The people of Iraq are jubilent as the grip of the Iraqi regime over Baghdad crumbles.
No quagmire, no Stalingrad, no costly urban warfare. Just thousands of Iraqis celebrating their liberation.
Once again, the anti-war movement has to face the idea that the only way these people would be free, the children’s jails emptied, and the torture cells destroyed was through US military action.
We’ll see how Iraq looks in 5 or so years. Excuse me for not being optimistic but we have a pretty lousy record in nation building.
There was little doubt that most people would be glad to see Hussein go, but can we expect to see the jubilation continue with the ensuing clash of cultures and guaranteed economic exploitation coming from the hands of the Americans in the near future? Not likely. Plus, however often Arab nations flirt with liberalized governments and greater freedoms, they always seem to go back to brutal and repressive dictatorships that bitterly reject Western values. Hard to imagine that Iraq circa 2003 will be the turning point of that trend, but I guess we can hope.