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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (99037)	5/24/2003 5:21:35 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

No, the Iraqis are different, different in their expectation that authority is imposed from outside, and that if it goes, all bets are off. Hmmm... I thought that authority had been imposed from inside in Iraq.. namely through the Baathist party and Saddam's cronies.. Had it been imposed from outside, the population would still be afraid of those outside forces.. namely the US and UK who were the primary nations to contain Iraq. But I understand your comments about the "shame" culture and saving face... But Japan is very similiar in that manner, where honor is paramount. And we didn't see widescale looting in Japan.. The Iraqis were all required to live dishonest lives in order to just get by. Thus, it was predictable, IMO, that they would run wild once that authority disappeared. That's why I believe it was imperative for the US to make some strong statements about the repercussions for engaging in looting, and keeping the people busy cleaning up the cities and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure. Hawk