Loyalists

Images of cheering Iraqis have filled the airwaves and will cover every front page tomorrow morning. How happy are Iraqis? Obviously the Ba'ath Party is unhappy, and low-level Ba'athists may be scurrying to ingratiate themselves to the new occupiers (or they may be getting a quickie identity change and moving in with their Uncle Najib in the mountain). As Charlie LeDuff notes for NYTimes.com, "all but the most destitute households were tethered to the regime in some way." In three decades the Hussein regime had plenty of time to invade Iraqi life like a parasite, defining the idea of power and politics for a generation.

How about the Iraqis who are out in the streets? Certainly some are closet anti-Ba'athists. But to live 30 years as an opponent of the regime is no easy task. Few are explicit enemies, I suspect. Those who do hate Hussein are more likely those who lost a family member to the secret police. Others may be dancing in the streets out of sheer relief more than anything else. Still others are probably out there to ingratiate themselves to the new regime, to protect their village or neighborhood by welcoming Americans or Brits, and to work themselves into the top of the new social order which will emerge in Iraq over the next few years.

Undoubtedly, Iraq is glad the war is over, as are we. But let us beware of projecting our feelings onto them. We just won a war - and even those who opposed the war can be proud of our troops and the United States' ability to wage war swiftly and with minimal civilian casualties. Iraq just lost a war, badly. Even those who opposed the regime can be ashamed of their military's pathetic performance, can have fears of an American occupation, and can feel the resentment of being undersized and overwhelmed.