Iraq Occupation Problems: U.S. Has "Been There/Done That" In Italy (Joe Gandelman)
Joe Gandelman
A fascinating post from Calblog (which must be a blog located in Louisiana) about the fact that there are definite parallels to be seen in the problems facing post-World War II occupied Italy and today's post-war Iraq. How do we know? Calblog quotes a November 27, 1943 issue of Collier's magazine with the cover headline: "Can Italy Learn Democracy?"
Read this post and you can see that Iraq's growing pains are not unprecedented (and Italy emerged intact, with democracy blossoming again). Pointing to the Colliers piece, Calblog notes:"There's no timeline for elections there. Parts of Italy, though Mussolini was toppled, were still controlled by the Germans. Badoglio didn't have peace throughout the whole country yet..."
Read this post and you can see that Iraq's growing pains are not unprecedented (and Italy emerged intact, with democracy blossoming again). Pointing to the Colliers piece, Calblog notes:"There's no timeline for elections there. Parts of Italy, though Mussolini was toppled, were still controlled by the Germans. Badoglio didn't have peace throughout the whole country yet..."
Iraq is a little different only in that terrorists from neighboring countries are coming in to the country to make problems. But even though that's so, we know the vast majority of Iraqis want democracy and despise the terrorists.
We did it before; we'll do it again.
A terrible civil war ensued, with communist-led forces supported from Jugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria to the north. The troubles did not end until the late 1940s, then broke out again some 20 years later when a right-wing military junta took over the country for a number of years.
And in Greece still today there are leftist gangs that occasionally practice terror against targets of opportunity.
Sort of like a virus that hides for a long time and periodically returns.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20031101facomment82601/
allen-w-dulles/that-was-then-allen-w-
dulles-on-the-occupation-of-germany.html
No mater how smart you are, history will march on.