You may have seen this e-mail which is currently making the rounds. Boingboing.net confirms that it is, in fact, an e-mail from a Wall Street Journal reporter, describing to her friends what it is like to be in Iraq and what she really thinks about the situation there. Here is a sample:
One could argue that Iraq is already lost beyond salvation. For those of us on the ground it’s hard to imagine what if any thing could salvage it from its violent downward spiral. The genie of terrorism, chaos and mayhem has been unleashed onto this country as a result of American mistakes and it can’t be put back into a bottle. The Iraqi government is talking about having elections in three months while half of the country remains a no go zone — out of the hands of the government and the Americans and out of reach of journalists. In the other half, the disenchanted population is too terrified to show up at polling stations. The Sunnis have already said they’d boycott elections, leaving the stage open for polarized government of Kurds and Shiites that will not be deemed as legitimate and will most certainly lead to civil war. I asked a 28-year-old engineer if he and his family would participate in the Iraqi elections since it was the first time Iraqis could to some degree elect a leadership. His response summed it all: “Go and vote and risk being blown into pieces or followed by the insurgents and murdered for cooperating with the Americans? For what? To practice democracy? Are you joking?”
Not that I’d want to send the “wrong signal” to our troops! As if they didn’t already know…
