Many [Iraqis] see light at end of tunnel despite mounting violence

Azzaman ^ | 2005 Jun 11 | Nidhal al-Mawsawi

[Wiz]

Despite the overwhelming disappointment at the course of events in the country, many still believe in a bright future.

The deteriorating public services and the endless flow of news and television footage on the bloody violence send signals that there is no hope for the future.

But it is wrong to say that the Iraqi society as a whole is violent by nature and condones car bombings, kidnappings and the looting and embezzlement of public property.

“We haven’t given up hope. We believe that only a small and stray minority of Iraqis are involved in the current violence,” said Abdulkarim Shakir.

“We scoff at the attempts to picture our society in a manner that is strange to our peaceful inclinations,” he said.

“The Iraqi society is made up of you and me, our relatives and friends. What we see is that we are all depicted in the media as terrorists, gangsters and kidnappers with no morals or conscience,” Shakir added.

The international media have stopped reporting any of our good old virtues of hospitality, tolerance, love, philanthropy and mercy.

These virtues are still there. Foreign armies have come and gone and revolutions and insurgencies have started and died but Iraqis in general have stuck to their good values.