Abused By Illusions

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Fallujah 101

I thought this article on the history of Fallujah was very insightful. After reading it I came to the conclusion that perhaps we are repeating the history that the UK made there many years ago.

This town also is the place where in the spring of 1920, before T. E. Lawrence wrote the above passage, the British discerned civil unrest.

The British sent a renowned explorer and a senior colonial officer who had quelled unrest in the corners of their empire, Lt. Col. Gerald Leachman, to master this unruly corner of Iraq. Leachman was killed in an altercation with a local leader named Shaykh Dhari. His death sparked a war that ended up costing the lives of 10,000 Iraqis and more than 1,000 British and Indian troops. To restore Iraq to their control, the British used massive air power, bombing indiscriminately. That city is now called Fallujah.

Read the entire article here and see what you think!

Posted by CIAbramson at 4:10 AM