While scanning rss feeds, I noticed this headline today which is indicitive of the misunderstanding of the general public with regard to our mission in Iraq.
US launches diplomatic flurry on Iraq as mission surpasses WWIIWashington ramped up diplomatic efforts to quell sectarian violence and chart the way forward in war-torn Iraq, as the US military engagement there overtook the length of America’s involvement in World War II.
The article seems to consider that the length of combat operations equals the length of US involvement in WWII. Yet, as we are all aware, the United States spent the next half century occupying the former Axis powers and ensuring European and Asian stability which continues even to today. To think Iraq, a country with little history as a nation and much worse off than Germany or Japan, will take less time is to show incredible historical blindness. Barnett has frequently noted the same. The war and the peace are very different things but two important parts of one operation. The fighting is the easy pary. Stabilization and “the peace” are the hardest and most important.
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COMMENTS / 11 COMMENTS
Younghusband added these pithy words on 27 Nov 06 at 1:52 pmUS Military deaths:
Iraq: 2879
WWII: 407,300UK Military deaths:
Iraq: 126
WWII: 382,600
Muscovyte added these pithy words on 27 Nov 06 at 2:23 pmI have also noticed that the media have not noticed positive effect of nuclear bombings on shortening US involvment in WWII.
cold pizza added these pithy words on 27 Nov 06 at 4:14 pmAt what point did the Korean war end? Where’s the peace treaty? -cp
alec added these pithy words on 27 Nov 06 at 6:14 pmYou really think that Iraq after the invasion was much worse off than post-WW2 Japan or Germany?
Chirol added these pithy words on 27 Nov 06 at 7:14 pmAlec: No before the war. The countries and societies were totally different.
Sonagi added these pithy words on 27 Nov 06 at 10:19 pmWe maintained NATO bases for fifty years, but that is not the same as an occupation. Post WWII West Germany became fully independent in 1955, and Italy was officially occupied by Allied Forces from 1943-1947.
I am not a history major, but I don’t recall hearing about German and Italian civilians and private armies kidnapping, torturing, and murdering each other in tit-for-tat sectarian violence. I don’t believe that any churches were bombed or shot up. Neither do history books teach us that US soldiers had to battle dangerous insurgents during the post-war occupation.
Rommel added these pithy words on 28 Nov 06 at 3:12 amMore importantly, historical analogies are misleading and often used in a way that is incorrect or irrelevent when compared with current events – particularly in the context that Chirol pointed out.
The comparison between World War II and the conflict in Iraq is laughable at best, at least in the way the article presents it. The sheer scale of the Second World War and the nature of the conflict (and perhaps more importantly domestic and int’l politics at the time) present a context that bears little resemblance to the American occupation of Iraq and the ongoing civil war. Certain theaters of WWII, like the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia and perhaps some of the Japanese occupations might be studied for some insight. Obviously that is asking way too much of any journalist or reporter.
By the way, do you think they said the same thing about Afghanistan 2 years ago?
sunbin added these pithy words on 28 Nov 06 at 4:05 am“the United States spent the next half century occupying the former Axis powers and ensuring European and Asian stability which continues even to today”
not true. US didn’t occupy Germany and Japan against popular uprising. if there were no ideological rivalry with USSR, US could have pulled out victoriously a couple years after 1945.
sunbin added these pithy words on 28 Nov 06 at 4:09 am“a country with little history as a nation”
technically correct but this also shows blindless to the mesopotamia history and hence the ability for a people of a long civilization and history to rule itself.
sunbin added these pithy words on 28 Nov 06 at 4:14 amhaving said the above, i do agree that there is no comparison for Iraq with WWII.
the invasion is a lot easier due to the technological gap US leads, and the post-war occupation is simply an impossible task, more comprable to Vietnam, or the French occupation of Algeria, or Russia in Afghanistan. i.e. the occupier by the local people, due to multiple mistakes that turned the occupier from a potential friend to an enemy of the people.
some name added these pithy words on 29 Nov 06 at 4:15 amThe only valid comparison with WW2 is that once again Nazis have started a war, only this time they’re not Germans but Americans.
