My youngest sister is obviously back in university. I know this not because she told me, but due to the fact that I have received e-mails from her for the first time this whole summer. Of course, she needs something. It seems she has to write a paper for a professor about what is going on inside the Middle East. I feel she finds me her "One Stop Source for Information" instead of exerting herself to stay enlightened of the world's affairs. Alas, she is a a busy fourth year student and I am sure she does not have time to read the newspapers and/or watch the news. As for myself, I cannot give her an unbiased opinion about that war in Iraq. Honestly, at this point, I am wondering what war are you talking about? First of all, I would like to see the draft and finalized plan of this war in Iraq from the US. What was the plan? I keep hearing the same rhetoric "stay the course" but what is the course? Forget the reasons for entering the war, we know those are suspect, and forget the past three years of lives and money lost on both the "Coalition" side and the Iraqi side... completely flushed down the toilet. What are the "plans" from this point to fix this misery we are in? If we get out of this quandary and save face as Americans I will be grateful and relieved. I once knew a man that worked for my father and he told me, "Before you go over to your neighbor and start trouble, you better check out his back yard to see who and what is in it". I have never forgotten what he said, and I think about that now when I think of American troops inside of a religious, Arabic speaking country that has cultural and societal values that are foreign from what they know and comprehend.
I hope that my sister can find her information and complete her paper, as I seem to be of no use to her in this area. In my opinion, this "war" is over and it has been over for a long time. The US military doesn't even believe it can defeat the resistance. One cannot defeat what he does not understand. The likelihood that Iraqi politicians can agree on anything and create a stable central government is unlikely. They have never had the chance to express an opinion, much less hold a position of power. Americans are fed up from footing the bills and being treated like the villain.
Let me know when someone knows the plan.
until next time,
A Woman of Egypt