To: epicure who wrote (137760 ) 6/24/2004 12:00:46 PM From: Neocon Read Replies (1) | Respond to It is a good article. I especially like the part where they acknowledge that the war and occupation has not been very brutal, and when they acknowledge that Iraq has some things in its favor that may balance out the situation:Ironically, the swiftness with which the United States toppled Saddam's regime and the avoidance of civilian casualties may actually work against the success of the reconstruction, Bellin said. In Germany and Japan the experience of total defeat and devastation broke down old conventions and opened the people to new ideas. The much shorter war in Iraq with relatively little loss of life on the part of the civilian population did not produce this psychological impact, while the sanctions imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990 have probably increased resistance.
