The Price of Collaboration

Part of the mess the Americans have left in Iraq is the fact that those who collaborated with them are being hunted down systematically, regarded as traitors. This was to be expected: no matter the reasons for it, people who help those who invade a country will be seen as helping the enemy. The truth is that, aside from those who may have acted for "patriotic" reasons, those so-called "Sons of Iraq" were on the U.S. payroll, something that cheapens their standing as freedom fighters.

Now that the U.S. has left the country, these Iraqis are at the mercy of those they fought against. Understandably, the Iraqi government -- such as it is -- has no use for them, and neither has the means nor the will to protect them. At bottom, I suppose that Iraqis don't trust those guys who were willing to accept U.S. dollars to take arms against their countrymen.

So, they'll continue to die because, this time, the "U.S. Cavalry" is not coming.

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