[Peace-discuss] DI Column referring to Mohammed al-Heeti

Wed Nov 8 10:32:40 CST 2006

Three comments:

1) Polls of Iraqis indicate that a strong majority want the U.S.  
troops to leave. Someone should have pointed that out.

2) The fact that the radio station the speaker represented was funded  
by the UN, a cover for the Americans in Iraq, and that the station  
has been tolerated by the American governors should at least cast  
doubt on the veracity of the speaker's remarks.

3) A representative of Iraq who was against the U.S. presence there  
might have difficulty getting into the U.S. for a speaking tour.

--mkb

On Nov 8, 2006, at 9:07 AM, David Green wrote:

> The person referred to in this article is, of course,
> Mohammed. He was exactly correct to intervene in this
> event. There was an article about this radio station
> in the N-G a few weeks ago, including an interview
> with a U of I journalism professor who supports it. I
> thought she was incredibly naive in her views about
> the relative importance and signifcance of such a
> venture under these circumstances. Under the current
> circumstances, it counts for little if anything.
> Worse, it helps to rationalize the sort of views
> expressed by the DI columnist: "stay the course."
>
> DG
>
> _________________________________
>
>
> Rethinking perceptions of the mess in Iraq with radio
> Iraqi women's radio provides means for open discussion
> on war and the status of women in Iraq
>
> Tyler Friederichs
>
> Posted: 11/8/06
>
> A panel discussion, titled "Breaking Down the Wall of
> War: Iraqi Women's Radio," was recently held at the
> Levis Faculty Center. The featured panelist, Bushra
> Jamil, is the operator of Radio al Mahaba, a
> female-run radio station in Baghdad "that struggles to
> give voice to Middle Eastern women in the midst of the
> Iraqi War." The radio signal reaches approximately
> half of the country.
>
> Jamil's mission is to help rebuild Iraq - to become a
> medium through which men, women and children can share
> "everything they can think of, their hopes, their
> views." The radio station, which received start-up
> funding from the U.N., began its first broadcast on
> April 1, 2005 and has been in operation ever since.
>
> After providing a brief history of Iraq and the social
> status of women, which deteriorated significantly
> during Saddam Hussein's regime, the question and
> answer session revealed a complete change of tone in
> the panel discussion.
>
> An Iraqi-American man, who has lived in the U.S. for
> 24 years, was the first to comment. Confident yet
> clearly upset, the man began a ten minute tirade.
> Although he noted that "Saddam was a brutal
> dictatorship and I hate him", he later called for the
> impeachment of George W. Bush and the immediate return
> of American troops.
>
> I think we all sympathized with him, as he mentioned
> that his brother was recently killed in Iraq. But he
> soon lost much respect with the audience after the
> following comments: First, he suggested that the
> students in the audience were not truly interested in
> the panel or the conflict. Second, the man shockingly
> and ignorantly insinuated that the radio station was a
> lost cause and the focus on women's rights undermined
> the plight of men. His comments and Jamil's courageous
> response highlight the struggle which now embodies the
> psychological war in Iraq and at home; it is a
> struggle which will define the ultimate outcome of the
> overall conflict.
>
> Jamil, clearly stricken by the man's comments,
> defended her radio station. After noting that "most of
> the callers are men" who "talk about love" and "hope,"
> she reiterated that her radio station functions to
> serve everybody, irrespective of gender.
>
> Her views towards the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq
> represented a hallmark of the evening. According to a
> recent Pew Research Center poll, Americans are evenly
> divided as to whether U.S. troops should withdraw
> immediately. Jamil's declaration that "we cannot ask
> the troops to leave" because her "staff would be
> slaughtered in the middle of the street" had a
> profound affect on the audience - it forced many to
> reconsider their preconceived notions that those who
> are against the war must also be against the continued
> presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and that U.S. troop
> presence has actually decreased security in the area.
>
> Jamil revealed that "thousands of people" are
> "tortured on a daily basis" by factions of the corrupt
> Iraqi government via the Interior Ministry. But it is
> the American troops who raid the torture cells
> regularly. It is the American troops who prevent the
> Iraqis from being "slaughtered" by Iranians and
> Saudis.
>
> The debate over whether or not the war is just or
> moral is futile. We cannot change what happened in the
> past, and as Jamil noted, "we can't look back … we
> need to learn from what happened" and continue to
> fight instead of invoking rebukes which will only
> deepen the ever growing rift in public opinion.
>
> One roadblock to stabilization is the lack of American
> solidarity at home. While the realization that the
> U.S. is caught in a Catch-22 has strengthened, the
> perception that staying in Iraq until a sustainable
> democracy develops is a viable option has
> deteriorated. But it is now up to people like Jamil
> and her radio station to provide hope and motivation
> for Iraqis to prevail. Jamil's radio station is "only
> one tool of many tools in Iraq" to aid the
> stabilization process.
>
> As Jamil remarked, there is nobody "better than Iraqis
> themselves to rebuild Iraq" - but contrary to popular
> belief, it is the presence of U.S. troops which is
> making the rebuilding process possible.
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
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