Quote :

"U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep ethnic violence from spiraling out of control, but they shouldn't stay too long, according to a panel of Iraqi youth convened by CNN. Five young Iraqis, pictured here with CNN Correspondent Aneesh Raman, answer questions posed by Americans. "Leave, but not now," said Mohamed Ibrahim, a 22-year-old medical student who lives in Baghdad. "If American soldiers leave Iraq now it will be more, more dangerous for us," said Karrar Sabih, 21, a fellow medical student. One of his three brothers was killed by insurgents south of Baghdad in 2004. These are opinions one hears often in Iraq. Many Iraqis are uncomfortable with foreign troops on their soil but aware that without them the country could descend deeper into sectarian warfare"

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/13/iraq.roundtable/index.html

Its not quite as comprehensive as FykalJpn's Afghanistan article, but I thought it was a pretty good persepective on the situation from the view of younger Iraqis.

Two quotes that struck me were:

Quote :

""I'm sure every wife gives her husband to fight here. Every mother gives her son to fight here. Every kid his father to fight here. So the U.S. already help us and we can never forget that.""

The concept that every mother gave a son and every kid gave a father is so far from the reality that the military-industrial complex went to war while the rest of the nation stayed home.

Quote :

""About the Americans that die here. I'm sorry for them," replied 14-year-old Woroud. "Everybody dies here. Iraqis die, and everybody dies. It's really painful for their families but the thing that has to end, what we need is more safety.""

I don't think this one needs any commentary.

This isn't intended to be read as "OMFG we need to stay the course!" or "GTFO NOW!" . . . just something to think about on your drive home.

9/13/2007 4:47:10 PM

Quote :

"Leave, but not now"

That about sums it up...they don't know what the fuck they want

9/13/2007 4:51:05 PM

how about to not die, for starters.

9/13/2007 4:58:09 PM

i dont think thats a trait unique to iraqis

9/13/2007 5:03:51 PM

^^^ that seemed like a pretty clear statement. I'm not sure why you're saying they don't know what they want.

9/13/2007 5:14:29 PM

when do they want us to leave?

9/13/2007 5:17:00 PM

I'm guessing they are all sunnis.

9/13/2007 5:20:17 PM

Quote :

" what we need is more safety.""

Quote :

""Everything has an end. But the problem is when and who will make the difference? Some say we need 20 years. We have time. If we die, the next generation will come. We have lots of time. But we need good people, not only time. Time will do nothing for us without the right people.""

I thought that pretty much covered it.

9/13/2007 5:20:33 PM

Quote :

"That about sums it up...they don't know what the fuck they want "

yup

Quote :

"how about to not die, for starters."

bet you can't tell which ones don't want to and which ones do. here's a hint, most of the ones who say they don't are lying

9/13/2007 5:20:33 PM

Quote :

"here's a hint, most of the ones who say they don't are lying"

and you base that assertion on what?

9/13/2007 5:22:05 PM

some really crass/idiotic people in here, sadly.

9/13/2007 7:07:16 PM

some really crass/idiotic people in here, sadly.

9/14/2007 9:42:47 AM

Sadly, some really crass/idiotic people in here.

9/17/2007 1:34:34 AM

Quote :

"A panel of Iraqi youth convened by CNN? Now that's scientific! "

9/17/2007 1:41:26 AM

20-somethings are "Iraqi youth"?

9/17/2007 3:38:19 AM

^ Amazingly, in a lot of countries 'youth' do tend to include people through their twenties. Where I live now, you are considered a youth until you are 26 and its been pretty similar in quite a few other places around the world that ive been.

9/17/2007 7:30:51 AM

^^^ no one is arguing that it is scientific. It is more of a vignette.

^^I'd say 20 something is youth anywhere. Youth =/= minors.

9/17/2007 8:32:05 AM

^ You can call it what you want, but it's useless for the purpose of assessing the actual situation in Iraq with the goal of determining policy.

9/17/2007 2:39:14 PM

Um, no one suggested that it should be. However, I think it wise to put a human perspective on largely faceless international events.

First post:

Quote :

"This isn't intended to be read as "OMFG we need to stay the course!" or "GTFO NOW!" . . . just something to think about on your drive home."

9/17/2007 3:46:28 PM