By Ken Joseph Jr.
Oustside View Commentator
Published August 22, 2005

BAGHDAD -- As the dust begins to settle on the dream that was Iraq, finger pointing on who is to blame is beginning.

"Who lost Iraq?" is the simple, but profound question many are asking.

As one who was in Iraq during Saddam's regime and as an Assyrian Christian, part of the indigenous people of Iraq, the answer to that question is not just academic, but directly relates to the future of our people. The Assyrian Christians were here long before the Arabs. We are the people of "Nineveh" to whom Jonah came and comprised one of the last remaining major Christian communities in the Middle East.

First, is the question of Saddam. I was there. In an upcoming book entitled "I Was Wrong," I describe what life under Saddam was like. I was originally against the war, but when I saw the terror that was Saddam and the pain my family lived under I was quickly brought back to reality.

It was terrible under Saddam Hussein! The "real" Abu Ghraib prison was a place where my relatives were beaten every day -- after lunch and dinner. Monday and Saturday were the days people were hanged.

My relatives' reaction to the Abu Ghraib "scandal?" They were angry at the fact that the Americans could not do anything to try and get the truth out of those who oppressed them!

Chemical weapons? I was there! The great fear of the residents of Baghdad in the days leading up to the war were not the Americans -- they were afraid of Saddam and all the weapons they believed he had and how he would unleash them on them when cornered. Everybody believed he had every possible weapon and would unleash them all.

Second, the deep appreciation for the liberation of their country from Saddam. I was there! Imagine for the first time in your life being able to use a cell phone, surf the Internet, speak on the telephone without fear, talk to your neighbors without being afraid, watch "normal" TV, wake up in the morning without having to see Saddam everywhere! Happy? They were delirious to have him gone!

Third, though is the real question. Why has Iraq gone so badly? The answer is a bit complicated, but there is an answer and it is still not too late.

Simply put Iraq was "lost" by Americans. Essentially two types of Americans who ruled Iraq in the days and months following the fall of Saddam.

In my upcoming book, "I Was Wrong," I detail the many experiences we had firsthand.

The first type was what I call the "good guys." If Americans have one major fault it is that they are so positive and forward-looking and good that they have a hard time understanding how evil "Evil" really is!

That was the lesson I learned under Saddam. Yes, he was really that evil and yes, in the 21st century there is such evil!

The "good guys," where the "aw shucks" Americans that came into Iraq and did their best to organize, fix and restore Iraq. They could not imagine that anyone would purposely try to work against what clearly the Iraqis wanted.

I watched them, many times with tears in my eyes as they worked so hard, under such terrible conditions to make things better for Iraq.

"Why are you here?" I would ask over and over. The answer was always the same; "I just want the Iraqis to have what we have. Just doing my job."

How simple, how naïve, and yet how powerful?

A half-century ago my own parents came to Japan at the end of WWII and are still there.

A half century after he had first gone to Japan I asked my own father "Why, did you come to Japan?"


"Because Japan needed help," he replied.

No matter how hard I push him that is all the answer I can get. "Because they need help?" How foolish, how naïve, how powerful.

The first group that "lost Iraq" are the good guys, the men and women who gave of their lives and their time to rebuild Iraq so the Iraqis could be free.


The second group? The opportunists. These were many of the people working in the Coalition Provisional Authority who were there not to see Iraq restored, but simply to get a good line on their resumes and to get a job in the new administration.

I am putting out a call to all who were working at CPA headquarters and others to come forward with details of how the opportunists worked against success simply to insure they would have a job in January.

A whole class of staffers working subconsciously -- and often consciously -- to in their own small way have Iraq fail so they could get a job in a new administration which would be directly linked to the failure of Iraq.

The third group? The mostly British Muslim "experts" dispatched to guide the CPA.

I met them everywhere. They were and continue to be evil personified with beautiful British accents, though they always bowled over the Americans, enamored at the class that the Queens English provides.

Outwardly liberal, democratic, free-loving, they were in actuality evil, promoters of the Islamic Republic of Iraq, always smiling and deceiving the nice guys who trusted the advisors as they interpreted, explained the culture and in as many ways as they could worked against any success that the CPA might attain by working in a calculated way to deliver Iraq to their paymasters in the evil empire, which is radical Islam.

Who betrayed Iraq? The good guys who naively believed, the `opportunists` who desperately hoped Iraq would fail for their simple job needs and the `experts` who systematically dismantled all the good done for the Iraqi people.

In particular, who betrayed Iraq?

In contrast to the no-nonsense military officer Jay Garner, whom I had the honor of meeting, I confronted Paul Bremer, his pathetic successor who personally betrayed the people of Iraq by turning it over before it was ready just to personally get out.

Many, many times I and others appealed to Mr. Bremer and others in the CPA to not turn over Iraq, until as in Japan a Constitution had been written, elections held and a government in place.

They were just too impatient and concerned more for their own personal careers to care about a successful Iraq. We are today reaping the results of their desire to get out.

--

(Ken Joseph Jr. brought the first relief convoy into Iraq following the end of the war, directs Assyrianchristians.com and is currently completing "I Was Wrong," which will be out in the fall.)

--

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)