December 18, 2003

We have brought you freedom to do things we approve of

I sometimes hear people say that I shouldn't be irritated about the fact that George W. lied to get us into a war with Iraq, because the result is good: we brought democracy to Iraq! You would never have seen pro-democracy demonstrations in Iraq before we got there!

Well, fair enough. But you're not going to see any demonstrations critical of America now, either.

"Any demonstration against the government or coalition forces will be fired upon," [U.S.-backed regional governor] Jaburi's voice said, according to an army interpreter. "This is a fair warning."

Oh, well, that's fair, then. No distinction made for a peaceful demonstration vs. a riot; we'll just shoot you. Furthermore:

Demonstrators risk a year in jail and, if they work for the state as civil servants or teachers, they will lose their jobs, the message said. All demonstrations are illegal in the U.S.-occupied province.

A year in jail for expressing an opinion that the forces opposing your country consider undesirable? Let's not get ahead of ourselves trumpeting how free these Iraqis suddenly are.

Posted by Francis at 11:49 PM
Comments

Jaburi is wrong wrong wrong, of course, but it's hardly surprising to see a country emerge from under the heel of a terrible dictatorship, and then immediately swing the pendulum too far in the other direction.

Germany *still* has anti-free-speech laws -- you can't distribute Nazi propoganda, and I believe even some expressions of anti-Semitism are banned. (All of which, to my mind, is a contributing factor to increased anti-Semitism in that country.)

Iraq may or may not get it right in the long run, and in the meantime this new development should indeed be criticized. But in general, I'm willing to give them more than a week to get their act together.

Posted by: Eric Berlin at December 19, 2003 07:05 AM

Well, yes, if Iraq does get its collective shit together, as one hopes they do, it's not going to happen overnight. But I feel I must point out that it's not like they've only had a mere week, either. Capturing Saddam is certainly dramatic, but how much actual effect does it have on the day-to-day governance of Iraq? He wasn't running anything at the time we caught him. (And if he actually had anything to do with keeping the Iraqis who are still killing Americans organized, it's not like there's no one who could possibly keep that going, particularly a person who's not spending most of their time being moved from one hole to another.)

Posted by: Francis at December 19, 2003 01:23 PM

Actually, I think Saddam's capture was an extremely dramatic turning point for the average Iraqi -- until that moment, it was not, for them, outside the realm of possibility that he might return to power.

The scenario might seem far-fetched to us, but for those who lived under his rule, it was a terrifying prospect, and not all that hard to envision: Pro-Saddam (or, anyway, anti-American) insurgents demoralize American troops enough that they pack it up and hit the road; Saddam moves back into one of his palaces the very next day; and the day after *that*, it's business as usual in the old regime.

I don't know much about Jaburi, but I do take note that his little speech came not after Saddam initially lost power, but after he was removed from the picture entirely. It's too bad he doesn't recognize how much like Saddam he sounds.

Posted by: Eric Berlin at December 19, 2003 03:12 PM