Some of the insurgency I can understand. They are fighting an occupying power, and I’d hope we would be as courageous and resourceful if another country took us over (like Red Dawn).
But the thing is, no one really supported us. No one seemed to be happy that we toppled Saddam, except for the thousands, I mean dozens, who tore down the statue. Even if they didn’t like Americans, they should’ve been overjoyed to get rid of Saddam and his sons, etc.
Did we exaggerate how terrible Saddam’s regime was?
Why is the insurgency so large? We’re led to believe it’s mostly foreign fighters and anti-occupation, but why are there nearly daily attacks? Could it be many are pro-Saddam and are fighting for the old regime?
I’d imagine the Shiites would not be pro-Saddam, yet they fight our soldiers. Are the Shiites still bitter we didn’t help them against Saddam in 1991?
Is it just the sensationalist media showing only the car bombings and not showing the happy Iraqis glad Saddam is gone?
The Kurds love us. But, you know, you don’t really need a large number of people to sustain a terrorist campaign or an insurgency. One bomb can kill a lot of people, as can attacks from ambush.
And most of the insurgents seem to be Sunni, not Shi’ite.
Because the enemy of your enemy is not always your friend. Sometimes he’s just another geopolitician, no better than the last gang of crooks. Maybe he had something to do with the whole reason you’re in the mess you’re in in the first place, and now you find his triumphalism less than reassuring or just. Maybe you feel he only wants you as a friend on his terms, such that you would have to sacrifice many things that are important to you before you could say you’re on his “good” side. Maybe you’ve seen him bomb your countrymen and strangle your economy for a decade, such that you’ve lived in squalor and lost loved ones to hunger, while your most immediate enemies, being your own corrupt government, grows rich on the spoils of war. Maybe you feel your liberator has played favorites with enemies of your people, and you’ve watched others like yourself being killed so that they can be secure, while you have no security, and live in a state of constant fear, caught between a superpower on one side, and a brutal dictator on the other. Maybe you just want the bastards to leave you alone so you can live in peace, and are tired of tanks and planes, no matter who they belong to.
Really, were you expecting literal rose petals every day for years? Most of the soldiers I’ve read from/talked to describe the average person’s Iraqis attitude as “Glad the US is there, sorry we had to be, and eager for things to get better so we can leave.” That is not a mindset conducive to open displays of euphoria.
I mean, imagine you were diagnosed with cancer, went through a bitter fight with it and finally won, at the cost of an amputation. I daresay you’d be deeply grateful to your doctors; but I also daresay that if you ran into the doctor that cut off your limb you would not jump up and down and kiss his feet and run around looking for a camera to get a photo taken with him.
I don’t think nobody appreciated getting rid of Saddam, but I would note something : for many an “average Joe”, living in a dictatorchip isn’t necessarily that much of an issue. I mean, as long as you have a job, a roof, etc… and aren’t involved in politics so that you don’t run the risk to end up in a jail…
Now, normaly, you’d like it better without the dictator (though some people ae supportive of a strong power), but if it is at the cost of losing your job, not having water at the fauced, crime skyrocketing, and running the risk of being shot or blown off by one side or the other, you might not appreciate much your liberation.
(actually I suspect that the worst negative impact Saddam had on ordinary Irakis’ life is the huge number of casualties during the wars he embarked on. All these people probably had a family).