Republicans Don’t Understand the Lessons of the Iraq War – The Atlantic

September 4, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

“Having misunderstood the Iraq War, U.S. Republicans are taking a dangerously hawkish turn on foreign policy.”

In The Atlantic Peter Beinart debunks the surge myth and its contribution to one of the long-standing problems with our foreign policy: “The problem with the legend of the surge is that it reproduces the very hubris that led America into Iraq in the first place.”

Read the entire article here: Republicans Don’t Understand the Lessons of the Iraq War – The Atlantic

History News Network | Did the Bush Invasion of Iraq “Create” ISIS?

June 5, 2015June 5, 2015 / Debbie / 1 Comment

Brian Glyn Williams weighs in on the “who created ISIS” debate. He concludes that it was the policy of disenfranchising the Baathists (civilian and military) that “fulfilled the Law of Unintended Consequences,” and “opened the Pandora’s Box that would ultimately lead to creation of ISIS.”

Here’s an excerpt from the essay: “The Iraqi military, which consisted of 385,000 men in the army and 285,000 in the Ministry of Defense, was a much respected institution in Iraq and its disbandment shocked Iraqi society. The tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers who had taken their weapons home instead of fighting the American invasion felt betrayed when they were fired. This created a recruitment pool of armed, organized and disaffected soldiers. In one fell swoop these Iraqi soldiers lost their careers, their paychecks, their pensions and their source of pride. General Daniel Bolger would claim that de-Baathification ‘guaranteed Sunni outrage.’[6]”

Read Williams’ entire argument here:

History News Network | Did the Bush Invasion of Iraq “Create” ISIS?

History News Network | Why No One Remembers the Peacemakers

December 13, 2014 / Debbie / Leave a comment

This December 25 will be the hundredth anniversary of the Christmas Truce that occurred during World War I. An event worth celebrating! Usually most “outbreaks of peace,” as Adam Hochschild points out, are not celebrated but “the anniversary of this one is being celebrated with extraordinary officially sanctioned fanfare.” The fact that this event “did not represent a challenge to the sovereignty of war” and is receiving significant support from European governments and the Football Association [soccer] explains why this particular event (and not other peace promoting events) will be celebrated. While Hochschilds supports the celebration of this event he thinks that we should celebrate peace and peacemakers more often. He suggests:

“Perhaps when the next anniversary of the Iraq War comes around, it’s time to break with a tradition that makes ever less sense in our world. Next time, why not have parades to celebrate those who tried to prevent that grim, still ongoing conflict from starting? Of course, there’s an even better way to honor and thank veterans of the struggle for peace: don’t start more wars.”

History News Network | Why No One Remembers the Peacemakers.