side convinces, wins.
Such a brutal act is punishable by death in most countries and yet people get away scot-free in Iraq because of their under-developed legal/policing system and more so, because the American military finds it beyond their power to restrain such random, spur-of-the-moment (maybe not, but civilized logic reads that organized violence can only be pinned down in the arrest of the masterminds behind, not in the capture of the manipulated puppet crowds who carried out the act) public expressions of anger. Anger directed at the coalition forces whom the Iraqis perceive had treaded upon their sovereignty, forced their leader to become a fugitive. Such is the anger that stems from idolistic fawning over Saddam fueled by Fear and propaganda during his rule.
Diplomacy and the whole 'civilized' talk is all about systematically managing displeasure and anger. Reason out of bad situations, think logically, make people understand win-win situations rather than start a babaric rampage of publicly-displayed anger that leads only to even more irrational angry bursts. What makes it difficult for Iraqis to realize this is that the realization must stem from oneself. Americans in military drab can't make them, neither can promises of humanitarian and reconstruction aid help. The self-realization must come like how Saddam had made them believe he was leading them on the road to greater Baghdad glory. They must be as strongly-convicted of their opinions as in their anti-American sentiments now. Only with that kind of self-realization will Iraq progress towards peace, rebuilding, societal and economic stability.
Likewise, perhaps we too are blinded by propanganda of the Western media - their portrayal of the Iraqi regime, the magnified crisis of the nuclear weapons, Saddam's supposedly-tyrannical rule, the presumed benefits of Iraqi liberalization and democracy. It is all about perceptions, or rather the manipulation of. Whichever side convinces, wins.
