Friday, June 12, 2009

"Welcome to Iraq--Have a Hot Dog and Some Apple Pie"

One of the problems with Iraq is that there is really no such a thing as an "Iraqi." After WWI, the Allies drew a box around an area where hundreds(!) of sects had been killing each other for centuries and called it a nation. They wanted the Middle East to look like Europe. Now we're in Iraq pushing democracy, trying to make it look like Indiana.
It just ain't gonna work.

1 comment:

woodie said...

I've heard a number of well-reasoned theories about how Iraq could be partitioned equitably with respect to ethnicity or historical precedence but they're probably not implemented because someone stands to gain oil $ by keeping the present construct intact. I say fuck Iraq. Get out right the fuck now! I really gotta strain my fuckin brain to figure out how my welfare is connected to Iraq anyway. If I was god maybe I would care, but I gotta say I don't really care any more about Iraqis than I do Indonesians or Tahitians. If and when we do get out, if we're really concerned about sectarian violence flaring up again, all we gotta do is make sure we have all necessary infrastructure in place so that everyone's got cable t.v. and the internet. That way, to borrow a Pink Floydism, everyone will "become comfortably numb."