The document posted below was found in stack of papers from the U.S. Army General Staff, and although it was probably written sometime during 1944, I rather wish it had been circulated in 2003 as the country prepared to invade Iraq. Many of the observations could apply verbatim to our current ill-fated war.
I challenge you, oh my loyal readers, to provide a single historical example of a foreign army conquering another on its home soil only to be greeted as liberators. I don't care how bad the regime was, that's just not how human beings work, particularly when you consider that a sizeable group profited enormously from the corrupt regime. Most of Iraq may be happy the old bastard is gone, but to believe that they would treat us as anything but the occupying force we are is insane.
We were simply unprepared for the demands of a full scale occupation. The initial disorder, looting, reprisals and the subsequent insurgency were utterly foreseeable, and in fact were foreseen by the planners that Rumsfeld and his deputies dutifully ignored.
As I stood in the audience of a rock concert last week and turned to notice Paul Wolfowitz standing beside me in all his portly glory, I was torn between the desire to engage him in a knock down drag out debate on foreign policy or give him a big sloppy Wet Willy for his foolishness. Then I remembered that he probably had security with him.
