DEAR RUMMY -- ( March 29, 2006 - Anderson Valley Advertiser)
Donald Rumsfeld: "Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis. It would be as great a disgrace as if we had asked the liberated nations of Eastern Europe to return to Soviet domination."
This is a weak analogy. There are several important differences between postwar Germany and Iraq, as well as between post cold war Eastern Europe. In the war with Germany, the Germans were the invaders. They started the war. Iraq did not invade us, we invaded Iraq. Iraq did not declare war on us, we declared war on them. This is a VERY big difference.
A similar and very important difference existed in post cold war Europe. The Soviet Union dissolved from within - no invasion took place. The people themselves ended the Berlin Wall. And probably the biggest difference - OIL, the stuff the U.S. consumes more than any other country (in fact more than most other countries put together). Oil was not involved in the equation in Germany or Eastern Europe. And perhaps the greatest fallacy of all - that democracy in Iraq can only be achieved if we force it upon the Iraqis - is very questionable. There are many professionals whoanalyze foreign political situations who believe our continued occupation will lead to more resentment, not democracy.
Karen Leonard
Willits, CA.