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Where Ilya provides running commentary on life at the intersection of blue state tastes and red state values, with plenty of legal and travel-related discursions along the way. The opinions expressed are his alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of any institution with which he is affiliated.
Posts
Blog Archive
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2007
(149)
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August
(74)
- Friedman's Blind Spot
- Iraq is Flat
- Stay Classy, Baghdad
- Mi Gente
- Can I Get a Challah!
- Saddamland, Featuring Flintstoneworld and Rustedta...
- Southern Fried Politician Meets Young Jihadis, Sto...
- I Was the Fly on the Wall
- The Other Shoe Drops?
- Daily Standard Piece: A New Sheriff's in Town
- TCS Column: Who Should Take the Rule of Law Lead?
- Levin v. Maliki
- Just Play Me That Ol' Time Country Music
- How to Join Al Qaeda
- The Dream Palace of the Arabs
- A Good Night's Sleep
- 100th Blog Post
- The War as They See It
- Running with the Colonel Redux
- Iraq, Inc.
- Ali Baba and the 40 Insurgents
- Wearing Sweaters in an Oven
- Hockey Night in Baghdad
- Meeting of the Mind-Sets
- Regrets I've Had a Few
- The Lock & Load
- Daily Standard Piece: Club Med Baghdad
- Iran & Al Qaeda
- The Iraqi Government
- Iraqi Civil Courts
- A Meeting with the Minister (Justice)
- America's Empire Deficit
- A Meeting with the Minister (Human Rights)
- Goin' to Court
- TCS Column: Is Rule of Law Possible in Iraq?
- My Hooch
- Busy Day in Ramadi
- A Day in Anbar, Part II
- The Changing Goals of the Best and Brightest
- A Day in Anbar, Part I
- God Bless the USA
- Tinkering with the Social Engineering
- An Army of Very Few
- Watery Rubbish
- Nice Job If You Can Get It
- Do Not Talk About The Book
- Beef: It's What's for a Dinner Date
- The General and I
- The Circularity of Life
- A Facebook User and a Gentleman
- Europeans Heighten Threat Levels
- Stovepipes of Excellence
- It Ain't Shreveport
- My Least Favorite Season
- Gefilte Fishy
- Provincial Reconstruction Teams
- Dear John...
- Running with the Colonel
- My Latest TCS Column
- Steak & Lobster Night
- My New Roomie
- More Loose Lips
- Wetting a Very Parched Whistle
- Cobra II
- Go Tigers!
- Our Valiant Warriors
- Of Fruity Drinks and Car Bombs
- One Final Note re the Iraqi Soccer Team
- The Iraqi Parliament's August Holiday
- Banal Yet Surreal
- More on "Is it Realistic?"
- "A Magnificent Victory"
- We Are Making Progress
- Barry Bonds, Cheater
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August
(74)
About Me
Contact
ilya.shapiro -at- gmail.com
2 comments:
Ilya, have you ever heard of the Code of Hammurabi? It's the earliest known code of laws. The code was engraved on a large stone tablet about 3800 years ago.
Unsurprisingly, it was created by a ruler called Hammurabi, who ruled the land of Mesopotamia. In case you weren't aware, ancient Mesopotamia is modern Iraq.
So it's not that the Iraqis are unfamiliar with law, or have no conception of concepts like justice, equal treatment under the law, etc. It's simply that the US deliberately invaded on false pretences, and has thoroughly devastated the country, either by deliberate policy or complete incompetence.
That's absolutely right -- the ancient law part, not the US devastating the country part -- and by all accounts Iraqi civil courts are functioning rather well. The criminal justice system, though, has some serious problems. A large part of this is sectarian and/or related to counterinsurgency issues, but some is, frankly, from an underdeveloped legal culture.
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