1.14.2005
Army officer dispenses civic lesson to local sheikh
From the Army Times
Gordon Trowbridge
Times staff writer
13 Jan 2005
BAGHDAD 'Teacup in hand, Army Capt. Dan Mark prepared to teach another lesson in what he calls "ninth-grade civics".'
For nearly an hour, Sheikh Alwan Shalal Talal al Kartani had dominated the discussion of Iraq's upcoming elections with a catalog of complaints against the interim Iraqi government: Lack of security, creeping Iranian influence, long gas-station lines, corrupt and ineffective police.
"The people are not satisfied with the election preparations," Alwan said through an interpreter. They worried about security; they worried about disorganization. And again, said the Sunni Muslim sheikh, they worried about influence by Iran's Shiite Muslims.
Perhaps, he said, the Jan. 30 voting could be delayed by three months, and perhaps some of the Iran-influenced members of the government could be eliminated in the meantime?
Then came the civics lesson. "If the people don't like the way the government is working right now, this election is their chance to fix it," said Mark, a troop commander in 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment. "If they don't vote, the people they don't like will continue in power."
Read the rest here
Gordon Trowbridge
Times staff writer
13 Jan 2005
BAGHDAD 'Teacup in hand, Army Capt. Dan Mark prepared to teach another lesson in what he calls "ninth-grade civics".'
For nearly an hour, Sheikh Alwan Shalal Talal al Kartani had dominated the discussion of Iraq's upcoming elections with a catalog of complaints against the interim Iraqi government: Lack of security, creeping Iranian influence, long gas-station lines, corrupt and ineffective police.
"The people are not satisfied with the election preparations," Alwan said through an interpreter. They worried about security; they worried about disorganization. And again, said the Sunni Muslim sheikh, they worried about influence by Iran's Shiite Muslims.
Perhaps, he said, the Jan. 30 voting could be delayed by three months, and perhaps some of the Iran-influenced members of the government could be eliminated in the meantime?
Then came the civics lesson. "If the people don't like the way the government is working right now, this election is their chance to fix it," said Mark, a troop commander in 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment. "If they don't vote, the people they don't like will continue in power."
Read the rest here
# posted by Frank_D @ 16:31 
