Free speech for all

Take a look at this story which I found today as the headline on CNN's website. It's quite a compelling story of a writer living in Baghdad. I think the most important exchange was on a bus that the writer was riding on the way to work.

As I rode on the bus, most people started out quiet, but within minutes the silence was broken.

"Look! I cannot believe this could happen to us," an old man said pointing his finger at a line of cars that stretched for more than a kilometer outside a gas station -- amazed that an oil-rich country is dealing with an oil crisis for its own people.

"Habibi (my dear), our oil is being stolen by the Americans and the new Iraqi government. What oil are you talking about?" another man replied.

It's not a view shared by most in Iraq, but it is a view that some hold.

Across the aisle, an old woman who sat quietly listening to the exchange in a simple manner brought the debate to an end. "We do not want anything but to live in Iraq safely."

Iraqis often speak of fuel shortages, a lack of electricity, the void in stability, all the things that deeply affect their daily life. Some also speak of the past.

"Life was much better under Saddam," one man said from the back of the bus.

But he couldn't finish the sentence. An angry man at the other end of the bus, turned around and yelled, "What was better under Saddam? Give me one example. Are you talking about the wars Saddam put us through? Or the mass graves that he created during his era? Or the torture centers? Tell me one thing that was better under Saddam and I will applaud you."

As we approach the third anniversary since the fall of that towering statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in central Baghdad, there are many who have no desire to look back.

"Let's not talk about life under Saddam because it has gone away with the past. Now we have a new life, a new political process and a new government," chimed in a young man sitting in the front next to the driver.

Probably one of the most interesting points here, and one I think most Americans will never appreciate is the free speech these Iraqi citizens were given under their Constitution. Free speech which they never had under Saddam's regime.

Listening to the exchange was remarkable because it never could have happened under Saddam. Before the war, nobody could voice frustration or anger.

There was no free press to question politicians. Now, when there is so much to talk about, we can finally exercise that right. Whether riding the bus or sitting at restaurants, talking freely has become part of the atmosphere everywhere.

This was overall a pretty well written article, and definitely one you should check out.

Tags: Iraq, Terrorist, Insurgent, Saddam