Progressive Minds

Is this what a country looks like when freedom is on the march?

Seems as though some Iraqis are faking their IDs in order to hide their religious affiliation, for fear that they might be killed.

From a Knight Ridder article:

"In a country defined by religious and ethnic tensions, especially after the Feb. 22 bombing of the revered Shiite Askariya mosque in the mostly Sunni city of Samarra, al-Dulaimi has joined a growing number of Iraqis who think that changing their names is about survival.

For many, it's a big step. In Iraq, people define themselves by their tribes and their families, and one's name often includes reference to them all: a first name, followed by one's father's name, followed by one's grandfather's name, followed by a tribal name. Some who've taken the step describe a sense of shame at shunning their names or tribes, even on fraudulent papers.

But with stacks of bodies turning up daily in what U.S. and Iraqi officials agree are religious and ethnic killings, many think they have little choice except to disguise their religious roots, especially when those roots are hinted at through a name on a citizenship card, the main form of ID that Iraqis carry."

I hear you saying, 'but I thought we went into Iraq to liberate the people and install democracy?'

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it turns out that we have helped install an Islamic theocracy in a previously secular country. And now said country is involved in a civil war. (Though some will try to dress it up with a 'nicer' sounding name like "sectarian violence").

Such is life in George W. Bush's post-invasion Iraq. 

Iraqis faking their IDs to hide religious affiliations