printToo bad we Americans do not understand even our own history. When a people decide they don’t want to be ruled by foreigners, they declare their own independence and no system of government can appease that determination. Only brutal force binds together people that don’t want foreign control. We asserted our independence in the American Revolution; Lincoln kept the nation together brutally during the War Between the States. Our own history teaches the obvious that we are now discovering in Iraq.
The Iraqis of today show two strong tendencies. First, they do not want American rule, no matter how benevolent or ideal our vision for Iraq is. Secondly, now that the natural divisions of the Iraqi nation have been allowed to rise to the surface, it is very dubious if anyone can heal the divisions of Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd. It is even worse for Christian and other non-Muslim minorities that formerly lived peaceably under Saddam.
The results of this war do indeed provide a lesson we should not forget.