Zayad, over on Healing Iraq, posted this today. He is an Iraqi in Jordan at the moment.

Jordanians were wishing Iraqis luck these few days everywhere on the streets. One young man at a mall, on recognising my Iraqi accent, asked me who I would be voting for. I politely told him that I would vote for who I believe is sincere. Strangely, he said that he personally preferred Allawi and hoped most Iraqis would be voting for him. I wished his country luck as well since the King had promised direct elections for municipal councils as a first step. He dismissed that as nothing much and said that "One should start from the 'Head' down, not the other way around". This last remark played on my survival instincts, even though the fellow looked far from being a Jordanian Mukhabarat agent, so I left the man in peace.

I know that only history will be able to look back on these decades and know whether or not the U.S. made wise decisions or shed blood uselessly pursuing foolish ideals... but hearing things like this gives me hope that Freedom might actually spread across the Middle East like a grassfire.

Posted by Michael at January 30, 2005 06:35 PM