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The war is not over, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Even the Iraqi ambassador to the UN, grabbed on his way out of the embassy to who knows where said, “The game is over.” I managed to catch images of the statue of Saddam being taken down and dragged through the streets. I was deeply moved to see the Iraqi’s joy.
The war has gone well. So far, my worst fears have not been realized.
- Saddam has not used poison gas. My guess is that he has it so well hidden, he couldn’t lay his hands on it quickly enough.
- Our troops completely shut down any attack on Israel.
- Only 12 oil wells were set fire, and all but one have been extinguished.
- US casualties, by historical standards, have been very low. Nearly half are due to accidents, not combat.
Once the war is won, I still worry, can we win the peace. People should win their own freedom. But, Saddam’s terror was so complete that this would have been completely impossible. I liken the Iraqi’s to the Jews that were released from the death camps at the end of the World War II. Iraq has been one big concentration camp.
Can we get all 150 ethnic groups and 2000 clans to live together? They DO have one thing in common. They have ALL suffered under Saddam’s rule and maybe that will be enough to bind them together.
I would like to see the US out of Iraq as quickly as possible, but worry about that. It took Macarthur seven years to rebuild Japan, and that is a very homogeneous population.
It is my hope that Iraq can become a democratic capitalistic society. Then, perhaps, they can show the rest of the Middle East, Arabs too, are capable of self-government and competing in the world economy.
May God also bless Iraq and its people. They have suffered enough.
Test Comment.
Posted by: Ted at December 12, 2003 2:31 PM