The Occupation of Iraqi Hearts and Minds

That's the title of an article by Nir Rosen in Truth Dig, which is basically a report of the two weeks in which he was embedded with an Army outfit. However, these two weeks are seen through a rather different prism than that used by most Western reporters. Mr. Rosen, who was born in New York, has an Iranian father, looks and speaks Arabic. He took advantage of these 'assets' to meet and live with Iraqis. He writes, then, from the viewpoint of his version of an Iraqi's observations of the Americans. His conclusion is that "The occupation has been one vast extended crime against the Iraqi people, and most of it has occurred unnoticed by the American people and the media."

Mr. Rosen is young, he's 29. He was probably idealistic when he went to Iraq. He is no longer. This is his first war and he is amazed at the brutality exhibited by his fellow Americans. But, wars are brutal events where things are done that we in our sheltered homes have not thought of and cannot conceive. If we were in the same circumstances as our soldiers, we might do the same things. Rosen agrees that "These crimes were not committed because Americans are bad or malicious; they were intrinsic to the occupation, and even if the Girl Scouts had occupied Iraq they would have resorted to these methods. In the end, it is those who have dispatched decent young American men and women to commit crimes who should be held accountable."

However, the article does point out the rashness, over-confidence and lack of preparation with which we entered this war. Rosen recounts a number of incidents in which the inability of our troops to speak Arabic and to understand the culture resulted in nasty actions being taken. He writes of intelligence officials who do not leave the base, who do not know or meet with Iraqis or even with the soldiers in the field. He quotes a brigade commander speaking to a major responsible for civil affairs, "I am not here to win hearts and minds, I am here to kill the enemy."

Is Iraq better off today? Are we? Are the people who have been to the heart of darkness?