On the other side of the coin, the idea & importance of an American presence in Germany, for an extended period, at a time when Russia was already in the process of grabbing Eastern Europe, was far more justifiable than the notion of a long term presence in Iraq. And the notion that the resistance in Iraq will soon evaporate, because the Germans, who after all shared a common Western heritage, soon quieted down, does not scan as a reasoned argument. One need only glance a few hundred miles to the West, in the Israeli occupied territories, to see that such resistance actually feeds on its own losses.
We need an early exit strategy from Iraq, and I fail to understand why some would resist the idea so strenuously. There are obviously substantial numbers of Iraqis who are grateful to be rid of a butchering tyrant. Every day that we remain, unnecessarily, will only tend to waste what good will we have gained among such people, for no likely benefit to any American interest.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
I called the Center for Military History in Washington, D.C. and they dismissed the claims of significant postwar reistance in Germany as overblown. I also asked a good friend who is a specialist in twentieth century German history and he said the same thing. I am perfectly willing to have an open mind but would like to see evidence that it was comparable. None has been presented.