Iraq. We are losing control of the situation in the country. Sectarian violence rages. Civil war looms. Westerns are largely confined to the heavily fortified "green zone". In short we may have "won" the past but we are losing the present.
Now we stand to lose the future as well. The education system in Iraq is on the brink of collapse. Professors and teachers, especially in the sciences and in health, have been targeted for assassination. Many staff members have fled abroad or gone into hiding. Class sizes have fallen by 50% or more in some places. I would not attempt to argue that ante bellum Iraq was without problems; political repression was extreme and human rights were regularly flouted. However it was, along with Syria (another of our great enemies), one of the most secular of nations in the Arab world. It also had a generally high quality educational system at primary, secondary and university level including wide ranging access for women.
(A story last month in the Sacramento Bee also highlights the fear of violence that pervades the system and threatens its future. )
The humanitarian tragedy that is present day Iraq is bad enough. The scope of the catastrophe will widen geometically if the ability of Iraqi childern and youths access to education. This will only play into the hands of those who wish to ensure that Iraq loese its secular status and slips into the hands whose wish their religion to drive and control society. We would count most of these people as our enemies.
I cannot imagine why this would be the desired outcome but sometimes it appears that every action we take in Iraq (and Afghanistan) is designed to ensure the failure of what are ostensibly our goals.
Now we stand to lose the future as well. The education system in Iraq is on the brink of collapse. Professors and teachers, especially in the sciences and in health, have been targeted for assassination. Many staff members have fled abroad or gone into hiding. Class sizes have fallen by 50% or more in some places. I would not attempt to argue that ante bellum Iraq was without problems; political repression was extreme and human rights were regularly flouted. However it was, along with Syria (another of our great enemies), one of the most secular of nations in the Arab world. It also had a generally high quality educational system at primary, secondary and university level including wide ranging access for women.
(A story last month in the Sacramento Bee also highlights the fear of violence that pervades the system and threatens its future. )
The humanitarian tragedy that is present day Iraq is bad enough. The scope of the catastrophe will widen geometically if the ability of Iraqi childern and youths access to education. This will only play into the hands of those who wish to ensure that Iraq loese its secular status and slips into the hands whose wish their religion to drive and control society. We would count most of these people as our enemies.
I cannot imagine why this would be the desired outcome but sometimes it appears that every action we take in Iraq (and Afghanistan) is designed to ensure the failure of what are ostensibly our goals.
No comments:
Post a Comment