One might call it the $2 trillion question: Of all of the people, parties and sources of information in Iraq, who should Obama turn to for ‘accurate information’ about what’s really going on there?
It’s a question that Fateh Abdulsalam of Iraq’s Azzaman newspaper endeavors to answer in this op-ed article written just before Obama’s arrival there last week.
“We are told that Obama has three hundred advisers. But the advisers he needs are Iraqis who played no part in the Bush Administration’s bitter experiment. He has to find people outside the group that provided information on the Iraqi issue before, during and after the war began. These advisers should not be from the leadership of any of the Iraqi parties, which have enough trouble just managing their own affairs. And they should certainly not be from organs of the current, previous or future Iraqi government.”
So where then, should Barack Obama look?:
“He must find his advisers on the Iraqi street, in factories, on farms or next to the huts and tents of immigrants and displaced people or perhaps in an elementary school. It is here that Obama will be able to derive accurate information which will truly reflect the truth. Only here will he encounter the “wisdom” that is completely missing from Iraq’s unstable political environment.”
By Fateh Abdulsalam
Translated By Nicolas Dagher
July 22, 2008
Iraq – Azzaman – Original Article (Arabic)
Democratic candidate Barack Obama knows that he has to confront the bitter truth of Iraq – whether he takes charge at the White House or not. He simply had to pay Baghdad a visit to meet the ruling class, as well as to pass through Anbar [Province] to drink tea and familiarize himself with the Sahwa or Awakening Experiment [The Awakening Councils] which have defeated al-Qaeda. And he’ll also need to meditate over why for five years, before the Arab tribes in Al-Anbar coalesced, the U.S. Army failed to defeat the terrorist group.
But perhaps Obama doesn’t have the time to reflect on the fact that Iraq must have a “state” before it has a “government.” And it has to be a state based on such factors as full sovereignty over the entire land and its wealth – and safeguards to protect the peoplethat are guaranteed by the state. And there must be no “uncertainty” about these protections due to the prevailing political storm or special interests concerned only with themselves. And there must be a system that balances the interests of the government with those of others.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of the U.S. election and the Iraq War.
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