Thanks to the Staggers for this anecdote, an old one but worth the repetition as the same mistakes are repeated in Afghanistan.
Armando Iannucci, while researching his movie, In The Loop, hears some grim tales in Whitehall about how the liberation of Iraq proceeded…
Donald Rumsfeld weeded out from those going to help the reconstruction of Iraq anyone who could speak Arabic, on the grounds they would be pro-Arab. As a result, it took the Americans 18 months to realise that when marines held up the flat of their hand to oncoming cars to signal them to stop, they were actually using the Iraqi hand-signal for “come forward”. That’s why so many families in cars were shot.
Weren’t we told that we were invading because we are pro-Arab? You know, human rights, Saddam is a monster and have a look at this shredder? Still, no regrets, eh?
IMO; one of the main culprits was Paul Bremer. He was also a Kissinger boy. Something the media left in the shadows.
ReplyDeleteWhen he deBathatized Iraq, and disbanded the whole Iraqi military. This was the beginning of the Iraqi insurgency. I do not believe this was by accident. They did this on purpose.
No insurgency, no reason for the U.S. military to stay. NO control through chaos. He was the April Glaspie of his time.
"Weren’t we told that we were invading because we are pro-Arab? You know, human rights, Saddam is a monster and have a look at this shredder? Still, no regrets."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chickyog.net/2010/02/15/humanitarian-intervention-revisited/
Now what came first? The chicken or the wolves?
Sorry, I have only just noticed this comment, Anon. I attributed the excerpt to the New Statesman (the Staggers), because as I recall, I found it on their Blogroll. I should have credited the originators, Chicken Yoghurt(a good and righteous blog) too. Happy to belatedly put that right. The staggers as well as the chickens would appear to have preceded the wolves in this case.
ReplyDelete