". . . but believe me death is nothing compared to having your wife or sister raped in front of your eyes, in seeing your children brought in and tortured in your presence".
This is the Iraq that the anti-war demonstrators wanted to preserve. This is the Iraq that the French and Germans didn't want transformed. This is the Iraq that would still be there today if not for the recent war. And, this is the Iraq that the "Iraqi resistance" wants to reinstate.
I can accept that people in the US may not feel that ridding Iraq of Saddam was worth the cost in American lives (and money, of course). Same goes for the British and all the other nations that contributed to change Iraq. However, I cannot for the life of me understand what any Irish person can object to.
Is Iraq a mess? Seemingly so. Is it likely to get better in the near future? Probably not. Are the prospects for the Iraqi people better now than they were in January? Absolutely. Are they afraid? Undoubtedly. However, as I wrote last January (and I still believe) most Irish people would have traded the certainty of a slave's life for the uncertainty that is an Iraqi's life today.
