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We can look to Iraq for an example of the alternative. The British carved what is now Iraq from the carcass of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. When British tanks rolled into Baghdad, the commander of the invading forces told the people of the city that the British army was there not to conquer, but to "liberate" the land. But conquer they did. The British replaced Ottoman empire with Iraqi monarchy, got their oil concessions, and ended up making quite a mess of things. As a result, Iraqis have long had difficulty seeing themselves as Iraqis--as opposed to Kurds or Shiites or Sunnis. Only the grip of a tyrant, Saddam Hussein, has kept together these long-bickering factions.
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