Timothy McDonald

Mr. Yanni, Pd. 2

Losing Iraq
15 September 2015

The initial response of the Sunnis and Shiites was violence. After losing all almost all
power in their own homeland and any positions or titles they may have held they were angry.
They did not like westerners coming in and essentially asserting themselves in as the new rulers
and controllers of the land. Those especially who were members of the army were all fire and
the military disbanded. This caused issue because it let loose thousands of people with military
training who were mad with the United States. They also had their military issued weapons and
the training and skills to operate them proficiently however they may choose to do so. This
caused a major immediate threat to any american on the ground in Iraq as many of those former
soldiers began to engage the United States troops in combat operations. This put the United
States in a bad position as we had no choice but to engage in counter operations but the way it
was portrayed in Iraqi media was that we began the fight and were taking over by force. This
just caused more resentment towards the united states. I do feel that their actions were justified.
As much as I hate to say that I justify violence against the United States and its military
personnel it was justified for us when we had to defend our freedom against Great Britain so the
same goes for the Iraqis as we essentially were attacking their freedoms and way of life.
The loss of so many veteran military leader at this time was one of the worst things that
could have happened. These leaders offered experience Bremmer did not have. He needed these
leader to help him and he needed to listen him. With their help and guidance our time in Iraq

could have possibly been shortened and bloodshed spared. I believe they all left however
because they saw what was happening. Bremmer never intended to ask for their help or
opinions. He felt he was solely in charge and was going to make decision in that mindset. They
foresaw that he was doing and the very negative effects it was going to have. They wanted no
part of it and therefore left. This left us with very inexperienced rookies in charge and it took
many failures before success could be reached because of their inexperience therefore increasing
our time in Iraq.
I believe the image of the United States at this time may have been very near its worst in
history. We looked like a big bully. We essentially took over the country. They did not ask for
this we just forced it upon them. We claimed to do it to secure freedom but when you look at the
events that is the exact opposite of what we brought. We almost invaded the country and set up a
government of people we chose essentially to be hand puppets. That is not freedom. The
majority of Iraqi people hated the United States because of this. We did not look like a friendly
nation trying to help we looked like dictators occupying a country.
Finally we are dealing with a new terrorist threat, Isis. This group is much different than
any of the previous years. They are much more dangerous and extreme than the others. Isis has
many more of all resources than the other groups including: money, power, members, weaponry,
mobility and more. They are also becoming much more public. They have accounts and
websites all over the internet which makes them extremely dangerous. They use these accounts
to inspire lone wolf attacks by people inside of the United States and it works. They have
inspired many deadly attacks. They also have many members with international passports. This
makes getting into other countries very easy. We are very exposed t attacks by Isis and we are in
danger. They also have a plethora of weaponry, som manufactured by the United States. They

have successfully captured weapon caches of the United States giving them access to our
weapons. No terrorist organization has ever had this much power. Isis is a new breed and a
much larger threat than any ever before.

Citations

Islamic State bigger threat than Al Qaeda, FBI chief says. (2015, July 23). Retrieved
September 20, 2015.
Kaplan, R. (2014, August 11). ISIS a bigger threat than pre-9/11 al Qaeda? Retrieved
September 20, 2015.