This has always been something I have noticed about Iraqi culture, there has to be some kind of victory, real or perceived. Ed Wong does a good job of discussing why the current American strategy in Iraq isn't working, it just isn't Iraqi. He also references things that he notes on his "final tour," which to me implies that Wong is hanging the reporter's tablet up in Iraq. I think that is big news in and of its self. I've been reading his work for a long time. Telling when this caliber of journalist is stepping out. (Then again, maybe he is just taking a few months off).
Sitting in the cool recesses of his home, the white-robed sheik said he was a moderate, a supporter of democracy. It is for people like him that the Americans have fought this war. But the solution he proposes is not one the Americans would easily embrace.
“In the history of Iraq, more than 7,000 years, there have always been strong leaders,” he said. “We need strong rulers or dictators like Franco, Hitler, even Mubarak. We need a strong dictator, and a fair one at the same time, to kill all extremists, Sunni and Shiite.”
I was surprised to hear those words. But perhaps I was being naïve. Looking back on all I have seen of this war, it now seems that the Iraqis have been driving all along for the decisive victory, the act of sahel, the day the bodies will be dragged through the streets.
