and yes virginia there is some truth to both statements
Not really, not by any sane reckoning. You can say America failed to recognize the necessity of cutting off the militias at the knees, and maintaining martial discipline, etc etc, but even if American mistakes helped create the conditions for civil war, the Iraqis created the civil war by refusing to try to make a central government work, by refusing to compromise, by turning to violence instead.
The anti-Americans treat America as the only morally responsible adult in Iraq. They treat Iraqis as victims or children, never responsible. When the keepers of the British Empire did this, it was racism. But at least the colonial officers considered that the wogs were capapble of improvement. Todays's anti-Americans don't care what happens to anybody but America, and are sure that everybody else must be better than America, simply because they aren't America, that font of evil. |
