Blog Post for the 19th of November

One of the final chapters talks about one of the hardest working civil servants in Iraq named Barham Salih, and Filkins writes about a conversation Salih is having with a woman whose son is kidnapped and must fork over 5,000 dollars or else he will be killed. This chapter got me thinking about some political officials in Iraq that are actually good people, Salih retrieves 5,000 in cash and tells the woman he will help her. But mainly my point is that not all of the political officials in Iraq were corrupt people and not all of them followed the hand of Saddam. I think that being a good political official or good politician in Iraq must of been damn near impossible because if anyone ever went against Saddam they would be killed and also their families would be hurt. The temptation to revolt against Saddam would only lead to death, and I'm sure a very brutal one. That's one of the most annoying things about this war, whenever someone up-rises and causes a stir they always threaten their family too. It just seems so unfair in the unofficial rules of war. But getting back to my main point, I think that those good politicians who were honest, brave, and weren't corrupt are reaping the benefits today in a more democratic Iraq, at least I hope they are.