Iraqi
Fulbrights share their perspectives
By
Sally Acharya
(From American Weekly,
Nov. 14, 2006)
2 of 2 pages
While there has been mismanagement
on the American side, he ascribed the current chaos in part
to the lingering impact of decades of dictatorship, and in
part to a lack of national identity. “I know what hatred can do,” he
said.
He believes that U.S. troops need to stay in order to stop
the civil war. But now, he said, “Americans say out
loud, ‘This is not our war.’ Then what are you
doing there?”
There does need to be a change in strategy, he said. “America
should understand its mistakes and correct them,” he
said, although he warned that this is less likely if the
debate does not include Iraqi voices.
Both speakers agreed that a federal approach to the government
of Iraq holds the most promise. “Iraq would be easier
to manage,” Latif said.
Both are also concerned about the suppression of religious
freedom. Latif warned that a puritanical approach to religion
is triumphing to such a degree that music isn’t even
played at weddings, and shops no longer play music, but religious
broadcasts from Saudi Arabia.
“I’m worried,” she said. “I see
religion taking over . . . We believe in God and want religion
to be a part of us. But I want to walk in a Baghdad street
and be able to buy a CD mix of songs, not just the Koran.”
Wahab said he wants to be able to pray at a mosque freely,
without having the sermons dictated by the state as they
were under Saddam. And he wants women to be allowed to wear
veils in photographs if they choose.
But religion is only meaningful, he said, when people are
free to exercise personal choice. “In Islam, you can’t
drink alcohol. But what’s the value of not drinking
alcohol if you can’t find it?” he asked.
Latif works at the Iraqi embassy, and an embassy representative
was in the audience. Wahab is from Iraqi Kurdistan and has
spoken about Iraq in National Review Online, on National
Public Radio, and elsewhere. Both are Fulbright scholars
at SIS.
The talk was moderated
by Iraq specialist Carole O’Leary,
who is on the faculty at SIS and the Center for Global Peace.
<<<
previous
|
