The Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

Maybe things have changed in Iraq. Here are four examples:

During the day of the election voter passed by the body of a suicide bomber who detonated himself too early. As they passed, old women spit on the corpse as they marched to the polls. (Confirmed by two independant sources)

On election day people rushed the new Iraqi Army as they drove through the local streets in their new armored vehicles. The Army was greeted with the same enthusiasm that our forces were in the days after the fall of the regime. (Witnesses by everybody)

In our area, AIF (Anti Iraqi Forces) attacked the local police station. In the past the police have run rather than fight even though many still died in the process. This time the police stayed and fought. They brought the bodies of dead and wounded AIF to the hospital and snapped pictures as trophies. (I saw the pictures)

South of here, AIF entered into a village to enact revenge on voters. They were met by most of the villagers emerging from their homes, AK-47s in hand, and killed the terrorists. (Confirmed by two independant sources)

As I hear these stories I realize they have been filtered and altered several times. However, somewhere in there are fragments of truth. What has changed in the days since the election?

In my first months here I had the opinion that the Iraqi people were sheep and we were the shepard. They acted quite helpless. They looked to us for everything from the most basic of essential services to their safety on each and every street in Baghdad. I wondered, as many of us did, how long it would take for these people to take matters into their own hands and have some ownership on their future.

It is beginning to appear as if we may have turned a corner - the Iraqi people, the US/MNF military, and even the AIF. The people here seem to be getting tired of cowering before the terrorists. Now the word is starting to get around.

News does not travel through normal channels as it does in the Western world. Iraqis are very distrustful of what they see in the media - Western or Middle Eastern. They do beleive in the rumor mill. I played my little role today by talking to some of my Iraqi acquaintences asking them if the had heard these stories - especially of the one about the villagers taking matters into their own hands. Hopefully, this little telephone game will spread into action among the people.

And there it is - if the Iraqis take greater control over their own security, coupled with their enthusiasm for the democratic process, and followed by strong leadership in the governnment - there is hope for this country. I didn't think as much back in November and December.

Sadly, as I write this I can hear an exchange of gunfire outside of my office door. This will not be easy, but then the things that are worth it never are easy are they?