The way I saw it

How is it that we fought a bloody war with Japan, which then became a quite successful nation and an ally to boot, while for all of our efforts in Iraq, they are now headed for civil war and disaster?

I paid a brief visit to Japan in 1947, when MacArthur was in the process of transforming the Island nation. No, I had no privilege to inside information. In fact, I was probably the least important American to ever visit Japan.

But I saw Japanese digging in garbage cans for food. Japan was a nation squeezed dry by the wartime generals seeking to dominate all of Asia.

Japan, with their ancient customs and deified Emperor was about as far removed from America's way of doing things as possible.

But, unlike in Iraq, where we seemed hurried to declare them a sovereign nation, MacArthur had no such plans for Japan. First, he had demanded unconditional surrender to end the war. Then he proceeded to set up a democratic government.

In Iraq, we heard hedging assurances that their new constitution would not necessarily look like the U.S Constitution. In Japan, MacArthur said "You will do this the way I tell you, period." In a reasonable time, Japan's economy was growing and the Japanese people forged ahead.

In Iraq, the freed Iraqis had no idea how to live as free men, and no one stayed to make them do it right. People were saying, "we gave the Iraqis a chance at freedom, now it is up to them." Someone might give me a chance to fly an airliner, but that doesn't mean I would even know how to start the engines.

In Iraq, we thought we could build an Iraqi army and they would defend their country. In Japan, MacArthur said forget about a new Japanese army. First build a successful government and we will later talk of your defense. That was nearly seventy years ago!

Why would we not follow such a successful pattern in Iraq? Because American politicians are so eager to prove they are smarter than their predecessors. They are going to do it differently, come hell or high water. Then they make excuses when their policies fail.