Mohammed at Iraq The Model has a post on his trip to the barber shop. It reveals a fascinating contrast between Mohammed and Omar's thoughful insights and the self-blinded beliefs of other Iraqis. First, some statements of "other Iraqis." These came when the TV showed video of Zarqawi.
"Look at him, he was so thin when he first came into Iraq and now he looks like a bull! He must be feeding on a sheep everyday. Do you really believe this man lives in the desert??" one remark was "no, he's under American protection, they brought him in a helicopter to the desert to shoot this video then he was flown back to a palace. No idiot can believe that America with all the technology and power cannot spot him" another guy added.
"You see that, all his weapons are US made, isn't this enough proof that he's backed by the Americans? Er, by the way they say he's in Yusifiya now, right?"
[A]nd the other guy just said "yes! This is how the Americans do it, every time they want to destroy an area they send in Zarqawi so they can justify their operations."
Mohammed tried arguing with these guys, but they just kept going in circles believing what they wanted to believe. Here's how Mohammed ended his post:
I chose not to waste my breath on more of this conversation as long as the guys were convinced that everybody wants to kill them supporting this belief with rumors and conspiracy theories that simple minded people love; they relieve the mind off the duty of making any effort to find answers and it allows them to not have to blame themselves for anything that goes wrong.
An Iraqi finds it so hard to admit his mistakes, not only that, he doesn't even want to review his history to avoid facing the reality that it was our mistakes over time that made us what we are now, so let's just blame the others for our failures and let’s believe that our enemies (who are virtually every nation other than us) have been putting one obstacle after the other in front of us to stop us from becoming an advanced and wealthy nation and let's just spare us the effort of finding out the real reasons behind our misery.
Ignorance is a plague nurtured by turbans that lack logic and knowledge and by media and political analysts who are keen to keep the people misinformed and to which truth is an enemy; a heavy legacy that will not be easy to escape.
May the people of Iraq escape their legacy. May there be more and more of them who see things as clearly as Mohammed and Omar and fewer and fewer who are like the the other men in the barber shop. The peace and stability of Iraq, and ultimately the Middle East depend on it.
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