Living in Fear is Living a Lie

Natan Sharansky recently wrote a book called The Case for Democracy, in which he writes (and I paraphrase) that anyone living in a "fear society" is obligated to lie about what it is like to live in that society; otherwise they risk being obliterated from that society.

That may be turning out to be what it was like to live in Iraq, not only under Saddam Hussein, but also under the insurgency. Now that Sunni leaders have encouraged their followers to vote, and they turned out in droves to do just that, they are starting to let their true feelings come out. And coincidentally, I am perceiving a similar thaw in the atmosphere at The New York Times, because suddenly many positive anecdotes (which have been here in Iraq for the reporting all along) are coming from its pages.

A recent Times article, entitled Freedom From Fear... includes the following excerpt:

A new willingness to distance themselves from the insurgency, an absence of hostility for Americans, a casual contempt for Saddam Hussein, a yearning for Sunnis to find a place for themselves in the post-Hussein Iraq - the boys' themes were their parents', too, only more boldly expressed.

The blessings of liberty belong to all mankind. I am glad to be serving in a country where the light of freedom is being seen and desired by more and more of God's children.

Is it that the weight of popular opinion has compelled the Times to hedge its bets on Iraqi success sooner than the US Democrat party? I wonder how much sooner and more widespread the success may have been had so many western news organs, including the Times (at least until now) not wished so desperately for it to fail. If they will continue and make general their practice of reporting what actually happens in the world, there is yet hope for unmitigated success in Iraq.