I’ve been trying to avoid blogging about stories like this one, where US forces entering into a town were greeted like heroes. That’s because we’ve heard plenty of stories about places where that didn’t happen.
Are people cheering because they’re trying to ingratiate themselves with the new troops in town? Or are they genuinely pleased to be liberated from tyranny? Or are they just brainwashed by Coalition propaganda?
Are people reluctant to cheer because they’re afraid of being shot by Baathists still lurking about, especially if they’re not sure whether the US will pull out again like last time? Or are they simply mistrusting or even hostile to invading crusaders? Or are they just brainwashed by Saddam’s propaganda?
I don’t know, and I don’t even know enough to assume that it’s a mixture thereof. Neither do you. We won’t know for a long time. I know which answers I’d like to believe, but I’m trying to avoid leading with my wanna-happens.
I haven’t been writing about killings of civilians at checkpoints. Everyone agrees that it’s horribly tragic, so there’s no point in noting that. But after that, it all boils down into he-said-she-said sorts of things. Were enough warning shots fired? Were any fired at all? Was the protocol followed, and was it a correct one? Are the troops too trigger-happy, in the face of suicide attacks, or are they still putting themselves in harm’s way in trying to avoid civilian casualties. Were the civilians innocents caught in the cross-fire, or was there something more sinister going on?
And, ultimately, regardless of the why, it’s something that everyone agrees shouldn’t have happened, and we should find ways of avoiding it in the future. What the long-term trend and implications are, nobody knows. Certainly not I, and probably not you.
And, lastly, I’ve also avoided a lot of heartwarming tales of personal bravery on the battlefield, and lauding what great folks we have in our military. That’s because if I link to cool stories like this, then I also feel like I have to link to stories about overstressed, uncertained, frightened, panicky US troops, too. And I don’t know the truth, not being there. Nor is it always certain that we’re getting the truth — one way or another — from some of the embedded reporters.
Nor, to be honest, is it necessarily fair to the terrified conscripts that I think make up much of the Iraqi army. I have no hesitation drawing down curses on those committing war crimes, but I suspect that there is also personal bravery and self-sacrifice and even nobility among some of the people fighting on the other side, even if that side is an evil one.
As has been said, this is not a war against the Iraqi people. It’s a war against the Iraqi regime. It’s a shame that so many Iraqis are trapped in their military — though it’s a joy that so many have surrendered, or faded away not to become guerillas or death squad members, but to simply avoid getting killed for no good reason.
Just some random thoughts on a Thursday afternoon.
(celebration link via Instapundit; heartwarming link via Doyce)