Maybe we can get one of those many look-a-likes, we've never found, who will rise out of the ashes for us to once again throw our full support to, we liked the first one so, for years, even helped him into power!
Iraq reverting to its former freedom-less ways
June 24, 2010 As American troops withdraw from Iraq this summer, expect the democratic freedoms Iraqis have enjoyed in recent years to recede as well. Already, the Iraqi government is restricting freedom of the press, expression and assembly. It's toying with Web censorship, torturing political prisoners and killing political opponents.
Even with all of that, Iraq remains freer than every other Arab state, except Lebanon. The United States wrote democratic freedoms into Iraq's constitution, including protections for women and minorities - offering as a tacit guarantee the active presence of 150,000 American troops. But now the guarantors are leaving.
A large part of the problem is corruption. Under American stewardship, Iraq has grown to be one of the half-dozen most corrupt nations on earth. "Significant widespread corruption" afflicts "all levels of government," the State Department says. Nothing can so quickly cripple a democracy as the need by the nation's leaders to protect their cash flow and hide all evidence of their thefts. That leads, at least, to electoral fraud and press censorship. How can corrupt officials survive if the press is free to report on their misdeeds? Continued
As to this:
Even with all of that, Iraq remains freer than every other Arab state, except Lebanon.
The lead in to that and that pretty much describes what Iraq was under Saddam, Our Good Bud, and his dictatorship. Even to being the better educated society in that region with students once traveling here for educations. Now, well the kids that grew up in the carnage of the past decade are the potential future blowback seekers!
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