Week of Milestones Fails to Reassure Frustrated Iraqis

WaPo reported Thaer Abbas Shammari smiled contentedly and leaned on a table crammed with merchandise outside his Baghdad convenience store on constitution referendum day last weekend, bantering with neighbors, customers and passersby. But when the talk turned to voting, he stood bolt upright. "Look!" he bellowed, lifting his shirt and one pant leg to display neck, stomach and ankle scars that he said were inflicted during 14 years as a political prisoner under Saddam Hussein. When he pointed to a picture of his brother taped to the front door -- a "hero and martyr" executed by the former government for supposedly belonging to an outlawed political party -- it seemed natural to assume that Shammari would march to the polling center 100 yards away and cast his ballot. Not so. "I did not vote or encourage anyone to vote because the government has given us nothing," the 47-year-old shop owner said, grimacing and waving his arms in disgust. "Where are the results?"

This asshole must be a Democrat. I have news for you, Thaer, The purpose of a government is not to give you stuff. The purpose of a government is to let you earn what you are willing to work for. If you want to sit in your store and chat with customers and passersby, then you may, and you can thank the government for the fact that you can do that without terrorists blowing up cars outside your store. And if you want more, get off your rear end and start earning some money.

It's easy to find people like Shammari in today's Iraq. The electricity and water systems are still in shambles 30 months after Hussein was toppled,

They have probably been restored several times by the Americans, but the people tolerate terrorists in their midst that blow up the electric plants and the transmission towers.

unemployment has soared, and gasoline lines stretch for miles in a country with the world's fourth-largest oil reserves. There are kidnappings, assassinations, suicide bombings and sectarian strife. Even many people who did vote in last Saturday's referendum have indicated they are running out of patience.

Then tell them to turn in the people doing the kidnappings, assassinations, and suicide bombings.

The week also brought the opening of Hussein's trial on war crimes charges. While many Iraqis welcomed it as the beginning of a national catharsis, they criticized the government's focus on the trial as a milestone in the country's march to democracy. What matters most, they said, is improvement in the conditions of daily life.

"If I'm able to get fuel . . . it's more useful for us than this theater called the Saddam trial," said Salim Hussein, a taxi driver waiting in a long line for gasoline in Dujail, the scene of a 1982 assassination attempt against Hussein that was followed by 143 executions. Hussein is being tried in those killings.

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For the benefit of others wanting to join the trackback parties, here are the URLs I used. Only the lastone did not work with Haloscan, and it worked with Simpletrac

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http://pointfiveblog.com/index.php/2005/10/447/trackback/
http://wizbangblog.com/cgi-bin/mt-wiztb.cgi/7392
http://brightandearly.1southernyankee.com/2005/10/onn1021/trackback/
http://joscafe.com/2005/10/22/saturday-specials-21/trackback/
http://www.cafeoregano.com/blog/mt-tb.cgi/374
http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2005/10/21/weekend-open-trackback-party/trackback/
http://www.sablogs.com/htsrv/trackback.php?tb_id=1382
http://haloscan.com/tb/macstansbury/OPEN_THREAD_OPEN_TRACKBACKS_4
http://thepoliticalteen.net/2005/10/22/102205/trackback
http://caosblog.com/2343/trackback/
http://haloscan.com/tb/brutus1964/112990647792663133
http://www.californiaconservative.org/wp-trackback.php?p=1236
http://truckinwifi.com/wordpress/wp-trackback.php?p=45
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/3424625
http://haloscan.com/tb/williamje/112999867590284351
http://bamapachyderm.com/archives/2005/10/22/wlwotpcfcd-time/trackback/