Iraqi "Girly-men"

If I may borrow a page from the governor of California, I think that the legislature is a bunch of girly-men. No, not the California legislature, but rather that of Iraq. I just finished reading a story from the AP about how the Iraqi legislature "adjourned in protest Tuesday and demanded an apology" from the U.S. What heinous crime did the U.S. commit against the august legislature of Iraq that would warrant such righteous indignation? Did the U.S. imprison one of the Iraqi lawmakers? Did the U.S. kill Iraqi civilians? Did the U.S. neglect its protective duty and allow attackers to kill one of the lawmakers? No; apparently one of the eminent legislators was frisked. To be precise, he was handcuffed and momentarily held after he started fighting with a coalition translator. So to protest his mistreatment, he went to the esteemed legislative body of which he is part and (I am not making this up) he cried. You read that right: he cried.

As an enlightened and sensitive man, I know that there are appropriate times for a man to cry. Standing in front of an historic parliamentary proceeding and recounting losing a fight that you started is not one of them.

Imagine this: your country, country A, has been freed from a brutal tyrant by country B, and country B encourages country A to establish a constitutional republic in place of the totalitarian rule erstwhile endured by A. People of A vote, and elect you as delegate to make this constitution that will guide A's nascent republic through dark times to a brighter future. Meanwhile, friends of aforementioned deposed tyrant and various other enemies of B are killing the citizens of A left and right while B's army is doing what it can to stop them. Then another delegate stands up in the middle of a legislative session and starts crying about how he was touched by one of the soldiers in B's army. The normal human response would be to have a hearty laugh at the crybaby's expense, and get on with the important business of the country.

Not so the Iraqi legislature. Perhaps the Kurds laughed. But as a whole, the Iraqi legislature adjourned in protest. Surely they heard about the dozens of Iraqis dying in insurgent attacks? How must they who were wounded by these attacks feel? They're probably thinking: "I voted for one of those shmucks? I dipped my index finger in purple ink so these guys could extend an entirely different finger at the people who got us this far?"

I think the U.S. should stop protecting the legislature as long as they behave like complete idiots, and start devoting those resources to protecting the more grateful segments of Iraqi society.

SRS

Note: this blog entry used to be found at Backlog Bob's Blog. It no longer appears there.