Continuing with my rant against tonight's episode of 60 Minutes, I have to get on the MonkuBox to express my displeasure at their piece on Iraq. They interviewed several Iraqis who said while they don't like Saddam Hussein, they thought life was better under his rule than having the United States occupying their country.
At this point in time, I sure wouldn't want to be living in Iraq. There's chaos in many places and its a dangerous place to live. Trying to patch up this country after the war has been a much more difficult task than was originally anticipated.
But does that mean things are always going to be worse there? Assuming we had never invaded Iraq then control of the country would have been given to Saddam's two sons when he left office. Sons who sound like they were even more vile and sadistic than their father. I doubt if Iraqi life would have improved under their reign.
Our office recently installed a new phone system. We had had the old one for 13 years and frankly, it was just too old. The voice mail didn't work right and since it was so old there was also a lack of support available when malfunctions occurred. So we purchased a new system, one with more features, support and on top of that it was cheaper to use. This new system was and is still not without bugs, however, that need to be ironed out.
What was the reaction to the new phone system? Some people absolutely hated it, decrying the new and fondly remembering the old. They hated this thing or they hated that thing, and this didn't work right and that didn't work right. Some even complained because the function buttons (such as the button to push to transfer someone or put someone on hold) was in a different place than on the old phones. Well, I am happy to say that almost all of the bugs have been ironed out and of the remaining ones, none are serious. Meanwhile, snide comments continue to be made each day about how this new system is so much worse than the old.
I remember 13 years ago when we got a new phone system, the one that some people now remember so fondly and wish it would make a return. These same people hated that new system and longed for the old one. Personally I thought the old one was horrible. I think what the critics really missed was the comfort of having the old system - the familiarity of it. The ease of not having to learn something new.
Well if you ask me, that's just what we have in Iraq. A lot of people have embraced the change but a lot of people haven't. In the long term, do you think the Iraqi people are going to be better off without the murderous Saddam and his sons? You bet, but again, this is long term. In the short term there is going to be a lot of suffering. It's unavoidable. You can't make a change this big without having major bugs no matter how well planned or executed the invasion was. The phone system had its bugs and some people went nuts over that; how does a little phone system compare to a whole country?? You've got to look at this in the long run, something apparently lost on the 60 Minutes crew. They lack a long term vision with the Silver Ring Thing (see the previous post) and they lack a long term vision with Iraq. All they could show on their segment tonight were unhappy Iraqis complaining about today's problems. And indeed there are problems - waiting in line for seven hours to get gasoline is a severe problem and they are to be commended for not rioting (which is better than you could expect for Los Angeles if anyone had to wait even half that long for gas). Plus every day they have to worry about insurgent terrorism. There is a high price to pay for major change but in the long run they will be better off.
America paid a high price to maintain freedom during World War II. If 60 Minutes were a radio show back then they probably would have had a segment dealing with how silly it was to fear Hitler and how we shouldn't sacrifice our people for some cause way overseas that didn't concern us.
A long time ago, Moses led the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. It was the beginning of their trek to the promised land, the land of milk and honey. With the power of God with him, Moses parted the Red Sea and led the slaves to freedom. He was their hero.
Disillusionment soon set in, however. The Israelites got tired of wandering around in the desert and got tired of eating the same old thing day in and day out. They started to whine and complain, and wish they were back in Egypt, land of the familiar and comfortable. Never mind that they were treated cruelly by Pharaoh and that they hated being in captivity; all of a sudden when faced with the hard life in the desert the old life in Egypt didn't look so bad. Never mind that Moses was leading them to the promised land. Had the 60 Minutes crew been there, they would have shown just how unhappy the Jewish people were, and how Moses had made a serious, serious mistake. Maybe they would even have shown how God Himself really blew it this time. Of course things didn't look very good for the Israelites in the desert - it was, no doubt, a rough life. But we can see where they were and we can see where they were going. And it was from a harsh life to a better life.
No matter what, there are always those who will resist change. Or those who will intially jump on the bandwagon and embrace change but when things get a little tough they will start pointing fingers and talk about what a mistake this was. But I say look to the long term - keep that vision and work toward it. Otherwise things are never going to improve.
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