|
|
Article: Lessons of another Reconstruction.(OPINION)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- June 22, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Kenneth Mayer
ARLINGTON, VA. -- I ask you to look at the current effort in Iraq from the perspective of my country's experience. Although the US government conquered and attempted to reconstruct my country over a century ago, scars still remain, and to this day the experience still colors relations between citizens here and the US government.
Most pundits and officials have compared the situation in Iraq to Germany, Japan, or even France after World War II. However, a better analogy lies closer to home. Reconstruction of the Confederate states in the South was America's largest and longest such operation, and its most spectacular failure.