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I thought they were going to greet us with flowers?

Aelinsaar 10y ago
It turns out there were grenades in those bouquets.
GunboatDiplomat 10y ago
Well, the Kurds more or less did. If we had done EVERYTHING perfectly, we might have been able to get one of either the Sunnis or Shiites to de facto support our presence. But we didn't.
- YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago
  So, this is something I don't get when I hear American people (I assume you are?) discussing the invasion and then occupation of Iraq: why do you think there's any way that any Iraqi people would ever "support" it? If some foreign power (er, the Martians?) invaded and occupied the USA, would any American ever truly support it? Would it make any difference if someone was Republican or Democratic, or whatever? Wouldn't patriotic duty demand that you oppose the occupation? I'm Greek, we were occupied by the Germans in WWII. As in the rest of Europe, some people collaborated with the Axis forces, and we even had a puppet government put in place and all, but there was never one group of people who "supported" the Axis as a whole. We had home-grown fascists and communists who slaughtered each other once the Germans were gone, but they both fought the Germans (and each other) ferociously while we were occupied. Ordinary people resented and resisted the occupation, with all they had [1]. I can't understand how anyone may think any other people would do anything different, ever, no matter who was the occupying force and whatever the justification. Things can't get worse for a sovereign country and its people than having a foreign power occupying your territory [2]. ____________________ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Resistance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Resistance (please ignore the weaselly-worded bit at the start) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_occupation_of_Greece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_occupation_of_Greece
  - GunboatDiplomat 10y ago
    It's not unreasonable to think that the invasion could have been managed in such a way that most Iraqis (2 of the 3 primary groups) would see us as liberators. As it is, we only managed that with the Kurds. The reason I think that is because the Saddam regime was based on oppressing the Kurds and Shiites, and elevating the Sunnis at their expense. In that kind of situation, you can pull the liberator thing off if done carefully.

It turns out there were grenades in those bouquets.

Well, the Kurds more or less did. If we had done EVERYTHING perfectly, we might have been able to get one of either the Sunnis or Shiites to de facto support our presence. But we didn't.

YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago
So, this is something I don't get when I hear American people (I assume you are?) discussing the invasion and then occupation of Iraq: why do you think there's any way that any Iraqi people would ever "support" it? If some foreign power (er, the Martians?) invaded and occupied the USA, would any American ever truly support it? Would it make any difference if someone was Republican or Democratic, or whatever? Wouldn't patriotic duty demand that you oppose the occupation? I'm Greek, we were occupied by the Germans in WWII. As in the rest of Europe, some people collaborated with the Axis forces, and we even had a puppet government put in place and all, but there was never one group of people who "supported" the Axis as a whole. We had home-grown fascists and communists who slaughtered each other once the Germans were gone, but they both fought the Germans (and each other) ferociously while we were occupied. Ordinary people resented and resisted the occupation, with all they had [1]. I can't understand how anyone may think any other people would do anything different, ever, no matter who was the occupying force and whatever the justification. Things can't get worse for a sovereign country and its people than having a foreign power occupying your territory [2]. ____________________ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Resistance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Resistance (please ignore the weaselly-worded bit at the start) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_occupation_of_Greece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_occupation_of_Greece
- GunboatDiplomat 10y ago
  It's not unreasonable to think that the invasion could have been managed in such a way that most Iraqis (2 of the 3 primary groups) would see us as liberators. As it is, we only managed that with the Kurds. The reason I think that is because the Saddam regime was based on oppressing the Kurds and Shiites, and elevating the Sunnis at their expense. In that kind of situation, you can pull the liberator thing off if done carefully.