We Were Once Heroes

not that anecdotes prove anything, but they are fun to share.

remember all that anti-french bullshit that was going on full tilt when france dared to criticize the invasion of iraq? all the right-wing talk about 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys' displays nothing but the sheer depths of their ignorance of history. france, along with the rest of europe, endured both world wars on their home turf, unlike the united states.

the last major war that the united states endured on its own soil was the civil war. that alone goes a long way to explain how people here so casually propose war as a solution to just about every act of aggression.

my younger sister went to france on a school trip when she was in high school. during that trip, an elderly couple approached her, smiling and gracious, and very eager to talk to her and her classmates. my sister's high school-level grasp of french didn't allow for much communication, but she did her best.

the couple expressed their love and admiration for americans. although my sister was only 17, they wanted to offer their thanks for america's decision to enter world war I, which provided the decisive turning point for that awful conflict. despite the emnity that developed between their country and hers after the end of the second world war, they still held in their hearts a love for america and its people for their aid some eighty years before.

an honorable, good deed can go along way to cultivate good relations.

the reason why the people of iraq are turning against america is not because they hate americans. they hate the dishonesty, brutality and cynicism with which our government has conducted itself in their country.

even with revelations of abuse and torture of innocent iraqis swept up in random arrests, i think we could still salvage our reputation. we did away with saddam, and many iraqis will never forget that. if our country takes serious action against the people who enacted torture as a policy, not merely the soldiers we saw in the photographs, it would go a long way to making amends for those crimes. it would demonstrate that we do have some honor.

please read a view from a broad. her blog contains scores of stories about ordinary iraqis she encounters daily. even now, she encounters friendly iraqi civilians who marvel at being able to say in public, without fear, anything they like about saddam.