How The Average Iraqi Must Feel

A friend was telling me about his Iraqi friend, whose family was no fan of Saddam's and was happy to see him go. But this Iraqi family is distraught over what has happened to their country and would like to see the Americans go to.

It got me thinking. Suppose we had a leader who had access to weapons of mass destruction, repeatedly threatened neighboring nations and other countries with whose policies he disagreed; who got into office in rigged elections; who was extremely unpopular with a majority of the country, but enjoyed rabid support from a small group of loyalists rewarded with government jobs and party positions; and who used the government to spy on his own citizens.

And just suppose that after years of this, the Chinese led a coalition of armed forces in invading our country to force a regime change and rid the country of this despiccable leader.

But, despite successfully removing the offending leader here, the Chinese coalition, unfamiliar with American culture, was ill-prepared to occupy the country while a new government was formed (in the Chinese fashion, which they viewed as superior). An insurgency arose (centered in Utah, where the former leader's base was strongest); the country's social, political and economic fabric was sundered; and just about everyone was worse off.

We wouldn't be too happy. In fact, even if all those bad things didn't occur, we still wouldn't be too happy as long as the occupation lasted. Even people who had been the most vocal critics of the deposed leader would denounce the Chinese occupiers, who would be miffed that they weren't seen as "liberators."

So now you know how the average Iraqi feels.