I’ve been meaning to post this for a number of days but the humdrum business of looking for a new job occasionally gets in the way of the far more important task of blogging.A friend of mine, Joe Skelly, a reservist, is currently stationed in the Civil-Military Operations Center, Baquba, Iraq. As anybody who has even cursorily followed events in that country will know, Baquba, while not quite Falluja or Mosul, is far from a soft posting. Well, Joe has written an article that appeared in last Sunday’s Independent. The main thrust of Joe’s argument is that recent elections in Iraq, signalling the emergence of a democratic sovereign nation, has parallels with Ireland’s own struggle in the early 20th century. Although it’s forcefully put, I can’t accept this premise. The crucial difference (it seems to me) is that whereas the fight for independence in Ireland was spearheaded by home-grown leaders, “democracy” in Iraq is being imposed by outside forces. This seems to be paradox that is stretching the credibility of the American project in Iraq: can you both override a country’s sovereignty while simultaneously establishing it as an independent democracy? Regardless of what I think of Joe’s stance (in fact, we cordially disagree on just about every political matter), I’m compelled to admire the fact that he’s willing to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. He’s the polar opposite to the “chicken hawks” in Washington who waffle about making sacrifices for freedom while pulling strings to ensure that they never had to hunker down in a foxhole* If Iraq does somehow emerge from the dark reign of Saddam and the turmoil that has followed his fall with something approaching a functioning civil society, it will be due to the actions of people such as Joe. But it’s possible that now that the elections have been deemed a success, the Bush Administration is starting to lose interest in hanging around for the long haul. Social Security and Iran now seem to be the flavour of the month in Washington. It’s not that surprising. Anybody hear much recently about that place…whatsitcalled…Afghanistan?*I had other priorities in the ’60s than military service.”–Dick Cheney, to the Washington Post, via Slate.