This Was a Good Thing to Do

Wall Street Journal ^ | 28 JUL 2003 | Paul Gigot

[onedoug]

NAJAF, Iraq--Toppling a statue is easier than killing a dictator. Not the man himself, but the idea of his despotism, the legacy of his torture and the fear of his return. This kind of reconstruction takes time.

Just ask the 20-some members of the new city council in this holy city of Shiite Islam. Their chairs are arrayed in a circle to hear from Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense, who invites questions. The first man to speak wants to know two things: There's a U.S. election next year, and if President Bush loses will the Americans go home? And second, are you secretly holding Saddam Hussein in custody as a way to intimidate us with the fear that he might return? Mr. Wolfowitz replies no to both points, with more conviction on the second than the first. But the question reveals the complicated anxiety of the post-Saddam Iraqi mind.

[onedoug]

A much different, and important take than one sees in the major media.

Someone's lying. And I don't think it's Gigot.

[presidio9]

Already posted here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/953621/posts

[onedoug]

Thank you. The keywords seem run together on the earlier post. 'Guess that's why I didn't cath them in SEARCH.

[presidio9]

I make this mistake all the time myself.

[Trust but Verify]

ping for later reading