Baghdad Falling

Numerous news outlets are reporting the fall of Baghdad replete with looters, people tearing down statues and rejoicing in the streets.

While I don't think the war is over yet, the corrupt regime does seem to be falling apart. I love to see people tasting freedom. It brings back memories of the Berlin Wall coming down, and statues in Russia, Romania, and other Eastern European coutries being toppled. I believe self-determination is a basic human right we are endowed with by virtue of birth. I am so happy that people in Iraq are experiencing a taste of self determination and freedom. I hope it lasts, and I hope the war ends soon.

I wonder a lot about the future government of Iraq. It seems like it will take a lot to unite such a diverse populous. I hope they come up with a system of fairly autonmous states so that Shites, Sunni, and Kurds can all have societies where individual rights are respected without the abbrogation of others rights. For instance, I could see that in southern Iraq, they might want a state where there was Islamic law. In the north, they might want a semi-autonomous kurdish state. I believe it could work.

I am also hoping for a real and sustained peace, but I fear we are in for a longer fight in some of the outlying area's of Iraq.