Monday, June 26, 2006
Amnesty On Foreign Soil
Iraq the Model has some encouraging news:
Also, NPR's Jaime Tarabay was on the scene yesterday and her report can be found here, along with another NPR report on party contention over the issue in the Senate.
The two major arguments respectively:
Left: We have spent far too much time, energy and money toppling a sadistic dictator and attempting to help rebuild a nation, to condone amnesty to those who are known insurgents willing to say that they will renounce their violent past.
Right: We have spent far too much time, energy and money liberating a former dictatorship and giving them their sovereignty to keep meddling in their affairs. They need to begin making their own decisions. Let Iraq become the democracy that we have helped build.
I tend to lean toward the latter argument. You don't raise a child into young adulthood, giving them the resources and funding they need, only to persistently try and control their lives and micromanage them. That is just bad form. Iraq needs to be an adult now, and we need to let them.
Seven militant groups announced their desire to join the political process in accordance with the reconciliation project and said they were ready to enter a truce and stop the violence.In case you haven't heard of the 24-point reconciliation plan that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has offered to those terrorists who might renounce violence, and who haven't already committed violent attacks on Americans; Austin Bay has a round-up here.
MP Hassan al-Sinaid-whose close to PM Maliki-said third parties conveyed the message of the seven groups confirming that they were not involved in Iraqi bloodshed suggesting they're eligible to benefit from the initiative.
Also, NPR's Jaime Tarabay was on the scene yesterday and her report can be found here, along with another NPR report on party contention over the issue in the Senate.
The two major arguments respectively:
Left: We have spent far too much time, energy and money toppling a sadistic dictator and attempting to help rebuild a nation, to condone amnesty to those who are known insurgents willing to say that they will renounce their violent past.
Right: We have spent far too much time, energy and money liberating a former dictatorship and giving them their sovereignty to keep meddling in their affairs. They need to begin making their own decisions. Let Iraq become the democracy that we have helped build.
I tend to lean toward the latter argument. You don't raise a child into young adulthood, giving them the resources and funding they need, only to persistently try and control their lives and micromanage them. That is just bad form. Iraq needs to be an adult now, and we need to let them.
