How Long Will It Take The Iraqis to Speak Up?

I saw a report out of Iraq the other day ... the kind we're not likely to see on the six o'clock news ... pointing out that about 90 percent of that country is moving peaceably and steadily toward the establishment of a democratic government. It is true the old Saddam Hussein hot-spots are still dangerous, and this report not only acknowledged that, it identified the areas and the problems and told what was being done. Things are moving slowly, but they are moving the right direction.

It reminded me of a personal experience not long after the Berlin wall fell, and I had the privilege of being in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. We had a guide in Prague who was new to the guide business. They hadn't had anything like that under the Russians. She was well educated and had been some kind of a department head in a manufacturing plant. Her English was perfect, with somewhat of a British accent. Her discussions were rather bland the first two days, mostly just guiding us to tourist spots, which at that point we did not want to see, and to various businesses, which we did. Every now and then someone would ask a question about life under Communism, but we only got evasive answers.

Then on the third day, I think it was, we had a new driver and from the beginning our guide opened up about the fear they lived with under Russian rule, and the high hopes she had for her country now that they were free. And someone asked the obvious question: "Why are you telling us this now, instead of yesterday or the day before?" And her answer was: "Because I know this bus driver, and he won't turn me in." After several decades of Russian rule, she said, and seeing family and friends disappear, it isn't easy to trust anybody.

Don't you imagine a lot of that type thinking is going on in Iraq today?

This is Gordon Sawyer, from a window on historic Green Street.