More Americans to Die for Iraq’s Pro-Iranian Theocracy
September 20, 2007 10:57 am Articles by Henry Munson Available OnlineMunson, More Americans to Die for Iraq’s Pro-Iranian Theocracy -Britannica Blog, Jan. 11, 2007
Just as American governments failed to see the local social and nationalistic dimensions of communist movements during the Cold War, so too have they failed to see the local social and nationalistic dimensions of militant Islamist movements in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. (See my Britannica Blog on fundamentalism.) A “global war on terror” has now replaced the global war on communism as the paradigm shaping American foreign policy. The various local grievances that fuel militant Islamic movements are ignored. Armed force is seen as the key to defeating Islamic militancy when in fact this approach strengthens the very forces it is supposed to weaken. The totally unnecessary fiasco in Iraq is a case in point.