A Good Story to Remember...

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

I was watching Ken Burns' "Civil War" the other night, and Shelby Foote recounted a story that bears remembering as the bloodshed continues in Iraq.

Foote said that early on in the war, Union troops captured a half-starved, ragged-looking Confederate private. He clearly wasn't wealthy enough to own any slaves and probably didn't care much for the consitution one way or another.

"Hey, Reb," one of the Union soldiers asked, "How come you're fighting?"

"I'm fighting because you're down here," said the Confederate.

The Bush Administration has mesmerized itself into thinking that if we can just capture Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people will become contented and complacent. The Administration simply doesn't get it. Any human being with a love of country will fight to the death to expel a foreign invader.

The Iraqi's will keep killing American GI's for as long as they remain in Iraq. Count on it.

[tom_paine]

1. I'm afraid you're right

The only exception would be as in DubyaDubyaTwo, where the "liberation" is genuine and the comparison to the current regime is marked.

The Busheviks and the Imperial Amerika they are trying to create fails on both these counts.

Let me clarify: Imperial Subjects of Amerika do have it better than Iraqis under Saddam (for the moment, but all bets are off during the reign of Emperors Jeb, Arnold, and the Mad George P. Caligula). But the Iraqis know that they will only be marginally better off.

Especially once the cameras are off and whatever the brutal organization the CIAS is currently training over there becomes the NEW Secret Police (anyone who's read any history of the CIA/Busheviks knows this is almost a 100% certainty).

The Iraqis know this. They know that it's about looting tyheir country the way the Busheviks are looting ours.

As I said, on both points, this "liberation" fails the Iraqi "smell test".