[lbo-talk] Why Saddam's Capture Will Indeed End the Insurgency

[Michael Dawson -PSU]

> One of the more plausible partial explanations of the scope and potency of
> the insurgency I've heard is as follows: soon after the US took Baghdad,
> they laid off pretty much everyone in the "Ba'athist" armed
> services--instantly creating a large subpopulation of angry young men with
> guns (and RPGs etc.).  Brilliant.
>
> -- Luke

Wasn't it basically a Catch-22 for the invaders?  You either leave in place
an indigenous army that might start shooting the wrong way when the "no
elections for you" cat gets out of the bag, or you unemploy them.  It's so
depressing to see Bush getting approval for international security.  Like
Hitler getting high marks for ethnic relations...