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Humanitarian intervention revisited

Very late with this but then there are somethings that should never be allowed to go stale. Armando Iannucci, while researching his movie, In The Loop, hears some grim tales in Whitehall about how the liberation of Iraq proceeded…

Donald Rumsfeld weeded out from those going to help the reconstruction of Iraq anyone who could speak Arabic, on the grounds they would be pro-Arab. As a result, it took the Americans 18 months to realise that when marines held up the flat of their hand to oncoming cars to signal them to stop, they were actually using the Iraqi hand-signal for “come forward”. That’s why so many families in cars were shot.

Weren’t we told that we were invading because we are pro-Arab? You know, human rights, Saddam is a monster and have a look at this shredder? Still, no regrets.


Posted on February 15th, 2010 at 9:24am under Iraq

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• 7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Daniel Hoffmann-Gill (27 comments.) on 15.02.2010 at 12:28 Permalink | Reply

    That is a depressing and heart breaking anecdote.

    1. Dubhaltach (1 comments.) on 15.02.2010 at 18:02 Permalink | Reply

      What will we talk about today you and I? | Gorilla’s Guides:

      What will we talk about today you and I? I do not want to talk about last Saturday. Shall we talk about peace? I would like to talk about peace. I love the word. No, perhaps we are not ready to talk of peace yet you and I, we are not at peace, we are not even at truce.

      Or shall we talk of the days of age? Shall we talk of the warmth of the weight of age on your shoulder as you guide your aged progenitor as you would a child without letting him know that he is being guided? Shall we talk of guidance across the ages you and I? Or shall we instead speak of the armed foreigner who signals “hello” when he should signal “stop” and of how a confused old man who did not stop quickly enough and who could not lie down died in a whirlwind of fire unleashed by the foreigner? Shall we talk of that you and I? Or shall we talk of a daughter’s screams when she saw her son covered with her father’s blood? Or would you prefer to talk about peace?

  2. Philip (257 comments.) on 15.02.2010 at 21:17 Permalink | Reply

    Well, at least thar’s one Western cultural value we’ll be leaving behind us. Thanks to the miracle of natural selection, everyone in Iraq will be aware of the correct way to signal a driver to stop. And yet there are still those who doubt that it was worth the price.

  3. LOOK! More Links at C64GLeN – The blog of Glen McNamee on 19.02.2010 at 19:47

    [...] http://www.chickyog.net/2010/02/15/humanitarian-intervention-revisited/ has a rather sad story to tell. [...]

  4. agl on 20.02.2010 at 16:36 Permalink | Reply

    You have an admirer:

    Wolves In The City: Stop! In The Name Of Freedom

    Oh well, they do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… =]

    1. Justin on 22.02.2010 at 09:21 Permalink | Reply

      Ah well, it’s in a good cause.

  5. the tragedy of unpreparedness /  Assistant Blog on 01.03.2010 at 11:57

    [...] Chicken Yoghurt) Share | Tags: books, islam and the middle east, politics Posted 16 Feb 2010 in [...]

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