The strength of 1,400 years of history lies behind those who claim that our attempts to “nation-build” and reach accords with allies in Iraq and Afghanistan are implausible and doomed to failure. Those who still hope to justify “our mission” in both countries to create a stable government that is not wholly corrupt and subject to Islamic fundamentalism, rely on "statistical trends" purporting to show a reduction in mayhem since the departure of the majority of American forces “evidence” that our “mission” there ultimately may have a positive outcome.
Yet, the failure to reach any real "coalition government" in either country, the continued existence of numerous tribal and ethnic divisions as well as the religious split between Sunni and Shi’a, the readiness of Karzai in Afghanistan to reach an accord with the Taliban and the emergence of a vibrant regional Kurdish authority with real military muscle in Iraq all portend that the struggle and ultimate collapse of so called “central governments” in both places is just a matter of timing and expediency. The ultimate American and Western exasperation is already on the horizon and the growing realization that the effort has been a colossal waste of resources, lives and treasure.
In the most recent edition of New English Review (October , 2010) Hugh Fitzgerald rejects the plausibility of any dependable Muslim allies (General Odierno and What We Learned in Iraq, October, 2010) stating that ..."It is Islam which explains why Iraq can never be an American 'friend' or 'ally' any more than Afghanistan, or Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia, or Iran. Islam explains why the Americans have to be so solicitous of civilian casualties, as they did not have to be with real allies, during World War II. Remember when Allied planes mistakenly bombed an orphanage instead of Gestapo headquarters – in Denmark – and the local Resistance group told the Allies not to stop, to keep on coming, not to be dissuaded for a single minute."
And as Shakespeare said in Hamlet,.. therein lies the rub.
Christopher Carson takes issue with Fitzgerald and reminds readers that the West depends on many Muslim allies which "share intelligence with us, as Jordan, Egypt, Iraqi Kurdistan, NATO's own Turkey, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kazhakstan, to name a few."
No one could or should deny that the leadership in each one of these countries has had and will continue to have short-term tactical interests that override its loyalty to "Islam". Even Jordan, Morocco and Egypt occasionally decide that local and immediate interests require cooperation with Israel. However, the basic question is that IN THE LONG RUN, each one of these, like Turkey’s refusal to aid American troops in the invasion of Iraq, will probably turn its back on short term cooperation when pressed because the "fraternity" and solidarity of the 57 nations who are members of the Islamic Conference is such a powerful force, that like Frankenstein, has taken on a life of its own and threatens all logic and even self-interest.
This is because the idea of Islamic solidarity is such a genie that can always be manipulated to create chaos and ferment in "The Arab Street" and elsewhere , as always focused against “the infidel - the crusader, the dhimmi, the kaffir".
It is worth dwelling quite a bit more on the incident Hugh vaguely tried to remember that took place in Copenhagen at the "French School", an orphanage and the surrounding residential quarter of Frederiksberg. The damage occurred as the result of one of the British bombers that crashed during the execution of a spectacular and successful RAF low level bombing missions of World War II - the destruction of Gestapo Headquarters in the Shell Building, allowing many Danish Resistance fighters who were imprisoned on the upper level of the building to escape.
On March 21, 1945 at noon, 46 Mosquito bombers and fighter aircraft attacked Shell House with precision bombing that destroyed the lower floors of the building. More than 100 Germans and Danish collaborators were killed in the attack. Leading members of the Resistance located on the roof level and on the two floors below managed to escape in the chaos.
This magnificent action that lifted Danish morale across the country was marred by the unfortunate accident of "collateral damage". One of the low flying British aircraft unfortunately struck a signal tower on the nearby railway line. The resulting fire was mistaken by other attacking aircraft as the target and they dropped their bombs on the school. 112 Danes were killed in the conflagration that engulfed the orphanage and surrounding residential buildings, among them more than 80 children. In spite of the terrible tragedy, the attack had a galvanizing effect that signaled to the entire country that Denmark and the Danish Resistance were valued allies who were not forgotten. It also led to a significant and immediate drop in the number of collaborators who had been shown proof that the Allied cause was triumphant and could reach them in their most protected lair.
This is what we in the U.S. and U.K. have forgotten - reliable allies are only those with whom we share fundamental values – in a nation with a thousand years of history behind it such as Denmark. We cannot find them in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere in the "Muslim World". It is also a dramatic example of why true allies understand that in spite of the grief, such accidents and incidents should not divide us and must not be the occasion for pathetic hand wringing and calls for “investigations” (that give aid and comfort to our mortal enemies) but accepted as part of the price for victory.
Dr. Norman Berdichevsky——
Bio and Archives
Dr. Norman Berdichevsky nberdichevsky.com, Ph.D. - Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1974, is an author, freelance writer, editor, researcher, lecturer, translator and teacher with sophisticated communications skills.
