British and American Foreign Policy in Iraq

There is a common saying that says that history has a way of repeating itself. Sometimes people are able to learn from the mistakes that were made in the past, and sometimes they are not able to learn from these mistakes and go on to make even greater errors in judgment. This paper will review the article, "Forty Years in the Sand" (2005), by Karl E. Meyer to see if the United States is repeating the mistakes made by Great Britain about 100 years ago. First, the article and its point of view will be summarized, followed by a response with opposing opinions and a brief conclusion.

In the article, "Forty Years in the Sand" (2005) by Meyer, he believes that the current involvement of the United States in Iraq is similar to the involvement of Great Britain in Iraq several decades ago. He describes the events leading up to the creation of the nation of Iraq in 1918, including Great Britain's involvement, their problems, and the resulting outcome during the post-World War II years.

According to Meyer, by the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, with Great Britain's Anglo-Indian troops capturing Jerusalem and Baghdad, and France controlling Syria and Lebanon. While Saudi Arabia remained separate from most of this conflict, however, Egypt was also heavily influenced by Great Britain, as was Transjordan and Palestine, which had been set aside as a "national home" for the Jews (Meyer, 2005, p. 69). Meyer quotes George Nathaniel Curzon

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on Post, Reuters. Accessed online June 13, 2005 at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/13/AR2005061300376.html Meyer, K. E. (2005). "Forty Years in the Sand: What happened the last time freedom marched on Iraq." Harper's Magazine. June. Murchison, W. (2005). "Staying in Iraq." The Washington Times. Accessed online June 16, 2005 at: www.washingtontimes.com. The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Staying in Iraq By William Murchison Published June 16, 2005 Time to leave Iraq? A once-staunch war supporter, Rep. Walter Jones, North Carolina Republican, says so -- backed, we're reading and hearing, by an apparent majority of Americans. "Apparent," I say, because with polls you never know how long a mood will last. The present mood -- shaped by daily accounts of American soldiers dying at the hands of those who don't want their country saved, or not by us anyway -- is increasingly one of growing disgust. The armed forces can't meet enlistment quotas. Now comes the controversy over treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Are we still a shining example of democratic liberty? -- as various Americans, usually of the Democratic persuasion, ask, preparatory to answering with a de

Category: Foreign - B