Profesionalmente, Iraqi Mojo estudió Economía en la Universidad de Colorado, y actualmente trabaja como consultor de validación en una indústria farmacéutica y de biotecnología.
La entrevista està en inglés, obviamente, pero el vocabulario utilizado es bastante básico, por lo que creo que no necesita traducción.
How do you think the racial fact has influenced on the election of Obama? What happened with "Bradley effect"? The "Bradley Effect" happened a generation ago, when racism was still latent in large parts of American society. That's not the case these days. For the most part, Americans have come to accept black people as equals, capable of doing a job as well as any other American or even better. In the early 80s, Americans were just beginning to accept black people as equals, and many although many Californians said they would vote for Tom Bradley, they didn't mean it, or they changed their minds between the time of the poll and the election. There are still racists in America, but they are a minority in American society.
Does Obama's victory suppose a change for Iraq? It seems that Obama is determined to withdraw US forces from Iraq within 16 months, which is a change in that Bush was not willing to set a deadline. Otherwise I don't think there will be significant change in US policy towards Iraq. Obama is committed to withdrawing from Iraq responsibly, which I believe means that the US will not leave Iraq in a state of civil war.
Which worries have the american people right now? is the Iraq's war one of the most importants? How do you hope Obama to act? Americans are most concerned with the economy right now. Banks are failing, the large auto companies are near bankruptcy, unemployment is high, and Americans are worried about their financial future. Iraq is still important to Americans, but not nearly as it was two years ago. Americans also realize that the war in Iraq is part of the economic problem. The US is still spending billions of dollars in Iraq every month.
How Iraq see Obama's victory? Most Iraqis are happy to see Obama win. Many Iraqis who supported Bush's efforts to bring democracy to Iraq were not happy with the way US forces dealt with Iraqis, and in the end a large percentage of Iraqis, perhaps a majority, blamed Bush directly for the violence in Iraq. They are hoping that Obama will somehow bring peace, stability, and prosperity to Iraq.
Which is the current situation of Iraq? Violence in Iraq is down. Most provinces are controlled by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Baghdad residents are for the most part living like they were before 2003. Life is slowly returning to normal for them. Remnants of Al Qaeda are still terrorizing the people in parts of the north, especially in Mosul, but they are being chased out as well.
Do you see a retreat of troops feasible? A US withdrawal is definitely feasible, given the improving security situation in Iraq. If the elections (provincial and national) result in new candidates who are more capable in providing electricity and clean water to the people, life for Iraqis will hopefully be completely violence free. Then a complete withdrawal of US forces will be feasible.
Without troops in the country, ¿can Iraq come to a totally democratic system? Democracy in Iraq means different things to different people. For example, many people thought that democracy would lead to better opportunities for Iraqi women. Iraqi women can run for Parliament and they don't fear Saddam's rapist sons anymore, but Iraqi women have faced other problems. Iraqi women have been forced to wear hijab (scarf), especially in Basra, and many women who refused were killed for it. US and British forces did not do enough to address these crimes, because they believed it was a problem internal to Iraq and should be dealt with by the ISF. Read this: http://iraqimojo.blogspot.com/2008/02/we-thought-there-would-be-freedom-and.html
Iraqi Security Forces were finally deployed to Basra to deal with the militias who were committing crimes against Iraqi women, but the operation was long overdue, and women in Basra still fear for their lives if they do not wear hijab. In order to become truly democratic, the Iraqi government must protect ALL Iraqis, including Iraqi women who choose not to wear the hijab.
Which is the aim of your blog? I starting blogging about Iraq to tell the story of my family, to document the crimes of Saddam Hussein's regime, because in 2006 I was seeing many people, especially Arabs, praising Saddam, apparently without knowing about the crimes committed by his regime. The blog has become more than that, and I write about and link to different topics.
Una visión interesante, sin duda. Aquí os dejo su blog que, aunque no actualiza con regularidad, las cosas que dice tienen bastante sentido. http://iraqimojo.blogspot.com
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