What was this war about? (re: Iraq)

[kandrathe]

Then do you hold the Italians responsible for the atrocites of the Roman Empire? How responsible are the Dutch for the atrocites and current situation in Indonesia, or India, or Bosnia? It seems far fetched as that was some time ago, but still I think what Occhi was getting at was that you need to view history in context of other global politics and the norms of that day. We can look back and condemn the actions of many with today's morality and sense of justice. I guess I'm just wondering at what point you should let go of what has happened to move on with the current situation. Was El Cid justified in rallying nothern Spanish nobility into driving the Moors from Spain after 400 years of Moorish occupation? Should Libya feel justified in reclaiming that territory? In the US and Canada, should all the indigineous tribes combine forces to expel the European invaders? I mean most of the central & western US was conquered in just the last 150 years. Far less time than what justified the formation of Isreal. Hitlers and Stalins rise to power was a mere 60 years ago, and in 1960 the US was locked in WW3 (Cold War) and in direct competition with an aggressive and ruthless KGB. How responsible are we (the entire world community) for idly watching the genocide in Rwanda, or Sudan?

Ok, so there was some collusion between the CIA, and MI6 and the Nasserite officers that ousted the brutal Col. Kassem. Was that a misktake? If you think that, then there were many "mistakes" (i.e. Vietnam IMO) that happened during the Johnson administration that altered the history of US geopolitics. It is a little self serving to the argument to rake up partial historical facts for the purposes of condemning the present. Was it nice? No. Was it neccesary? Probably. But, one could analyze history for a lifetime and still only have biased opinions.