Iraqi Turnover

The Iraqi government is in charge of Iraq now. The turnover occured two days ahead of schedule. I heard that it was changed because of possible assassination attempts and other violent acts. For all I know, it's possible that the 30th was the announced day, and the real date was always the 28th. I'm just amazed that it was done as quietly as it was. Just goes to prove that politicians can keep a secret.

In any case, I hope this shuts down some of the commentary that the US is in Iraq for the oil. If that was the case, our gas prices would be alot lower than they are. It won't of course, now the other side will be saying that Iraq is too unstable and we should not have turned over power yet.

The other thing will be, now that we have turned power over, why are our troops still there? Why aren't they home yet? They are there as a courtesy to the Government of Iraq which is still in its infancy. I'm sure that while the various ministers of government are capable of running the government, there are still security issues that they are not yet able to handle. They are still hiring police officers even though the insurgents are, or at least were, bombing recruiting offices. I'm sure the Iraqi military is not in much better shape.

There are still problems that need to be overcome. It's not unlike Europe after WWII. After any war, there are citizens who are not happy with the outcome; they wanted a different ending. In Iraq, there are insurgents who want a return to the old ways. It's not necessarily a matter of wanting the US out, they don't want a democracy of any kind.

It was seven years before Germany held elections after WWII. Iraq will be holding elections no later than January 31, 2005. I'd say that says alot for Iraq and the US.

America is a country that has done so much for so many countries and asked so little. After both World Wars, all we asked for was some land to bury our dead. How many other countries have done so much and asked so little?

Makes me proud to be an American.