The historical lessons of July 4 applied to Iraq

I have been watching the History Channel all day.  I made the mistake of starting to watch their series on the American Revolution, and I got hooked. We just arrived at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown which signalled the end of active warfare, though it took a couple years to get the peace treaty signed.

The thing that struck me about this detailed recounting of the 6 year conflict with Great Britain that ended in our independence is that there are parallels with the Iraq occupation. It was pointed out that occasional British excesses such as the murder of Jane McCrea by native american warriors allied with the British or the Waxhaws massacre (perpetrated by British Cavalry leader Banastre Tarleton against surrendering Continental soldiers) had the result of hardening the resolve of Patriots and gaining recruits to their cause.  Abu Ghraib and the murders of a few Iraqi civilians have had similar results. In New Jersey and the southern colonies, there were many examples of the fighting degenerating into personal feuds between loyalists and patriots in isolated communities. In the same way, Sunni and Shia brutality has expanded the insurgency into a sort of simmering Civil War in Iraq.  As George Washington practiced warfare, it was a matter of the weaker force to prolong the war by retreating to preserve itself against an opponent who is stronger on the battlefield. These tactics are also emplyed by the Sunni insurgents in Iraq, who favor occasional ambushes or bombings to the open confrontations that favor our own forces.  Time and distance serve the guerilla. We must supply our soldiers from thousands of miles away, while the insurgents are able to smuggle weapons from friendly neighboring nations or dig up stockpiles left by Saddam's army.  Popular opinion also plays a role. George W. and King George III both argued that victory would be theirs if the people would simply stay behind their efforts. But the years passed, and the natural nationalistic feelings of the opponents of both Georges remained intense despite the losses of many many lives, and the public naturally grow tired and start to wonder. They first wondered if the promised victory will ever arrive. Later, they wondered if they would even recognize it if it did.

And then there is the fate of the loyalists. We have loyalists in Iraq- interpreters for example. Our association with them puts their lives at risk. Are we eventually going to welcome them into our nation because of their sacrifices as the British did with their American loyalists? Or will we be less caring and less accepting of our responsibilities, and tell them tough, your loss, have a nice day. We would like to help you, but you might be terrorists, so you will just have to take your chances without our help.

History has lessons for us. The tricky part is to agree what those lessons are. No we are not ready to do that.  But someday Iraq will be over for us. At that point there will eventually be a History Channel special on the mistakes that we made there, and how they parallel certain other mistakes made previously.

And then 40 years will pass and we will do it again. Humans are optimistic.