How do you think the battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis is going? And where are those ideologues for the war? How come they are nowhere to be seen? Where is Fouad Ajami who assured Cheney that all Arabs (not only Iraqis) will be greeting the US war and occupation? And where is his other fellow neo-conservative Kanan Makiya who predicted that Iraqis will greet US forces with "sweets and flowers" (in fairness, he did not specify the sweets, whether they would be Arabic or French)? And why is Paul Wolfowitz not lecturing to us about his "democracy domino" theory? This man thinks that he knows about Islam and Arabs because he was a political appointee as ambassador in Indonesia, and may have had hummus and falafil once or twice in his life? Don't they feel some responsibility or guilt? And why are the media, especially NPR which loved to put them on the air before war, not rushing to interview them, to ask them to account for their predictions and advocacy? And what about Christopher Hitchens who still sees progress in Iraq. How would they face the families of the American and Iraqi victims of this crazy war? Al-Jazeera is reporting the news of a meeting tomorrow between Ayatollah Sistani and As-Sadr. That would be significant. And the State Department spokesperson today questioned the religious credentials of As-Sadr. Really? Who are the brilliant people who plot the spin of the administration? Do they think that they are being smart? Do they think that Muslims wait for State Department certification of Muslim clerics? But I disagree with the new statement by Hans Blix to the effect that things under Saddam were better. There should be not contemplation of Saddam's return or survival. It is an insult to Iraqis to tell them to go back to Saddam's regime. The answer? My faithful readers know: it is that slogan that have been chanted by millions of Iraqis for a year. Neither Bush (or Kerry) Nor Saddam. I cannot believe that we have to convince people to support self-determination in the 21st century. Did we not settle that debate in a previous century?