Liberators vs. Occupiers
By Wolf Blitzer
CNN
 |
Wolf Blitzer
Story Tools
|
KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT (CNN) -- There are two very different scenarios that could unfold in Iraq after the major battlefield dust settles.
One is optimistic -- namely, that the Iraqi regime of President Saddam Hussein is quickly removed and the Iraqi people come to warmly welcome the U.S. and British troops as liberators. The other is gloomy -- namely, that the war drags on and the Iraqi people come to see the coalition forces as military occupiers who bomb and shoot first and ask questions later.
The optimistic scenario has precedents -- namely, in Bosnia, Kosovo and, more recently, in Afghanistan.
The gloomy scenario also has precedents -- namely, in Lebanon in 1982-83 where U.S. peacekeepers strongly sided with Lebanese Christians, angering Lebanese Muslims. A Hezbollah suicide truck driver eventually rammed a U.S. Marine camp outside Beirut killing more than 200 U.S. troops in the process. The U.S. military contingent in Lebanon pulled out shortly thereafter.
The Israelis have had their own kind of gloomy experience over the years in Lebanon as well as in Gaza and the West Bank. After nearly two decades, the Israelis unilaterally pulled out of their self-declared "security zone" in south Lebanon. Their soldiers were constantly being attacked by Hezbollah forces, and staying in Lebanon was simply seen as not worth the price. They captured Gaza and the West Bank in June 1967 in six days -- by all accounts, a brilliant military victory. But as all of us know, 36 years later, the Israelis are still fighting the fallout from that war. The Palestinians clearly see them as occupiers.
With that as a backdrop, the U.S. and British forces have their challenges before them. Winning over the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people won't be easy, given the widespread coverage and graphic images of innocent Iraqi women and children getting caught up in the battlefield crossfire.
Convincing the Iraqi people that the coalition forces have come to Iraq to remove weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein's regime -- and not to occupy their territory and take charge of their oil wealth -- represents an enormous challenge.
Here in Kuwait, the Bush administration is now assembling a group of high-powered specialists to get that message across to the Iraqi people. They will eventually move into Iraq to spread the word that humanitarian relief and political reforms are on the way. They have a game plan to try to get the job done. How successful they wind up being, however, will clearly be influenced by how long this war lasts.
