Hi kumar_rangan; While propaganda suggesting that the other side's leaders lives in luxury is always useful, and is a constant refrain in propaganda throughout the ages, there are zero examples of it working.
People know that the leaders of a country are going to have nice stuff. Americans know that Bush lives in what the British, when they burned it, called a "palace", but we don't give a damn about it. The same sort of stuff was said by both sides in WW2, no effect.
No, people in Baghdad who feel economically pinched likely do not blame their leader, but instead blame the US for keeping the sanctions running.
If the Canadians and Mexicans had supreme military power, and ran a painful economic blockade against the US for 10 years and then tried to change the government with an invasion, a certain small percentage of the population (1% or 2% but it doesn't take much) would be so incensed that they would grab their hunting rifles and take pot shots at them, even if they were not happy with the inhabitant of the White House. (Personally, I wouldn't fight back, because I think that losing fights is stupid.)
It is no different in Iraq. Human nature is universal. A certain percentage of the population would shoot at us. Since the US has been hammering (okay lightly tapping) on Iraq for 10 years the percentage would be relatively high (i.e. 1% or 2%). Iraqis are not stupid, so they wouldn't wear uniforms when they did this. Instead, like the Palestinians, they'd masquerade as civilians. We'd end up with Israel's little problem, but with a much larger territory and population to control. Eventually, we'd walk away.
-- Carl |
