Is Iraq More Honorable than Japan, Which Consented to the Establishment of U.S. Bases?

From beneath the crush of slogans about patriotism, sovereignty, honor and dignity, heard increasingly often from a majority of Iraqis when discussing the future of the country’s relationship with the United States of America, the following question emerges:

Are the Iraqi people more honorable, more courageous, more patriotic and more dignified than the Japanese, who, more than 60 years ago, consented to the establishment of American military bases upon their soil?

I chose Japan specifically, and not Germany, England, Korea, Turkey, the Gulf States or any of the other states where American military bases are located, because Iraqis consider Japan a wonderful and shining example of scientific progress and development, of strong patriotic spirit and of loyalty and dedication to country.

It is well-known that the Japanese people are brave and fierce warriors, and certainly they succeeded in building a grand country with great scientific and economic achievement and a successful experience with democracy. The citizens of a country of this caliber have surely come to hold the highest degree of pride in, and loyalty to, their homeland. So why consent to the establishment of U.S. bases?

The answer lies in the intelligence and national spirit of the Japanese, eager to take the American experience and expertise that had been transmitted to Japan and utilize it to create this great modern miracle of a country!

What about the Iraqi people, who boast of dignity and national sovereignty?

*Iraqis have registered among the world’s highest levels of administrative corruption and theft of public funds.

*Iraqis have employed intelligence operatives from Iran, Syria and the Gulf States, shamelessly and openly selling off the country.

*Iraqis murder each other and cut off each other’s heads.

*Iraqis have failed even at the level of digging sewers and collecting garbage from their city streets.

*Iraqis have not learned the importance of teamwork, not even so well as ants, but have splintered amongst themselves and quarreled over everything.

And now, after all of these disasters and the complete collapse of state and society, when we have come to desperately need the expertise of the United States of America and its assistance with developing our country and halting its destruction — and after Allah sent America as a precious gift to Iraq — we find those who brashly offer patriotic catchphrases while forgetting the interests of the country and the benefits to be found in a relationship with America!

I do not wish to place more of the blame on my people, for we are a disastrous example of self-destruction, of wasted opportunity, of glorified backwardness and of a lack of consideration for the welfare of our homeland. If we stick to empty slogans about national sovereignty and neglect what is most important, which is Iraq’s need of a relationship with America, then the loss of this opportunity will stand as one of the worst mistakes the Iraqi nation has made over the course of its history, both ancient and modern.