What qualifies as a "relic" in Iraq. Certainly their millenia long history has produced some remarkable artifacts. (At least the ones that didn't get looted from the museum in Baghdad shortly after the invasion.) Over at TMV, William Kern informs us that some Iraqis feel that patriotism is now a relic. This starting view comes from an editorial in an Iraqi paper by Fatih Abdulsalam. Here's one of the interesting bits.
“The word patriotism is just a relic from a prior age or Saddam’s toppled regime. Being a collaborator with a foreign power is accepted as the surest way to achieve strategic advantage. Freedom means simply being able to stand in Baghdad’s Liberation Square under the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier cursing and accusing all other Arab capitals of treason against the Iraqi nation for refusing to show respect to our own lame politicians - who are nothing but influence peddlers, mercenaries, thieves and charlatans who rely on F16s to maintain their power and legitimacy over the people.”
Some heady stuff there. I believe it's very hard for the average American to gauge what the man on the streets in Iraq thinks about current events. News and views from Iraq are largely filtered through the United States leadership there. The military has a vested interest in portraying things regarding their mission in the best light possible. And the Iraqi government? al-Maliki owes his skin to George W. Bush and without the aforementioned F-16s he'd probably last about ten minutes in office.
The reporting here is brought to us through the wonderful resource World Meets Us, where you can find hundreds of newspaper articles from other countries translated into English. Give it a look.
