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Rebuilding Iraq

 
 
Reply Tue 22 Jul, 2003 08:51 am
From an outside view, the rebuilding of Iraq does neither seem well planned nor really working sufficiantly.
"President Bush said yesterday that he is working to persuade more nations to help in Iraq, where Saddam Hussein loyalists are killing coalition forces in a war that persists alongside rebuilding efforts. (AP)"


The Nashville City Paper writes in today's editorial:



I wonder, if the couple of comments to this article (up to now) are the real opinion of US-Americans.

Alabama Congressman Bud Cramer, member of the Intelligence Committee, did a "whirl-wind tour of Baghdad":
Quote:

"It's been an unbelievable opportunity for me, for this district to be able to see just how difficult it is to pick up the pieces. Our troops are having to maintain themselves under very difficult circumstances."

from: Alabama's Role in Rebuilding Iraq

However, since weeks I wonder, why no-one looks back in history.
It really isn't the first time, a country was invaded and a new structure was created there.

And indeed, it even isn't the first time, a US government is doing such.

I grew up (okay, in the [former] British Zone) in a town with a Jewish mayor and an ex-Nazi town clerk, both installed 1945 by the Americans and later (1946) established by local elections.
And the police troops didn't change at all.

I know, today is nearly 60 years later and Germany isn't Iraq.
But I do believe, it's worth thinking about that situation years back in Europe and how it was handled then.
It might save lifes.


Alexander Casella, in the Asia Times, even goes further, looking at how the Nazis were doing in occupied countries:

Quote:
...
There is little doubt that had the US seriously planned for a post-Saddam administration, it would not have had to change practically its whole transitional administrative team only one month after the fall of Baghdad. While this lack of advance planning as regards a strategic exercise, of which the military stage was only the first phase, is downright incomprehensible, it is not the first time in history that immediate concerns overshadowed the need for a long-term occupation strategy.

Though the post-World War II era is hardly one of peace, it is a rare occurrence in which one nation invaded another with the publicly stated purpose of imposing its authority on it, changing its regime and transforming it into a client state.

Even at the height of the Cold War, outright invasion of a foreign state without the pretext of supporting a real or hypothetical local force was not the norm. Thus while the Soviet Union did subjugate Eastern Europe, it did so by imposing, under its umbrella, the rule of local communist parties. Likewise, its invasion of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 essentially sought to reinstate pro-Soviet local communist hardliners who had been ousted by more liberal internal forces. Ultimately, until the American invasion of Iraq, the last time outright invasion occurred was in 1945 when the US defeated Germany and Japan and sought to substitute its authority for that of the Nazis and the Japanese imperial government.
...
Occupying Iraq: The lessons of history


Could this be worth a try?
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Type: Discussion • Score: 0 • Views: 1,199 • Replies: 10
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cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Tue 22 Jul, 2003 08:57 am
This administration is now threatening Syria and Iran with words. Although still not committing any troops to Liberia, I wonder how they think they're going to provide troops to all these places? They've gone bonkers, and do not seem to understand simple math/logistic problems. c.i.
0 Replies
 
cicerone imposter
 
  1  
Reply Tue 22 Jul, 2003 09:03 am
The US must first agree to allow the UN to take over the reconstruction of Iraq. Everything else is not important. c.i.
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Lightwizard
 
  1  
Reply Tue 22 Jul, 2003 09:46 am
They need a larger armed force and are also tackling how to promote enlistments. Cutting taxes so they are unable to use better pay as an incentive, what are they going to promote? A wonderful vacation in Iraq where one can play a "Future World" style shooting match?
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koolplay
 
  1  
Reply Mon 11 Aug, 2003 09:32 am
the task of rebuilding Iraq is a hardship for the world.
the US government should mostly compensate for the Iraq people,they are pitiable,they are worth the sympethy globe wide.
now a lot of people in Iraq are having a vagabond life,the US should give them a peaceful home.
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koolplay
 
  1  
Reply Mon 11 Aug, 2003 06:19 pm
the arduous reconstruction is extremely urgent meanwhile the patriotic ardour of Iraq people will never descend.
the word of "surrender" doesn't exist in the Iraq dictionary.
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hobitbob
 
  1  
Reply Mon 11 Aug, 2003 10:30 pm
The US thinks it is following the Germany/Japan model. But, (and this is a rather large posterior) they ahve misinterepreted the historical record. Rice co-authored a book on the re-construciton of Germany in 1996 called "Germany Unified and Europe Transformed." It is full of faulty analysis. This is the person that Bushy-Poo II supposedly relies upon most heavily for his foreign policy decisions.
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mamajuana
 
  1  
Reply Mon 11 Aug, 2003 11:09 pm
If the situations had similarities, then perhaps one could make some comparisons But they're not. World War II was vastly different. And, as I recall, the U.S. had the Marshall plan, an incredibly forward-looking plan that helped rebuild in practical ways.

This Iraqi thing was more of an invasion than a war. And so much of the world thought the U.S. was wrong (which was not the case in WW II), that we really had no allies except Britain. So this brings us to reconstruction, which I think we owe the Iraqis since we were responsible for so much of their destruction.

But we cannot do this alone, which is obvious. And just as obvious, I think, is the fact that we will not open up the bidding on construction jobs. So why should any other nation be expected to donate personnel and money without some form of return on investment. Isn't that what capitalsim is about?

I had read in the papers here that the Bush administration was holding - in October -an invitation to other countries to come an join in the re-construction. Which sounds more like a fund-raiser than anything else.
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Tue 12 Aug, 2003 12:37 am
I think, it's not only the marshall plan. Neither of the allied occupying forces had to fear any severe resistnce after the end of the war in Germany (and Austria, which is commonly forgotten).
Political life started in Germany from the first weeks onwards, administration had literally no day of vacancy ... and no-one (In the Western Zones) regarded the Allies really as occupiers!
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hobitbob
 
  1  
Reply Tue 12 Aug, 2003 01:37 am
As I mentioned above. It would seem that a faulty conclusion was arrived at based upon faulty analysis. Rather than approaching the problem from a "what if" direction, the administration looked for information that would support how they wished things to turn out.
0 Replies
 
CodeBorg
 
  1  
Reply Tue 12 Aug, 2003 02:02 am
My personal opinion is that whoever drops the bombs should clean up after themselves. Do the work and pay for it fully, 95% USA and 5% Britain.

The fairest way for everyone to understand the cost is to have a special line on our income tax returns:
"Item 37 -- Cost of invading and rebuilding Iraq: $2100"

Bill the people directly, so everyone can see it free and clear.
When folks have to put up their own money (where do you think it ultimately comes from?!) they may start to really think about what they're doing with Bush as Chief Warmonger.
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