Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has his finger on the pulse of one of the main problems with US foreign policy in the Middle East. The Bush Administration (and Clinton too) has failed to take the time to really study the Arab mindset. They approach fundamentally Arab oriented issues from a western perspective.

Case in point...the invasion of Iraq. Across the board the Bush people told us that our soldiers would be greeted with flowers and sweets. They obviously didn't do their homework...or as Kristof contends..perhaps they were too busy listening to Chalabi or reading The Weekly Standard.

It would seem that learning the fundamental cultural issues/beliefs of the country you're choosing to invade and occupy might be standard operating procedure. Especially when you're occupying with minimal troops and having to rely on the locals for assistance.

This appears to me to be another example of the hubris of the neoconservatives. They seemed to believe that they could march in and things would be hunky dory. But if they'd bothered to even put themselves in the shoes of the Iraqis for just a few minutes it's a no brainer. Even the most indigent American citizen wouldn't be for Spain (for example) invading and occupying us. Why should we expect citizens of another sovereign nation to be happy about it?