Barry Lando: The U.S. Role in the Destruction of Iraq

Iraq

Barry Lando's column at Antiwar.com (original post at unz.com) is linked below.

Barry Lando: How the U.S. Played a Pivotal Role in Destroying Iraq

"The military onslaught and the American rule that immediately followed, destroyed not just the people and infrastructure of Iraq, but the very fiber of the nation. Though Saddam’s tyranny was ruthless, over the years the country’s disparate peoples had begun living together as Iraqis, in the same towns and neighborhoods, attending the same schools, intermarrying—slowly developing a sense of nationhood.

That process was shattered by the American proconsuls who took charge after the invasion. They oversaw a massive political purge, a witch hunt, that led to the gutting of key ministries, the collapse of the police and military and other key government institutions, without creating any viable new structures in their place. The Shiites who the U.S. helped bring to power took revenge on the Sunnis, many of whom had backed Saddam."

---Barry Lando, Antiwar.com/unz.com, January 10, 2014