The blame game in DC has a new target - those thankless Iraqis. The new story is that we did so much for them and the way that they thank us to plant roadside bombs in the path of our troops and finally devolve into savage butchery against each other. Our invasion and occupation is now their fault.
It's worth reviewing in simple English just what happened and assess whether Iraqi reaction is actually so very incomprehensible.
What Happened
Around World War One, the British decided that three regions of the former Ottoman Empire would make a tidy little nation-state and drew a border around Kurds, Shia, and Sunnis. It took a dictator's iron rule to make this pretense real. Once liberated, these groups moved towards independence from one another
Imagine if...
About a century ago, someone had decided that Mexico, the US, and Canada should all be one country. And a dictator had made it stick. Once liberated, various militias were intent on moving back towards three (okay, Quebec, four) separate countries.
What Happened
We dropped bombs on the Iraqis and called it liberation. It is worth remembering that the "shock and awe" campaign resulted in more explosive power than we dropped in WW 2. Even Bush admitted that the invasion killed about 30,000 Iraqis. The Red Cross and other international aid agencies have estimated that the death toll was closer to 150,000.
Imagine if...
Saudi Arabia "liberated" us from our hated president. (The hated president could be George or Bill or Jimmy or Ronald or Dick - any president that some credible portion of the population hated at some point.) To do this they lobbed bombs on our major cities and killed (by their own admission) about 300,000 civilians (an equivalent portion of our population). This is the equivalent of 100 9-11 events. International aid agencies estimated that the real death toll from the Saudi's occupation was closer to 1.5 million civilians.
What Happened
We stripped away the power that Sunnis had under Saddam. They lost their places in government and in the military. Unemployment sky rocketed and is now at 50% or more. These Sunnis who were abruptly laid off from careers in the military were still armed. Further, we kicked in doors to find insurgents, occasionally killing and often harassing innocent civilians in the process. Our military vehicles drove down the middle of their streets and would "light up" civilian cars with gunfire when the drivers did not understand the need to stay back. We began a military occupation of Iraq while touting the benefits of freedom. Worse, the troops tasked with this impossible mission did not speak the language.
Imagine if...
All the Republicans were laid off from the defense industry or military or that all the Democrats were laid off from teaching or government jobs. Arabs with guns knocked in the doors of our homes and forced us to the shoulder of our highways every time they passed by. They interrogated us in a foreign language. Most everyone knew someone who had been unjustly detained, tortured, or even killed. Your two nephews and one niece were killed when Saudi troops bombed their neighborhood in retaliation for "insurgent" activities.
What Happened
We came into Iraq excited about making them like us - passing along a constitution, institutions, and laws that we've evolved over centuries in our, very different context.
Imagine if...
Arabic experts came into our country to establish law based on the Koran as the basis for our laws. Explaining that our laws and culture were primitive because they are not based on teachings from the one God, they changed our constitution to look more like theirs.
Really - who is to blame in this?
It's worth reviewing in simple English just what happened and assess whether Iraqi reaction is actually so very incomprehensible.
What Happened
Around World War One, the British decided that three regions of the former Ottoman Empire would make a tidy little nation-state and drew a border around Kurds, Shia, and Sunnis. It took a dictator's iron rule to make this pretense real. Once liberated, these groups moved towards independence from one another
Imagine if...
About a century ago, someone had decided that Mexico, the US, and Canada should all be one country. And a dictator had made it stick. Once liberated, various militias were intent on moving back towards three (okay, Quebec, four) separate countries.
What Happened
We dropped bombs on the Iraqis and called it liberation. It is worth remembering that the "shock and awe" campaign resulted in more explosive power than we dropped in WW 2. Even Bush admitted that the invasion killed about 30,000 Iraqis. The Red Cross and other international aid agencies have estimated that the death toll was closer to 150,000.
Imagine if...
Saudi Arabia "liberated" us from our hated president. (The hated president could be George or Bill or Jimmy or Ronald or Dick - any president that some credible portion of the population hated at some point.) To do this they lobbed bombs on our major cities and killed (by their own admission) about 300,000 civilians (an equivalent portion of our population). This is the equivalent of 100 9-11 events. International aid agencies estimated that the real death toll from the Saudi's occupation was closer to 1.5 million civilians.
What Happened
We stripped away the power that Sunnis had under Saddam. They lost their places in government and in the military. Unemployment sky rocketed and is now at 50% or more. These Sunnis who were abruptly laid off from careers in the military were still armed. Further, we kicked in doors to find insurgents, occasionally killing and often harassing innocent civilians in the process. Our military vehicles drove down the middle of their streets and would "light up" civilian cars with gunfire when the drivers did not understand the need to stay back. We began a military occupation of Iraq while touting the benefits of freedom. Worse, the troops tasked with this impossible mission did not speak the language.
Imagine if...
All the Republicans were laid off from the defense industry or military or that all the Democrats were laid off from teaching or government jobs. Arabs with guns knocked in the doors of our homes and forced us to the shoulder of our highways every time they passed by. They interrogated us in a foreign language. Most everyone knew someone who had been unjustly detained, tortured, or even killed. Your two nephews and one niece were killed when Saudi troops bombed their neighborhood in retaliation for "insurgent" activities.
What Happened
We came into Iraq excited about making them like us - passing along a constitution, institutions, and laws that we've evolved over centuries in our, very different context.
Imagine if...
Arabic experts came into our country to establish law based on the Koran as the basis for our laws. Explaining that our laws and culture were primitive because they are not based on teachings from the one God, they changed our constitution to look more like theirs.
Really - who is to blame in this?
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