April 11, 2003
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U.S. reacts to criticism on Iraq looting
Aid organizations said the lawlessness was worsening the humanitarian situation in Baghdad and urged the Bush administration to move quickly against it.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld characterized the looting as “untidiness” and part of a transitional phase after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government and on the way to freedom.
“Stuff happens,” Rumsfeld said. (Reuters)
I can’t argue with that. I’d just say it a little differently. But I suppose RumPunch has to be politically correct.
As I watched the video of looters not just carrying away whatever they could pick up or pry loose, but smashing and burning, I identified with the mob. That’s not hard for me, with this empathic thing. I was actually more comfortable in the mind of the mob than I am when I get inside the heads of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld or Ashcroft.
I feel for those aid workers trying to apply bandaids and serve snacks and help people pick up the pieces of their shattered world. Empathizing with them is a snap for me–we’re pretty much in the same headspace, all in the same line of work: crisis intervention. But empathizing with their predicament doesn’t make me agree with their conclusions.
When mobs bust loose, there can be more long-term gains from letting them riot and loot for a while, in a contained area, rather than suppressing them with force. Putting down a mob can turn it into a guerilla force or a bunch of saboteurs and terrorists. I’ve been watching that happen. Haven’t you?
While we are mopping up the rest of this war, let the Iraquis let off steam. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think any psychological insight motivated the choice to use the soliders as a military force and let the locals police themselves. If the secretary had such insight, I think he’d have come up with a less callous statement.
Comments (9)
Is the word “insight” or “intelligence”? Maybe if he had more of both.
Suppressing a mob can be very difficult. It can also turn pent up anger and anxiety from oppression into a dangerous free-for-all hurting everyone around. Is there a win/win situation there? Or do you think it’s just lose/lose?
Yeah, I can’t even begin to imagine how to stop that situation without it totally backfiring.
I saw another news story, though, where gov’t types were saying, “The US is not going to be a police force in Baghdad,” like it just somehow wasn’t our job, or something. *shakes head* I mean, for pity’s sake…we stirred up the beehive, and now we don’t want to put it right? I dunno, man, I dunno. People worry me sometimes. OK, they worry me a lot.
heheeh …
I found this at log24.net …
http://www.thezodiac.com/compare.htm
Yeah. Stuff happens. SSDD, right?
That was callous, wasn’t it?
Out of curiousity, what post was it you read which lead to the comment you put in my guest book? what date was it? Just wondering.. thanks. Take care. -Lynx-
Lynx-I didn’t read the post, just read the date of the most recent post and jumped to the guest book because I thought you didn’t have any recent posts. Don’t recall the date. Drive-by, sorry if I left you reeling in my dust.
Drive-bys and glitches and wtfs, oh my!
It seems to me that looting is a perfectly natural response to being released from oppression. When you have had nothing, it is to be expected that you will take whatever you can get when you have a chance.
I hadn’t thought of the looting like that… That kinda makes sense. I just hope it’s ONLY looting, and that people are hurting each other over a bunch of crap. There’s enough of that going on over there…