What If Iraq Had Invaded The U.S.? - Democratic Underground

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Mon Mar-31-08 12:31 AM
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What If Iraq Had Invaded The U.S.?

What If Iraq Had Invaded The U.S.?
(posted in full, with the author's permission)
http://saneramblings.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=246&sid=93b557af211d22f2e1690a9ebcd3e521

"George W. Bush is a tyrant," said Saddam Hussein angrily. "He has Weapons of Mass Destruction and he will use them. The world would be far safer without him. He's got to go."

Then ignoring world opinion, Saddam ordered the invasion of Washington DC. Watching it on TV, many Iraqis were dazzled by the colorful fireworks show Saddam proudly called "shock and awe." But sadly, it killed thousands of innocent U.S. civilians and blew-up entire neighborhoods.

Although Americans hadn't asked for the invasion, at first many were glad to be rid of President Bush who they thought was a tyrant. Some rejoiced in the streets, as President Bush fled.

But then the Iraqis didn't leave. They put their soldiers in major U.S. cities and built military bases. They occupied the White House and other Washington DC landmarks and built a heavily armed wall around them, the Iraqis called "the Green Zone." No Americans could go in the Green Zone without Iraqi approval.

Iraq fired the U.S. soldiers, which threw millions of Americans out of work. And when Iraq did not have enough of their own soldiers, they hired vast numbers of mercenaries, paying them premium wages and placing them above U.S. and Iraqi laws.

Then Saddam gave the U.S. a new Constitution and installed a government acceptable to him.

Americans fought back, but Saddam called them "terrorists," or "militants" or "insurgents" and had them killed or tortured. As the fighting spread, Iraq partitioned off entire American neighborhoods, making them barbed wired encampments, with concrete fire walls and guard towers, run by heavily armed Iraqi soldiers, to which all U.S. citizens were answerable.

But it didn't stop the fighting and soon U.S. neighborhoods became war zones. Homes were left in rubble, shrapnel pock marked others and the air contained the stench of rancid chemicals used to put out fires. Burned out hulks of cars lined some of the streets.

Across U.S. cities mortar shell explosions roared like thunder as buildings violently shook and their occupants trembled in fear. On the streets, trigger fingered gunmen lurked in the shadows. In the sky the rotor blades of Iraqi military helicopters thumped loudly as they swooped down looking for suspects who would meet an instant death.

The war caused the U.S. economy to collapse bringing a severe shortage of food, water, electricity and medical supplies and the sewers fell apart leaving human waste spilling on to the streets.

In these horrific times, centuries old disputes between American Catholics and Protestants flared up and they began killing each other, and soon old bitter rivalries between Protestant groups exploded in rage and they too killed each other.

With all this sectarian violence, Americans couldn't trust their own military or police because they often formed armed militias and killed those of different religions.

Millions of American men, women and children were killed and thousands of children orphaned, with no family left to love them. Many Americans fled to Canada as Saddam's war turned into chaos. He angrily blamed Canada and threatened to bomb them.

After 5-years of endless war, the 4,000th Iraqi soldier was killed and many Iraqis said, "enough." But Saddam proclaimed, "They did not die in vain," and escalated the fighting, sending more of them off to die.

The desperate and traumatized American people cried out to the Iraqis to stop this war, but most Iraqis were caught up in their own lives and paid little attention, not realizing that despite Saddam, they could stop this war if only they would act. But even most Iraqi religious leaders were silent.

Asked about the war's bloodshed and misery, Saddam said it was all part of his "war on terror" and that "things were getting better in the U.S." Refusing to be pinned down to a timeline, he said the war would continue until the U.S. was "peaceful, stable, prosperous and democratic," and that some day every one would thank him.

Dick
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Thanks for putting it all in perspective, Dick.