The Sunday Morning Thinkpost - Gotcha.
Dec. 14th, 2003 06:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherNow that Hussein is captured... what next? Will the Iraqis suddenly embrace the US presence in their country? Will some new zealot step up and take the reins of hate and terror or will everything finally follow the Geo. W. script?
The problem with all of this is that people have made up their minds. Once you are hated, you stay hated. That's the basic mentality of the Iraqi people. You can hand over billions of dollars in aid, and it still won't change people's minds. In their heads, they still want you dead and they want dance on your grave. When you have so little, when you're an underdog, any victory like that is savored, like ice cold water at noon.
Is there anything that can be done? Aside from running that country like a prison camp, it's hard to say. Will fairness play a factor, or is this just the business of doing business with a country that has a lot of oil, and maybe doesn't know the value of it.
Finding Saddam out there in the desert is the nastiest needle in a horrible haystack. The Ace of Spades in a sand covered basement. Congratulations to those involved. It doesn't find Osama, though... And he was the one we had the direct problem with, a couple of years ago. But Osama didn't have all those refineries. He just had a plan and some caves to hide in, and a bunch of people covering for him.
War is hell. And this has been a little slice of hell. I have a sinking feeling that capturing Saddam really is the beginning of the troubles we'll have.
I sure hope I'm wrong.
The problem with all of this is that people have made up their minds. Once you are hated, you stay hated. That's the basic mentality of the Iraqi people. You can hand over billions of dollars in aid, and it still won't change people's minds. In their heads, they still want you dead and they want dance on your grave. When you have so little, when you're an underdog, any victory like that is savored, like ice cold water at noon.
Is there anything that can be done? Aside from running that country like a prison camp, it's hard to say. Will fairness play a factor, or is this just the business of doing business with a country that has a lot of oil, and maybe doesn't know the value of it.
Finding Saddam out there in the desert is the nastiest needle in a horrible haystack. The Ace of Spades in a sand covered basement. Congratulations to those involved. It doesn't find Osama, though... And he was the one we had the direct problem with, a couple of years ago. But Osama didn't have all those refineries. He just had a plan and some caves to hide in, and a bunch of people covering for him.
War is hell. And this has been a little slice of hell. I have a sinking feeling that capturing Saddam really is the beginning of the troubles we'll have.
I sure hope I'm wrong.
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no subject
Date: 2003-12-14 08:01 am (UTC)That's EXACTLY what I'm thinking.
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Date: 2003-12-14 08:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-15 08:55 am (UTC)But,
It doesn't change a damn thing, really.
no subject
Date: 2003-12-15 11:50 am (UTC)