From Ali at Iraq The Model:

[...] Can we just stop and ask ourselves why the terrorists are so interested in showing their actions filmed to the world?!

These people want us to lose faith in each other and they get help from many countries in the region who are afraid of the change and from some democratic countries that hate the fact that America is on the top. They also get help from many of the major American media who seem to care for nothing other than money.

They tell us that GWB want the world to live in fear through his continuous preach for war on terror. I want to say that GWB and his administration have done the right thing for America, Iraq, the region and the whole world. You may disagree with the way they are managing this but we shouldn’t let your feelings stop you from seeing the truth, and I’m very heartened when I see so many democrats supporting their governments in Iraq. On the other hand, the anti-war people, media and governments want us to give up, they want us to believe that it’s useless, that Iraqis don’t deserve the sacrifices, that the Americans are in Iraq for the oil and that all the American soldiers abuse and hate Iraqis. They want us to live in peace, their peace, with each one of us hiding behind a wall and pointing his gun to the others, “all Muslims are terrorists” “Iraqis are barbarians who don’t understand democracy” “Americans are in Iraq to control oil wells” “this is Hlliburton’s war not ours” they keep shouting. It’s amazing that these people always claim to support peace, freedom and democracy when they don’t even have a vision of how to make that happen! But the truth to be told, they’re one hell of a chorus!

I’ve decided long ago not to trust what these people say and what the media shows me. I’ve decided not to even watch Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabyia. I decide to love and trust the others and not to allow small events committed by few ignorant to shape my views about a whole nation. No my friends, I refuse to be trapped in this momentary dark picture that's far from convincing and that's not just because I'm an Iraqi, it's because I can't let anyone tell me what to believe in.

I put a link to these guys' blog a while back, mainly because they "get it." And they offer some much needed voices of reason--too many people, including me sometimes, look to the Arab world and Islam and wonder why there don't seem to be voices of reason and hope. We hear from the people blowing things up that Islam is a religion of peace, and that the Arab world only wants peace, yet it seems we can't get people who actually believe those things to stand up and lead. Well, peaceful, non-violent leaders DO exist, but they don't make for compelling television. And their words might help the current Administration. So they are marginalized, shunted to the side so we can hear how much America is hated and how we're no better than Saddam--because that makes good pictures. Agreement (and for that matter, reasoned disagreement), is just so...boring.

Boring, maybe, but heartening to me to read. Would that commentors like Ali, Omar, and Mohammed had a wider audience.
posted by Terry at 11:31:00 AM