The Guardian has an article saying that the Marines are losing the battle for hearts and minds. I don't buy that -- it is much too early to tell how long and how many Iraqis will actively fight against the occupation of their country. It is clear that the neocon fantasy of American troops being greeted everywhere as liberators was just that, at fantasy. Not that I expect they will ever admit that. But it isn't clear yet whether there will be a critical mass of people willing to fight on after the occupation is established.
What scares me about the article were the echos of the Vietnam war that it evoked in the quotes from the Iraqis and the American soldiers. Fundamentally, the problem is:
Question: How is the American soldier supposed to distinguish between a "good" (supports American occupation of his country) Iraqi and the "bad" (willing to fight against American occupation of his country) Iraqi.
Answer: He or she can't. Therefore, from the soldier's point of view, the only realistic thing to do is to assume that every live Iraqi is a "bad" Iraqi. No matter what the higher-ups order, in order to maximize his or her chances of survival, that is the default premise that the soldier will operate on. This would be true of any soldier from any country occupying a foreign country.
Result: Easy for a few guerrillas to provoke American soldiers into devastating responses, further alienating general population from Americans, and making American soldiers more suspicious and less careful about shooting civilians. Cycle intensifies as it repeats
Not many hearts and minds get won over this way. Ask the French in Algeria, the Russians in Chechnya (and before that Afghanistan), the Israelis on the West Bank, or the Americans who served in Vietnam.
Read the article and see if you can find the parallels. Highly recommended.
Posted by Geodog at March 25, 2003 02:31 AM | TrackBackMy apologies, but my web hoster has turned off commenting, due to a flood of obscene spam bringing the server to its knees. I hope to have this weblog transitioned over to Wordpress in the near future, so that I can have commenting up and working again. Until then, please feel free to send me your comments via my email contact form.. Please ignore everything below this comment.
As soon as we own Iraq, America should go after Turkey and Syria. Turkey has not obeyed our commands. We pay them good money to be our puppets and yet they will not do as we command. It is time for regime change in Turkey. As for Syria, I believe these are the real criminals behind Osama Bin Laden. It is time for regime change in Syria. We must do this to protect freedom and democracy. Our humanitarian bombing is necessary to save the world. As soon as we own the world, it will be safe for all who support America.
Posted by: George Butcher on March 25, 2003 05:26 AMThat would be very funny if we could be sure that the administration didn't actually think that way. These days, it is hard to tell parody from reality.
Posted by: Geodog on March 25, 2003 09:37 AMWe're fighting for Bush's re-election
We're Bush's Republican guard
We fight and die in the fields while
Bush checks his White House wine selection
and we fall on the ground very hard.
We're fighting for Bush's re-election
so Republicans can prey on the poor
Our blood spills on the ground
so blacks can't get in the door.
We shoot Iraqis and wear our khakis
So Republican can offend police and fire unions.
We let Bush pose with us because in 2004 we want him back
The retired vets can fend for themselves
because now we're Bush's elves
fighting for the Republican Party.
We're the Bush Republican guard
we'll shill against the Democrats very hard.
We know Bush lost the Pentagon and the Towers
but today it doesn't matter
for we spill our brain matter
and Bush will get the glory
and our bodies will fall in a mess very gory.
We're Bush's Republican Guard.
.
Tell congress you don't support the Bush/Republican agenda.
Browse http://www.boycott-republicans.com
The George W Bush 2000 Stolen Election Commemorative Coin.
http://www.stolenelectioncoin.com
75 billion for the war! A $400 billion dollar defecit this year so far - the greatest in America's history.
Hey, man, the bill for that big government credit card ends up coming to our houses. I am dying to buy one of those PC Tablet thingies and I definitely do not want my tax bill going up.
Here's what I propose and I think we should all write our senators and representatives about this today.
Let's tax the rest of the world to pay for this war and the wars that will follow. We're out there getting killed to bring them Coca-cola, peace and democracy. Why should we foot the bill?
Six billion people in the world takeaway 250 million - that's 5.75 billion potential taxpayers (excluding all of us of course!). I figure we need a trillion dollars to get us past Syria, Pakistan, North Korea, etc.; another trillion to rebuild; and another trillion as bonuses to those who sponsored the wars plan (e.g. contracts for Haliburton and friends).
What's $3 trillion divided by 5.75 billion? Quick, do it in your head. Just kidding. Hey, it's only like $500 per person - less than $2 per day! They won't object to that will they -- and if they do, well, we may have a few less taxpayers do draw on if you know what I mean.
Shoot. I forgot. The average wage in Bangladesh is $120 per year. And they don't have much money in countries like North Korea, do they? OK, let's alter this proposal a little bit. Those who can't pay us for the wars prior to our conquering their countries will be allowed to work for us in special camps after they are conquered. This is also a good way to teach them about capitalism. Work for an hour, make a dollar. One day you too can be rich like us.
Don't delay. Write your senators and representatives today. Tell 'em it was George Butcher's idea please. I want full credit. I don't think a Nobel Peace Prize is out of the question here - I've always wanted to win one.
Posted by: George Butcher on March 29, 2003 11:55 AM