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| Iraq |
| Iraq Youth at a Crossroads |
| 2011-11-28 |
| In a darkened room on the second floor of a government building, 100 young Iraqis conspired to revolutionize their country. School curricula should employ interactive Internet games to stimulate learning, said a 28-year-old Web developer. April 1 should be a cultural holiday to promote Iraq's bygone status as a cradle of intellectualism, said a 23-year-old government employee. Women should harness social media to bridge the gender gap, said a 22-year-old activist. Gender gap? In the Arab world? Maybe there is hope. And on it went, a parade of young people auditioning for a prestigious conference. Each shared hopeful but vague ideas that envisioned a rosy future beyond Iraq's turbulent present. The unspoken challenge, though, was turning dreams into plans, and notions into demands. "We are free, and this could not have happened without the U.S. But now we are fighting to grow," said civil engineer Abdul Ghany, 27, a volunteer organizer. "Not many young people know what they want, exactly." Civil engineers: trained to think logically! They do know what they feel. Their country was turned upside down by the American-led invasion in 2003, and now Iraq's young -- their worldview indelibly shaped by a U.S. military presence that ends next month -- are preparing to inherit a nation that still struggles to right itself. Some young Iraqis say they are glad to be rid of Saddam Hussein but feel less safe -- and therefore less free -- than before 2003, a sentiment reflected in dozens of interviews in eight provinces. There are some positive views expressed, but this is the Washington Post. They view their government as a pseudo-regime that deprives them of basic rights, and they worry that their peers are being lured into the ethnic, sectarian and partisan traps of their elders. They think the world is fixating on revolutions in other Arab countries while ignoring a rotting democracy in Baghdad and their generation's struggle to live the freedom that was promised to them 8-1/2 years ago. Not unlike the situation in many places, the U.S., for one. About half of Iraq's 33 million people are 19 or younger, and no Iraqi born since Saddam came to power in 1979 has known the country to be without war or dictatorship. When Iraqis talk about the fate of the younger generation, they use expressions similar to "crossroads" and "tipping point." "We are at a very critical period, with the deterioration of security and the elevation of corruption," activist Hanaa Edwar said at a September peace festival in Baghdad's Zawra Park. "Elections are not enough. We need active participation from young people. They are not yet polluted by politicians. They need more than hope. They need to be empowered." Polluted by politicians. Has a certain ring to it. Related interesting sidebars of individual stories - activist, blogger, musician, day-laborer, Kurdish lawyer, uniter. |
| Posted by:Bobby |