My Opinion for the Opinion Journal

I have been sure to share the link for what the Opinion Journal calls "Today's Featured Article." As I read it, it just seemed to be an outrageous slap in the face to every American. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010203

Our Common Struggle America had its civil war. Why expect freedom to come easy to Iraq?
BY NOURI AL-MALIKI
I have included a few highlights of the article, with my own comments in red.

BAGHDAD, Iraq--Americans keen to understand the ongoing struggle for a new Iraq can be guided by the example of their own history. In the 1860s, your country fought a great struggle of its own, a civil war that took hundreds of thousands of lives but ended in the triumph of freedom and the birth of a great power.
Yes, Mr. Maliki, we did have a civil war here, and it was Americans that fought in it, without dependence upon other countries and certainly without two month summer sabaticals and without billions of dollars from other nation's tax payers. I would concur that there is, however; a parallel to be drawn and that would be; it is Americans that have died in both our civil war and yours.

Our struggle in Iraq is similar to the great American quest, and is perhaps even more complicated. As your country was fighting that great contest over its unity and future, Iraq was a province of an Ottoman empire steeped in backwardness and ignorance. A half a century later, the British began an occupation of Iraq and drew the borders of contemporary Iraq as we know them today. Independence brought no relief to the people of our land. They were not given the means of political expression, nor were they to know political arrangements that respected their varied communities.
Mr. Maliki, with all due respect, a country that is deserving of independence and relief for the people doesn't wait for someone else to win it, and give them means of expression. And since you mention it, Iraq has been around for thousands of years, and this is the most your country has managed, yet?

It is perhaps true that only people who are denied the gift of liberty can truly appreciate its full meaning and bounty. I look with admiration at the American debate surrounding the Iraq war . . .
I'm sure many around the world are "looking with admiration" as to what this Iraq war has done to divide America. And let's talk appreciation, full meaning and bounty. I've read some of your other comments regarding America's suggestions to you as to how you could move things along, and you don't sound the least bit appreciative of this gift of liberty, when referring to the suggestions of your "liberators." I'll address your reference to bounty in my next comment. You have claimed enough power to exact executions and design "infrastructures." Your government has drawn up a constitution and as you mentioned, left place for amendments, which to me just says, you can have all the power you want, as your leaders choose to lead, so . . . What's new about that plan?

Iraq is well on its way to passing a new oil law that would divide the national treasure among our provinces and cities . . .
Ah, the bounty! Well, our national treasury is empty because you cannot lead your country, when this opportunity has truly been handed to you on a silver platter at no cost to yourself or those that are presently in power.

Our message has been the same to one and all: We will not permit Iraq to be a battleground for other powers. In the contests and ambitions swirling around Iraq, we are neutral and dedicated to our country's right to prosperity and a new life, inspired by a memory of a time when Baghdad was--as Washington is today--a beacon of enlightenment on which others gazed with admiration. We have come to believe, as Americans who founded your country once believed, that freedom is a precious inheritance. It is never cheap but the price is worth paying if we are to rescue our country.
Mr. Al-Maliki, my message to you would be. If you can make this sort of a powerful statement, and you claim to be able to enforce it, then it needs to begin at home! Because of our situation in your country, we don't have the luxury to be neutral, so we're so glad you now have the freedom to send a message to our land. Why don't you get the message to your own people and tell them how valuable this gift of liberty is, because we in America did have to fight for it ourselves, and we had to fight our own civil war, and now, we are losing our freedoms, so you can enjoy yours. What in the world would you know about a price worth paying? You know, good and well, according to the Geneva Convention and the UN that we have to leave your country in as good a shape as Mr. Hussein had it, and you know your country is no where close to that, and can't maintain it under the present leadership. As long as the civil war continues, we can't get it rebuilt. Just how many thousands of years has your country been declining to the state in which it is? We managed a revolutionary war and a civil war in less than a hundred years, and rebuilt ourselves. Our allies chose to aid us, they didn't have to fight the battle and hand us freedom.
I also have an observation which differs from your perspective, regarding your country and what you say your country is striving for. You and I both know, you and the American president cannot bring resolution to this war.
Thank you so much for your time and attention in this matter, Mr. Al-Maliki.
And the angel of YHVH said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael . . . And he will be a wild man, his hand will be against every man . . . - Torah