American politicians have been complaining that the Maliki government hasn’t done enough with regards to national reconciliation. This article shows why these politicians, mostly Democrats, need to realize that Iraqis do reconciliation differently than Americans do reconciliation:

Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, leader of the ancient Chaldean Catholic Church and Iraq’s first cardinal, celebrated Mass before about 2,000 people in the Mar Eliya Church the eastern New Baghdad neighborhood of the capital.

“Iraq is a bouquet of flowers of different colors, each color represents a religion or ethnicity but all of them have the same scent,” the 80-year-old Delly told the congregation.

Muslim clerics, both Sunni and Shiite, also attended the service in a sign of unity.

“May Iraq be safe every year, and may our Christian brothers be safe every year,” Shiite cleric Hadi al-Jazail told AP Television News outside the church. “We came to celebrate with them and to reassure them.”

While I realize that this isn’t the formal legislation that Washington politicians are looking for, it’s impossible to argue that this isn’t a significant step towards national reconciliation. Better yet, this is verifiable proof that Iraqis are adhering to their Constitution:

Article 2:

First: Islam is the official religion of the State and it is a fundamental source of legislation:

A. No law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be established.

B. No law that contradicts the principles of democracy may be established.

C. No law that contradicts the rights and basic freedoms stipulated in this constitution may be established.

Second: This Constitution guarantees the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantees the full religious rights of all individuals to freedom of religious belief and practice such as Christians, Yazedis, and Mandi Sabeans.

Because people are obeying the Iraqi Constitution, reconciliation is happening. A formal bill recognizing reconciliation as a national goal would be a welcome step forward but the absence of such a bill doesn’t mean that reconciliation isn’t happening.

“We didn’t celebrate like this in the past two years as we were holding limited celebrations for relatives in an atmosphere filled with fear,” said Jalal, a cook in one of Baghdad’s social clubs. “Now we feel better as we see all these security forces in the streets to protect us.”

The Anbar Awakening: It isn’t just for Anbar anymore.

Here’s what the International Herald Tribune said about Christmas in Iraq:

“We did not celebrate last year, but this year we have security and we feel better,” said Rasha Ghaban, one of many women at the small Church of the Holy Family in Karradah, a mainly Shiite district in downtown Baghdad where many Christians live. “We hope our future will be better, God willing.”
Families streamed into the church’s courtyard, wrapped in heavy winter jackets to protect them from the early morning chill. Young children with neatly combed hair held their parents’ hand, and women stopped by the front door to pick through a basket of small lacy headscarves, placing them over their hair before walking in.
The pews were almost full, women toward the back and on the right side of the church, the men on the left, and still more people streamed in. Outside, police armed with automatic rifles manned a checkpoint at the corner of the narrow street, searching every passing car for possible bombs.
Christians have often been the target of attacks by Islamic extremists in Iraq, forcing tens of thousands to flee. Many of those who stayed were isolated in neighborhoods protected by barricades and checkpoints. Less than 3 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people are Christians, the majority of which are Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians, with small numbers of Roman Catholics.

These aren’t the types of things that Democratic politicians tout unless they’re forced to but it’s another sign that reconciliation is happening. At this point, it’s irrelevant whether politicians admit that reconciliation is happening because the average news consumer is noticing.

The reality is that news consumers don’t rely on the so-called newsmakers for their information. The politicians that don’t pay attention to the news will be swept aside. Similarly, politicians that pay attention will be rewarded. That means that politicians that admit that reconciliation is underway will be rewarded next November. I’d pity the politician that thinks they don’t have to change with the times. They’ll have a rough go of it next November.

Technorati Tags: Iraq, Christians, Catholics, Muslim Clerics, Reconciliation, Constitution, Freedom Of Religion

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. Well, of course this is all irrelevant to the enlightened liberals in academia, Hollywood and the news media today. See, your have to look at this in the politically correct worldview of the average nut root Democrat who views the whole thing as a discussion about religious (gasp!) reconciliation between Christians who believe in the Easter bunny and all that sanguine Christian mythology which has caused so much bloodshed in the world in the name of the religion and their peaceloving Islamic neighbors who only want to live in the same world as the rest of us fascist capitalists.

   Comment by T. A. Gray — December 25, 2007 @ 10:19 pm