We owe Iraqis an apology

Omar, an Iraqi blogger, says we owe his countrymen an apology … for waiting so long to liberate them from Saddam:

I don?t know really know why Saddam?s regime lasted for over three decades, but I am sure as an Iraqi who survived that period that there?re no legal or moral justifications for it to remain.

I was counting days and hours waiting to see an end to that regime, just like all those who suffered the cruelty of that brutal regime.

It?s been really a disgrace chasing the world ,the world of the 21st. century, reminding it how incapable it was to aid the oppressed and to sue those who dispised all the values of humanity.

Through out these decades I lost trust in the world governments and international committees. Terms like (human rights, democracy and liberty..etc.)became hallow and meaningless and those who keep repeating these words are liars..liars..liars.

I hated the U.N and the security council and Russia and France and Germany and the arab nations and the islamic conference.

I?ve hated George Gallawy and all those marched in the millionic demonstrations against the war .It is I who was oppressed and I don?t want any one to talk on behalf of me, I, who was eager to see rockets falling on Saddam?s nest to set me free, and it is I who desired to die gentlemen, because it?s more merciful than humiliation as it puts an end to my suffer, while humiliation lives with me reminding me every moment that I couldn?t defend myself against those who ill-treated me.

I’m sorry, Omar, that we waited so long, and that we supported and then tolerated Saddam as long as we did. We’re on a different course now, and I hope it won’t happen again. During the Cold War it was our policy to support any regime that wasn’t overtly Communist, but we’ve come to realize that sort of thing isn’t productive, so President Bush intends to make the USA an evangelist for democracy.

Some of our citizens, mainly those on the Left but some on the far Right as well, oppose him on this new direction, but I’m counting on the good will of the majority to overcome their selfishness and short-sightedness. We’ll see who wins this battle in the years to come, but I’ve got faith in the good will of the American people, perhaps naively.

Meanwhile in London, former Iraqi blogger and new house Arab for the Guardian Salam Pax sounds more like a Baathist agent than ever (scroll down):

I hate to wake you up from that dream you are having, the one in which you are a superhero bringing democracy and freedom to underdeveloped, oppressed countries. But you really need to check things out in one of the countries you have recently bombed to freedom. Georgie, I am kind of worried that things are going a bit bad in Iraq and you don’t seem to care that much. You might want it to appear as if things are going well and sign Iraq off as a job well done, but I am afraid this is not the case.

Some suspected Salam of being a Baathist stooge during the invasion on account of his nasty tone and uncanny ability to escape detection, but now that he’s moved to London and taken up residence at The Guardian’s offices, it’s becoming quite clear that he was a friend of the old regime all along.