From Reuters
Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar said in remarks published on Monday that long-term instability in his country could give birth to an "Iraqi Hitler" if citizens continued to feel humiliated and despondent. Daily bombings and kidnappings have plagued Iraq since last year's U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein and the relentless Sunni-led insurgency has crippled reconstruction and development projects in the country. "This could in the long term create an environment in which an Iraqi Hitler could emerge like the one created by the defeat of Germany and the humiliation of Germans in World War I,"Yawar told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Here's the link to the full story: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/513737.html
This is of course the problem when "liberation" turns into "occupation," and it doesn't take long. People make like you for making them free, but not for humiliating them. Many would rather die or live in squalor than let you win. I
I can't help but wonder if all we've accomplished in Iraq (at least in terms of our stated "ideals" of liberating and helping the people), is to show that democracy often doesn't work. In the U.S. we think of it as precious because we feel it slipping away, while all others see is our staggering hypocrisy.
Honestly, I think the best policy for the Iraqis would be to have all the foreign troops leave; let the country Balkanize. In many ways this would be horrible, but what's going on in our name is horrible too. Humanitarian aid could be offered through respected global organizations (OXFAM, Int. Red Cross, etc) which could include American participation. This won't happen because we would lose our bases and our control over Iraq's oil would become even more problematic, but it will give them access to the only kind of freedom that matters, which is the ability to decide their own destiny. If for some of them that destiny is democratic, good for them.
You can't impose freedom.