The American Spectator

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br> LTC US Army /p> p> FRIENDLY PERSUASION br> Re: Doug Bandow's Friends Like These : /p>

Great article.

Many other pundits argue that we transformed the cultures of Germany and Japan after WWII so why can't we transform Iraq? Perhaps we can, but if one looks at the contrast with how we transformed Japan (the more "alien" of the two post-war enemy cultures) and what we're doing now in Iraq, it appears we are about to fail.

Few seem to remember that MacArthur ruled Japan as de facto emperor from 1945-1950. When the Japanese balked at forming a "republic," MacArthur copied his favorite portions of the American constitution and British Parliamentary rules onto an 8x14 yellow legal pad and told the Japanese parliament "this is your constitution, follow it." That constitution is still in effect today.

In Iraq, there's no MacArthur. U.S. policy is jumbled up between the combined State Department and Military command authority. In Japan, MacArthur ruled with an iron hand, de-divinitized Hirohito and ended the class/caste aristocracy that had existed for hundreds of years. In Iraq today, there is no similar move to change the dysfunctional Islamic culture and indeed to even talk about it is so politically incorrect, our leadership can't even begin to discuss the problem.

p>Of course, the mainstream press is no help in clarifying matters, either. So I'm afraid that as long as serious discussions of these issues are limited to obscure (although great) publications like yours and letters to the editor like mine, we can look forward to a mess in the Middle East for some time to come. br> -- Paul Doolittle

topics:
Bill Clinton, Islam, Environment, Constitution, Military, Iraq, Iran, Israel