Iraq In Reverse

By Rorik Strindberg

Rorik Strindberg, a regular contributor to this blog, is a junior at San Diego State University and studies history. This is an opinion piece on the justificaiton of the invasion of Iraq and how American foreign policy can be a force for positive change in the world. I will be continuing my blog series “Mesopotamia Burning,” within the next week. Part I was an overview of my ten part series and part II was on the coup in Iran and the Iran-Iraq War leading up to the invasion of Kuwait. The views and opinions expressed in this essay do not necessarily reflect those of the creator of this blog and are the sole responsibility of the author. Essays expressing opinions similar to and counter to those of the creator of this blog are strictly for diversity and to start thoughtful and meaningful discussion.

In Kurt Vonnegut's slaughter house 9 there is an interesting section where the main character watches the bombing of Dresden in reverse. Thought Vonnegut incorrectly identifies the British action for an American one the message is still the same. Bomber send out metal objects that vacuumed up the fire on the city, take the fire home and store them deep in the mountains, never to harm any one again. All the while forgetting the fact that the reverse would include, a dead Hitler pulling a strange object out of his head, and siring to life, and a return of the Jews and gypsies to the constriction camps and death camps.

The "reverse" Iraq would be much the same; a bearded Saddam would be taken from his court room and jail cell, and escorted by American troops to a hole in the ground. F-16 would fly over the burning Mr. Zarqawi, and again he would live to torture, later Zarqawi would return to Northern Iraq, to assassinate Kurdish leaders. A-10 warthogs would suck the lead out of Saddam's demonic sons, and they would spring to life. The new parliamentarians would leave the capital, some returning to exile in foreign nation, others to torture chambers. Vote would be taken out of the hand of the civil servants who counted them, returned to the Iraqi citizens where they would wipe out their votes. Slowly Saddam would make his triumphant return to Baghdad. The mass graves for Iraqi decedents would be covered again, for no one to find again. The first elections in Egypt and Saudi Arabia would fallow the same pattern as the Iraqi ones. Moammar Qaddafi would take back the information on the Khan nuclear Wall-Mart. American troops would amass in the streets of Baghdad to erect the statue of Saddam. Finally silencing the cheers of the Iraqi masses as an American flag is used to polish the face of Saddam. Side by side Saddam and his sons would reign over the Iraqi people as the American troops left.

This is not a reality that I want to see, thank god that this is not possible for many would like to see it. War is bad but the alternative is often worse. True many valiant young boys died fighting the destruction of Hitler, but how many would have died if we did not fight Hitler?

Image From:
Kurdistan Democratic Party