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I was doing some spring cleaning of some files, especially those concerning some of my old writings, and I fell upon this. It seems just as relevant now as it did then, sadly:

 ”Our armies do not come into your cities and lands, as conquerors and enemies but as liberators, it is not the wish of our government to impose upon you alien institutions, it is our wish that you should prosper, even as in the past, when your lands were fertile, when your ancestors gave to the world literature, science, and art, and when Baghdad city was one of the wonders of the world. It is our hope that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realized, and that once again the people of Baghdad shall flourish, enjoying their wealth and substance under institutions, which are in continence with their sacred laws and their racial ideals.”

- General David Petraeus

- General F.S. Maude,  Commander, British Occupying Forces, Excerpt from Speech in Baghdad in March of 1917