 COMPARATIVE HISTORY CLASS
I congratulate Iraq's leaders on the agreement reached yesterday in Baghdad. I've been briefed on the agreement, and this morning I spoke to Iraq's elected leaders. These leaders represent all the Iraqi communities. These leaders -- Prime Minister Maliki, President Talabani, Vice President Hashimi, Vice President Abd al-Mahdi, President Barzani -- recognize the true and meaningful reconciliation that needs to take place, and they recognize this is a process.
-President George W. Bush
Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
August 27, 2007 I'm not quite sure why, but I almost love it when assholes like the President of the United States talk about the importance of political pluralism based on arbitrary ethnic lines. This is doubly true when he discusses how positive it would be in a country that has zero tradition of same. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that in such a country, the aforemented ethnic communities are busy blowing the fuck out of one another.
Yet, George Bush sees the potential of a 1976 Coca-Cola commercial somewhere in there. Deep in his soul, he sees a day when Sunni, Shia and Kurd will all join hands and teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Unfortunately, that day was supposed to have been over four years ago.
As you all know, I'm a pretty weird guy and I have some bizarre hobbies. Comparative history one of them. When one country tells another how they should govern their affairs, I like to take a look at both and see what I can learn.
Iraq wasn't even a country before the early 1920's. It was cobbled together by the imperial powers in the wake of the First World War. Its inhabitant ethinic groups never liked each other and always sought opportunities to kill one another. This was resolved by governments that would do it for them. First there was a foreign monarchy, then the Ba'ath Party, which brought us all Saddam Hussein.
There are only two reasons that anyone cares much about Iraq. It's in a really shitty neighbourhood and it has a lot of oil.
Iraq's experience with democracy - if you can call it that - is in its fourth year and has mostly consisted of things exploding and people getting dead. Many people with brains believe that Iraq is the middle of a civil war.
Iraq has a currently has a problem with illegal immigration because it just can't seem to control its own borders. Those immigrants are thought to be involved in blowing things up.
The United States was founded 231 years ago and hasn't fucked up that many elections.
America is famously known as a melting pot, where people of all colors and creeds are building a more perfect union. Sure, black people and Native Americans had a hard time of it, but you have to break some eggs to make an omlet, right?
The United States is in one of the world's more exclusive neighbourhoods. It used to have a lot of oil. Now it doesn't and Congress has been trying to force corn into being gasoline because people in Iowa have no other reason to vote.
There was a civil war in America. It was a really long time ago, though. Maybe you heard about it in school. Or not.
The United States has always had a problem with illegal immigration because it just can't seem to control its own borders. Those imigrants are thought to have been involved in building things like Boston and New York City.
Here's where we get into the cool part: power sharing.
Forty-two people have been elected to administer the executive branch of the United States government. And a more diverse group of tall, middle-aged, Christian white men is tough to find. Okay, that's not entirely fair. There was a time when the American people were feeling particularly exotic, took a walk on the wild side, and elected a Catholic. One. And he got shot in the head.
So I think we can all understand why the Americans are so impatient with Iraq's progress.
You want to know what the single biggest problem with the Iraq war is? The fact that the people who are running it are idiots!
On a related note, you should read this. It'll depress the unholy hell out of you, but it might be the single most important thing written about the future of Iraq.
Easy Listening Recommendation of the Day: Last Cup of Sorrow By: Faith No More From: Album of the Year
PermalinkLabels: ... And Then You're Gonna Die, Don't Know Much About History, Fun With Politics, The Death of Democracy
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