Ramadan Sermon from Imam Bremer:

[Theophylact]

From the Coalition Provisional Authority website:

L. Paul Bremer
Administrator
Coalition Provisional Authority

Address to the Iraqi People to be Broadcast on Iraqi Media Network beginning 24 October 2003

I am Paul Bremer, Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

As we approach Ramadan, the month of forgiveness and mercy, I encourage those of you old enough to do so to recall Ramadan before Saddam. Recall the special character of what was a peaceful month during which family ties were reaffirmed. Then look forward to the Ramadan not far in the future when a free and sovereign Iraq enjoys internal tranquility and peace with all its neighbors.

This Ramadan you are free, many things have improved in recent months, but we all know that not everything is as it should be.

Yet, you must not lose hope. Especially during Ramadan you must not lose hope.

You must not lose hope because you have seen the evil one go.

You, the Iraqi people, whom the evil one was bound to protect, he instead tortured, he instead murdered.

You, the Iraqi people, whom the evil one was bound to feed, he instead starved.

You, the Iraqi people whom the evil one was bound to lead in peace, he instead led into foolish wars, wars which poured your blood into the sand.

When the people of the world asked the evil one to stop he sneered.

When the people of the world demanded that the evil one stop, he threatened them and fought them.

And when the evil one fought them, he fought them in your name, with your money and your blood and the blood of your fathers, your mothers and your children.

But when the enemies the tyrant drew close, he took your money and he fled your justice like a common thief and coward.

The end of tyranny gives you a future of hope.

Today the evil one evades those who pursue—but not because he believes he can return. He evades, he hides he runs because he fears your justice, justice in a court you are devising for him and his fellow evil-doers. And he will face that justice. He will pay for his crimes against Iraq and you, the Iraqi people.

Saddam’s tyranny is dead. Never again will he rule the cradle of civilization. Never again will he trample the rule of law in the Hammurabi’s birthplace.

And the wealth of the land gives you a future of hope.

Your land, this wonderful land between two rivers, abounds in riches. A land naturally wealthy from civilization’s earliest days now returns from poverty with new investment in water for your fields and schools for your children and hospitals for your sick.

And pride in your past gives you a future of hope.

Iraq, the land between two rivers is the cradle of civilization, home to:

Abraham, the father of all the people of the book,

the Code of Hammurabi, the first known law,

the Caliphate, which absorbed and expanded the knowledge of the known world.

And the support of the world community gives you a future of hope.

The world shares this hope for Iraq’s future—shares your confidence that you can return Iraq to the greatness it has known.

This week the United Nations, through a resolution of the Security Council, joined the Governing Council and the Coalition in calling for "efforts to restore and establish national and local institutions for representative government."

The Security Council also resolved that Iraq should have a new constitution and called for "preparation for the conference through national dialogue and consensus-building as soon as practicable…"

You have great tasks before you as you and other Iraqis devise a form of government which will:

prevent the rise of a new tyrant,

end advantage arising from religion or ethnicity, and

achieve equality of opportunity for all men and women.

Now, as never before in your lifetimes, your future is full of hope. In this blessed time, we share a common vision that:

You will live in dignity.

You will live in peace.

You will live in prosperity.

You will live in the quiet enjoyment of family, of friends, and of a decent income honestly earned.

You will live in an Iraq governed by and for Iraqis.

These things will come to pass.

These things will come to pass because you, the people of Iraq, will make them come to pass. By calling on your great past, you, the Iraqi people, will build a great future, a future of hope.

(evil emphasis supplied)

[J-Excel]

What's the problem? Saddam wasn't evil? I don't see your point.

[M_Six]

You have great tasks before you as you and other Iraqis devise a form of government which will:

prevent the rise of a new tyrant,

end advantage arising from religion or ethnicity, and

achieve equality of opportunity for all men and women.

That just goes to show how little Bremer and this administration understand the people they're dealing with. This is not California. It's Iraq. With or without Saddam, it's Iraq. It's been an ethnic nightmare since the beginning of recorded time. It's not going to change because we want it to. Show me just one democratic government in the Arab Middle East. Just one place where free and open elections put people in power. Just one place where there's no advantage/disadvantage based on religion or ethnicity. Just one place where women are treated anywhere near equal to men. They HAVE to know this isn't going to work. They HAVE to have known that going in. They CANNOT be that stupid. So it remains to be answered...why?

[wallie_x]

Why? To divide the middle east in two sandwiching the real enemies of freedom. Syria between Israel and Iraq, and Iran between Afghanistan and Iraq. The Iraqis are known for being perhaps the most moderate of all the Arab nations. If democracy fails to catch on there, then there is little hope it will catch on else where in the Arab world. Why not start in the place it is most likely to succeed?

No one can accurately predict the outcome of war. You just roll the dice and hope for the best; and regardless of how well your planning is there are always unforeseen variables.

Unfortunately, it looks like Iraq now has the plight of being perhaps the ultimate battleground of pitting two very opposing ideologies in a literal battle to the death: fundamentalist Islam vs western democracy.

[ClubMed]

If you think the Iraqis are the most moderate in the Middle East then you don't know anything about that region of the world. Anyway continue...

[wallie_x]

I didn't necessarily mean all Iraqis, just as I didn't mean the enemies of freedom are Syrians or Iranians in general, but rather their oppressive governments. May I assume you are a Syrian? (Since you posted about your trip to visit family there.)
Please give us your take on the matter as we westerners have only the filtered 'World News' version to go by.