bencook2 wrote:
What have you done to understand the war.  No matter what your view.

I had coffee this morning in a LA bistro with a friend that left Iraq during the Hussein tryanny.  He loves America probably as much as any that were born here.  He is also a Christian.

It's interesting though, his take is America has put itself in a position it can't possibly understand.  For all the harm Hussein did, the country (Iraq) was stable in its rule.  It now faces secular anarchy.  His feeling was that rule was held firm due in part to Hussein being a Christian and any uprising might bring the wrath of the United States upon them.  Now, both the myth and fear instilled through that is gone.  The battle is now there's, not ours and that is something that won't change with American involvement.

His words, not mine.

The conversation was brought full circle when he explained the axiom, "Gold in the pocket."  I can't begin to explain it with near the passion, but I'd be interested to hear if (and what) you and other scholars can say about that.

area291 wrote:

I had coffee this morning in a LA bistro with a friend that left Iraq during the Hussein tryanny.  He loves America probably as much as any that were born here.  He is also a Christian.

It's interesting though, his take is America has put itself in a position it can't possibly understand.  For all the harm Hussein did, the country (Iraq) was stable in its rule.  It now faces secular anarchy.  His feeling was that rule was held firm due in part to Hussein being a Christian and any uprising might bring the wrath of the United States upon them.  Now, both the myth and fear instilled through that is gone.  The battle is now there's, not ours and that is something that won't change with American involvement.

His words, not mine.

The conversation was brought full circle when he explained the axiom, "Gold in the pocket."  I can't begin to explain it with near the passion, but I'd be interested to hear if (and what) you and other scholars can say about that.

...Stacy wrote:
I was in it.

I think Bencook2 is going to find that he is the only one who fullfills the list he created. Although his is impressive, I would really like to know what you have to say since you've been there.

area291 wrote:
.  His feeling was that rule was held firm due in part to Hussein being a Christian and any uprising might bring the wrath of the United States upon them.
His words, not mine.

.

I'm no scholar, but I do know that Hussein was and still is a Muslim, you must have misunderstood your friend.