On August 4, 1914, the Imperial German Army kicked the First World War into high gear by invading Belgium, a neutral nation that posed no threat to Germany. Although this was a violation of international treaty (Germany had pledged to protect Belgium’s neutrality), Kaiser Wilhelm and his generals hoped to convince Belgians that resistance was futile and to let the Germans pass unopposed toward France, their ultimate goal.
The Belgians did no such thing. The Belgian Army fought effectively, given its size (small) and the state of its weapons (small and old). As the German Army gained ground, it was harassed from the rear by citizen resistance. The remedy for such resistance laid down in the Kreigsbrauch, or German war manual, was terror. Civilians were killed in the dozens, then scores, then hundreds. Towns and cities were burned; national treasures were destroyed. The idea was to break the will of the nation and make resistance more distasteful than acquiescence. The opposite occurred. Belgians (and the French and British and eventually the Americans) realized no accommodation could be given to the Germans and instead of shortening the war, the use of terror lengthened it exponentially.
Ninety years later, we witnessed the siege of Fallujah. The generals who ordered it would not describe the military action as a terror campaign, but that’s how the people on the receiving end perceived it. The assault began November 8 and victory was declared two weeks later, although firefights are still ongoing. When the first residents were allowed to re-enter the city in late December, they found two-thirds of Fallujah had been utterly destroyed, the rest was seriously damaged. Water, electric and sewer systems were devastated. (An American contractor will profit handsomely rebuilding them.)
A quarter-million Fallujahans are homeless, most living in refugee tent settlements. The International Red Cross estimates 6,000 civilians died in the assault; recovery teams pulling bodies from shattered buildings report that three-quarters are women and children, most of the male bodies are elderly.
All this in addition to torture and illegal detainments. Worse than fighting the last war, our commander-in-chief has not learned lessons a century old.
The siege of Fallujah made many Iraqis either dead or miserable but did little, if anything, to advance U.S. interests in Iraq. Since the Fallujah “victory” was declared, American forces have suffered their deadliest single attack and the frequency and ferocity of insurgent attacks have increased with the imminence of the January 30th election. Earlier this week, Agence France Presse quoted Mohamed Shahwani, intelligence chief of the Allawi government, as saying 200,000 Iraqis support the insurgency, which means insurgents outnumber American troops by 50,000. The destruction of Fallujah doubtless contributed to that number.
The Iraqi election, 24 days away, seems almost certain to result in civil war. Shi’ites will carry the polls, as they represent 60 percent of Iraqis. Sixty percent is a larger slice of the population than American Republicans represent and they control the White House and both congressional bodies.
Sunni political parties, representing 20 percent of Iraqis and those most opposed to the U.S. occupation, are boycotting the election. Kurds (who sent 2,000 peshmerga troops to help the Americans level Fallujah) represent the other 20 percent of the population. They can expect to gain more than proportional representation, thanks to the Sunnis’ abstention.
Violence by Sunni insurgents will grow; Shi’ites, finally in control after centuries under Sunni rule, will respond with a heavy hand. The Kurds will receive some, but not all the autonomy they desire and will be bickering with the Shi’ite-led government by year’s end. American generals will not be able to draw down troop levels as predicted and may have to import more troops to keep the feuding factions apart.
“You will be home before the leaves fall from the trees,” Kaiser Wilhelm promised his army in the first week of August 1914. Four senseless, nation-destroying years later, the troops went home. No kaiser was there to meet them.
By the Book
On August 4, 1914, the Imperial German Army kicked the First World War into high gear by invading Belgium, a neutral nation that posed no threat to Germany. Although this was a violation of international treaty (Germany had pledged to protect Belgium’s neutrality), Kaiser Wilhelm and his generals hoped to convince Belgians that resistance was futile and to let the Germans pass unopposed toward France, their ultimate goal.
The Belgians did no such thing. The Belgian Army fought effectively, given its size (small) and the state of its weapons (small and old). As the German Army gained ground, it was harassed from the rear by citizen resistance. The remedy for such resistance laid down in the Kreigsbrauch, or German war manual, was terror. Civilians were killed in the dozens, then scores, then hundreds. Towns and cities were burned; national treasures were destroyed. The idea was to break the will of the nation and make resistance more distasteful than acquiescence. The opposite occurred. Belgians (and the French and British and eventually the Americans) realized no accommodation could be given to the Germans and instead of shortening the war, the use of terror lengthened it exponentially.
Ninety years later, we witnessed the siege of Fallujah. The generals who ordered it would not describe the military action as a terror campaign, but that’s how the people on the receiving end perceived it. The assault began November 8 and victory was declared two weeks later, although firefights are still ongoing. When the first residents were allowed to re-enter the city in late December, they found two-thirds of Fallujah had been utterly destroyed, the rest was seriously damaged. Water, electric and sewer systems were devastated. (An American contractor will profit handsomely rebuilding them.)
A quarter-million Fallujahans are homeless, most living in refugee tent settlements. The International Red Cross estimates 6,000 civilians died in the assault; recovery teams pulling bodies from shattered buildings report that three-quarters are women and children, most of the male bodies are elderly.
All this in addition to torture and illegal detainments. Worse than fighting the last war, our commander-in-chief has not learned lessons a century old.
The siege of Fallujah made many Iraqis either dead or miserable but did little, if anything, to advance U.S. interests in Iraq. Since the Fallujah “victory” was declared, American forces have suffered their deadliest single attack and the frequency and ferocity of insurgent attacks have increased with the imminence of the January 30th election. Earlier this week, Agence France Presse quoted Mohamed Shahwani, intelligence chief of the Allawi government, as saying 200,000 Iraqis support the insurgency, which means insurgents outnumber American troops by 50,000. The destruction of Fallujah doubtless contributed to that number.
The Iraqi election, 24 days away, seems almost certain to result in civil war. Shi’ites will carry the polls, as they represent 60 percent of Iraqis. Sixty percent is a larger slice of the population than American Republicans represent and they control the White House and both congressional bodies.
Sunni political parties, representing 20 percent of Iraqis and those most opposed to the U.S. occupation, are boycotting the election. Kurds (who sent 2,000 peshmerga troops to help the Americans level Fallujah) represent the other 20 percent of the population. They can expect to gain more than proportional representation, thanks to the Sunnis’ abstention.
Violence by Sunni insurgents will grow; Shi’ites, finally in control after centuries under Sunni rule, will respond with a heavy hand. The Kurds will receive some, but not all the autonomy they desire and will be bickering with the Shi’ite-led government by year’s end. American generals will not be able to draw down troop levels as predicted and may have to import more troops to keep the feuding factions apart.
“You will be home before the leaves fall from the trees,” Kaiser Wilhelm promised his army in the first week of August 1914. Four senseless, nation-destroying years later, the troops went home. No kaiser was there to meet them.
© Mark Floegel, 2005