Freedom, It's So.....Liberating

Freedom of the press is such a wonderful thing. It allows for the publication of ideas as opposite as those of Adam Smith and Karl Marx. It let's me publish this blog. It protects the NY Times when they attack the current Administration. It is one of the most powerful ideas that we hold dear. And now it is spreading to Iraq.

It's great to hear that one of the most popular businesses in the Baghdad market is one that sells previously banned books. 30 years of oppression has retarded the education of an entire generation of Iraqi intellectuals, but the fact that they will go out and buy these banned books as soon as they are available is a sign that the generation has not been lost.

This generation will be the most important in modern Iraqi history. We have provided them with a basic structure for their new government: democratic, free, and responsive to the people. Beyond that it is the responsibility of the Iraqis to determine their own governmental fate.

Freedom of the press will be a key part of ensuring that there is a national debate in Iraq about the form their new government will take.

The next key test will be to see how long it takes before they start publishing self-critical books. Constructive criticism on a national level will be very important for the progress of the new nation. Only a rational and reasoned introspection will allow them to correct their inevitable mistakes as they move forward.

Dissidents and porn. Probably not the press envisioned by Jefferson and Franklin, but it is a good start nonetheless. Acceptance of offensive ideas as valid (if wrong) is the first step to a true national liberation. Sounds to me like Iraq is making some pretty good progress.