2005-08-28

Rebuilding the Spirit

Mino 19 at Friends of Democracy has some thoughts about rebuilding the Iraqi individual:
... Administrative and financial corruption is probably the most dangerous. It is obvious that corruption was the natural result of a devilish seed planted by the former regime. It was cleverly and deliberately watered later under the rule of civil administrator Paul Bremer, and it finally gave its fruits under Allawi's interim government. New thieves from abroad were imposed on the government, many of whom were experts not only in robbery but in creating an atmosphere of corruption to encourage others from inside and from abroad to plunder the country's riches.
Many of those expatriates became prominent leaders and officials as if Iraq were devoid of qualified honorable individuals from inside. This begs the question: when will the right person ever fill the right place in Iraq? One who will truly serve the people instead of those who seek power and positions for their own personal gain?
I have to say here that the reconstruction of the Iraqi psyche is far more important and urgent than the reconstruction of our infrastructure. What use is a prosperous country when it is governed by sick, greedy individuals looking for their own interests?
You can treat this as a call to return to our timeless, noble values and morals such as altruism, sacrifice for the sake of others, and other sacred values which have disappeared and are almost extinct in the new Iraq which is full of empty slogans such as transparency, accountability and democracy. ...

Read the full post at the link.