an open letter to the iraqi people

dear people of iraq,

asalamu allaekum! i read from the bbc news and al-jazeera that the americans have handed over your country to your new interim government. i understand that president george w. bush had promised that he will give the iraqi people “full sovereignty.” i also heard from reports that the actual handover was done in secret, two days before the actual schedule, and was held very early in the morning while most of you were sleeping. then you woke up and… ta-daaa! you’re a sovereign people!

or, are you?

we, filipinos, have experienced something very similar to the american occupation of iraq. george w. bush referred to this sad part of our history as if it was happy. when he was addressing the joint session of the philippine congress sometime in october 2003, he claimed that the philippine emancipation from spanish oppression was due to the fact that, “together our soldiers liberated the philippines from colonial rule.” as a result of american benevolence, “the republic of the philippines became the first democratic nation in asia,” according to bush.

bush’s claim was a lie!

it's true that the american occupation of the philippines in 1898 and the american occupation of iraq in 2002 have some similarities. here's what bush should have pointed out: in both instances, the american president moralized, even theologized, the reasons for war; but the michael moores of each era saw behind-the-scenes manipulators controlling events for ulterior motives. after an adventurous, seemingly sure-win, conventional combat phase, each became a guerrilla war. the administration then, and the bush administration now, acted on bad information, wittingly or unwittingly (but more wittingly), and then manipulated the media to get high approval ratings.hundreds of thousands of my people were killed by the american soldiers when we resisted their occupation in the early 1900s. they came promising to give us freedom. many filipino peasants did not understand the freedom they were trying to give us. my people simply wanted to drive the american soldiers out of our country. the americans insisted that they should stay to make the philippines free, like america—the land of the free. then, they concluded that the filipinos did not appreciate freedom because we were trying to drive the americans out. (the american colonizers really understood what they were talkin’ about, huh?)

in 1946, the united states gave us our independence—as if, independence can really be given away. from 1946 to 1972, we were considered as “a showcase of democracy in asia.” as a growing adult in quezon city, i experienced that such an american-given-independence is a form of subordination—under american political, economic, military, and cultural hegemony.

in the 90s, we should have really been experiencing democracy and freedom, right? not really.

you see, after many decades, we were able to get the american military bases out of our country. having a foreign military base in our country became unconstitutional. however, in 1999, the united states gained (or, imposed?) “access” to philippine bases. through a treaty that kind’a ignored our constitution, hundreds of u.s. troops were sent to the philippines in 2002 to help fight the abu sayyaf guerillas. admiral thomas fargo, the head of u.s. pacific command, said that pentagon boys were working to maintain “critical tactical mobility platforms” in our country, including uh-1h helicopters, c-130 transport aircraft, heavy trucks and patrol boats that could be used in case of major u.s. military operations in the region.

hallmark of democracy? i don’t think so.

we’re still struggling as a people as you are struggling as a people.

personally, i’m praying that our people and your people will continue to struggle for freedom, for self-determination, for genuine sovereignty as a nation. i’m also praying that your people and my people will learn to struggle through a non-violent way. i pray that the way of peace, or salam, will bring true freedom in both of our lands.

may justice and peace prevail both in iraq and in the philippines!