In Iraq, Patriotism is a ‘Relic from a Prior Age’
Iraqi forces head to Basra on an American C-130, April 3. But will they battle their feuding Shiite brethren after they arrive?
In light of the recent Shiite-on-Shiite battles raging in Iraq’s most important port city, Basra, what do the words ‘patriotism,’ ‘freedom,’ and ‘sovereignty‘ mean to Iraqis? After being occupied by the United States and others for the past five years, according to this op-ed from Iraq, their definitions of these terms bear little resemblance to our own.
Fatih Abdulsalam writes for Iraq’s Azzaman newspaper, “In Iraq, everything is relative. What the official political parties see as lawlessness, others inside and outside Iraq see as the most legitimate activity under the law, linked as they are to spiritual and humanitarian beliefs … and patriotism.”
Writing about patriotism and freedom and alluding to Iran and the United States, Abdulsalam reflects the anger an frustration of Iraqis. “The word patriotism is just a relic from a prior age or Saddam’s toppled regime. Being a collaborator with a foreign power is accepted as the surest way to achieve strategic advantage. Freedom means simply being able to stand in Baghdad’s Liberation Square under the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier cursing and accusing all other Arab capitals of treason against the Iraqi nation for refusing to show respect to our own lame politicians – who are nothing but influence peddlers, mercenaries, thieves and charlatans who rely on F16s to maintain their power and legitimacy over the people.”
By Fatih Abdulsalam
Translated By Ahmed Naoual and Nicolas Dagher
March 30, 2008
Iraq – Azzaman – Original Article (Arabic)
In Iraq, everything is relative. What the official political parties see as lawlessness, others inside and outside Iraq see as the most legitimate activity under the law, linked as they are to spiritual and humanitarian beliefs … and patriotism.
With the country ablaze and with more fire coming from ever direction, usually well-understood concepts are jumbled together and serve to further inflame. Terms in use in Iraq’s political life don’t have the same meaning as their equivalents in the outside world. For example here, sovereignty has a different meaning. In Iraq, the ruling parties use the term merely as a way to conceal their own failures and extend the cover-up of their misdeeds.
The word patriotism is just a relic from a prior age or Saddam’s toppled regime. Being a collaborator with a foreign power is accepted as the surest way to achieve strategic advantage. Freedom means simply being able to stand in Baghdad’s Liberation Square under the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier cursing and accusing all other Arab capitals of treason against the Iraqi nation for refusing to show respect to our own lame politicians – who are nothing but influence peddlers, mercenaries, thieves and charlatans who rely on F16s to maintain their power and legitimacy over the people.
Because if Arab rulers ever acknowledged our so-called leaders, they might invite the spread of the “Iraqi experience” to their own countries. They fear that if the democracy that a mere million Iraqis sacrificed their lives for ever broke out, they would lose their crowns.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated coverage of the Iraq War from the Iraqi perspective.
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3 Responses to “In Iraq, Patriotism is a ‘Relic from a Prior Age’”
An excellent and timely post;
While the President and Conggress wrangle about what to do with Iraq, little or no attention is being paid to what the experience is like for the IIraqis themselves.
We're stuck on celebrating the purple fingers, never asking what the Iraqis hoped to get from dipping their fingers in purple ink.
While most did self-identify as “Iraqis', I think, their vision of what it would mean to be an Iraqi int he future was hardly uniform. During the conflicts and the viiolence, and lacking a
(Sorry, I dut my comment off by maistake)
…….During the conflicts, and lacking unifying leadershiip, it's only natural that allegience to the country as a whole (patriotism) would fail to emerge. .
If it ever does. it really will be a decades long process, and I'm not at all sure we can do much to shape the development. People will create their own destiny, whether we listen to them or not.
[...] The Moderate Voice – Domestic and international news analysis, irreverent comments, original reporti… wrote an interesting post today on In Iraq, Patriotism is a â??Relic from a Prior Ageâ??Here’s a quick excerptIn Iraq, Patriotism is a ‘Relic from a Prior Age’ April 6th, 2008 by WILLIAM KERN Iraqi forces head to Basra on an American C-130, April 3. But will they battle their feuding Shiite brethren after they arrive? In light of the recent Shiite-on-Shiite battles raging in Iraq’s most important port city, Basra, what do the words ‘patriotism,’ ‘freedom,’ and ‘sovereignty‘ mean to Iraqis? After being occupied by the United States and others for the past five years, according to this op-ed from Ira [...]