(New York Times) Thomas L. Friedman - The Iraqi "insurgents" opposing the U.S. today cannot plausibly claim to be the authentic expressions of Iraqi nationalism - as the Viet Cong claimed to be in the Vietnam War. The forces killing Americans and Iraqi police are primarily Sunni Muslims who want to restore the rule and privileges of their minority community and Baath Party, or foreign and local Islamists who are trying to undermine any prospect of modernism, pluralism, and secularism in Iraq. Virtually every poll taken since the fall of Saddam indicates that neither of these groups represents the vast majority of Iraqis, who want to elect their own government, free of intimidation. We cannot want a decent Iraq more than the Iraqi silent majority.
2004-04-08 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive