You are the “enemy.” How quickly some forget who invaded who. :rolleyes:
Iraq for the Iraqis to do as they wish. Take your troops and bring them home. They never should have left in the first place – no one else to blame for the current immoral clusterfuck than the ones that started it.
When in hole, stop digging.
And I’d appreciate it if you’d stop the mindless flag-waving and take in a dose or ten of reality:
Yet more photos of US brutality published
Horrific New Evidence of Soldiers’ Brutality in Iraq
Revealed: the brutality of the US reign of terror in Iraq*
Pictures of Destruction and Civilian Victims of the Anglo-American Aggression in Iraq
Nice bunch.
PS-Warning last link contains graphic violence. IOW, a visual dose of the intrinsic brutality of an immoral and utterly unnecessary inavasion.
*Third link not for the faint of heart either – well, those that carry their heart to the right anyway. An article from a British socialist website no less! Wonder how they could possibly allow that sort of thing in England.
I was thinking of the whole of human history. The Roman Empire did not fall because Gallic or Egyptian nationalists rose up against it. Of course, nationalism as an idea is a much stronger force now than it was then.
The roman Empire fell in part (complex causes as you can imagine) because peoples pushed West by the Huns and admitted into the Empire did rebel. As did other notionally subject peoples. But for purposes other than point-scoring nitpicking it’s not relevant to talk about ancient history. We need analogies and examples relevant to the situation.
We are not going to go all Julius Ceasar on the Iraqi ass. For one thing democratic electorates take a dim view of slavery and genocide.
The question is, particularly in the light of the latest developments, can the USA (with the UK yapping along obediently at its heels) hope to subdue a country by force is, as in Vietnam, the political track fails to deliver a stable government with the loyalty of the people and the ability to impose a monopoly of force?
Even though I opposed the war I still want the answer to be a resounding yes. But I beleive now there is nothing we can do. We can’t contain the demons that have been unleashed by our culpable negligence. All we can do is beg and bribe others to come in. Maybe the lessons of the Lebonese Civil War needs to be learned quick. Arab and even specific Syrian involvement. It would be dirty and dishonourable I’m sure but it seems clear the US and the UK have no legitimacy in the eyes of the Iraq people. We are part of the problem not the solution.
And the US president is known for being…
Officially, the Brits refer to this as OBUA (Operations in Built-Up Areas). Unofficially, it’s known as Fish & Chips. Fighting In Somebody’s House & Causing Havoc In People’s Streets - which gives a much better flavour of what’s involved. It’s a style of action which the insurgents will always win in the long run.
Coincidentally I was reading an article in Intelligence Review today (might not be precise title) about the need to relearn lessons from Vietnam now that cities are the ‘urban jungles’. The need for better educated, culturally sensitive, soldiers bieing one of them because important command decisions will be being flexibly made atl the platton and squad level in this type of warfare.
The gist of it was an army that is great at deep strike maneuver warfare isn’t cut out for what it was asked to do in Iraq. It was great at getting to baghdad and great at screwing it up when asked to do something it was entirely unprepared for.
Like in Vietnam - the actions and attitudes of soldiers unfamiliar with the history, culture and dynamics of a society and in a situation where hearts and minds are the real battlefield - can lose you the war no matter how much shit you blow up.
I only skimmed it so there was a lot more to it than that.