'Just World News' with Helena Cobban: Faiza on US-style democracy

'Just World News' with Helena Cobban Info, analysis, discussion-- to build a more just world
« Afghan elections, part 2 \| JWN front page \| US in Iraq: crumbling? » Faiza on US-style democracy Posted by Helena Cobban October 15, 2004 11:07 AM EST \| Link Filed in Linkees Faiza, of "A Family in Baghdad" is participating in an interesting exchange on the "Open democracy" site. In addition, her blog now carries the English-language version of a long post she wrote in Arabic on october 3. Here are some interesting excerpts: We went, my friends and I, to attend a lecture about Democracy, and the Elections. The lecturer was an Iraqi lady, who said she attended some work-shop discussions about the subject, and she'll explain it to us, so we could explain it to others. She spoke about the meaning of the two words, and their relation with each other. Then she spoke about the methods of elections, and their traits, then the civil society and its role in elections, the relation of the civil society with the parties, and the danger in the party's dominance over the civil organizations. Then the elements of elections, which are: The Base, The Candidates, and The Campaign; and the method of delivering a message of every candidate to convince the public� She said The Base consists of three elements: -An Element who had fixed his opinion, his candidate, and sticks to him. - An Element who decided not to vote. - And an Element who is wavering, and he is the one to whom all invitations and debates are addressed, to convince him to vote for one of the candidates. She said every candidate has a message, which he keeps repeating to people's attention until they memorize it�I smiled........... imagining the poor American citizen these days�they all fight, and debate, giving him the headaches, as they try, each separately, to say he is completely right, and the other is completely wrong�and whoever votes for the opponent is a complete fool�Ha, ha, ha� A game that gives people the headaches�as if you are in a Bazaar�each is calling for his merchandise, wanting to sell it more than the others. But people's lives and destinies are decided here�inside this chaos, shouting, and headache-promoting noise� I don't know�as if I see the propaganda, the competition, and the debates, are subjected to a lot of acting, and show-offs, more than honesty, calmness, and rationality.The media plays its role here�where truth gets mingled with lies, justice with false�and facts get lost. A very dangerous game�.this is Democracy. And the bad people could maneuver it, because they play like jugglers, in a circus. And the audiences are poor�.who could easily be tricked. * ... Why would America want to convince the world, that there are some clerics, like Al-Sadder, who hate democracy, or anything good, to Iraq and the Iraqis, and that these leaderships must be eliminated, or, put down to scale??? Why do they say that these leaderships want to reproduce the Iranian sample, here?? Who said so?? This is like the story of the civil war, that they want for it to start in Iraq, everyday�in vain. These seem to be the illusions in Bush's administration's heads�as he strikes the opposition here, heaping accusations upon them, fabricated in his mind. And the people in America believe him, and support him, saying to him: We are with you, we don't want the Iranian sample in Iraq. But who said the Iraqis want the Iranian sample in Iraq??? Who ever spoke so??? Even Al- Sadder in his speeches did not portray himself as a political leader of Iraq. The man spoke of the homeland, the occupation army, and perhaps he said that resisting the occupation is legitimate, perhaps he was honest, and doesn't want personal benefits, or maybe he wants to put pressure to gain a post, or a representation percentage in the Parliament, or so� Why wouldn't they allow someone like him to have an existence in the Parliament, and the next elections? Doesn't he represent a faction of Iraqis? Even if they were a faction less educated, and has less of a vision than others, time is capable of developing such factions, or eliminating them from existence, people learn their experience with days, and choose the better leaders� that is how the process of maturing people's experiences goes on, all along human history� Why wouldn't we allow a percentage of seats to the people of Fallujah, Sammarra, Ramadi, and others? Why do we attack, kill, and change town's maps, and elections?? Why would they come up with declarations, that the highly- tension areas will be excluded from the elections. Is it logical that the whole Parliament, and the coming Iraqi government, all of them support Bush's view point in life?? This is an injustice�.and Democracy means justice. This is stupidity, an increase of violence, tension, and a runaway� In order to absorb anger and violence, give the other party a chance to express himself, do not oppress or kill him, thinking you have eliminated evil� more likely you have created evil, and gave it the strength against you� day by day, violence will increase�and problems shall not be solved, but rather will be more complex, by stupidity and stubbornness�If you do not give a chance to the opposition to speak up, and have a dialogue with them, you might as well have pushed it to the paths of evil and darkness� as was the case in Chechnya against Russia, and the extremist Palestinian formations, that appeared on the field, after all attempts of logical dialogue between the Palestinians and the israili government failed, a government as frozen as Bush and his stiff mentality, and his lack of ability to absorb the presence of the ''Other""�. He controls the media, speaks about himself and the ""Other""�accusing his opponents of always being criminals, dark people, who wouldn't want Democracy, or freedom� and the events of September is the fruit of a stupid policy, which created enemies, whose number and size can't be counted� The fruit of a stupid policy, and here is the world paying its price in more victims, and endless violence� Violence gets more violence�and dialogue isn't weakness�.dialogue is strength. Dialogue opens the doors to peace�and peace is a victory to all humans� In my mind now, I thought of : The Noble Peace Prize� why wouldn't they start a prize for those who wage wars?? Because they are fools�and plenty, and the way of war is easy, and a rushing, foolish, decision� But the way of peace, as the way of virtue, is hard and difficult to cross, and only great ones and geniuses can go through it�. Making by that a bright history for humanity. *********************************** Why wouldn't America solve matters in a rational, quiet, diplomatic way?? Why does she hold the heavy stick, and hit whoever stands in opposition against her, accusing them with false charges?? Isn't that a weakness, and lack of wisdom in running things?? Is the manner of hitting and violence a civilized manner, in facing the ""other""?? The lady in the lecture said about Democracy: It teaches us how to respect the other opinion� yes, this is the theory, but the reality here is something different� Here, the American Democracy is: How to destroy the other opinion, and how to wipe it out of existence, by all means�� and the Bush reason is always: they are extremists, who hate us� Oh, my GOD�who is the extremist?? Who started the violence, the hurt, the " in advance hits"?? The style of the American Administration is distrusting the other�heaping accusations against him, then hitting him, and destroying him.Is this the Democracy?? I think America is in a fix� where are the beautiful theories, and what were their connection to this painful, ugly, reality the world is living through, because of the bad policies, bad management, and the unlimited aggression against the other�. These conducts indicate a defeated, abortive mentality�.like the mentality of Saddam Hussein . That who is sure of himself, wins the battle quietly, without destroying and disfiguring the opponent�opening the door of dialogue with the other, because he is strong, and full of confidence in himself. And the loser raises storms to win the round, by terrorizing the others, frightening them, and closing their mouths. ************************************* Going back to the story of the Arabs and Iranians in Fallujah, or Sammarra, or the other hot spots. After each American bombing of these towns, or clashes and campaign, the newspapers come out with headlines like: The capture of a number of Syrians, Yamane, and Iranians. That, of course, is in addition to the Invisible Man: Al-Zarqawi, and his gang. Of course, up till now, we saw no one, either on TV., or in the newspapers, no real faces, no real people who would say they were from Al-Zarqawi gang, or Iranians, or whatever, and would confess their crimes in front of people. Nothing but mock web sites, and silly, naïve letters, signed by this and that. Every person can start a web site, and say whatever he wants�shall we believe all this gibbering?? ******************** This week I started understanding these stories� Someone wants to circulate, in America and the world, that these clashes and problems has nothing to do with the Iraqis, that there are some scum of mercenaries or lunatics, who call themselves Mujahideen, who came here to fight America�as for the Iraqis, they are in a state of harmony and contentedness with the occupation forces, no resistance, and no clashes. Yes, there might be some truth in part of this theory, that America promotes, and work to maintain, by keeping the uncontrolled state of the boarders�where there are no security forces, nor order there, since the occupation of Iraq till now�the boarders are a loose, ignored, uncontrolled area. There is no presence of an American, nor Iraqi, strong force. So, the situation looks deliberate now�.they want to open the boarders to everyone who wants to confront America and fight her, here in Iraq, this new battle zone, so, why go to far away America?? We get two birds by one stone�.we confirm our existence in Iraq, with the ploy of fighting terrorism, and control the fate of all the states of the region. And protect America and its people, from terrorism and its people. ( There are two more birds in the story: Iraqi Oil, the free treasure, and protecting the loved, pampered Israel)�ha, ha, ha� As for the miserable Iraqis who would fall victims to this vicious plans, well, who cares about them?? Who shall count them?? Who will defend them, and stop their bleeding??? No one, of course� We are an escape goat, so that America, and its people could live in peace, and sleep soundly. And let death and destruction be ours�.and happiness and calmness be theirs.But Bush covers all this by weeping for us, that he wants the shining future and democracy for us, and he must accomplish that one day�.so, we should be patient, and wait�. *************************************** As for the kidnapping gangs, killings, and beheadings on the internet�and the daily trapped cars�the killings of the new recruiters in the Iraqi Police and Army�these are a two-edged weapon� they prove Bush's inability to control the situation, if his enemies were behind them. And at the same time, he uses them to his advantage, a pretext to remain here and clean Iraq of terrorism.. Who opened the doors of hell, and brought them here?? It seems that Bush's plan is to trick them here�making Iraq the area of terrorism, instead of America. And in all possibilities�the Iraqi people remain the sole loser�and the victim�� ******************************** Kerry says America is building 14 military bases in Iraq, and the Middle East� I put my hand to my cheek, and smile�will these bases remain forever?? Shall we always remain like this, to justify the remaining of the bases?? When will we build an independent Iraq, with Iraqi eyes, and Iraqi hands?? Shall Iraq remain an American colony?? Will they keep interfering in our affairs, every thing big or small in our lives, explaining things by their moods?? And what shall the Iraqis do when they hear this good news?? Will they sleep, or escalate their resistance?? Who shall win, who shall lose?? I don't know�.. The wisdom of President Bush and his administration has always made me wonder�. For I find no answers to my questions� *************************************** « Afghan elections, part 2 \| JWN front page \| US in Iraq: crumbling? » Comments Comment from... alex, at October 15, 2004 01:59 PM: Helena, I must first thank you for being the person to Faiza and her family's blog. It is amazing and she especially is able to express things in a very open and honest way. The OpenDemocracy correspondence is also enlightening. I wish that when Anthony Swofford writes "The soldier who tracked you down and apologised for his aggressive behaviour –he is the face of America" that it weren't true. As Faiza had just pointed out, he had treated her callously and, though apologizing, said that those were his orders. Maybe that really is the face of America. Somewhere in here there are lots of people who are good people, loving, caring, but we keep that separate from the war, because in war you have to follow orders. Very sobering. Comment from... SimonC, at October 19, 2004 09:27 AM: Hi Helena, I'm always a little nervous to pipe up on the same page as really good writers and observers like yourself. This post set me off a bit, though. I'm a Canadian, but feel like I've lived in a real democracy: Switzerland. Politics verges on a national hobby there, and the mindset is fundamentally different from the one which puts our Canadian elected aristocracy into power. I really had my ideas readjusted. Swiss power lies in the hands of the townships, who allow some power to flow to the counties, and even less to the Federation. The "President" is a one-year, rotating assignment from the Federal Council. I was there when the Federation tried to reduce unemployment benefits, but could not do so because that important needed to be decided at a referendum. The debates carried on over page after page of the newpapers, as they do so every 6-month cycle of referenda and elections. I was impressed when the vote was "no", as it was to a another referendum to cancel the (very successful) doctor prescribed heroin program. "Base"?! "Message"?! "Memorize"?! It sounds like the Iraqis are being "trained" to imitate the worst aspects of what I've come to see as the most perverse, marginally democratic end of any system ever to carry the title. As a concerned outside observer of an increasingly bizarre, infantile, Machiavellian presidential selection process (and I'll leave the "s" on selection until it can be demonstrated otherwise) I sincerely hope the Iraqis have the good sense not to imitate it. Too bad U.S. efforts in Iraq have been so misguided that no other country in its right mind will touch the situation. The Swiss would have been able to help a true democracy to emerge. Then again, maybe the U.S. wouldn't want that. Best regards -- Simon	Recent Posts on JWN • Realism, war, and pacifism (3) • Palin's performance: Insulting and very scary (28) • September 11 and the war in Afghanistan (6) • US's global dominance 'Reduced': It's nearly official! (1) • JWN redesign update #1 (2) • Oliver North??? (5) • J. 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Faiza on US-style democracy

Posted by Helena Cobban
October 15, 2004 11:07 AM EST | Link
Filed in Linkees

Faiza, of "A Family in Baghdad" is participating in an interesting exchange on the "Open democracy" site.

In addition, her blog now carries the English-language version of a long post she wrote in Arabic on october 3. Here are some interesting excerpts:

We went, my friends and I, to attend a lecture about Democracy, and the Elections. The lecturer was an Iraqi lady, who said she attended some work-shop discussions about the subject, and she'll explain it to us, so we could explain it to others. She spoke about the meaning of the two words, and their relation with each other. Then she spoke about the methods of elections, and their traits, then the civil society and its role in elections, the relation of the civil society with the parties, and the danger in the party's dominance over the civil organizations.

Then the elements of elections, which are: The Base, The Candidates, and The Campaign; and the method of delivering a message of every candidate to convince the public�

She said The Base consists of three elements:

-An Element who had fixed his opinion, his candidate, and sticks to him.
- An Element who decided not to vote.
- And an Element who is wavering, and he is the one to whom all invitations and debates are addressed, to convince him to vote for one of the candidates.

She said every candidate has a message, which he keeps repeating to people's attention until they memorize it�I smiled........... imagining the poor American citizen these days�they all fight, and debate, giving him the headaches, as they try, each separately, to say he is completely right, and the other is completely wrong�and whoever votes for the opponent is a complete fool�Ha, ha, ha�

A game that gives people the headaches�as if you are in a Bazaar�each is calling for his merchandise, wanting to sell it more than the others.
But people's lives and destinies are decided here�inside this chaos, shouting, and headache-promoting noise�

I don't know�as if I see the propaganda, the competition, and the debates, are subjected to a lot of acting, and show-offs, more than honesty, calmness, and rationality.The media plays its role here�where truth gets mingled with lies, justice with false�and facts get lost.
A very dangerous game�.this is Democracy.

And the bad people could maneuver it, because they play like jugglers, in a circus. And the audiences are poor�.who could easily be tricked.

***

... Why would America want to convince the world, that there are some clerics, like Al-Sadder, who hate democracy, or anything good, to Iraq and the Iraqis, and that these leaderships must be eliminated, or, put down to scale??? Why do they say that these leaderships want to reproduce the Iranian sample, here?? Who said so?? This is like the story of the civil war, that they want for it to start in Iraq, everyday�in vain.

These seem to be the illusions in Bush's administration's heads�as he strikes the opposition here, heaping accusations upon them, fabricated in his mind. And the people in America believe him, and support him, saying to him: We are with you, we don't want the Iranian sample in Iraq.

But who said the Iraqis want the Iranian sample in Iraq??? Who ever spoke so???

Even Al- Sadder in his speeches did not portray himself as a political leader of Iraq. The man spoke of the homeland, the occupation army, and perhaps he said that resisting the occupation is legitimate, perhaps he was honest, and doesn't want personal benefits, or maybe he wants to put pressure to gain a post, or a representation percentage in the Parliament, or so�

Why wouldn't they allow someone like him to have an existence in the Parliament, and the next elections? Doesn't he represent a faction of Iraqis? Even if they were a faction less educated, and has less of a vision than others, time is capable of developing such factions, or eliminating them from existence, people learn their experience with days, and choose the better leaders� that is how the process of maturing people's experiences goes on, all along human history�

Why wouldn't we allow a percentage of seats to the people of Fallujah, Sammarra, Ramadi, and others? Why do we attack, kill, and change town's maps, and elections?? Why would they come up with declarations, that the highly- tension areas will be excluded from the elections.
Is it logical that the whole Parliament, and the coming Iraqi government, all of them support Bush's view point in life??

This is an injustice�.and Democracy means justice. This is stupidity, an increase of violence, tension, and a runaway�

In order to absorb anger and violence, give the other party a chance to express himself, do not oppress or kill him, thinking you have eliminated evil� more likely you have created evil, and gave it the strength against you� day by day, violence will increase�and problems shall not be solved, but rather will be more complex, by stupidity and stubbornness�If you do not give a chance to the opposition to speak up, and have a dialogue with them, you might as well have pushed it to the paths of evil and darkness� as was the case in Chechnya against Russia, and the extremist Palestinian formations, that appeared on the field, after all attempts of logical dialogue between the Palestinians and the israili government failed, a government as frozen as Bush and his stiff mentality, and his lack of ability to absorb the presence of the ''Other""�. He controls the media, speaks about himself and the ""Other""�accusing his opponents of always being criminals, dark people, who wouldn't want Democracy, or freedom� and the events of September is the fruit of a stupid policy, which created enemies, whose number and size can't be counted�

The fruit of a stupid policy, and here is the world paying its price in more victims, and endless violence�

Violence gets more violence�and dialogue isn't weakness�.dialogue is strength. Dialogue opens the doors to peace�and peace is a victory to all humans�

In my mind now, I thought of : The Noble Peace Prize� why wouldn't they start a prize for those who wage wars?? Because they are fools�and plenty, and the way of war is easy, and a rushing, foolish, decision�

But the way of peace, as the way of virtue, is hard and difficult to cross, and only great ones and geniuses can go through it�. Making by that a bright history for humanity.

***************************************

Why wouldn't America solve matters in a rational, quiet, diplomatic way??

Why does she hold the heavy stick, and hit whoever stands in opposition against her, accusing them with false charges?? Isn't that a weakness, and lack of wisdom in running things?? Is the manner of hitting and violence a civilized manner, in facing the ""other""??

The lady in the lecture said about Democracy: It teaches us how to respect the other opinion� yes, this is the theory, but the reality here is something different�

Here, the American Democracy is: How to destroy the other opinion, and how to wipe it out of existence, by all means�� and the Bush reason is always: they are extremists, who hate us�

Oh, my GOD�who is the extremist?? Who started the violence, the hurt, the " in advance hits"??

The style of the American Administration is distrusting the other�heaping accusations against him, then hitting him, and destroying him.Is this the Democracy??

I think America is in a fix� where are the beautiful theories, and what were their connection to this painful, ugly, reality the world is living through, because of the bad policies, bad management, and the unlimited aggression against the other�. These conducts indicate a defeated, abortive mentality�.like the mentality of Saddam Hussein
.
That who is sure of himself, wins the battle quietly, without destroying and disfiguring the opponent�opening the door of dialogue with the other, because he is strong, and full of confidence in himself. And the loser raises storms to win the round, by terrorizing the others, frightening them, and closing their mouths.

*****************************************

Going back to the story of the Arabs and Iranians in Fallujah, or Sammarra, or the other hot spots. After each American bombing of these towns, or clashes and campaign, the newspapers come out with headlines like: The capture of a number of Syrians, Yamane, and Iranians. That, of course, is in addition to the Invisible Man: Al-Zarqawi, and his gang.

Of course, up till now, we saw no one, either on TV., or in the newspapers, no real faces, no real people who would say they were from Al-Zarqawi gang, or Iranians, or whatever, and would confess their crimes in front of people.

Nothing but mock web sites, and silly, naïve letters, signed by this and that.

Every person can start a web site, and say whatever he wants�shall we believe all this gibbering??

************************

This week I started understanding these stories�

Someone wants to circulate, in America and the world, that these clashes and problems has nothing to do with the Iraqis, that there are some scum of mercenaries or lunatics, who call themselves Mujahideen, who came here to fight America�as for the Iraqis, they are in a state of harmony and contentedness with the occupation forces, no resistance, and no clashes.

Yes, there might be some truth in part of this theory, that America promotes, and work to maintain, by keeping the uncontrolled state of the boarders�where there are no security forces, nor order there, since the occupation of Iraq till now�the boarders are a loose, ignored, uncontrolled area. There is no presence of an American, nor Iraqi, strong force.

So, the situation looks deliberate now�.they want to open the boarders to everyone who wants to confront America and fight her, here in Iraq, this new battle zone, so, why go to far away America??
We get two birds by one stone�.we confirm our existence in Iraq, with the ploy of fighting terrorism, and control the fate of all the states of the region. And protect America and its people, from terrorism and its people. ( There are two more birds in the story: Iraqi Oil, the free treasure, and protecting the loved, pampered Israel)�ha, ha, ha�

As for the miserable Iraqis who would fall victims to this vicious plans, well, who cares about them?? Who shall count them?? Who will defend them, and stop their bleeding???

No one, of course�

We are an escape goat, so that America, and its people could live in peace, and sleep soundly. And let death and destruction be ours�.and happiness and calmness be theirs.But Bush covers all this by weeping for us, that he wants the shining future and democracy for us, and he must accomplish that one day�.so, we should be patient, and wait�.

*******************************************

As for the kidnapping gangs, killings, and beheadings on the internet�and the daily trapped cars�the killings of the new recruiters in the Iraqi Police and Army�these are a two-edged weapon� they prove Bush's inability to control the situation, if his enemies were behind them. And at the same time, he uses them to his advantage, a pretext to remain here and clean Iraq of terrorism..

Who opened the doors of hell, and brought them here?? It seems that Bush's plan is to trick them here�making Iraq the area of terrorism, instead of America.

And in all possibilities�the Iraqi people remain the sole loser�and the victim��

************************************

Kerry says America is building 14 military bases in Iraq, and the Middle East�

I put my hand to my cheek, and smile�will these bases remain forever?? Shall we always remain like this, to justify the remaining of the bases?? When will we build an independent Iraq, with Iraqi eyes, and Iraqi hands??

Shall Iraq remain an American colony?? Will they keep interfering in our affairs, every thing big or small in our lives, explaining things by their moods??

And what shall the Iraqis do when they hear this good news?? Will they sleep, or escalate their resistance?? Who shall win, who shall lose??

I don't know�.. The wisdom of President Bush and his administration has always made me wonder�. For I find no answers to my questions�

*****************************************

Comments

Comment from... alex, at October 15, 2004 01:59 PM:

Helena, I must first thank you for being the person to Faiza and her family's blog. It is amazing and she especially is able to express things in a very open and honest way. The OpenDemocracy correspondence is also enlightening. I wish that when Anthony Swofford writes "The soldier who tracked you down and apologised for his aggressive behaviour –he is the face of America" that it weren't true. As Faiza had just pointed out, he had treated her callously and, though apologizing, said that those were his orders. Maybe that really is the face of America. Somewhere in here there are lots of people who are good people, loving, caring, but we keep that separate from the war, because in war you have to follow orders. Very sobering.

Comment from... SimonC, at October 19, 2004 09:27 AM:

Hi Helena,

I'm always a little nervous to pipe up on the same page as really good writers and observers like yourself. This post set me off a bit, though.

I'm a Canadian, but feel like I've lived in a real democracy: Switzerland. Politics verges on a national hobby there, and the mindset is fundamentally different from the one which puts our Canadian elected aristocracy into power. I really had my ideas readjusted. Swiss power lies in the hands of the townships, who allow some power to flow to the counties, and even less to the Federation. The "President" is a one-year, rotating assignment from the Federal Council. I was there when the Federation tried to reduce unemployment benefits, but could not do so because that important needed to be decided at a referendum. The debates carried on over page after page of the newpapers, as they do so every 6-month cycle of referenda and elections. I was impressed when the vote was "no", as it was to a another referendum to cancel the (very successful) doctor prescribed heroin program.

"Base"?! "Message"?! "Memorize"?!

It sounds like the Iraqis are being "trained" to imitate the worst aspects of what I've come to see as the most perverse, marginally democratic end of any system ever to carry the title. As a concerned outside observer of an increasingly bizarre, infantile, Machiavellian presidential selection process (and I'll leave the "s" on selection until it can be demonstrated otherwise) I sincerely hope the Iraqis have the good sense not to imitate it.

Too bad U.S. efforts in Iraq have been so misguided that no other country in its right mind will touch the situation. The Swiss would have been able to help a true democracy to emerge. Then again, maybe the U.S. wouldn't want that.

Best regards
-- Simon