Nobody wants to admit this: Saddam Hussein would be our ally against ISIS

[shadowmayor]

22. Better the Devil You Know

A couple of thoughts from an "inside" perspective: I spent 2005 OIF3 as a stop-loss cross-level engineer sent into Abu Ghraib with the 306th MP's out of NY. I was against the war before it began, against it while I was there, and against it now. I was a soldier - it's a complicated story, but I signed on the line and I did my time. And don't even thank me for defending your freedom!!! Ever!

First - why in THE hell do we let these guys calls themselves ISIS or ISIL or Fred or Barney? We should own this conversation and call them al qaeda in Iraq. That's who these folks are, al qaeda. Al qaeda did not exist in Iraq until we barged in and broke the place apart. Saddam wouldn't put up with these fanatics for a second. So to all those Generals mewing about progress and a new democracy, and to flat brain Tommy Friedman (I did 2 of your "friedman units" so You can suck on this!), Darth Cheney and his last throes BS, and all the media, and those who just went shopping - all of you can line up and kiss my crusty dusty ass!!!

Second - Why is nobody congratulating me and my friends for creating this Isis, er al qaeda group? We put these folks in Abu Ghraib and then down to Bucca; sort of like a boot camp followed by MOS school. The leaders said they would never have formed this group or the very idea of ISIS had they not been thrown together in US detainee camps where they could polish their plots and designs. So you are all welcome for my efforts. The law of unintended consequences has rarely been writ so large.

Third - Let us never forget the slaughter of the Iraqi people, the destruction of their infrastructure, society, and culture. Iraq had a brewery. That's right folks, they were making and selling beer. The Christians sold liquor in stores, girls wore western clothes at the university, the 60.000+ Jewish citizens lived amicably (one of our interpreters was named David - he had converted from Islam to Judaism with no problem until we arrived), and Sunnis and Shiites intermarried and lived next door to each other. All that has changed. And don't get me wrong, Saddam was a frightfully mean and ruthless bastard, but truly - Iraq was sooo much better before we invaded.

Finally - I thought that Assad in Syria was our friend when we "renditioned" tourists and terrorists to have their balls crushed and their fingernails peeled back? And Libya? And Iran? Egypt? All of these countries were on the Neocon hit list. Somewhere Darth Cheney is smiling as the grand plan continues as planned. Our intervention, invasion, blunder; call it what you want, it has not even unveiled its true trajectory. As Churchill said - this is just the end of the beginning. So stay tuned.

Somebody (the Supreme Court) gave the boys (George, and Don, and Dick) the keys to daddy's truck and they filled the bed with a cases of beer, a gallon of whiskey, some flares, and some dynamite for good measure. And they drove the damned thing right into the heart of Baghdad. What could possibly have gone more wrong?

The jail cell I lived in was in a part of the compound designated Life Support Area Shadow. And in addition to being a soldier, an engineer, and permanently tired, I was also the duly appointed mayor! Unfrigginbelievable.

The Shadow Mayor