An Iraqi speaks out

Naseer Flayih Hasan writes of his disappointment with the left, who he looked up to but who, when confronted with the truth of Sadaam's regime, refused to accept it. Entitled How the Left Betrayed My Country, Naseer says he has no illusions about the purposes of the US

......we have no illusions that the U.S. came to Iraq on a white horse to save our people.  We understand this war is all about national interests, and that America’s interests are mainly about defeating terrorism.  At this moment, though, U.S. interests are doing more to bring about democracy and freedom in Iraq than, say, the policies of France and Russia—countries which also care little for the Iraqi people and, worse, did their best to save Saddam from destruction until the last moment.

but he also holds no more illusions about the left.

This was very disappointing for someone like me, who thought for decades that the Left was generally the progressive power in the world.  You can imagine how aghast I was when my French reporter friend told me that the Communist Party in his country actually considers the “insurgents” to be the equivalent of the French Gaullists!  Or how troubling it is to hear Jacques Chirac take satisfaction from the violence wreaked by the terrorists—those bloody monsters that we Iraqis know so well—because they justify France’s original opposition to the war.

And so I have become disillusioned, at least with the Leftists I met in Iraq.  So noble in their rhetoric, they looked to the stars, yet ignored what was happening around them, caring only about what was inside their minds.  So glorious in their ideals, their thoughts were inflexible and their deeds unnecessary, even harmful.  In the end, they proved to me how dogma and fanaticism had transform peace activists into—lifeless peace “statues.”

I hope Naseer realizes that he is not alone in his disillusionment. (Hat tip to Steven Vincent.)