----- Original Message ----- From: "Gautam Mukunda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 10:14 AM Subject: Re: [L3] RE: religious/political question
> > Do you really think that anyone in Iraq cares if we > involved the UN, or about WMDs, for that matter? Well, there is a poll that I've seen that shows the majority of the people in Iraq see the US , on balance, being a negative influence on Iraq over the next 5 years, while the UN is preceived as being a positive influence. Another poll shows the number that view the US as liberators has fallen from 46% to about 16%, with two thirds now viewing the US as an occupying force. That same poll does show that most people do not want the US to up and leave, so the message is a bit mixed, but the trends are not very encouraging. As far as WMDs are concerned, its reasonable to assume that the direct effect of the non-observance of these weapons, and the conclusions that Hussein really didn't have significant WMD when the US overthrew him on the opinion of the people of Iraq was minimal. However, I think that the atmosphere we would be operating in if we did prove that Hussein was well on his way towards developing an atomic bomb, had massive stockpiles of very dangerous chemical and biological weapons, and had significant delivery mechanisms, would be far different. I don't think the US government was wrong in thinking that a true multi-national peacekeeping force, with tens of thousands of troops from non-Anglo, non-European countries would be very helpful in selling the forces there as a temporary stabilizing entity instead of an American occupation force. I think that the possibility of India and Pakistan contributing troops would have been far greater if the WMD were as prevalent as the administration stated they were before the war. But, that's not where we are. As far as I can tell from the opinion polls and other reports, the opinion of the US held by the people of Iraq is souring. We are being seen less as liberators and more as foreign occupiers. While the idea that people would welcome anyone who delivered them from a tyrant with open arms sounds extremely logical; things can often be more complex than this. For example, intervention in abusive families often/usually results in the victims of the abuse feeling resentment and anger towards the outside agency that intervenes. The shame of needing outside intervention to handle an internal matter can be very high. Different people/countries can handle that type of shame in different manners. Everything that I've seen indicates that people in that region are very concerned with face, and are willing to lie through their teeth in order to preserve face. I think the US is now in a race between their work to develop a stable representative government and autonomous security force and the deterioration of public opinion in Iraq. I don't think that its inconceivable that, if we fail to make much progress in the next 6-12 months, that the fight between US soldiers and those opposing us will be changed, in the minds of people, from a fight between the US and the supporters of a brutal regime to a fight between occupiers and local resistance fighters. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
