CENTURY OF LEARNING: IRAQ & THE WORLD WARS

By: samrasoul
Published On: 8/9/2007 9:24:17 AM

I believe that the first role of the federal government is the national defense of the nation, without question.  The national defense policy of any developed nation should be comprised of adequate investment in arms and military infrastructure, but also an open dialog with all rational nations and the ability to learn from past blunders and triumphs in the decision process for current and future strategy.

The Allied powers in the first World War made the mistake of not helping significantly to reconstruct the nations they were victorious over.  A leading nation of the central powers, Germany, was left with an economic disaster.  With high unemployment and many industries seeing hard times, it became a prime breeding ground for one of the sickest mad men of all time, Adolf Hitler.  Human beings want to have purpose, and when economic constraints limit future options, minds are left to a wide market of  diverse paradigms.  We didn't make this mistake with the Allied victory in World War II.
In 1947, Truman changed the tone of Washington's views towards Germany: "An orderly, prosperous Europe requires the economic contributions of a stable productive Germany." (TIME, 1948). 

The war in Iraq ended years ago and was a successful mission lasting nearly a month.  The post-war strategy in Iraq, or lack thereof, echoes the mistakes made close to a century before. 

After the invasion, roughly a half-million Iraqi soldiers found themselves without work, a forced unemployment that sparked the beginning of the insurgency.  With little electricity, poor drinking water, and very unstable economic conditions, Iraq is full of minds prime for the picking by fundamentalists.  Wrong is the fabrication that there were or are a given number of terrorists or insurgents; rather the environment in Iraq has created a breeding ground for a hateful ideology against the "occupiers." 

The Iraq post-war strategy was supposed to create a livable environment full of democracy and economic development; instead the strategy has always been to make the country the center of the war on terror.  We will never be able to defeat the terrorists "over there," if we do not target the true sources of what breeds a martyr.  We must insure a future that young Iraqi men look forward to, a future of meaningful employment in an environment that stimulates pride rather than resentment.

Let us learn from our mistakes of WWI, as we did once before, and remember that through economic development will we be able to stop adding fuel to the fire of hatred that wishes to destroy the foundations of our republic.

Comments



Did you listen to (Lowell - 8/9/2007 10:42:49 AM)
the Diane Rehm Show this Tuesday (August 7)?  The guest was Princeton Professor Alan Krueger, a leading economist who explained "why most terrorists come from middle-class, often college-educated backgrounds and are not poor and illiterate."  Instead, Krueger argues that it's repression of civil liberties and political rights that fuel terrorism - "When nonviolent means of protest are curtailed, malcontents appear to be more likely to turn to terrorist tactics."

As much as I believe economics to be a powerful force, I wonder what you think of Krueger's argument?  Also, I wonder what you think of the fact that most terrorists come from oil-rich but repressive countries like Saudi Arabia (15 of 19 hijackers on 9/11)?

Thanks.



Great point...Both are right! (samrasoul - 8/9/2007 11:35:56 AM)
Good point Lowell.  I did not listen to the show, but there is no doubt that the leaders of most factions of radical Islam are well educated and most likely not from the poor segments of society.  But the foot soldiers that blow themselves up on a daily basis in Iraq are individuals who are largely representative of working class Iraqis, same case with the Palestinians.

An exception was with the 9/11 attacks, which required very trusted intelligent operatives.  These individuals were likely higher in the hierarchy of the terrorist network.