A Few Good Men

We all remember the Marines old marketing slogan. All they need is "A Few Good Men". Well, as it turns out, they have more than a few good men. A lot of good men are dying for their country and for democracy in Iraq. Yet the Marines continue to fight tough street battles against Iraqi insurgents bent on opposing democracy. Unfortunately, it seems they are getting little help from the Iraqi people.

The Iraqi Police and Army are powerless, at best, and at worst they are working for the other side. A story today in the Philadelphia Inquirer says that Iraqi Police were asking for Islamic Cleric Al-Sadr's permission before they would come to work each day. It also reports that US forces gave the police two-way radios - not in order to keep in contact with them as was presumed, but in order to hear when the police were tipping off the insurgents.

With regular news reports of Iraqis betraying the US Soldiers and their own countrymen, it's difficult not to start wondering if there is anyone in the country with a sense of decency or loyalty.

I've often wondered just exactly what is the extent to which a nation should be required to throw off the chains of it's tyrants to achieve freedom. We know it is a moral duty for all to resist evil. Our own Declaration of Independence establishes this principle,

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.[Source]

The US has rescued many nations from tyranny, including most recently, Haiti. If a nation lacks individuals with the character - the ability or willingness to sacrifice for the collective good of the people - then how can we save them from themselves? We know that political systems have the potential to indoctrinate generations into believing that all the virtues Americans take for granted are to be ignored. Yet there must be some point where a people is accountable for making the choice between right and wrong despite the consequences and the indoctrination.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall there were still many wishing for the "good old days" of Communism. The communists repressed and killed many. The rest of the citizens were forced to become a part of the state apparatus or share the same fate. Baathism, the political ideology of Saddam Hussein is equally evil. It has as it's objectives the goals of secularism, socialism, and pan-arabic nationalism. [source] There is no concept of individual virtue. All is done for the glory of the state and particularly for the leader of the state. Anything is permissable as long as it serves the needs of the Baath Party.

At least since 1979 when Saddam became the President of Iraq, Iraqi society has been forcefully re-educated,

One of his first acts as President was to convene an assembly of Ba'ath party leaders on July 22, 1979 and have one of them read out the names of members that Saddam thought could oppose him. These members were labeled "disloyal" and were removed from the room one-by-one to face a firing squad. After the list was read, Saddam congratulated those still seated in the room for their past and future loyalty. The room erupted in applause and shouting in support of Saddam.[source]

Amnesty International has extensively documented the systematic torture of political prisoners and others. In a very real sense, Saddam caused his own people to become complicit with him for crimes against humanity. Therefore, it isn't surprising to find a shortage of moral, virtuous men and women with whom to build a democratic society.

It will be a difficult and long job, but somewhere in Iraq there must be a few good men willing to step forward and fight for their freedom. Our success in Iraq depends on it.