The Real Arabs

This morning 3 Sunni's involved in creating the Iraqi constitution were shot to death as they left a restaurant in Central Baghdad. Militants have been threatening to kill any Sunni's aiding the western government through help on the constitution. Does that mean they'll stop going after Shiites, or that the Kurds are exempt?

I don't think enough attention is being given in the media to the courageous majority in Iraq who are being molested daily by a militant minority of largely imported terrorists. I was listening to a recording from a guy from California who's lived in the middle east for a long time this weekend, and his stories were absolutely amazing. Most of his time was spent in Lebanon, but he's also been very involved in Iraq in more recent years. He's lived and traveled the middle east for the better part of 12 years openly as a white American Christian and didn't tell a single story of being harassed or martyred for his beliefs; on the contrary, he's had some amazingly good and encouraging relationships with devout muslims, some militant, most not, and only told 1 story of being robbed by armed gunmen. He's met and become good friends with members of Hezzobolah, leading sheik's in Basura, and the operators of a gas station in Fallujah. I don't want to get to retelling them his stories about these people here because they'd seem less true second hand on a blog, but I want to repeat something he said that stuck with me. This guy said that our impression of the Arab people is that they're very militant and angry, and it's just not true. They're very passionate people, and some of them are indeed very violent, but he said if a white American were dropped from a helicopter onto an anti-US rally (the flag burning kind we see in the news), not only would the people not molest you, but the guy you fell on top of would probably invite you over for lunch.

There are several great blogs out there that give a good impression of what the Iraqi people in specific are really like, and how they're doing during this war. Check out Iraq the Model, and the hoarde of Iraqi blogs he has linked there. These people aren't a bunch of idiot fanatics or a group of helpless children in need of our pity and protection. They're a courageous and noble society emerging as the first Arab democracy, largely thankful for our help in removing Sadaam, and largely very upset and embarassed about the militant terrorist minority.