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Lt. John Busch of Baytown, Texas with the 3rd
Armored Cavalry Regiment walks on a patrol on July 13, 2011 in
Iskandariya, Babil Province Iraq.
(Spencer Platt/Getty)
Most of the major cities in Northern Iraq are now in the
hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a Sunni militant
group determined seize the country from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
and his Shiite government.
The situation in Iraq looks painfully familiar: a fragile democracy exploded by longtime ethnic rivalries.
In the lead-up to the Iraq War, back in November 2002, journalist James Fallows published a story in The Atlantic magazine. Titled "The Fifty-First State?," Fallow explained why he opposed a preemptive strike on Iraq, and used the analogy of World War I.
The Great War, Fallows wrote, is "a powerful example of the limits of human imagination: Specifically, imagination about the long-term consequences of war."
Fallows also emphasized the U.S.'s responsibilities after a preemptive strike in Iraq.
"Conquered Iraqis would turn to the U.S. government for emergency relief, civil order, economic reconstruction, and protection of their borders," he wrote. "They wouldn't be able to vote in U.S. elections, of course—although they might after they emigrated. (Every American war has created a refugee-and-immigrant stream.) But they would be part of us."
Fallows reflects on his original opposition to the war, and the state of the country today.
The situation in Iraq looks painfully familiar: a fragile democracy exploded by longtime ethnic rivalries.
In the lead-up to the Iraq War, back in November 2002, journalist James Fallows published a story in The Atlantic magazine. Titled "The Fifty-First State?," Fallow explained why he opposed a preemptive strike on Iraq, and used the analogy of World War I.
The Great War, Fallows wrote, is "a powerful example of the limits of human imagination: Specifically, imagination about the long-term consequences of war."
Fallows also emphasized the U.S.'s responsibilities after a preemptive strike in Iraq.
"Conquered Iraqis would turn to the U.S. government for emergency relief, civil order, economic reconstruction, and protection of their borders," he wrote. "They wouldn't be able to vote in U.S. elections, of course—although they might after they emigrated. (Every American war has created a refugee-and-immigrant stream.) But they would be part of us."
Fallows reflects on his original opposition to the war, and the state of the country today.
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