Mosul, rebuilding and blame-shifting

Last updated on: July 17, 2017 at 8:55 am by Jane the Actuary

Mosul, rebuilding and blame-shifting 2017-07-17T08:55:38-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dresden, Teilansicht des zerstörten Stadtzentrums über die Elbe nach der Neustadt. In der Bildmitte der Neumarkt und die Ruine der Frauenkirche. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1994-041-07 / Unknown / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

In today’s paper, an AP article on the devastation in Mosul: “In freed Mosul, little but rubble left” (link goes to the article as it appeared in the Observer, to avoid a potential paywall).

This caused me to dig up an old blog post on Germany, in which I summarized the chief arguments of Germany 1945 by Richard Besse, which in addition to general expository text on the end of World War II and the beginning of postwar rebuilding, also addressed the question, “how did Germany become peace-loving and democratic, rather than starting World War III to seek revenge?” And nowhere in his explanation is the conventional wisdom, that the American magnanimity in the form of the Marshall Plan saved the day. Instead, fundamentally, the difference between World War I and World War II was that, in the former case, Germany was not so fully and completely defeated as to ensure that the Germans understood the fact, and convinced themselves instead that the could have won the war but for treason. In the latter case, they were so completely defeated that the entire Nazi ideology was exposed as bankrupt, the battle for everyday survival so exhausting that there was no room for resistance, and, what’s more,the occupation authorities took their time about permitting self-rule, making damn sure that the Germans knew who was boss; in the USSR-occupied territory, the Russians also helped themselves to railroads and factories as reparations, but even in the West, the Marshall Plan was three years away.

But this AP article takes as its conventional wisdom (and repeats the idea from inteviewees) the idea that conquerors, even when they are retaking territory, even when they have waged war against a savage occupying force, must pour their money (even when it is absent) into a rebuilding program, or else they are somehow morally responsible for any resurgent resistance.

From the article:

Without a swift campaign to rebuild Mosul, aid and rights groups warn the current humanitarian crisis will balloon and resentment will likely give way to extremism, undermining the victory.

“If the western half is ignored it will produce a social disaster and this social disaster will create bigger destruction if it’s not addressed,” said Khatab Mohammed al-Najjar, a resident of eastern Mosul who watched the Old City burn from across the Tigris River during the operation.

“West Mosul produced Daesh, and it is very possible it may produce a new Daesh,” he said, referring to west Mosul’s historically more religious and traditional residents. He used the Arabic acronym for IS.

When Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in Mosul Monday, he pledged reconstruction would begin soon. But his government still struggles to finance day-to-day workings of the state amid low oil prices. . . .

Hiyam Mohammed hid in her home with her family on the edge of the Old City throughout the fight. . . .

She said the only way to justice is if the government and coalition pay compensation to those who lost relatives or property.

“The government brought Daesh to us,” she said, referring to sectarian rule that fueled Sunni extremism and corruption that weakened the country’s security forces. “This mess is God’s revenge for that.”

Now, the article also explains that the battle for Mosul was much more destructive than it might have otherwise been, due to the need to root out ISIS fighters from homes and neighborhoods, where residents were used as human shields, as well as the desire by the Iraqi military to use artillery and airpower to minimize government troop losses. But other than the government deciding to let ISIS stay in place indefinitely, I don’t see any alternative.

But when it comes down to it, I guess I have a problem with the continued hammering home of the notion of “if you aren’t nice enough to your vanquished enemies, they will become extremists.” So far as I understand, the single greatest factor in the rise of ISIS was the cowardice of the Iraqi army, who simply weren’t willing, individually or collectively, to make a stand — something that I’ve never quite understood because it’s so alien to our American notions of patriotism but is, I suppose, also manifested in the fact that scads and scads of young military-age Iraqi men fled for Turkey and, ultimately, Europe, rather than defending their home against its invaders.

And now — well, a rebuilding of Mosul would be lovely, but I doubt Trump’s going to spring for it, and the EU has more immediate problems to attend to with its latest refugee-migrant crisis in Italy, and the Iraqi government isn’t exactly overflowing with cash, so I presume that reconstruction will be slow, and the notion that the government will pay compensation is fanciful.

To be sure, the Iraqi government has had its failings — lots of them, from corruption to favoring various ethnic groups/sects and regions at the expense of others. Whether they are capable of doing better, or whether it’s simply too much to expect Western-style even-handed and fair treatment, I don’t know.

But it would be quite unfortunate if the people of Mosul continue to harbor the notion that “someone else” should pay for rebuilding, and in particular if they don’t set to the task themselves but instead wait for someone else to fix things for them, particularly if they make the claim — and Westerners back them up based on a wrongly-imagined “lesson” from World War II — that only by showering money upon them can they be prevented from becoming extremists.

Image: Dresden, Teilansicht des zerstörten Stadtzentrums über die Elbe nach der Neustadt. In der Bildmitte der Neumarkt und die Ruine der Frauenkirche. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1994-041-07 / Unknown / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

Previous Post

July 15, 2017

I own an Instant Pot!

Next Post

July 18, 2017 Er, Lady-friend robots, again

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet did King Manasseh supposedly put to death by sawing?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Zephaniah Jeremiah Isaiah Micah