KKK vs. Al Qaeda

Those opposed to the liberation of Iraq frequently compare it to Vietnam. At Discarded Lies, Levi from Queens suggests that Vietnam is the wrong comparison. In "Reconstruction vs. Iraq – the Klan vs. Al Qaeda – America lost to the terrorists last time; why won’t that happen again?" we are provided a thought provoking analysis comparing the Civil War Reconstruction to the situation in Iraq:

Following the Civil War, the southern planter class was dispossessed, broke, and badly bloodied. Northern troops occupied the South, and they were needed to protect the former slaves. Like Iraq, there were three major ethnic groups in the south, first the coastal/piedmont planters who traced their forebears to the royalist side of the English Civil War and then back to the Normans. [. . .] The Scotch-Irish hailed from Ulster and the north of England, lived in the mountains, and were substantially more loyal in the Civil War than the coastal/piedmont people. There were pro-union white people scattered through the south. The freedmen were uniformly staunchly pro-union and made up a majority of many of the southern states; so they could look towards electoral control. There-- you have the Arab Sunni as the Normans, the coastal and piedmont whites, the Shia as the freedmen, and the hill-dwelling Kurds as the Scotch-Irish.

[. . .]

The Klan formed as an ostensibly-Christian organization from Confederate veterans and proceeded to terrorize people who got in the way of restoring the old elite’s dominance. It met at night, wore stupid costumes, burned crosses, lynched some people, and murdered others. The Klan however had no suicide bombers and no foreign fighters. The Union occupying army was not gentle and was widely resented.

Levi suggests that this analogy presents a gloomy picture for Iraq. The Baathist revanchists, like the Klan, may struggle on for decades. I think Levi misses the biggest point. The Klan may still be hanging around, but it isn't lynching folks anymore. Al Qaeda in Iraq may hang around for years and years like the Klan, but the evil doers will become less menacing as the Iraqis are trained to defend themselves and democracy and freedom continue to take root.

Thanks to Jay Teal at Wizbang for the tip.

Comments

[Flug Las Vegas]

Hey levi from queens. I hope it so much too that the klan is be destroyed.
But could we verify it?
I think everybody must do the first step toward a better world without hatefull ignorant radical solutions.
Peace! Greets, Flug

[levi from queens]

It is now more than three years since I wrote this small piece. I hope that CA Yankee is correct, but I worry. It took 100 years to defeat the Klan. Despite all of the recent good news from Iraq, I worry that the election in five days will destroy it.

[levi from queens]

It is now more than three years since I wrote this small piece. I hope that CA Yankee is correct, but I worry. It took 100 years to defeat the Klan. Despite all of the recent good news from Iraq, I worry that the election in five days will destroy it.

[levi from queens]

It is now more than three years since I wrote this small piece. I hope that CA Yankee is correct, but I worry. It took 100 years to defeat the Klan. Despite all of the recent good news from Iraq, I worry that the election in five days will destroy it.