Regime collapse and Imperial house keeping
Reader comment on item: After Regime Collapse in Iraq

Submitted by Glenn Klotz (United States), Apr 14, 2003 at 13:34

If we just install "our" own strongman like Mr. Chalabi, nothing much would have been gained except putting someone whose "pro-American" and reliable at the helm of Iraq to make sure the oil gets delivered to the 7 sisters on time. If that's what Mr. Bush et al., have in mind, this will turn into a disaster of the 1st magnititude.

On the other hand, if the Int'l community and in particuliar, the Arab community, are brought in to give a helping hand in the creation of "civil" institutions first, then this experiment might have a long term chance of succeeding.

If Afghanistan is any measure of what were going to do though, I must say I fear for the future. In Afghanistan we installed a good man in Karazi but so far we've seen fit to do business with the remaining "warlords" that have re-emerged after the defeat of the Taliban and these people are anything but democrats.

If Iraq is allowed to disintegrate in a similar fashion with Kurdish warlords in the north and Shia clerics in the south and Chalabi in Baghdad, then were going to have trouble. I'm afraid we're about to find out Iraq was no more a real state then was Yugoslavia. Not coincidentally both were created from the remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire at the close of WW1. It seems of late most of our problems have involved cleaning up the remains of British and French Imperial adventures. Vietnam (France), Palestine (British), Kuwait (British), Yugoslavia ( the Treaty of Versilles,) Afghanistan (British), Iraq (British)

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.